need advice on somewhat complex build

[xleo]

Hi!

I am a soon to graduate IT student who likes to mess with everything related to IT, so I do not have one need but my needs change from time to time depending on general mood and circumstance but I also have some specific goals.

Some of my usage:
1)Digital photography and image processing of RAW formats, so that means working with 10Mb + photos at a time or bunch of them at a time.

2) Some video editing and rendering

3) Dual boot xp sp 3 with bunch of linix distros (not sure if its a feasable solution to have a separate harddisk for my linux messing around with distros and booting from that different drive whenever I am going to mess around with linux. That way I keep my linux distros testing seperate from my windows xp and ubuntu dual boot process.

4) Running tests of VOIP/WEB servers with linux.

5) Gaming

So I was thinking of having a Solid State Disk as my main boot drive for my XP where gaming and processing is occurring, having 2 separate disks with RAID 1 as my permanent storage space for backed up photos etc. And an extra drive either for testing of linux distros or general space that isnt as important as permanent.

My main delima is I use mac os x religiously for my day to day activities but found that I use a bunch of software and games that I cannot use on my mac. So Im not sure if its worth it to just save up for a Mac Pro or build an over clocked quad core. Or If I should wait for Corei7 prices to go down.

But my main question and forgive me if Im repeating what I mentioned above, but is it feasible to have a separate hardisks working with RAID 1 while I have others that are not.

-EDIT- budget can be anywhere from 800-1600

Also anybody have any experiences with SSD's

thanks!

leo

 

[slomo4sho]

Since your usage is so vast, you might actually take advantage of the core i7s that are to be released by the end of this month. The i7 920 would be right in your budget. I would highly recommend converting to Vista 64 from XP if you plan on going with the i7.

 

[Zecow]

Dual boot is a hassel...I'd just use VMware... I'm running OSX and Linux and test servers on VMware....

 

[z999]

from vista TO XP??? going w/ nehalem means at least 4GB of RAM and probably increasing that later, also, 64bit is important for image/video editing.

 

[zenmaster]

Dual boot is a hassel...I'd just use VMware... I'm running OSX and Linux and test servers on VMware....

Your $800-$1600 Budget is not goning to Fit Nehalem very well for a while.
SSDs are also not a great option in your price range.
The lower priced ones have quite a few quirks that kill performance in real-world situations.
You would be looking at perhaps an Intel SSD - but they start at about $500.
Again, not in your price range.

A Quad-Core Processor with 8GB of RAM for VMs and Multiple HDDs.

Here is a quick list with estimated prices to give you a brief outline.
You can likely beat every price listed with careful shopping.

Intel P45 Mobo (I like Gigabyte/Asus) - $100
Q6600 Processor - $180
CPU Cooler - $30
8GB DDR2 - $100
Decent Case & PSU - $120
4850 - $150
(2) WD 640 HDD - $150
=============================
Total $830

Depending on Budget, upgrading the CPU to the Q9550 is an option.
Upgrading the GPU for Gaming is an Option

 

[xleo]

Budget is not a real factor as long as I justify it to my self, I do not like spending 1300 on something when I can pay 650 more for better parts.

It might be a good idea to wait until prices go down or to start of next year.

I am curious why do some motherboards have 2 ethernet ports and what might be good applications for it.

Is it feasible to use two connections from my router and combine them for more bandwidth? Or would I need two seperate ISP's.