The Components You Would Use...

Let's take a senario...

Say that you had funds available to spend as much as it takes on a new workstation. You can't buy a Supercomputer or anything , but you can spend anywhere up to $20,000.

I have a vision problem that prevents me from building the system myself. So, I would be buying from www.gamepc.com, www.overdrivepc.com, or such. I actually don't do gaming in the sense that all of you think of, but the gaming system builders seem to be able to build the best systems. If you have an alternate system builder to recommend, please feel free to do so. ...just looking to get the best performance possible.

Anyway, what I'd like to hear is the components you would use to build the system. The system will be used for multimedia software development, video editing/conversion, audio editing/conversion, multi-tasking, etc. I had thought to get the forthcoming quad-core Xeon processors. Get two of those in a workstation for an 8-core system. However, then I started to wonder if it would be better to get the quad-core Xtreme Edition instead, overclocked from Overdrive PC. One other requirement for the system is very large disk space: >= 5 TB. So, I would probably be using the 750 GB Seagate drives. I'd thought about getting two Raptors in a RAID 0 array for C (to benefit from the speed on the OS drive), but that would be giving up two drive bays for very little space, where I could use them for the 750s.

So... This is some to go on. What do you all think would be the best components to use in this case?

i posted something similar a while ago, and was told i am gay.

If I needed 5 TB, I wouldn't mess around with internal drives. Get yourself some Lacie Big Disks. Here's a 2 TB solution. They make 2.5 TB, but they 2.5x as expensive as the 2 TB models.

Also, the performance on the 750GB internals not as good as the similar lower capacitiy drives. Just so you know.

Maybe you could get one of each? The Lacies is pretty small. You'll be hard-pressed to find a single-item solution within your price range. Beyond 3TB you get into the server-level range.

Something like that would be complicated. Plus you will need a room and a good HVAC system.