Building A New Desktop System

[MikeWill]

This is an open imvitation to join forces in the endeavour of building a new PC.

As a first step of the process, let's look at the specs and prices* based on buying/assembling the system in Thailand.

*- best prices I was able to find online (probably could be reduced at actual purchasing)

1. Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual-Core CPU - THB 14,550

2. ASUS A8N-SLi Premium /Socket 939/nForce4 SLI x 8/Dual DDR400/8-SATA/Dual PCI-Ex8/1394a/Silicon Image 3114R RAID Controller/AI CoolPipe MAINBOARD - THB 7,550

3. Dual DDR400 RAM ? - recommendations are welcome!

4. Barracuda 7200.9 ST3250824AS 250GB, 7200RPM SATA-II 300MB/sec HDD - THB 4,750 - should be further investigated!

5. VGA Card ? - recommendations are welcome!

6. All Aluminum Case Lian-Li PC-7 Plus - THB 2,990 < http://www.busitek.com/forms/cases.html >

7. Power Supply Delux 500W - THB 1,790 < http://www.busitek.com/forms/psu.html >

Those are the basic items (without monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers). Based on the prices above, the whole system supoosed to be around THB 40K.

Since some members are involved in assembling of PCs, maybe someone would like to provide quotations.

Your comments on specs and whatever else are most welcome!

[solo siam]

Looks like youy may be going over the top on the motherboard - Will you be using RAID, SATA, SLi etc...?

No-one can really comment on the spec until they know what the PC is going to be used for, Gaming, Office Work, CAD, Graphics etc...

[Ian_B]

I used Busitek for my PC and highly recommend them. They tend to have the latest kit sooner than most

I have the same MB, HDD & CPU (X2 4400 though) coupled with an ASUS 7800GTX

X2 core is great for games and also for video encoding to PSP, iPod etc - some progs can encode 2 files at once (one on each core)

[MikeWill]

Re: MAINBOARD

One of my major concernes is the system stability. That's why ASUS A8N-SLi Premium, which have AI CoolPipe instead of cooling fan for the CPU.

That was suggested by some TV member, BTW.

Ben@H3-Digital,

What is your advice?

[Joey Boy]

4. Barracuda 7200.9 ST3250824AS 250GB, 7200RPM SATA-II 300MB/sec HDD - THB 4,750 - should be further investigated!

For another 4'750 you could run 2 of them in RAID, and not have to worry about the integrity of your data

[drake]

Hi Condo

I have near exactly the System what u like to build:

Mainboard ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe, ok, bud Chipset Fan to weak

CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ with Standard Cooler, Max. Temp. 52Grad/C (without Aircon)

Case Lian-Li PC-6070A, (LianLi Case7 with better Airflow)

VGA PCI-E Elsa Gladiac 128MB GeForce 6600GT, for most Application enough power

2x HD Seagate SATA 150 80GB, RAID 0, striped, RAID performance not the best.

Seagate Baracuda 120GB SATA, Backup

DVD+-R/RW Drive Samsung TS-H552/WRBH, ok

2x Memory Kingstone 512MB/400Mc/CL3, can be switched to CL 2,5 to increase performance

Power Supply Enermax EG465P-VE(24P), I’m always use this brand, no probs.

Supplier Busitec ok.

Cu drake

Edited February 19, 2006 by drake

[MikeWill]

Ian_B, drake, maybe you can give some price indications. It would be quite helpful.

Joey Boy,

RAID is rather complicated issue, which level RAID do you have in mind?

[drake]

Hi Condo,

My System is just 1 year old and all parts are now cheaper.

The prizes by Busitec are ok.

http://www.busitek.com/forms/pricelist.html

DDR-Ram 1GB (2x 512/400/3) cost today about 4000Baht

http://www.thanni.com/index.php?zenid=8c01...ex&filter_id=29

RAID: Test with HD-Tach:

Access time: 12,4 ms

Read: avg. 49000 kps

Other System, same motherboard and HD, CPU AMD 3200+, no RAID:

Access time: 13.6 ms

Read: avg 47000 kps

If u take a 300MHz Disk without RAID u will have a better performance.

(With RAID u must create a Floppy Disk in advance to install any OS.)

