Seeking overclocking & memory selection for X79 system build

[Proshooter]

I am not a gamer (I play games occasionally, but don't build systems for gaming). I am a commercial photographer (architectural, product, industrial). I shoot high mega pixel files, build and save multiple copies, layered Photoshop files, very large scans and video footage. I need a lot of storage space, processing speed, transfer speed and memory.

My previous builds have been dual Xeon systems and x64 Win OS since Win2000.
Previous systems have included dual 3.4Ghz, dual 2.4Ghz, dual 600Mhz & dual 300Mhz using Asus & Supermicro boards. Besides my workstations I've built a half dozen other systems. The last 2 systems have included 4 drive RAID arrays in RAID 0 config for working video files. I haven't built a system in about 5 years.

My goal is to build a system suitable for my photo/video needs that provides modest stable overclocking - targeting 4.5 Ghz. I am also interested in combining a pair of Seagate Hybrid drives (Momentus XT) in RAID0 as the OS drive for a balance of space and performance rather than going to SSD. I've never played with Overclocking nor water cooled systems.

As I start this build I am tight on funds and propose to bake in a planned future upgrade to allow the cost of those components to go down and still see an immediate jump in speed over my current system. I expect this new build to be 10X as fast as my current system (60 minute render in 6 minutes). The future upgrade will further potentially double the speed (3-4.5min?).

2012 Build
purchased so far:
> Corsair Carbide 500R case -
selected for large side fan, USB3, eSATA & Firewire ports on front face
> ASRock X79 Extreme9 MoBo
selected for 64GB support, USB3, SATA III RAID,
also for fairly simple Overclocking capability
> MasterCooler 80+Gold 800w PSU
> Corsair H100 Hydro CPU Cooler kit (2 extra fans for push/pull airflow)
selected for high efficiency, simple liquid cooling
also considering Maingear Epic T1000 thermal compound (top end but expensive)
> LG Blu-ray burner
I burn a lot of Blu-rays as part of my Backup/Archive strategy (hundreds per year)
> Front mounted Card reader with additional USB2
> EVGA Nvidia GTX 460 Superclocked GPU (bought used for $120)
selected as a cost saving option that still provides ample CUDA cores for video rendering

to be purchased over next 7-10 weeks:
> Intel i7 3820 CPU Overclocked to a modest but stable 4.5GHz
> 32GB (4GBx8) Mushkin Quad Chan CAS7 1600 RAM (7-8-7-24)
> Dual Seagate Momentus XT 750GB Hybrid Drives in RAID 0 for OS
I replaced a laptop drive with the 500GB version and was impressed, plus it offers much more
space than a midsized single SSD or dual smaller SSDs
> 4 RAID 0 1TB Barracuda 6GB/s 7200rpm drive for Data Drive
frankly I like the Hitachis better but the Seagates are somewhat cheaper.
I will probably get these last hoping the cost drops further and production increases.
> Windows 8 Developers OS (beta) free for evaluation & testing (driver issues?)
> Adobe CS5.5 & CS 6 Suites

I also plan to continue using the 4TB Lacie 4Big eSata drive I now have as well as a small collection of RAID5 NAS drives. My current workstation will also stay on my desk along with my newer Thnkpad (i7-2720QM, 16GB RAM, dual 320GB 7200 RAID0)

Future upgrade 2013-14
> Intel i7 3960X
> 64GB RAM (8x8GB)
> Nvidia GTX580
> possible SSD OS drive/s

Issues& Questions I have are related to the speed and latency of memory for this system and, issues related to overclocking.

Any suggestions, recommendations?
Much appreciated.

 

[Buckshot420]

Not sure how "used" it is but that evga gtx460 1GB SC is $129.99 new.
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClo...3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330282267&sr=1-3

I recommend you stay away from Seagate for there horrible failure rate. Western Digital Caviar Black or Blue is the way to go.

 

[Proshooter]

Buckshot

If I had known I could get a GTX460 OC that cheap new I would have, But at least I didn't pay more than new, and I see that is the price after a rebate, so there's that.

I know what your saying about the Seagate's poor reputation. I'm not worried about the Momentus drives, but I will probably opt for better data drives if the price comes down a bit in the next month or two.
My original spec was for Hitachi Deskstars 7K1000.D (can't link yet here)

The data drives a probably the last thing I'll buy for the system after I determine if it will actually function using a beta of Win8 or if I'll have to reformat and install a OEM copy of Win7 Pro x64.

 

[Buckshot420]

Why are you building a system using a Beta OS? I would think you would want Hyper Threading. Any reason you aren't doing a build of a i7 2600?

 

[Proshooter]

I have a copy of the beta, it was free, so I figure why not. I'm an early adopter. Ran Win2000 when it was still in beta. No hyperthreading in the beta? If it causes any major problems I'll just wipe and install Win7.

Per the platform, I'm looking at something I can use for 3 years plus. With my planned upgrade i should be able to run this as my main box for up to 5 years. I like USB3 and this board has a lot of ports. I also like being able to load it up with lots of fast memory. I haven't seen any 2600/2700 boards that can compete. Those platforms are clearly cheaper though.

 

[slh28]

I would still get an SSD (or even 2 SSDs for RAID 0), do you really need 1.5TB for the OS?