PC-3000. Best PC configuration for ACE Lab products in 2024

Recently, users have been asking about the most comfortable hardware configuration for using PC-3000 Portable PRO, PC-3000 Flash, PC-3000 Express, PC-3000 UDMA-E. A lot of engineers are still working on computers with Core i5 2400 and 4GB of RAM, but this configuration is outdated and if you want to recover huge NAND Flash cases with 64-512Gb capacity, or working with complicated RAID configuration, you should get faster Personal Computer. We decided to compile a short list of configurations of different price categories, which should be enough for any complicated case.

Intel CPU based on latest architectures like GEN 8-14  provide a high performance. At the same time in 2017 new generation of AMD CPU has been released. New AMD ZEN micro-architecture become very powerful, and it allows working even with the most complicated cases like Flash, HDD and RAID recovery. We strongly recommend to pay attention to Ryzen CPUs – they become much better than previous generation – AMD FX which were not so good

Ryzen 2 from 2019 become a real surprise for all – AMD boost the performance for 20-25% in compare with Ryzen 2017! That’s why ACE Lab also recommend to pay attention to Ryzen 2d GEN 3xxx family, 3d GEN 5xxx and 4th GEN 7xxx – it’s a really great  CPUs.

Finally, we can compare the models of CPU like:

• Intel Celeron (2 cores / 2 thread) = AMD Athlon (2 cores / 4 thread) LOW-END

• Intel Pentium (2 cores / 4 thread) = AMD Ryzen 3  (4 cores / 4 thread)  LOW-MID

• Intel Core i3 (4 cores / 8 thread) = AMD Ryzen 5  (4 cores / 8 thread) MIDDLE-END

• Intel Core i5 (6 cores / 12 thread) = AMD Ryzen 5 (6 cores / 12 thread) PERFOMANCE

• Intel Core i7 (20 cores / 28 thread) = AMD Ryzen 7  (8 cores / 16 thread) HIGH-END

• Intel Core i9 (24 cores /32 thread) = AMD Ryzen 9  (16 cores / 32 thread) = I SAW YOU IN MY DREAM

A few words about Intel Xeon CPU. If you have a lot of money, you can use it. Usually, Xeon CPU has a lot of physical cores and logical threats, but at the same time, their frequency is usually lower than in Core i5 or i7 models. It means that final speed in common PC-3000 tasks would be lower on Xeon with 2.2GHz 16 cores, than in Core i5 with 3.5GHZ 4 cores. That’s why we always recommend buying a common desktop configuration and do not spend too much money on server configurations.

PLEASE NOTE that PC-3000 does not officially support workstations \ servers hardware and software parts (Like Intel Xeon, Windows Server and etc). Problems in software stability might raise randomly, so you will use such configurations at your own risk!

And of course about Windows OS – right now PC-3000 software supports the following OS:

• Windows 7 (32/64 bit)
• Windows 8 (32/64 bit)
• Windows 8.1 (32/64 bit)
• Windows 10 (32/64 bit)
• Windows 11 (64 bit) – with disabled Secure Boot and Core Isolation

Please pay attention to Secure Boot settings in your UEFI/BIOS settings. Secure Boot must be switched off for a correct PC-3000 functionality.

For Windows 11 it’s also important to disable Vulnerable Driver Blocklist:

Also, it’s recommended to use English language packs because we are not testing the software in other Windows language packs. Correct work of all announced features is 100% guaranteed in the English language only.

Low-Middle configuration on AMD ~300$ (MINIMAL RECOMMENDED)

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 4.2 GHz (6-cores\12-threads);
• Motherboard on AMD B450 chipset and AM4 socket;
• 1 module of 16Gb RAM DDR4 3200MHz;
• 1Tb HDD;
• Power Supply – 550 Watt;
• Windows 10 64-bit with turn-off UAC;
  

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Middle-range configuration on Intel ~400$ (NORMAL)

• Intel Core i5-12400 4.8 GHz (6-cores\12-threads);
• Motherboard with LGA-1700 socket;
• 1 module of 16Gb RAM DDR5;
• SSD for OS and HDD for data storing and task imaging;
• Power Supply – 600 Watt;
• Windows 10 64-bit with turn-off UAC;
  

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Middle-range configuration on AMD ~400$ (NORMAL)

• AMD Ryzen 5 7500F 5.0 GHz (6-cores\12-threads);
• Motherboard with AM5 socket;
• 32GB RAM DDR5;
• SSD for OS and HDD for data storing and task imaging;
• Power Supply – 600 Watt;
• Windows 10 64-bit with turn-off UAC;
  

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Performance-range configuration on Intel ~700$ (FAST)

• Intel Core i7-13700 5.2 GHz (16-cores\24-threads);
• Motherboard with LGA-1700 socket;
• 1 module of 32GB DDR5;
• SSD for OS and HDD for data storing and task imaging;
• Power Supply – 600Watt;
• Windows 10 64-bit with turn-off UAC;
  

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Performance-range configuration on AMD ~700$ (FAST)

• AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.8 GHz (8-cores\16-threats);
• Motherboard with AM5 socket;
• 1 module of 32Gb RAM
• SSD for OS and HDD for data storing and task imaging;
• Power Supply – 850Watt;
• Windows 10 64-bit with turn-off UAC;

High-range configuration on Intel ~1000$ (ON THE FLY)

• Intel Core i9-14900 5.2 Ghz (24-cores\32-threats);
• Motherboard with LGA-1700 socket;
• 1 module 32GB RAM DDR5;
• SSD for OS and HDD for data storing and task imaging;
• Power Supply – 850 Watt;
• Windows 10 64-bit with turn-off UAC;

High-range configuration on AMD ~1000$ (ON THE FLY)

• AMD Ryzen 9 7950x 5.7 GHz (16-cores\32-threats);
• Motherboard with AM5 socket;
• 1 module 32GB RAM DDR5;
• SSD for OS and HDD for data storing and task imaging;
• Power Supply – 850Watt;
• Windows 10 64-bit with turn-off UAC;
  

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What about necessary software? We recommend installing on your PC a couple of useful software products for opening the most popular file types. Sometimes, when you are working with RAW Recovery on your Flash or HDD cases, you will need to open files to check – are they workable or not. Here is the list of recommended software programs, that should be installed on your working machine:

• Open Office (or MS Office) – for opening office files;
• 7Zip or WinRar – for opening compressed files;
• K-Lite Codec pack – for opening movies and other video files;
• Apple Quick Time – for opening some specific .MOV files;
• Adobe Acrobat Reader – for opening PDF;
• XnView – for opening RAW and CR2 pictures (not required for Windows 10!!!);

UPDATE 1: Also, don’t forget that MINIMAL resolution of your Display should be 1280×1024, but we recommend using FullHD displays with 1920×1080 resolution. 

UPDATE 2: PC-3000 boards rev.2 require a SATA power supply connection. Check that your PC Power supply unit has SATA power cables. PC-3000 express board should be powered by two such SATA cables.

UPDATE 4: For PC-3000 Portable III and Portable PRO we can recommend using a powerful PC based on 6-cores CPU with at least 16GB of RAM.

But also, it’s possible to use a laptop configuration with the following (similar or higher) specs:

• CPU: with 6 physical cores (Core i7 8750H and above or AMD Ryzen 5 5500U and above). CPU with 4 physical cores (Core i5/Ryzen 3) are also acceptable;
• RAM: 16GB;
• Display: Full HD 1920×1080 resolution;
• USB 3.0 interface is required! PC-3000 Portable III doesn’t work with USB 2.0!
• Windows 10 PRO as the main OS.