My Do-it-yourself PC

[richieaok]

After reading the article Do-it-yourself PC system, reading other reviews on this site, and reviews on some other sites I have a vague idea of what I want to put into my computer (I'm not decided on alot of things). This will be my first time building a computer and I would appreciate some input if you can think of better components to meet my needs.

Foremost I want a computer with a good price to performance ratio. This is not the only factor though. A good price/performance ratio considering all the stuff I want. It should be easy to work with, upgradable, overclockable, have quality accesories, and be stylish. I don't have a excedingly big budget to do this. So, the price would need to be under $1,500 after purchashing a operating system, monitor and printer (including shipping and handling and tax if I go to a local store). These are all costs that have not been included in the $995 total for the Do-it-yourself pc. So far this is what I'm considering getting along with an eloboration on my choice (elobrations are from reviews I've read) and some questions on it.

motherboard: IWILL KK266 or IWILL KK266-R

It has excellent overclocking abilites, 6 PCI slots (for uprgradeability), decent integrated sound (it dosen't drain the processor like AC97 sound), and a better price/performance ratio then the Asus A7V.

I wonder if it would be worth it to spend a bit more to get the IWILL board with RAID? From what I've heard it seems questionable. With RAID level 0 and 2 hard-drives I can get better performance at the cost of reliability. As far as I know RAID 1 gives better reliabity but no improvement in performance. It works by using redundant information meaning it makes 2 copies of information, one on each hard drive. This would effectively double the cost per megabyte of storage (bad). I don't know what benifit RAID level 10 would have so tell me if you know.

CPU: AMD Athlon 850MHz

Last time I checked this had the best price to performance ratio. Have the recent price drops become widely available yet? Is there a copper version available at this speed? Should I get OEM or retail boxed version considering my needs? I've read that OEM's are suppose to be of lower quality but they are much cheaper. Any suggestions?

System Memory: 256MB PC 133 SDRAM

What brands are know for reliablity and good pricing?

Case: AMK 292-3333 ($99)

I know this case is more expensive then the standard ATX Mid Tower that was suggested but it has alot of features that seem worth it. It's built for overclocking with 4 internal 3 inch fans. It also has alot of user friendly features (like no sharp edges to cut your hands on). Finally it looks cool with the transparent black borders around the drives. I have a big black computer desk so it will match with it. Visit http://www.amkcomputers.bc.ca/custom_case.htm to find out what I mean.

Monitor: Optiquest Q95 (about $250)

Optiquest is an OEM of Viewsonic with 19" viewable, .26dpi and 1600x1200 max. resolution.

Miscellenous:

I also plan on getting a generic $8 floppy drive, $55 Microsoft natural keyboard pro, and a $10-$20 (OEM) Microsoft intellimouse.

That's basically what I have a idea on getting. For any other components I'll just default to what was recommended in the do-it-yourself article for now (for the ones listed there that is). I will buy some parts locally (here in Milwaukee Wisconsin) so I dont have to wait for it to ship to my house and so I know for sure what I'm getting. I know that for online purchases I should try to purchase as many components as possible from one store in order to save on shipping costs. Is their any other tips you have for me? I would appreciate some input on the system I'm planning on building.

~Richieaok

 

[Shocwavez]

well, your setup looks good, you sound like you know your stuff. All I can add to suggest is make sure you get a good heatsink/fan for your Athlon(for overclocking). Go with raid if you're hung up on super speed(not necessary in my opinion) For the memory: Crucial(micron) is one of the best. One last thing, go with at least 350W power supply for Athlon systems.

:tongue: <font color=green> I LOVE INTEL. It tastes like chicken </font color=green>

 

[FUGGER]

You should consider a P3 800E and Abit BX133-RAID mobo.
Overclocks to 1Ghz, very stable, 100% compatable (unlike AMD), CPU will not destroy itself (ask grizely1 to show you his keychain AMD), no guess work about compatability with parts. best of all it will cost the same money in the end.

But if you want a disposable AMD processor, go for it. you get what you pay for.

You will be much happier with Intel.

 

[Shocwavez]

CPU's don't destroy themselves, ignorant people destroy them.

:tongue: <font color=green> I LOVE INTEL. It tastes like chicken </font color=green>

 

[khha4113]

<b>System Memory: 256MB PC 133 SDRAM

What brands are know for reliablity and good pricing?</b>
Crucial (http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?model=KK266&x=16&y=21). BTW, Crucial memory comes with Free Shipping.