Cu drake

[Joey Boy]

Ian_B, drake, maybe you can give some price indications. It would be quite helpful.

Joey Boy,

RAID is rather complicated issue, which level RAID do you have in mind?

It would depend on your preference of speed and/or fault tolerance, you'll be very supprised on just how easy it is to set up using these new sata systems

[MikeWill]

Joey Boy,

1. Would you please elaborate a bit on the RAID possibilities/levels that are at hand today.

2. Which HDDs (brands sizes) are better suited for RAID?

[MikeWill]

So, your recommendations on hard drives...

which HDD(s) to choose for the a/m system and how to configure/set them up?

Edited February 23, 2006 by Condo_bk

[drake]

Hi condo,

If u a normal user, then u don’t need RAID. Connect a Hard disk (SATA) and install the OS. You can add a 2. Drive as additional Storage for Data e.g. Backup.

RAID 0 (stripped) with 2 Drives increase the access time for bigger files a little bit, not for smaller files. Double the Drive size. Only useful if u convert big files e.g. Movies.

RAID 1 (mirror) with 2 Drives works in parallel. 1 Drive fails, system runs on the 2. Drive. Replace the defect one, a teach process copy all data from the good drive to the new one. Capacity like one Drive. Raid 1 will be only useful e.g. for Server.

Today’s Hard disk have a good MTBF. Last few years I’m had no Disk crash.

RAID 3 (stripped-mirror) with 4 Drives are the combination RAID 0 + 1.

Barracuda 7200.9, SATA II 300MHz, Seagate (busitec) will be OK. Size in dependence of your application. Remember the OS und few additional progs need about 5GB.

Cu drake

[h90]

Hi condo,

If u a normal user, then u don’t need RAID. Connect a Hard disk (SATA) and install the OS. You can add a 2. Drive as additional Storage for Data e.g. Backup.

RAID 0 (stripped) with 2 Drives increase the access time for bigger files a little bit, not for smaller files. Double the Drive size. Only useful if u convert big files e.g. Movies.

RAID 1 (mirror) with 2 Drives works in parallel. 1 Drive fails, system runs on the 2. Drive. Replace the defect one, a teach process copy all data from the good drive to the new one. Capacity like one Drive. Raid 1 will be only useful e.g. for Server.

Today’s Hard disk have a good MTBF. Last few years I’m had no Disk crash.

RAID 3 (stripped-mirror) with 4 Drives are the combination RAID 0 + 1.

Barracuda 7200.9, SATA II 300MHz, Seagate (busitec) will be OK. Size in dependence of your application. Remember the OS und few additional progs need about 5GB.

Cu drake

I do not agree, here in thailand if no aircondition todays Harddisks fail all the time. From my 5 HD which are running here, I had to change 4 in the last 3 years.

[Phil Conners]

I though AMD was not going to deliver dual core CPU's until this summer. Not sure where I got that, I think at Toms Hardware (website) but maybe I got it all wrong?

In any case, prices for dual core CPU's are still extremely high. I expect within a year they'll at least half as it becomes more common. Also worth considering that everybody are waiting for the new DDR3 memory in a socket not yet defined.

Personally I'm holding out for another year.

Cool box otherwise.

Edited February 24, 2006 by madsere

[MikeWill]

Thanks guys.

madsere, where have you been last couple of months? Not only they exist, Dual-Core CPU(s) are available in Thailand. See my initial posting for the price of Athlon 64 X2 3800+.

h90,

Re: aircondition

You probably referring to the case ventilation.

How do you know that your Harddisks fail due to the high temperature?

What brands are you using? What are your cases? etc.

I shall agree with drake on that, and also on the RAID.

As per my personal experience, todays HDDs are quite stable, especially if ventilated/air-conditioned/cooled properly.

Let's see what others have to say on that matter.

Edited February 24, 2006 by Condo_bk

[h90]

till my cases are open or I have an extra HD fan installed, I think I have less problems

(add usually my computers run 24/7.

cases: the cheapest

harddisk: WD and Maxtor (not sure maybe also seagate).

Thanks guys.

madsere, where have you been last couple of months? Not only they exist, Dual-Core CPU(s) are available in Thailand. See my initial posting for the price of Athlon 64 X2 3800+.

h90,

Re: aircondition

You probably referring to the case ventilation.

