Computer component upgrading

[N1LAF]

It is time to perform some upgrades on this out of warranty Dell XPS system. It has SATA components, and USB 2.0 tops. I did throw a 1TB WD drive in it, and have room for one more HD, but it is more than this. Here is my plan:

Removable Hard Drives - one for the OS, one for general purpose. The internal drives will be mapped as Drive 'V' and 'W'.

New Part: Kingwin 3.5" SATA Trayless Hot Swap Rack, KF-1000-BK
Research shows this is the best all around component.
http://kingwin.com/products/cate/mobile/racks/kf_1000_bk.asp (http://kingwin.com/products/cate/mobile/racks/kf_1000_bk.asp)


USB 3.0 Upgrade

New Card: Startech 4 port Superspeed USB 3.0 PCIe with SATA Power, PEXUSB3S4
Research did not have user reviews on this, but it's S2 card reviews were very good.
http://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/USB-3.0/Cards/4-Port-SuperSpeed-USB-3-PCI-Express-Card-with-SATA-Power~PEXUSB3S4 (http://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/USB-3.0/Cards/4-Port-SuperSpeed-USB-3-PCI-Express-Card-with-SATA-Power~PEXUSB3S4)

SIIG SuperSpeed USB 3.0 4-Port Bay Hub, JU-H40212-S1
Fits in empty floppy drive slot, front panel USB accessibility
http://www.siig.com/it-products/usb/bay-hubs/superspeed-usb-3-0-4-port-bay-hub.html (http://www.siig.com/it-products/usb/bay-hubs/superspeed-usb-3-0-4-port-bay-hub.html)


For my laptop, that has a power eSATA/USB port, the following was selected

Startech 2.5" Silver power eSATA to SATA external HD enclosure w/OTB, S2510PESAT
Boot external drive from eSATA port on Laptop (Linux, other OS's...)
Enclosure, tool-less design, easy to change raw hard drives.
http://www.startech.com/HDD/Enclosures/25in-Silver-Power-eSATA-to-SATA-External-Hard-Drive-Enclosure-with-OTB~S2510PESAT (http://www.startech.com/HDD/Enclosures/25in-Silver-Power-eSATA-to-SATA-External-Hard-Drive-Enclosure-with-OTB~S2510PESAT)


Any comments/concerns/questions/recommendations on these parts?

[N1LAF]

One more neat component...

USB 2.0 TO IDE/SATA 2.5″/3.5″/5.25″ HARD DRIVE CONVERTER WITH POWER SUPPLY & LED ACTIVITY LIGHTS

Supports Standard Desktop 3.5″ SATA or IDE Hard Drives.
Supports Standard Notebook 2.5″ SATA or IDE Hard Drives.
Supports Desktop CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-ROM/DVD+RW.
Supports Iomega Zip.
Supports hard drives up to 2TB.
LED lights indicate Power and Activity status.
Hot-swappable, plug and play, no drivers needed.
Reverse compatible with USB 1.1.

http://www.sabrent.com/category/hard-drive-enclosures/USB-DSC5/ (http://www.sabrent.com/category/hard-drive-enclosures/USB-DSC5/)

[kf0rt]

My only thought is that if you haven't bought the hard drives yet, the rumors "on the street" say that prices should come down after the first of the year.

Bought a pair of these about 2 months ago for $85 apiece; now $199:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152245

They went into one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108065&Tpk=211j

The Synology (connected via Gigabit Ethernet, running as RAID level 1) actually benchmarks faster than this machine's internal hard drives (3x WD 1TB "Green"). Really cool device.

[NQ6U]

Here's the best upgrade (http://www.apple.com/macpro/) for a Dell PC.

[K7SGJ]

Geez, I remember when I was thrilled to upgrade to 1024Mb of memory and a 40Mb Seagate St251. I could buy a whole new system for what they cost at the time.

[kf0rt]

Geez, I remember when I was thrilled to upgrade to 1024Mb of memory and a 40Mb Seagate St251. I could buy a whole new system for what they cost at the time.

Yup. I worked for MiniScribe (remember them?) back at the beginning of the small hard drive revolution. 1982. We originally sold two models; 5 Meg and 10 Meg (not Gig). A 5 Meg hard drive cost over $500 at the time.

[KC9ECI]

Geez, I remember when I was thrilled to upgrade to 1024Mb of memory and a 40Mb Seagate St251. I could buy a whole new system for what they cost at the time.

I remember buying a 80286 machine with a blazing fast 12Mhz processor, and a MASSIVE 10Mb hard drive.

[KC2UGV]

Here's the best upgrade (http://www.apple.com/macpro/) for a Dell PC.

Quad Core for over $2K? Surely you jest... Unless Mac OS X costs over $1400.

[N1LAF]

My only thought is that if you haven't bought the hard drives yet, the rumors "on the street" say that prices should come down after the first of the year.

It all depends on Thailand's recovery from the floods...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/21/us-thailand-floods-tech-idUSTRE79K76Z20111021


World output of hard drives could fall as much as 30 percent in the final three months of 2011 and manufacturers that need them are now scrambling to snap up existing inventories, according to market research firm IHS iSuppli.

Leading chipmaker Intel said on Friday it was keeping an eye on a "dynamic" situation but expects existing stores of drives and unaffected sources to help keep the PC industry supplied. If manufacturers build fewer PCs, Intel sells fewer processors.

"The PC supply chain has proven to be very resilient, as most recently demonstrated in the response to the earthquake in Japan," Intel spokesman Jon Carvill said.

Top hard drive makers Western Digital (WDC.N) and Seagate (STX.O) both have factories in Thailand, where flooding has killed at least 320 people since July and devastated industrialized areas in the center of the country.

[KC2UGV]

I'm not seeing the utility of the swappable cages, so you might save some coin there. The only time I've seen a utility with those were in data centers, or in a school setting.