 

[richieaok]

That's right shocwavez, I forgot about cooling the Athlon for overclocking. The Noise control Silverado along with some Artic Silver II thermal paste would be a good combination. Ableit expensive so I'll have to think about it. Crucial seems like they would be good for the memory. I just read another post that also recommended them because of free shipping. By default the AMK 292-3333 case comes with a 300W power supply but I'm certain I could get a 350W instead as an option (AMK specializes in customized cases).

In response to FUGGER I'll take your suggestion into consideration. I doubt that someone would show so much resentment for something (AMD) without it having "some" basis in reality. I'll still probably go with AMD though.

~Richieaok

 

[Guest]

Your system will be so cool

I have a Athlon 800 and i LOOOOVE it
soo fast its unreal

My neighbour just built a 850 Athlon
he loves it

Go with the 850 Athlon or maybe 900, depending on price

 

[slvr_phoenix]

It sounds pretty good. I have only a few comments.

1) Go with a Retail CPU. It'll probably cost a little more, but the quality is better. If you're going to overclock it's definately worth it. And even if you aren't, it's still more likely to be a dependable chip.

2) Avoid DDR SDRAM systems or the Athlon-C. Right now it's looking like these things are faulty.

3) If you can, go with a better monitor. Everything about it sounded great except the dot pitch. It doesn't sound like much, but I notice a DEFINITE quality difference between my .26 dot pitch monitor at home and my .24 dot pitch monitor at work. The pixels are just more vibrant and less pixelated. It makes text a LOT easier to read and makes graphics look just that much better. But quality costs money, so if there is one area that you can skimp on and still have a great system, this is probably it.

4) Everyone is right about the RAM.

5) If you want to watch DVDs on your system, go with a RADEON video card. If you want to play 3D games, go with a GeForce2 Utlra. A video card means a lot more than the CPU for these sorts of things.

6) Not all RAID motherboards have to be used for RAID. Having the possability of 8 IDE devices is pretty cool. Just make sure if you go this route that the motherboard supports the IDE controllers even without RAID enabled.

7) Full tower cases are great. Plenty of room to toss in more drives when you have the chance. You used to have to use SCSI to do this effectively, but now RAID mobos make it cake. And you can put more room between your drives and the hot stuff on the mainboard, as well as space out your drives so that each has proper ventilation. It can make a world of difference when components are pressed to the edges of their thermal abilities. Just remember to get those extra-long cables.

8) If going with overclocking, I don't see how the Silverado and the Arctic Silver II can't be beat. Also, even if not overclocking there is one really important advantage to the Silverado: The silver plate. Silver is soft and won't be nearly as likely to accidentally crack of an edge of your CPU when you're mounting the heat sink.

9) Definately get a 350 watt power supply. It royally sucks when your system doesn't have enough power and sometimes it can take a while to properly diagnose it as the source.

10) Make sure to get the latest drivers. Especially if you are going with a VIA motherboard.

See, ten comments isn't so bad.

- Sanity is purely based on point-of-view.

 

[Guest]

Friend running a system like that on 300 W, 300 seems plenty to me, I've seen people get away with 250.

=Quantum
AO Admin
The Dr.Twister Network
http://ao.drtwister.com

 

[JustPlainJef]

Being from North IL, I just ordered a GlobalWin FOP32 and Arctic Silver II. This place is right over the border (from me) in WI and seems to have very reasonable prices and lots of choices. Go check them out before you buy. Plus, GlobalWin has a new fan out that wasn't in the Tom's review and is supposed to be the FOP38 with a better heatsink. They are about $25 and should prove to be MORE than sufficient. Finally, I would suggest either waiting a month for the price of the GeForce Ultra to come down or purchase a 32M GeForce2 GTS. Very good card, and at least $100 cheaper. Anyway, check these guys out, go visit the website and store. www.kdcomputers.com
KD Computers
877-578-7242
262-514-4191

Good Luck!

What's a signature? Oh, those words that show up after all my comments? I don't need one of those!

 

[richieaok]

Thank you everyone for all the positive and informative posts. I've gained some insight on building my new computer. To make things clearer, I'll respond to the last 4 posts in order.

