I'm planning to buy a powerful custom-built PC for AI video creation work and gaming, likely with an RTX 5090. The problem is that many high-end builds prioritize clean interiors and multiple SSDs, while offering little room for large-capacity hard drives. Even with upgrades, I may only reach around 24TB of internal storage, which would be a major step down from my current system with two 20TB drives, an 8TB drive, and the primary storage drive.
My 360-degree video projects can range from 4TB to 30TB, so storage disappears quickly. I'm hesitant to rely on external SSDs because one previously became read-only without warning, making me nervous about keeping valuable files on external devices. I'd prefer to purchase a custom-built system rather than assemble one myself. My target budget is around $10,000, though I could spend more if the additional cost is worthwhile.
What would be the best way to configure this kind of workstation? Should I look for a case with more drive bays, use a PCIe storage expansion card, or build a separate NAS or DAS? Are there particular system builders or storage brands worth considering?
2 Answers
You can also add several NVMe drives with a PCIe expansion card. These cards fit into a PCIe slot and commonly provide four additional M.2 slots; products such as the Sabrent EC-P4BF are one example. Just make sure the motherboard, PCIe lane layout, GPU placement, and cooling are compatible, since a large graphics card can block slots or reduce the available bandwidth. For tens of terabytes of video files, I’d still keep a separate backup rather than treating the internal drives as the only copy.
A separate NAS or DAS may be the most practical solution. It lets the main workstation focus on the GPU, cooling, and fast project storage while providing room for multiple high-capacity drives. A NAS also makes it easier to manage backups and protect important footage instead of keeping everything in one computer. If you want the storage physically connected and mostly dedicated to one workstation, a DAS could be simpler than a networked NAS.
My budget is preferably under $10,000, although I could spend more if a higher-end storage setup would be worthwhile.