How do you know that your Harddisks fail due to the high temperature?

What brands are you using? What are your cases? etc.

I shall agree with drake on that, and also on the RAID.

As per my personal experience, todays HDDs are quite stable, especially if ventilated/air-conditioned/cooled properly.

Let's see what others have to say on that matter.

[Firefoxx]

Proper cooling is, of course, necessary. Modern hard drives can (and do) run pretty hot, but take into account that Thailand is already very hot, and you're going to cook your harddrives if you're not careful. I've seen improperly cooled drives develop bad sectors after prolonged operation.

Most cases sold in Thailand (~1000 baht jobs) aren't going to be properly cooled. They might not come with fans (common), or they come with fans that will fail within the year (common). Worse, the fans might be set to blow air the wrong way (pretty common). The fan grills may also be too small to allow enough air to flow (again, common). I've written a lot on fan cooling, and don't want to repeat myself... do a search if you want tips.

The lian li case you're looking at is nice, but I think it's a bit overpriced... it's a just basic aluminum case, and quite small. You can pay a bit more and get something more fancy. Pay a bit for some nice quiet ball-bearing fans, and you're set.

Busitek has a lot of fancy stuff, but it comes at a premium.. their prices are usually higher than the standard prices at Pantip.

The current AMD socket is at the end of its life cycle... a new socket is about to replace it. Usually I would say "wait for the new one", but since you're already getting a decent CPU for this one, you don't need to. The prices for AMD dual-cores are really high (up to 40K), while the prices for Intel dual-cores aren't that much higher than single-cores. However, AMD mainboards are relatively cheap compared to Intel boards.

[Wallalai]

I heard that an open box doesn't ensure the best cooling compared to a good inbox air flow.

A big (120mm) front fan pulling "fresh" air and a good rear fan extracting the hot air seems better. Some boxes (like thermaltake) allows to add another fan directly pulling fresh air on the HD compartiments.

I've no aircon, a common box here but the temps seems ok:

[root@moobaan alain]# hddtemp /dev/hda
/dev/hda: Maxtor 6B160P0: 37°C
[root@moobaan alain]# hddtemp /dev/sda
/dev/sda: Maxtor 6Y120M0: 43°C
[root@moobaan alain]# hddtemp /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb: WDC WD1600JD-00HBB0: 39°C

[MikeWill]

Firefoxx,

Your input is, as always, invaluable...

Proper cooling is, of course, necessary. Modern hard drives can (and do) run pretty hot, but take into account that Thailand is already very hot, and you're going to cook your harddrives if you're not careful. I've seen improperly cooled drives develop bad sectors after prolonged operation.

Most cases sold in Thailand (~1000 baht jobs) aren't going to be properly cooled. They might not come with fans (common), or they come with fans that will fail within the year (common). Worse, the fans might be set to blow air the wrong way (pretty common). The fan grills may also be too small to allow enough air to flow (again, common). I've written a lot on fan cooling, and don't want to repeat myself... do a search if you want tips.

That's what I found so far:

The basic principle of computer cooling is air flow... which boils down to keeping a constant stream of air going in and out of your computer. You also consider that the hottest components of your case will be the harddisks (which will fail prematurely if not cooled), the CPU, and the graphics card (if it's middle-to-high end). You will notice that there are usually fan mounts in the front of the case, in front of the harddisk bays, and in the back, behind the CPU area. Since hot air rises, the logical setup would be to have a good intake fan in the front (or two) and one exhaust fan in the back. Since the PSU above the CPU also has an exhaust fan (albeit weak), it will also help. You should have sort of a balance between the intake and exhaust, so that a constant flow is set up, always drawing in new cooler air and drawing out the heated air...

Some cases are really screwed up in terms of air flow... I've seen several "Gview" cases which have a funnel that covers the CPU... and the case fan attached to this funnel draws air *out* of the case, which is idiotic considering that CPU fans draw air downwards to the CPU. There are also cases in which the fan behind the CPU is set to intake... so you've got the PSU exhaust fan directly above it spewing out hot air, and you've got this fan drawing it back in.

(The following is confirming the post of Wallalai)

The "open case+desk fan" option sort of does the job, but CPU cases aren't meant to be left open. Not only is there the problem of accumulating dust, the components are also exposed to the environment and anything in it (pets, kids, coffee, etc).

