Skip to main content
Start a Conversation

Unsolved

This post is more than 5 years old

Strategerizer

19 Posts

59011

February 2nd, 2014 16:00

Advice on upgrade for XPS 8100?

I have older XPS 8100 and am starting to do some video editing - simple talking heads HD videos captured with Canon DSLR and processed for web, YouTube. I may experiment a bit with After Effect too and maybe by the end of the year, if all good, I may get a new computer with more power

For now I am looking to breathe some new pep in existing Studio XPS 8100 (http://www.dell.com/support/Manuals/us/en/19/product/studio-xps-8100), which is as follows:

General System Upgrades

So here is what I am thinking:

  • Keep processor, motherboard, power supply, to simplify upgrade and keep cost down
  • Possibly(!) replace video card with GT 630-SL-26D3-L (Kepler version) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D6KOU66/r (has more CUDA cores and 2 GB of memory BUT only 64-bit rather than 128-bit)
  • Get SATA/eSATA III controller board to use for secondary drives, upgrading from internal SATA II limit http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00952N2DQ/ (note this board allows flexibility of SATA connection for internal drives and/or external drives)
  • Get USB 3 controller board that I can use as needed for external HD docks, as an alternative to eSATA (eSATA III or USB 3 better?) and since these are cheap, why not get both) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SJGGAE/
  • Get USB 3 front panel ports to ease access http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006TAEH7W/
  • Get Samsung 830 Pro SSDhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NB8WRU/ and use it for primary drive (even though this means it will work as only SATA II)

Makes sense so far?

Hard Drives

For additional drives I am planning to use what I already have, based on your feedback and maybe benchmarks once connected up...(installed either internal or eSATA/USB external)

I am most fuzzy about how to best use these hard drives...

Primary System Drive (OS + Programs)

Note that my motherboard only supports SATA II and since the primary drive I think needs to be connected to the motherboard (rather than being able to plug into the new SATA II controller card) I think I am stuck with SATA II for the primary drive. Note also my motherboard does not support AHCI (whatever that is, but I understand that it is important to get the most out of SSD). Or just use a SATA II Caviar Black as the system drive and let it be until I et a new computer that I can then make sure has a SSD primary drive configured to take most advantage of it? So is the cost of SSD justified if only SATA II and no AHCI?

Also, can I just clone my current OS/data drive to the new SSD or will I need to re-install OS, programs, etc.?

Secondary Video/Data Drive

XPS 8100 has two drive bays, 1 flex (2.5"?) bay and 2 x 5.25" optical bays (one has CD drive, the other I will use for USB 3 front ports). So if I should have all drives internal, I can stick the SSD system drive in the flex bay and the two secondary drives in the two regular drive bays.

I believe my motherboard supports RAID but I don't know if it is worth to invest two drives in a RAID 0 configuration when it is using SATA II only. So I am thinking I will be better off to use as a video/data drive the Black Caviar 7200 RPM 64MB (or the old 10,000 RPM Raptor) patched through the new SATA III controller. 

So... I have a bunch of HDD, including SATA III 7200 and SATA I(?) 10000, and I can connect to motherboard as SATA II, RAID as supported by motherboard or through controller card as SATA III (internally -or- externally - any difference?)

So if I am to reduce it all to one question :-) which drives to connect in which way?

Would that be enough? Would it be a "balanced" configuration for how I plan to use this PC or do you see bottlenecks? Or RAID is the way to go for the main video drive?

Third Drive Maybe?

If you think a third drive will help (I see that advice given in Adobe Premiere Pro forums), I could incorporate another HDD but maybe for flexibility connect it externally via eSATA or USB 3 dock (though if there is really no practical reason for that flexibility, I can just keep that drive internal too).

What do you think?

I appreciate your feedback!!

osprey4

4 Operator

 • 

34.2K Posts

February 3rd, 2014 13:00

Hi Strategerizer,

The rotational drives are limited by nature to much slower data transfer speeds than SATA can accommodate. So the controller card really isn't going to help. I have a Samsung EVO 840 (250GB), which is plenty for the OS and all of my apps. I have two HDDs, one for data and a second strictly for backup (daily file backup and monthly disk image), as well as an external drive for monthly imaging. Really, how much space you use depends on your needs, which I suspect are more than what I've got.

I put my SSD in a 3.5" adapter in the lower optical drive bay (as shown here). 

Does that give you some food for thought?

Strategerizer

19 Posts

February 3rd, 2014 14:00

Osprey4, thanks for the feedback! If I may, let me get some additional insights from you...

It jives with what I found upon further reading in some HDD specific forums - that SATA III controller boards are ultimtely limited by both running through PCIe (slower than being implemented in the motherboard) AND, more importantly, the speed of HDD (vs SSDs). So getting a SATA III controller board WILL NOT HELP speed up things with my secondary drives.