I'm glad to hear some positive feedback on Athlon based systems T-birdinside. From what I've read, it seems that the Athlon is more delicate (easier to damage) then the P3. So I'll just have to be very carefull and make sure I have a good heatsink/fan combo. Maybe I should get a temperture monitor too, in order to be safe. This may be the first computer I will be building but I think I have enough information at my fingers (from the internet) and skills to be able to put together a kick-ass Athlon system.

Hehehe.... that's more then a few suggestions slur phoenix but that's all the better! All the suggestions are appreciated but there are some in particular I'd like to address. I'll probably end up using more then 4 IDE devices (someday at least) so support for 8 would make the IWILL KK266-R worth my money. I'm still not certain though, if the mobo can use the IDE controllers on its AMI RAID chip without using RAID. I guess I might have to call or e-mail them to find out. If anyone else knows, pass it on to me. I would like to get a monitor with a better dot pitch but I think it would be out of my price range. Right now any SVGA monitor would be crisper then what I'm currently using. I'm surfing the web on my Dreamcast (if the formating is messed up in this post it's because of this fact, not me) so I get to see everything in interlaced 640 by 480 resoulution on my TV. Terrible! BTW, thanks for the advice.

So, you think a 300W power supply would be fine QuantumDTN? Does anyone else agree with this or do you think I should go with 350W+ like Slur phoenix and others suggested?

I checked out the kdcomputer website and they seem like a non BS computer store. Alot of the online stores I've visited after searching pricewatch seem like BS! They get you with hidden costs on things. That new fan you mentioned might be a good choice (Global Win WAK32? I'm not sure what it was). The Silverado is likely a better performer but it's also very expensive. Once I figure out what components I want I'll try to find out the cheapest price I can get them for (considering S&H and the reputation of the store). Then if I have enough money left in my budget (under $1500) I'll get the Silverado. Otherwise I'll consider other quality but lower priced fans like the one you just mentioned. Thanks for the store hook up. I'll probably stop by there sometime to buy some computer parts.

(edit note: The content on this post hasn't been changed except for this note I'm adding on. I edited the formatting, using my sisters computer, because it got messed up when using my Dreamcast to post. For some reason the Planetweb browser formated everything for 640 by 480 resolution. I reeaallly need to get my own computer soon!)

~Richieaok


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by richieaok on 03/08/01 10:41 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

Just my 2 cents...

I would HIGHLY recommend the Abit KT7A-raid. It is simply the best I have ever seen out of 15 or so systems I have built. I have a1.2 OEM at 1.70 so I think the worries about an OEM are false. Show me a few retail ones faster with one case fan and air cooled at that speed and I'll believe you.

Back to the abit... It supports the 266fsb and 8 ide, the BEST OC board on the market from alll that I have read. Most of the OC sites rank it as board of the year, and the stability at these speeds is flawless, I never crash at 1.5-1.6. 1.7 crashes Madonion half way through warm, but what do you expect!

I have a fop 38 and 2 (128) Mushkin rev. 3 sticks. Although I honestly don't see one BIT of difference in any and all benches between having 128 and 256 on win me. So you could get a high quality stick of mush and hold off for the second til you can afford it.

My VC is a year 1/2 old which is pathetic- hercules DDR Geforce 1- but I paid 320 for it so It's hard to just junk it and spend that much for a new card. It's perfect visually for playing games like quake3 and unreal. Only the benches show it's small weaknesses. For example I have a 9922Mad onion score w/ that card and I bought/returned a gtspro that got 11,702m/o - The old one is fast enough to be undisputed at the top of madO's chart for a ddr card- 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions. I was in the top 10 overall hanging with the ultras w/ the GTS- so I'm sure if I wanted to spend that much I might get to the top there as well.

At any rate, building is better than gateway man, so good luck with balancing the cost/perf for your needs. But the old addage always applies to comps- the more you buy now the longer you will use it happily. Do you think my computer will be too slow in 1.5 years- for my taste, yes, but new vid card upgrades are less than a system down the road.

Oh, one more thing- I have a 300w Deer PS and it obviously works great.


Screw the risks!
-Street-AMD 1450Mhz-Abit KT7A-Raid-256CL2-Fop38

 

[Guest]

I've got an OptiQuest Q95 and it's a good monitor. You didn't mention video card so couple suggestions. If you're playing games the GF2 Pro is a good card. I'm making this suggestion based on the money you're spending on your PC. The ultra costs too much compared to it's performance while a Pro can be had for about the same as a GTS, ~$160. Getting a better sound card may be worth it. The SB Live value is dirt cheap, but you didn't mention speakers. Then again, to be honest I thought I'd be blown away by 4 point sound but it's not that impressive.