It seems that nobody is really considering to have an open case system as a permanent solution. So, which case is best value for money?

The lian li case you're looking at is nice, but I think it's a bit overpriced... it's a just basic aluminum case, and quite small. You can pay a bit more and get something more fancy. Pay a bit for some nice quiet ball-bearing fans, and you're set.

Busitek has a lot of fancy stuff, but it comes at a premium.. their prices are usually higher than the standard prices at Pantip.

Whould you please elaborate on that. What shop in Pantip do you recommend? What case is that, price, etc.? The same goes for fans ("nice quiet ball-bearing fans") and power supply.

Your input on specific HDD(s), RAID or no RAID, would also be much appreciated.

The current AMD socket is at the end of its life cycle... a new socket is about to replace it. Usually I would say "wait for the new one", but since you're already getting a decent CPU for this one, you don't need to. The prices for AMD dual-cores are really high (up to 40K), while the prices for Intel dual-cores aren't that much higher than single-cores. However, AMD mainboards are relatively cheap compared to Intel boards.

You are probably referring to the AMD's Socket AM2. As far as I can see, it's about the switch to DDR2, and not expected to make a great difference in performance by itself. It's indended for systems with more than 4 GB of RAM. That's what I heard from Tomshardware.

The price for Socket 939 mainboard A8N-SLi Premium (I have chosen) is already very expensive -THB 7,550. And the new Socket will probably raised it further.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0GHz 2x512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core CPU Retail by D-COM in Thailand is currently priced at THB 14,520. < see here >

[The Coder]

Cases, I hate 'em. Buying all comes down to "this oversized hunk of plastic looks neater than that one". I mean what other criteria are consumers given besides the looks? A lot of cases are nothing more than ovens that cook your components. Proper air channeling through the case is overlooked lately and the case makers seem to know that. Interestingly, air flow is one of the fundamental reasons SATA was invented--instead of a wide ribbon cable impeding air flow, there is only a very small, innocuous round cable.

The other thing is cases have just way too many useless external bays which make your computer look like a feature stripped car (just a lot of slugs). This is a carryover from the tower days when you had a few floppy drives, a few hard drives, a tape drive, a cd writer, a dvd player, and stuff like that to show how great your computer was. Today you need very few extra devices, and even then they tend to be external. All most people need is a very compact case that cools well but I don't see manufacturers focusing on either of these things. Instead the trends are to hide the dvd drive behind annoying flimsy doors and other gaudy gimmiks.

The last nice case I have seen was a Dell system from the 1990's; it was a thin, quiet, low profile, toolless, rigid, vinyl, "form follows function" type design. My newest case is an expensive aluminum case I thought would be well made, but it is about the biggest joke. Sharp edges, growling fans, entire front cover pulls off when you pull out a firewire cable, floppy recessed behind a plate you can't fit your fingers into, things like that. Be careful to consider all the little details.

I wouldn't wait for the new AMD socket M2 (June?). At the beginning, the mobo's will be more expensive, the RAM more expensive, the CPU's more expensive, and performance gains may not be significant. A few years down the road you will be able to upgrade to the latest socket M2 mobo, DDR2, and CPU's come way down in price. Buying the mature end of life mobo now ironically may save you money in the long run versus waiting for the expensive leading edge.

[drake]

Hi condo and all,

Hard disk, SATA:

By Case 7 from Lian-Li are the Disks just behind a 12cm Fan and blow fresh filtered Thai-Air over the Hard disk. Temperature Hard disk most 2 or 3 degrees lower as the Mobo temperature. Don’t add additional HD-Fans.

By 2 HD’s mount it with space between. Don’t fold the Data-Cable, made a big loop.

Reliability, MTBF: I’m having 9 hard drives, most SATA Seagate, in use.

Last replacement was 2003 a Maxtor ATA/IDE!

Remember we talk over Hard disk in Desktop/Office Quality, this means not 24hrs/365days R/W.

RAID:

The Raid system on PC-Mainboards are really low end. RAID 0, I can’t recommend,

Raid 1 can be useful for small servers. Professional Raid (e.g. Adaptec) expensive.

Good RAID explanation: http://www.acnc.com/raid.html

If you wait always for the next Generation CPU/DDRn/MOBO you will never have a PC!

