The ideal hardware setup / arrangement for After Effects?

Question

Hello there,
Looking to buy some new hardware and am hoping to find some advice on the ideal hardware config for making After Effects scream. I find this questions is sorely lacking answers on the Internet beyond the basics of 'boot from an SSD' and the like... So I am hoping someone can answer these questions once and for all.
Two things I am after:
1. Fast working performance in AE. So when I move a layer about I am able to see it move smoothly in real-time as I drag it about with my mouse. Right now I get either stuttered movement when moving larger layers about, or the image begins to pixelate/drop res to such a horrible extent that I can not see what I am doing. The problem extends to when I am working with a large project file, with many layers, I get nasty lag when attempting to move about in the timeline, opening comps, etc. Everything starts to move quite slowly once I go past a certain number of layers. What upgrades will speed this element, the day to day working rather than rendering, up the most?
2. Faster rendering. Though this is not as key as point number 1.
I am guessing this performance will he helped by a beefier graphics card and more/faster RAM? I currently have a GTX 660ti 2GB and am upgrading to a GTX980 4GB, so hoping that will improve this.
I also have 64 GB of 1600 speed ram that AE happily consumes so think that base is covered. My CPU is a 3930k that is slightly overclocked. It gets maxed out when multicore rendering is happening but not otherwise. I've heard turning hyperthreading off in the BIOS can actually help AE performance?
I am booting/running AE from an SSD (Samsung 840 Pro), and have set my media cache to another dedicated SSD (Samsung 840 Pro). I run/keep my project files on yet another SSD and have other drives holing media.
My drive config plan is this:
- Boot from one 240GB SSD.
- Project files and current working media on 2x 1TB SSDs in RAID 0 (backed up)
- Further media storage on 2x 3TB HDDs in RAID 0 (backed up)
Now I am wondering if I can simply use the 2TB of SSD goodness as both the location for my AE media cache AND my project files/working media? Or am I better off having three fast and seperate storage locations? 1 for the boot, 2 for the project files and media, 3 for the cache?
Otherwise I am running AE on a Hackintosh 3930k CPU overclocked slightly, 64 GB RAM, Sabertooth X79 mobo, 660ti graphics card.
All comments/advice links much appreciated. Apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere but I have yet to find a detailed response and only generalized comments such as 'use a fast drive for your media cache.'
What I would really like to know is the BEST drive configuration, the questioned detailed above...And what will increase the speed and quality of my real-time workflow in AE the most. Quickly navigating projects without lag, opening detailed comps with many layers, and moving large images around without lag or pixelation.
Thank you!

Answer 1

for After Effects advice, Eric on the forum here can give you the best info. However, I have seen him say many times that AE is MEMORY INTENSIVE,....the more, the better. You HAVE 64GB...that seems very adequate for most workflows.
The OTHER thing he says is that other than Ray-Tracing, the GPU is HARDLY used at all.....CPU speed and number of cores are a BIG factor in AE performance.....your 3930k overclocked should be adequate....the MORE OC, the BETTER.
Next is the drive system....you have NOT described EXACTLY what you are doing NOW....you mentioned what your PLAN is,but for , right NOW you said : " I run/keep my project files on yet another SSD and have other drives holing media.  "
HERE is where you MAY be doing something that may....or may NOT.....be causing slowdowns.   With AE it is RECOMMENDED to use a dedicated drive  for the "Global Performance Cache"...the HIGHER the speed of this drive, the BETTER, as AE STORES already "rendered" frames, ( for "previews", of course), on it so it DOESN"T have to RE-RENDER ALL the frames all over again every time you make a change to your work !!! So, in YOUR case : your OS drive is great...Samsung Pro models are the BEST...you have the 840 Pro ,which is only SLIGHTLY behind the 850 Pro in performance. ANOTHER 840,or, 850 Pro would be GREAT as the " Global performance cache drive" AND would also be the place to put ALL previews,Cache files, media cache files for Premier Pro,too. The overall speed and less latency of the SATAIII SSD will surpass the performance of a 2 disk  RAID 0....even a 3 disk RAID 0.
Next....the speed at which you SERVE UP the video files can be important in preventing a slowdown.....ESPECIALLY if using large, uncompressed files. Here, you have options.....it is NOT necessary to put your project files on a SEPARATE drive from your media...you just want to make sure that the drive with your media and project files is as fast as the OTHERS in your system ! SO, you COULD use a THIRD SSD as a "working drive" for ACTIVE projects only.....a 1TB SSD perhaps...Crucial M550 is CHEAPER than the Samsung and as good as the 840 pros. As the CAPACITY of SSDs are small...you would MOVE all media and completed project files to HDDs for archiving and storage....the use of RAID with your existing HDDs would NOT be needed for this function.
Another option would be to take FOUR quality 1TB HDDs...( the Seagates are selling for $44 right now), and create a RAID 0 off the motherboard to have a large 4TB capacity AND speed similar to the SSDs!   WARNING !!! the odds of ONE drive failing are BIG....you would immediately lose ALL your data !! HOWEVER....if you back up that RAID 0 RELIGIOUSLY....you would have NO worries. One way to do THAT is to buy a 4TB ENTERPRISE level 7200rpm HDD....Seagate has one with a 128 MB cache that does over 200MB/sec. for just over $300.
Even with all this covered, there are MANY factors which can CHOKE a fast computer....the CODECS you are using have a HUGE bearing on performance. The VERSION of After Effects is important...NEWEST versions have the BEST performance with features like the "global performance cache", etc. The use of "third party plug-ins" can CRIPPLE a machine if these are NOT written to take advantage of "hyperthreading",OR, are "32 bit" and HUMBLE your machine because AE is NOW 64 bit!!
Make sure you have Windows fully updated and the newest drivers for your video card. Then , make sure your Windows POWER SETTINGS are set to MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE when"plugged in"....the DEFAULT Windows settings...even under "high performance" has setttings that will THROTTLE your GPU and CPU if you don't change them.....I found THAT out the hard way!
Finally, make sure , in AE settings, you have set the"memory allocation" correctly...there is a formula regarding how much to assign on a "per CPU core basis". There ALSO is a selection to make for "allowing multiple frames" to be processed...make sure THAT is set correctly.
Good luck !!     I hope this helps!