 

[richieaok]

Actually Street, the Abit KT7A RAID is my second choice for motherboard. For all of the components I've picked so far I have 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and choices. I really would like the ability to have 8 IDE devices so if the KK266-R doesn't support this I will move the Abit card up to #1 on my list. I could easily use 4 devices right now: hard-drive, cd-rw, cd-rom (so I can make direct cd copies instead of copying it to my hard-drive), and a floppy drive. In the future I'll probably get a DVD drive and possibly another hard-drive.

I've read alot of conflicting views about OEM vs. Retail CPUs. You said you set up 15 systems but how many used OEM? Was it only one? I ask this because I wonder if it was luck that got you a good chip. I'm not willing to just "screw the risks!" I want to make sure that I'm getting a good chip.

I agree with you totally on building my own system. Dell, Gateway and a few other companies may have "some" decent systems but they still skimp on important components. As you probably already know they only tell you well known selling points for the system. Rarely in computer ads do you see all of whats really in the computer. If you do find a company that builds with quality components you end up paying a premium because they don't make them in mass quanities.

What IDE devices and power hungry components do you have hooked up to your computer? I'm planning on getting the AMK 292-3333 case which has alot of fans in it, at least 3 IDE devices (cd-rw, hard-drive, floppy), powerfull heatsink/fan combo, and a GeoForce 2 card. I've gotten replies from you (Street) and Quantam saying 300W worked fine but I don't know what is in your system (yeah I know you probably have a "Street-AMD 1450Mhz-Abit KT7A-Raid-256CL2-Fop3" but I mean the specifics). Thank you for your opinions. I want to read as many as I can in order to make educated and non-biased decisions on building my computer system.

~Richieaok

 

[richieaok]

I figured it would be a good monitor for my uses, Snrub, so it's nice to read that someone has the same opinion. Nice big screen and a decent dot-pitch. Plenty good for me (without breaking the bank!)

I still haven't considered what video card, sound card, hard-drive, cd-rw, speakers, printer etc. to get. I'm planning on playing games so I'll keep your suggestion for video in mind. I was considering just using the integrated sound on the KK266-R motherboard. Since sound cards are so cheap, maybe I should go ahead and get one? I really haven't researched the above mentioned components because I still haven't finalized what I want for the other stuff. It definately helps to get some opinions on them ahead of time. That way I know what to look for.

~Richieaok

 

[Guest]

A few notes on MB & ATA RAID...

The Iwill board looks like a very good choice. It's the top rated KT133A board @ Anandtech, overclocks better then Abit according to them.

ATA RAID has gotten some bad rep lately. Alot of it appears to be due to some unresolved issue with benchmarking ATA RAID with WinBench99. Check out these links:

www.storagereview.com (look for "Battle of the Titans" review of Promise Supertrak & 3ware Excalade controllers)

http://www.realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT022201021241

Draw your own conclusions. The 3ware card looks excellent, but it costs much more then the integrated solutions.

In my opinion, RAID 0 isn't worth the risk. I've seen to many drives go tits up to be willing to double (triple, quadruple, etc.) my probability of failure. But if you REALLY need the speed, go for it.

Take a look at the storagereview story though. 3ware claims about RAID 1 performance aren't just blowing smoke! The write performance is about the same as a single drive, but read performance scales very nicely with increased number of drives. Substantially better performance AND better security! Plus, it's the only ATA RAID solution well suppoorted under Linux. I'll have one in my system when I start putting it together in a few weeks.



In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.

 

[Guest]

My hog is as follows...

AMD 1.2G OEM T-bird
Abit KT7A-Raid (WW bios)
(2) 128 rev.3 Mushkin
300w generic full tower w/ Deer PS
1 old 120mm case fan I horked from a PS- blowing in
1 PCI exaust card
Guillemot/Hercules Geforce 3DProphet DDR
Maxtor 30G 7200rpm ATA100 (2 partitions)
Maxtor 40G 7200 ATA66(2 partitions)
Diamond supramax 56K modem-(no Cable or DSL here yet- FUC*in sux since my Co. will pay for it!)
Old Adaptec SCSI for ZIP drive
SB live gamer 5.1
Acer 16x DVD
Acer 8x Burner
Floppy
Viewsonic 21" G810
Altec Lansing 5-piece Digital Gamer speaks
Visioneer USB scanner
PS/2 logitech marble man mouse and logitech internet keyboard
Win ME
Norton Systemworks 2001

I usually have a TV card in also but havent gotten around to finding drivers yet.

