Dasvidaniya
(?)Community Member
- Posted: Sat, 07 Jul 2012 01:00:46 +0000
- Okay, so here's the run down. I'm planning on buying an Alienware Aurora Desktop by the end of this summer. May or may not buy the optional ALX chassis, but I'm leaning toward yes for the toolless/wireless drive bays & additional lighting in the chassis. Plus, I'm a sucker for aesthetics. And yes, I do realize that I'm paying a lot for this desktop particularly because of the Alienware brand, but it's always been somewhat of a dream of mine to own one of these beautiful powerhouses, and now I can finally afford to do so, so let me have it. Yes. I realize there are cheaper options out there with similar performance, but that's not what this thread is about.
Anywaysss. My dilemma is thiisss.
These are the options that I'm presented when picking options for my Aurora.
Ideally, I'd like to have a 512gb SSD drive as the primary, and then a 1TB HDD secondary drive. I'd really like the SSD drive for my OS, but Dell is charging $600 for a 512gb SSD drive, which I know for a fact I could get for like $200 less if I buy from elsewhere. Buttt... if I don't buy it right off, then the whole shebang will get shoved on an HDD, and I'd really prefer the HDD for backup/storage. The exact specification I want would be $700, which seems steep, though I might be wrong. Is this a normal price range for those two drives?
I was considering the hybrid SS cache/HDD storage option, but from what I hear, the whole cache system is counterproductive and I'm confused by the whole hybrid thing in general. Is the actual OS installed on the SS cache part or on the HDD?
If it's installed on the SS cache part, what's the difference between having an SS cache hybrid/HDD combo & just having an SSD drive primary and an HDD secondary?
I'm toorrnn! What should I do?
I don't know a whole lot about hardware, so I'd really appreciate any input relevant to this situation. Also, feel free to tell me if I'm overlooking anything.