1.2 TB (2 x 600 GB, RAID 0) is a large OS drive, although if you are using it for scratch files too, maybe not.

You might review Harm's discussion on "To RAID or Not to RAID"

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/525263

and learn more about RAID types/configurations, particularly for your planned 4 x 1TB storage array.  I would consider RAID 3, 5 or 6.

I use a Corsair H70 CPU cooler and am happy with it.

There's a lot of discussion about whether costly high speed memory is really necessary/valuable, particularly with 24 GB memory on your mobo.  You may look for more expert advice on that issue.  Be sure to check the QVL for the mobo to check memory compatibility.

Presumably you're planning on Win7-64 bit as the OS.

Good luck!

" 2. The ability to add a BBM (battery backup module) to the Areca"

The Intel card does have the BBM connector as well.

Eric

ADK

And, one more useful link:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20081220191040237&board_id=1&mo del=P6T+Deluxe&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

Hi Jay,

So far, I like the H70 cooler.  When I have monitored/checked temperatures, the CPU olds at 26 deg. C., and is pretty stable at that temperature, but I am not overclocking yet which is sure to put a thermal load on the processor and the ASUS Rampage III Formula mobo with 24GB onboard in general. 

I built the system in the CoolerMaster HAF-X case, and I added an extra 120mm fan to the top of the case for improved airflow.   I am only using one graphics adapter - the superclocked eVGA GeForce 470 and I haven't optimized the system fan speeds yet, so I haven't optimized system noise yet - that's all forthcoming.

Overall, I am happy with the H70.  It has a small footprint in size - I haven't had problems with space issues inside the HAF-X as some people have reported.

Hope this helps.  Good luck!

Bill

Hi Darren,

That's a little bit toasty, but it is your summer in the southern hemisphere, right?  I suspect the best you can hope for with fan-assisted liquid cooling radiators is ambient temp, right?  36 should be OK though.

The side fan on the HAF-X is located lower on the case - over the graphics card region of the mobo, so I don't have the problem of it obstructing the CPU cooler; however, I was REALLY reluctant to stay with the tall CPU cooler assembly that shipped with the i7-980X - it just seemed too monstrous!  I do worry about my ICH and IOH temps though - they run about 46 and 48 deg. C, respectively; however, I don't know what they're supposed to run at. 

Bill

Read ahead should be set to adaptive. That will help some with the fluctuations

The reasons you see the dips and so forth have to do with how Sata drives drop in performance once the capacity exceeds 50%. At 60% the lost performance becomes very significant and at 75 % the performance drops like a rock. The Higher End raid controllers like the Intel and Areca cards attempt to minimize this with cached instructions i/e why Harm always pushes people to get the extra cache on their controllers. The other side to the fluctuations is the parity. In a raid 0 you won't see near the fluctuations. It will normally look relatively flat over the array. A parity raid however fluctuates more due to the extra overhead for the parity.Now the controllers on the drives will also effect the fluctuations so an array of 1 model drive may fluctuate differently than another model array. Your readout looks normal and the low spots are likely the end of drives where the speed is normally slowest on SATA drives. This is why SCSI drives were so predominant back several years ago. They did not have the same performance drops that SATA drives do as the volume capacity is filled. SSD Drives have taken that spot in today's market.

Eric

ADK

Without knowing the configuration of the old machine and the new machine, I couldn't point to anything.

Eric

ADK

Ya something is not setup right on the new system. There is no way the old Xeon system should bench better than the new one.

Eric

ADK