That enough detail? As you can see I have a full house! This is not a paired down benching machine because I have one of the hard drives almost full of junk. I rarely even defrag. The two HD's and CD's are each on their own IDE channel (4 masters)

It is set to Network server- b/c I heard it was faster in mem but I can see no diff in sandra to support the claim. Also I set my swap file to 512min and max on the c: drive(ata100).

So if anyone has tips for me I'd also appreciate getting it higher!!!


Oh, to answer you about OEM-
I have NEVER bought a retail chip before so I guess I can't compare to anything but my office and friends/family.


Good Luck!

Screw the risks! -Street
-AMD 1470Mhz-Abit KT7A-Raid-256Mushrev3-Fop38

 

[richieaok]

Those links proved to have some usefull information ergeorge. I think I should just go with the IWILL KK266 (non-raid) motherboard. I don't want to downgrade the reliability of my system by using raid 0 or have to buy mulitple hard-drives for raid 1 (too costly right now). The main reason I was considering the raid version is because of the possiblity of being able to use more devices (for future upgrades). If I later want to have more then the 4 possible ATA/100 devices on the mobo, I'll consider whatever options are available by then. For now I'll stick with the KK266 since it seems to be the best motherboard for my "current" needs. I can always get RAID later in the form of an upgrade card. Performance would be better if I go that route anyways instead of getting the motherboard with integrated RAID.

~Richieaok

 

[richieaok]

That's a pretty decked out hog you got there Street . I think my case ( the AMK 292-3333 found at <A HREF="http://www.amkcomputers.bc.ca/18_292.htm " target="_new">http://www.amkcomputers.bc.ca/18_292.htm </A> ) is suppose to even come with the same power supply unit.

Deer Can-USA 300 watt ATX LC-300ATX (stock unit on most AMK cases)

+3.3 volts 14A
+5 volts 25A
-5 volts 0.5 A
+12 volts 10A
-12 volts 0.5 A
+5 volts SB 1 A
4 4 pin Molex power connectors
1 floppy power connectors

So I should be ok then with the cases default power supply. Just so you know, the other option I was considering was the Enermax EG351P-VE 330Watt ATX PS w/2nd fan (The specs for this PSU can be found by searching through <A HREF="http://www.maxpoint.com/product1.htm " target="_new">http://www.maxpoint.com/product1.htm </A>).

You put 15 systems together, with OEM Athlons, without any problems? In that case, I should seriously consider buying an OEM Athlon T-bird.

~Richieaok

 

[Guest]

I definely am. The only probs in the past would be from the MB.

For example... I bought a Gigabyte DDR board a few weeks ago to see what the DDR could really do head to head w/ the same processor, fan and other components.

I had 256M of DDR2100 w/ my proc running at over 133 FSB. I had 15 PROBLEMS with that board!!!!! I couldn't believe it. As far as I'm concerned it was complete junk. If I have ONE problem w/ a board it goes back. BUT 15 Friggin things.

Not to mention the benches sucked next to the Abit board. I have my data at home if anyone wants sandra #'s

The board is just as important as the proc- so choose wisely!

Screw the risks! -Street
-AMD 1470Mhz-Abit KT7A-Raid-256Mushrev3-Fop38

 

[richieaok]

Ok, I'll be sure to remember that Street. 15 things wrong when using that motherboard, damn! I think I should be fine with the IWILL KK266 though. It has gotten some good reviews.

~Richieaok

 

[Guest]

look, you can have a better system with your money, see this:
*amd athlon tbrd 1000mhz.(it go's to 1250mhz+ when overclock).
*Abit kt7a raid.(very good mbd for overclocking).
*a 256 mb of pc133 sdram.
*An IBM deskstar 45gb hard disk with udma/100 and 7200rpm.
*a creative labs 12x dvd.(not the encore 12x cause it's expenssive).
*a leadteck geforce 2 gts 32mb DDR.(Very good performance and very low price).
*a sound blaster live! platinum 5.1.(the best sound blaster ever).
*Speakersesktop Theatre 5.1 ddt 200 6 speakers system with subwoofer.(it's a litle expensive you can change it).
*And some fan's for your case and your cpu.
AND the rest of your choice.

