Is a Raptor worth it?

[orchiduk]

I'm looking to build a system on a budget - gaming isn't so important, but it will be used for a lot of Photoshop work and web design stuff. I would love a 74GB Raptor, but obviously they're very expensive compared to regular 7,200rpm drives. Seeing as I'm working to a tight budget, would the Raptor be worth the extra money, or should I go for a regular 80GB drive (capacity isn't important - will be burning most stuff to DVD...) and spend the extra $120ish on more RAM (currently got 1GB dual chan specced) or a faster CPU (currently 3GHz specced)? I really like the idea of a Raptor.....and would really like the fast load/save times......but would it really be worth the extra?

Thanks.

 

[Jotho]

From what I've seen, it might be truly beneficial in your case. A 3GHz proc and 1GB RAM should be OK.

 

[ribbon13]

RAM is #1 for photoshop.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

I have seen this exact title in this section within the last 3-4 weeks.
Search>Hardware>Raptor worth it

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

"system on a budget" = no raptor usually.

There's definately some gain from it, but as you know, the cost is high.

If you use a lot of photoshop with larger images, 2 gigs of ram is a good idea. I think spending the money saved on ram or getting a faster CPU would be a good idea.

 

[Harvey]

SATA will give you faster disk operations if that's your most important performance limitation. If it's a matter of the faster drive or more RAM, depending on the size of your Photoshop files, and how many elements you keep open at once, more RAM will probably help more because it will mean less disk swapping.

Another thing you may want to consider is buying a pair of drives and a mobile rack and using Norton Ghost, or another similar program, to clone your drive. It's more than backup. A Ghosted copy is a fully functional drive that needs no restoration or re-installation. When you're through, unplug the drive. It's better than restore points or programs like Go Back because no one has written a virus that can jump the air gap.

If/when your hard drive gets corrupted or virus infected, you can just Ghost back to your last known good condition. If the drive completely dies, you're out an inexpensive piece of hardware, but only a few minutes to swap out the drive.

It hasn't saved my ass that way for at least a few weeks.

 

[orchiduk]

Thanks for the quick replies.....

The artwork I do in Photoshop is nearly always between 30-60MB for each file.....I very rarely go above that. Would 2GB RAM make much of a difference in that case?

I'll have a look around for other Raptor threads as well...

EDIT: OK, I just found a huge thread on this very subject Admins can delete this if they really want...

 

[AristoV300]

NO the Raptor is not worth it. You are better off just buying a 7200rpm SATA drive.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

The artwork I do in Photoshop is nearly always between 30-60MB for each file.....I very rarely go above that. Would 2GB RAM make much of a difference in that case?

Probably not. That is a relatively small file. The file size doesn't translate directly to memory usage, but I would guess that 1GB is enough for you. It will take Photoshop at least the file size amount of memory to load the image plus whatever the program itself uses.. Then when you are editing the image, history states will take up additional memory. You can reduce the amount of memory Photoshop uses by reducing the preference for the maximum number of history states it keeps around. Of course layers and channels will all eat memory also.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Originally posted by: orchiduk
Thanks for the quick replies.....

The artwork I do in Photoshop is nearly always between 30-60MB for each file.....I very rarely go above that. Would 2GB RAM make much of a difference in that case?

I'll have a look around for other Raptor threads as well...

EDIT: OK, I just found a huge thread on this very subject Admins can delete this if they really want...

Yeah i didnt mean to come off sounding like an arse, and I know I sounded like a forum Nazi saying that...which I can't stand. But if you notice I was on that thread a few times discussing this as I have a Raptor. Good luck to you & I say if you value speed over storage space get the Raptor.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
"system on a budget" = no raptor usually.

There's definately some gain from it, but as you know, the cost is high.

Once again, YOyoYOhowsDAjello has demonstrated his carpentry skills, and hit the nail on the head. :laugh:

 

[Jeff7181]

~$175 for a 74 GB Raptor vs. $175 for a 300 GB Caviar SE... I think I'd take 3 times the storage for the same price. I sorta regret paying $125 for my 36 GB Raptor. I mean, it's fast and all... but rather than having two hard drives, if I had it to do over again, I'd get a single large drive.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
I sorta regret paying $125 for my 36 GB Raptor. I mean, it's fast and all

Talk about regrets...
I'm thinking of moving from my less than half full 36GB Raptor to a 74GB version, just for the slight performance increase.
But I have that sinking feeling that, I too would regret spending the extra cash for one. :shocked:

I find that when I'm busy and don't have much time to read these forums, I spend way less $$ on hardware.