2-RAID HDD vs. 1IDE HDD at 2x the size

[Guest]

I plan to build my first pc over the next few weeks and would like some advise.
I am deciding wether to buy a 40gig IBM 60GXP 7200 hard drive or 2 20gig hard drives of the same type in RAID. my main concern is the cost diffrence between the two, as i am extremely limmited in money.I am planning on putting the HD in the new Nforce boards when they come out, with an AMD 1.4Mhz cpu w/266fsb and a new plexor cd-rw.I plan on using the new pc mainly for intense gaming, and would like to know if the performance increase is worth the extra money.
I am farily new to this and would appreciate any advise anyone could give me.

 

[mbetea]

well, i'm sure whatever board you get will have ata100 onboard. so really i would say you wouldn't need a raid for gaming. i run my 40gb 60gxp deskstar off a pci ata100 controller, and that was more than enough for q3. if gaming is going to be your main thing, i'd sink the cash into the graphics card, then memory before a raid.

CPUs are like testicles, every computer should have 2!

 

[mark_h]

take mbeteas advice there
raid 0 wont make a great deal of difference to a gaming rig
get the best graphics card you can afford even if you have to downgrade the cpu to keep in your budget!!!