on 2012-01-07 16:28 John Sessoms wrote
2. But I am considering a SSD for the scratch disk. Is 64GB large enough? That seems to be the current price point I'm comfortable with. Any brand recommendations?
as for SSDs, the Sandforce-based models are among the best currently (although a new generation seems to be around the corner, at least in enterprise level (ca. $7/GB!)); Sandforce is both fast and has best-of-class wear-leveling; the two brands i know that use Sandforce are OCZ Vertex-3 and OWC Mercury Extreme; it's worth getting a 6Gbps (SATA-III) version if you have a suitable bus (which you might on a Sandy Bridge MB); OWC is a vendor i trust, though they are Mac-oriented
i know not Windows hardware arcana, but i've considered building a hackintosh specifically to improve Aperture (and maybe Lightroom) performance; that quest in essence would be similar to yours; after a bit of research, though, i've decided against spending hours choosing components and hacking installers, and instead plan to pick up a 2010 model 27" iMac (either a refurb from Apple or a used model with AppleCare)
my reasoning (at this point i devolve into details Windows people, and most everyone else, would best ignore) is that the iMac has an excellent (if glossy) 27" display, a pretty good GPU (on Macs, Aperture _loves_ the GPU, though Lightroom ignores it), and the unique feature that i can run it headless while dedicating the big display to my mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro; in fact a Windows machine could even use the display (provided it has DVI or MiniDisplayport)
headless is the killer feature for me; the 2011 model works headless only with ThunderBolt-equipped Macs, ruling out use with my 13" MBP; the 2010 model can also run Mac OS X 10.6, which suits me better than 10.7; headless is important to me because in addition to photo duty, this machine will be my always-on light-duty home server (hosting FileMaker Server, music, films, and a document scanner, as well as a disk farm); in the server functions the iMac will replace a 2006 MacBook Pro whose video-RAM has solder problems (a common defect)
my plan means i'll also be able to sell an Apple 24" Cinema Display and a Samsung 2343 (a nifty low-end monitor with 2048x1152 res, perhaps of interest to Larry) and give my partner both my Bluetooth keyboard (for iPad use) and my 2006 MBP (for the little bit of non-tablet stuff she needs to do)
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