So my plan now is:

  • Get a cheaper SSD (as I cannot leverage full speed anyway without SATA II or AHCI) - maybe the Samsung EVO 840 instead of the PRO (though only 3 yr warranty instead of 5 yr.)
  • SKIP adding SATA/eSATA/ III controller card (though another reason I wanted to add was to help test around an issue I've experienced where dignostic sw (both SeaTools from Seagate and Data Lifeguard from Western Digital) give error "cannot read SMART status" for any drive connected (either internal or external through eSATA) but all other tests on the drive pass OK and SMART status is read OK when trying the HDD in another computer! Have you encountered this?
  • Connect secondary drive (WD Caviar Black 7200 SATA III 64 MB cache) to the native SATA II connector on the board
  • POSSIBLY (if running into video editing issues), ad a third drive to the system (Adobe Premiere Pro can speed up if set up to store various files on separate drives). I am not clear if I will be better served to add another separate HDD -or- to have the additional drive hooked up into a RAID 1 array with the second drive. I assume this is possible since there is motherboard built-in support for RAID 0 and 1. Do you have a sense about which is the better way to go on this? Is it simple to do the RAID setup once the third drive is hooked up (just go into BIOS and link them there somewhere?)
  • SKIP upgrading the video card as it may not be a bottleneck and cannot likely upgrade without upgrading the power supply and then having to worry about fans, etc...
  • I may still get the USB 3 controller card and front bay extension in case I have an external device that can use it (e.g. an SD card reader to get my Canon DSLR videos imported faster). So I will use the secondary 5.25" bay (first one has DVD drive) for the front USB ports extension.

I am thinking of putting the SSD in the "flex bay" right under the 5.25" bays. I read in these forums someone having done that and it seems to be a perfect fit without any screws or brackets needed and it kept the drive even cooler (maybe from larger contact with the chassis?). Do you see any issue with that?

osprey4

4 Operator

 • 

34.2K Posts

February 3rd, 2014 15:00

SeaTools for DOS correctly reports the SMART status. I haven't tried running a Windows version.

Setting up RAID 1 is easy in the Ctrl-i menu but I haven't done it. It's recommended to use drives of the same size to avoid wasting space.

I see no issue putting the SSD in the flexbay except that the power cable was a tight reach. It appeared easier to use the lower 5.25" bay. If you are getting a USB 3 card and need the lower optical drive bay, it might be the only way to go.

Strategerizer

19 Posts

February 4th, 2014 11:00

Osprey4, I will check SeaTools for DOS and see. If you try SeaTools for Windows, please let me know if you get the same error.

I am glad you pointed out about power cable being better length fit for the lower bay. Looking at the case I see what you mean. Also, I now realize the USB front ports adapter I was planning to get actually is 3.5" so it will perfectly fit the smaller "flexbay". This way I will not need to get an adapter and will be next to the current USB 2 ports and it will free the lower 5.25" bay for a hard drive - great!

So what do you think then about...

  1. Clone SSD to HDD
  2. Put SSD in 5.25" bay under the DVD drive - connect to SATA 1 port on motherboard
  3. Reboot and make sure all OK
  4. Put drive 2 (HDD) in the bottom 3.5" bracket - connect to SATA 2 port
  5. Put drive 3 (HDD) in the 3.5" bracket above - connect to SATA 3 port
  6. Move DVD drive to SATA 4 port (not sure where it is connected now and if it is best to keep it there or move it to the last port?)
  7. Go in BIOS and make sure boot in SATA 1 (and see if any changes required based on moving DVD to SATA 4 port)
  8. OPTIONAL set drive 2 and 3 as striped RAID 0 for faster video editing performance (do RAID drives need to be connected to any specific SATA ports on the motherboard?)
  9. Copy user data files (My Documents, user libraries, etc.) from SSD to the HDD (I guess these would be deleted if/when doing the RAID setup)
  10. Make setting changes in Windows so it knows the correct location of user data libraries (not sure yet where/how to do this but I will need to do this manually, right?)
  11. Delete data files from SSD (keep only OS and Program Files there)

I assume cloning the HDD to the SSD will allow me to do above configuration without having to re-install Windows, right?

Thanks!

osprey4

4 Operator

 • 

34.2K Posts

February 4th, 2014 18:00

I prefer a clean install to cloning. But you can do what you like. A clean install ensures Windows is optimized for an SSD. Yes, takes a bit longer, but then you can just backup the disk image for future installations.

As I said, I have not set up a RAID but I do not believe it's necessary to use specific ports. All of the SATA ports are 3.0 Gb/s.

Setting up the libraries on the data drives is quite easy.

Strategerizer

19 Posts

February 4th, 2014 22:00

Osprey4, good point; I will go thorugh the trouble of installing the OS from scratch to avoid other potential issues.

From reading more about best configurations for video editing I now understand there is more to gain by separating various data into separate drives rather than speeding up a drive using RAID striping. So I am now planning on using 3 separate drives and not combine the two HDD drives with RAID.

Ready now (finally) to order the parts and do the upgrade.

Thanks for your feedback!

osprey4

4 Operator

 • 

34.2K Posts

February 5th, 2014 15:00

Glad to help. Good luck with the upgrade!

View More

View All

No Events found!

Top