 

[jeffg007]

I have to agree with street! I have the abit kt7-raid board with t-bird 700@850 and it kicks! I want to get the abit kt7a-raid and a 1000 and see how high I can over clock useing the front side bus. The only thing to get right is the bios setting. Sometimes when makeing a change on the abit board you can't boot no more. Just rest set the jumpers on the board and it goes back to the default settings. Just remember what you did last and don't do it again. Once you get the settings in the bios right the board really flys.

I do run raid 0 with 2 ibm 30gig deskstar and it is super fast. When I click on an icon to load a program it is instantly fast. No waiting 2-3secs, more like 1/2sec.

Do I really need that? No but just to say I have it would be cool.

jeff

 

[richieaok]

Here I am almost 8 months later and I still haven't built my own pc yet. Too bad the original do-it-yourself article never had a follow up like it was suppose to. Unless it just happens to be coming really really really... late! ARRRRGGGHHH! Either way I still plan to go through with building my pc.

My desired specifications for it have changed though. I would like to build a complete system for under $1000 including S&H and any tax. Unfortunately I have become unemployeed lately so I'm on a budget (now contemplating whether to look for new job or go back to school, this majorly sucks!). I plan to purchase the brunt of the items online using my measly $500 credit limit. The only items I definately wont buy online are those that cost a [-peep-]-load for S&H (a 19" monitor for instance) which would obviously be a big waste of money. Currently I am starting over on researching the optimal components. So far this is what I am thinking of getting.

Motherboard: Nvidia nForce 220-d? or Leadtek WinFast 7350KDA (If it goes for sale in US. So far I have only found it being sold in Sinagpore)?

CPU: AMD Athlon (b) T-bird 900 MHz OEM $52 from newegg.com

CPU thermal paste: Artic Silver II $6 from newegg.com

CPU fan: ?

System memory: 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM $30 from crucial.com (free shipping! yippie yay!)

Case/power supply: AMK 292-3333 $99 (without power supply) from http://www.amkcomputers.bc.ca/18_292.htm

or

Antec SX1030B SX1040B Case + Upgraded Enermax EG351P VE power Supply $99 from newegg.com

Graphics Card: ABIT SILURO T400 NVIDIA GEFORCE2 64MB WITH TV-OUT - RETAIL $71 from newegg.com

Floppy Drive: Salvaged from garbaged computer $0

Hard Disk: MAXTOR 6L040J2 DIAMONDMAX PLUS D740X 40GB HDD - OEM $91 from newegg.com

DVD-ROM Drive: LITE-ON LTD-163 SPEED - RETAIL 16X DVD ROM 48X CD-ROM $51 from newegg.com

CD-R ?

Sound Card ?

Speakers ?

Modem/broadband connection ?

Mouse ?

Keyboard ?

Monitor ?

OS: M$ Windows XP Home Edition OEM $100 from newegg.com

Any suggestions/reccomendations are welcome.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

ive got an iwill kk266r-plus
very sweet board. point of intrest; go for the PLUS board... its more modern with a few tweaks and improvments (think the onboard sound is even better!)
bear in mind that you dont have to use the RAID chip as raid.
ive got 4 drives in my system, 40gb hdd, old 16gig backup, dvd & cdrw.
if i wanted another drive i would have to get rid of something else. (with a normal mobo)
no so with the extra controller chip. can run up to 4 extra ide drives in it.

raid 0 is really good for high performance... but if 1 drive fails u loose the lot. souldnt be a problem with todays drives, but it can always happen.
raid 10 is a combo of 0+1. redundency & speed, but requires 4 drives to give u the capacity of 1. costly

athlon 850??? wow
athlon 1000 to 1400 are really cheap right now.
go for one of those. much better than the 850.
ive got a 1200, overclocked to 1350, on a standard fop32-1 heatsink.

YES for the optiquest monitor!
i had the V75. very excellent high res and refresh rate monitor!
one question though, whats the refresh rate @ 1600x1200? it should really be 75Hz or more.

Is that a Northwoody in your pocket or are you just eXPited to see me?