New Computer Build

[NoPeace]

So far I have:


Shop at zipzoomfly or newegg.
Get a different MoBo.
Get two 250GB/320GB Seagate Harddrives.


So I have a couple of questions:

What would be the optimal MoBo? I want socket 775, 4 Ram Dimms, two PCI-Express (for SLI at later date), Wireless card slot would be great (I know some include them), Good onboard sound would be great. Would you guys suggest what you think would be best for these requests?

Also, I have never set up harddrives in Raid mode- What will I need to do/buy?

Thanks guys.

680i chipset boards.

They cost about $250 and they support SLI (Dual and Tri), have great intergraded audio (all nForce boards do), and an avaliable PCI-Ex 1x slot and a PCI slot for wireless cards, and is the best performing board for the C2D's.

EVGA 122-CK-NF68 nForce 680i SLI Socket 775 1333MHz DDR2 - 1200 Motherboard Retail at ZipZoomfly is the board I would recommend getting. Though there are 2 cheaper versions of it that are not as good with overclocking. So you can take a look at them if you don't wish to venture down the OC road.

And for RAID. Forget about it. It's a pain in the arse to setup for not much of a performance boost. You'll get some better load times in Windows and that's just about it.

2 GB DDR2 800 MHz Ram 169.99

Hmm. What does the "800MHz" do for ram? lol

That's the speed at which they opperate and send data between the system. High it is the faster it typically is. There's others factors to consider like timmings but that's the major jist of it.

if you want a good 775 board, go with an ASUS or gigabyte DSP.

Forget ASUS with SLI. Their SLI boards are to overpriced. Nearly doubled the price of the standard ones by nVidia OEMs. ANd I would trust EVGA and BFG any day before I would trust ASUS.

NoPeace - out

[metalkobra]

And for RAID. Forget about it. It's a pain in the arse to setup for not much of a performance boost. You'll get some better load times in Windows and that's just about it.

Thats a crock. if you have some great drives, you will see all around performance and its not a pain to set up wtf are you kidding me? slipstream drivers wee, thats such a pain -_-, I use RAID and it was a smart decision, its not just faster load times in windows, it will give everything a performance boost.

o_O ASUS is one of the best board manufacturers out there. wtf. sounds like when people say maxtor drives suck, they dont you must've had some bad ASUS experiences or something.

[Rishwin]

Thats a crock. if you have some great drives, you will see all around performance and its not a pain to set up wtf are you kidding me? slipstream drivers wee, thats such a pain -_-, I use RAID and it was a smart decision, its not just faster load times in windows, it will give everything a performance boost.

o_O ASUS is one of the best board manufacturers out there. wtf. sounds like when people say maxtor drives suck, they dont you must've had some bad ASUS experiences or something.

he said they were overpriced, he didn't say they were bad.

[viperuws]

On the topic of raid...if it is HARDWARE controlled raid...it is worth it and will give a fairly large boost to loading everything including games. MMO's get information loaded from the HD onto ram a lot for example. If you use raid and use SOFTWARE control...don't bother. But with raid come a chance of loss of data or breaking one of the drives. That's why raid 5 is the best choice.

Asus is a great company and should always be considered when buying computer parts.

[metalkobra]

he said they were overpriced, he didn't say they were bad.

the way he worded it confused me then cause i had a wtf m8 feel lawl.

[NoPeace]

Thats a crock. if you have some great drives, you will see all around performance and its not a pain to set up wtf are you kidding me? slipstream drivers wee, thats such a pain -_-, I use RAID and it was a smart decision, its not just faster load times in windows, it will give everything a performance boost.

Yes... Loading drivers onto a floopy and praying they work when boot the floopy when you are setting up windows.

I've set up tons of RAID configurations and they have all been a pain. Both SATA and IDE setups.

o_O ASUS is one of the best board manufacturers out there. wtf. sounds like when people say maxtor drives suck, they dont you must've had some bad ASUS experiences or something.

I argue on the best. Their customer support is crap. And the ammount of DOA boards I've seen from them gives me little trust. Not to metion they are very over priced.

Do they perform well? Sure they do when they work. But for less money you can get yourself a DFI board which is vastly superior. So then whats the point of getting ASUS?

And for Maxtor. I have used tons of Maxtor drives. They used to be the onlything I would buy. All of my IDE drives are Maxtor but after reading about how bad their SATA drives are and actually seeing it for myself leads me to think that their SATA drives are crap.

And nearly all of what I say and recommond is out of experience.

NoPeace - out

[metalkobra]

Thats why you dont use a floppy...you slipstream the drivers onto an XP cd with nlite and no problems >_>

I own a DFI and Ive had an asus, never had a problem with either :P

[NoPeace]

Thats why you dont use a floppy...you slipstream the drivers onto an XP cd with nlite and no problems >_>

I own a DFI and Ive had an asus, never had a problem with either :P

Yes but when you are using freash OEM copies of Windows you don't have that luxery. You'll have to do it via the floopy route.

NoPeace - out

[Sardaukar]

Actually.. the good part with running an onboard SATA plug, using PhoenixBIOS for Sata (Silicon control) it runs -very- easily on my own motherboard.. A8N-SLI Deluxe... THe software comes on a CD to load it up.. and its as easy as setting up windows.


TO be honest though, Its easier to just stick with a single 150GB WD Raptor if you want fast boot up times/performance gains.. and go find yourself dual 250/320's .. or just wait anotehr quarter when (Maxtor>) Releases the new 1 TB drives that will be cheaper then Seagates 750gig drives.. which will force price drops, and then you can afford two 500 GB with ease.. planning ahead is essential in the computer building industry :-)


Oh, and if you want a stable system, definatly don't do Raid-0, as above.. jsut stick with a single 10000 RPM drive and youll be good. I havent had any problems on my own setup yet, but I've seen people get fubared and have problems up the yin-yang with their own systems.

[NoPeace]

10k RPM drivers good. Better then most RAID setups but it's expensive and lacks storage. =P

Though it's hassle free and you can always get cheap drivers as backups.

NoPeace - out

[Sardaukar]

god yes they are expensive! It's about 250 bucks for a 150gig WD Raptor, as opposed to a 500gig drive for about 160-170 on average with 16mb buffer, 7200rpm

[metalkobra]

ive got 2x36gb raptors in raid 0 :winky:

[NoPeace]

god yes they are expensive! It's about 250 bucks for a 150gig WD Raptor, as opposed to a 500gig drive for about 160-170 on average with 16mb buffer, 7200rpm

$250! Where! Last time I check they were well over $300. >.<

If they are that cheap for the 150gigs I would so get one. =P

And yeah 500gigs are cheap now. Though I think the best bangs are the 250 w/ 16mb of chache at about $85. Get a few of thoes and setup a RAID 5 array and it'll be blazing fast. If you want to go with the hassle that is. O.O

ive got 2x36gb raptors in raid 0 :winky:

Lol.... Install Vista and 30% of your storage is gone. =P

Then install FSX and another 20% will be gone. :icon6:

NoPeace - out

[Sardaukar]

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM at ZipZoomfly

$255.50 with an included cable bundle ;)


For the Americas anyway.. Im tempted to ditch my dual's in RAID-0 and throw them into an old computer.. then get one of these and just keep it nice, simple, and error free ;)

[metalkobra]

do you know of any raptor reviews comparing the 150gb raptor to two 36 and 74s in raid 0? im curious to see if the 150 is better.