Cu drake

[MikeWill]

Thanks again for your helpful input, drake.

It would be probably safe to say that one harddrive (without RAID) is the way to go. A SATA drive will allow for a better air flow, as The Coder mentioned.

Re: Case

Thermaltake case (mentioned by Wallalai) is probably the most expensive. I found the Tsunami Dream VA3000 mid-tower computer case (but not in Thailand) at ~$120.

Also, there are several cases at busitek: http://www.busitek.com/forms/cases.html

The most expensive is CoolerMaster Aluminum Case Model WaveMaster TAC-T01 - THB 4,500-5,600.

Or, as drake recommended the 'All Aluminum Case Lian-Li PC-7 Plus' at THB 2,990 is good enough.

BTW, what is the best place to buy RAM?

Edited February 26, 2006 by Condo_bk

[MikeWill]

Quick update on cases.

I found another Thai site:

http://www.jedicool.com/list.php?cate=1&page=1

http://www.jedicool.com/list.php?cate=1&page=2

http://www.jedicool.com/list.php?cate=1&page=3

http://www.jedicool.com/list.php?cate=1&page=4

(four pages)

and also including PSU

http://www.jedicool.com/list.php?cate=1&page=1

Edited February 26, 2006 by Condo_bk

[MikeWill]

What do you think of:

1. Thermaltake Soprano Middle Tower Case at THB 3,550 < http://www.jedicool.com/list.php?cate=1&productid=217 > it comes in silver and black colors with 3 fans: 12cm front & rear. and 9cm on side.

2. Thermaltake Tsunami Dream at THB 4,900 < http://www.jedicool.com/list.php?cate=1&productid=122 > it also comes in silver and black colors with 3 fans: 12cm front & rear. and 9cm on side.

[JackA]

I would get the Coolermaster Stacker casing, which can be had for around 6000, and while it's a tad bigger than the normal midi tower, but it provides ample expansion possibilities, and keeps your components cool.

Read here:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2702&p=1

This one can be had @ Com7.

The new socket AM2 from AMD, has so far performed less than stellar and the tests so far have all indicated that the 939 holds the speed crown, at least until DDR2-800 / 1066 becomes mainstream.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/02/21/a_l...t_am2_platform/

There might be another passively cooled Mainboard that might sparkle your interest:

The ASROCK DUAL939-SATAII, which can be had for around 2.700.

Benefits: Full native AGP + PCI-E and reliable (ASROCK is a division of ASUS).

http://www.asrock.com/product/939Dual-SATA2.htm

I've build systems based on ASUS A8N-SLI (DLX / Premium and also the A8N32-SLI DLX), MSI Neo4 (Platinum / SLI / Diamond), ABIT Fatality series, and can say that the Asrock is just as great as the other systems @ much cheaper price.

As for graphics, I would probably look deeply into the Radeon X1600 with Zalman cooler from SPARK - http://www.mwthai.com/index.php?lay=show&a...=260259&Ntype=1

which is a tad more than 6000 baht which is built on the same tech as the new X1900...

Or the Galaxy Geforce 6800XT which also have Zalman cooling and is in the same pricebracket @ Hardware house.

Happy hunting....

[MikeWill]

Thanks JackA.

The system I want to assemble should be long lasting, reliable yet also price sensitive. So, I'm not sure if the investment of over THB 5,000 for the case is justifiable.

As for ASRock, it has ULi 1695 chipset, no graphics onboard, and lesser quality audio (7.1channel Superior Quality Audio).

Would appreciate more comments on the whole issue of the Mainboard.

[JackA]

A.F.A.I.K the ASUS mainboard is quite a bit more expensive, so a 5000 baht casing would be within reach if you settle for the ASRock mainboard.

The major differences is:

ASRock will support the next gen AM2 socket CPU, which ASUS won't.

ASRock supports both native AGPx4/x8 and PCI-E, whereas ASUS supports DUAL PCI-e (SLI).

ASUS have Gb-E Lan, whereas ASRock only have 10/100

ASUS have firewire 1394A not the faster B version, which ASRock lacks.

ASUS requires a 24 pin ATX PSU, whereas ASRock needs a ATX PSU.

ASUS seems much more "picky" about the memory (IMHO).

