Help wiht HDD'S

[coryburgess]

Okay so this is my build:

* IC2D - E7200 Wolfdale 2.53 GHz
* OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
* Antec NSK6580 Black/ Silver 0.8mm cold-rolled steel construction ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply
* MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR

*GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337

Should(can) I get 2 of these HDD's and put them in Raid 0 just for the OS and Antivirus
Western Digital Caviar SE WD400JD 40GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144173

OR Should I just get 1 Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache
For the OS and Antivirus?

I will be running VISTA ULTIMATE - Do i need to partiation for swap files and junk?? ( I'm not exactly sure what that means?)

I am also getting this for software, data and media
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Can I just get the 640GB and partition it, or is it better to have OS on separate HDD?

Please help with all of these questions? Also, could i just get 40gb for OS and anti-virus?

ughhh???...sighhh...LOL!

 

[p0isonapple]

I hear alot of people say that it is better to have the OS on one smaller HDD as you have suggested, however i'm not to sure to be honest so I will also be keeping watch here.

 

[f1nal_0men]

In most cases, a single small, but fast, harddrive is best. Raid0 isn't a bad idea, but I do recommend from staying away from your 80GB Sata drives. You need something a little faster as an OS drive. In most cases, the bigger the harddrive the faster, usually because it has more read heads/platters, data density is greater, and more cache, all lead to a faster harddrive. I run 2x WD 2500AAKS in raid0, and it feels faster then a single raptor. I can't say it is faster because I didn't run any fancy benchmarks to prove it.
My advice would be to grab, or two in raid0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136161
Also, as far as pagefile partition and all that junk will only apply if it's placed on a completely different harddrive, not just an isolated section of the same drive. And never partition a raid array, your performance will suffer.

 

[geotech]

Get a 160GB Hdd, Partition it into two 80Gbs' USe half for OS and Applications and mirror it with the other half for backup purposes. Use a 640GB for general storage.
Raid is cool, saves a few seconds loading time but a partition/backup will save you in the event of a failed hdd.