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cf...hreadid=1731749

Here a link to a review:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/823/asroc...ream/index.html

Here is a FAQ:

http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimat...30;t=005271;p=0

And just a small reminder:

NForce 4 - 4x /Ultra / SLI all have problems with the integrated firewall, and also have had problems with Maxtor Hard drives (Drive corruption) and there have also been reported an incompatibility with Creative Labs X-Fi Sound card.

Another thing - some of Lian-Li cases are "upside down", and the heatpipe on the ASUS board is NOT a good match for this casing.

http://www.planetamd64.com/lofiversion/index.php/t12566.html

http://hardware.mcse.ms/archive69-2005-7-210161.html

And concerning the chipset - ULI used to be ALI, but were so successful with these last chipsets that nVIDIA acquired them so now they also offer SLI version.

And both use the same Realtek 8 (7+1) channel ALC850 audio codec.

Happy hunting.

[Firefoxx]

How much you would spend on your case depends on a lot of things. Budget, expandability, looks, etc. I myself bought something similar to the lian-li PC-7 case, since it was nice and small, and very light. There are also enough fan mounts to satisfy me.

However, I now have 7 hard drives inside the case (I do video editing), and they're all over the place. So I'm seriously looking at a full tower aluminum case I saw at IT Mall for around 7,000. The case's front cover is all 5.25" bays, which can be converted into fan-cooled hard drive bays with a 5-bay module. So far, this is the only case I've seen here that provides 10+ actively cooled harddisk bays. The inside is spacious, and the design is nice. 7,000 is not all that much when you consider what you're paying for the other components. Again, it's going to be strange to buy a 40,000 computer and then torment yourself by using a lousy 100 baht mouse.

I also saw the Tsunami cases being assembled. They looked nice enough, but didn't have enough harddisk expansion. Big gripe about these fancy cases is that they come default with a front cover, which makes optical drive access a pain. Yes, you can remove the cover, but it looks much uglier, since it was designed to be used with the cover.

As for RAID 0, unless you're a real speed freak, there is no need. The small speed increase is not worth the hassle and risk. Of course, if you're doing RAID 1 or 5 for data integrity, then that's a different matter. Drives are cheap, and you can easily do it. It's a bit of a pain to setup, but once it's done, it's done.

[Petch01]

Hi Condo,

My System is just 1 year old and all parts are now cheaper.

The prizes by Busitec are ok.

http://www.busitek.com/forms/pricelist.html

DDR-Ram 1GB (2x 512/400/3) cost today about 4000Baht

http://www.thanni.com/index.php?zenid=8c01...ex&filter_id=29

RAID: Test with HD-Tach:

Access time: 12,4 ms

Read: avg. 49000 kps

Other System, same motherboard and HD, CPU AMD 3200+, no RAID:

Access time: 13.6 ms

Read: avg 47000 kps

If u take a 300MHz Disk without RAID u will have a better performance.

(With RAID u must create a Floppy Disk in advance to install any OS.)

Cu drake

A little bit off-topic but your RAID 0 is far to slow. Are you Silicon drivers correctly installed with XP. You should be able to get burst speeds of >130 MB/s, a random access of <13 ms and an average read of >90 MB/s.

Compare your results with the benchmarks within the HD-Tach program. You'll see.

I run SATA RAID 0 (VIA chip set, 2xSeagate 80GB SATA) on a random access of 12.9 ms, CPU Utilization 5%(+/- 2%) and an average read of 92.8 MB/s.

And "yes", I agree, RAID 0 is vulnerable but the speed is incredible. To eliminate the problems in case of a break-down I have an extra 80GB IDE as a ghost in case RAID 0 gets damaged. I change the settings in BIOS and the show goes on, waiting for time to analyse the RAID problems. For data I have a 300GB.

Petch01

[Petch01]

As for RAID 0, unless you're a real speed freak, there is no need. The small speed increase is not worth the hassle and risk. Of course, if you're doing RAID 1 or 5 for data integrity, then that's a different matter. Drives are cheap, and you can easily do it. It's a bit of a pain to setup, but once it's done, it's done.

I don't agree. A normal disk runs 48 MB/s. Raid 0 can run >90MB/s. Check it on HD-Tach. The figures published about 49 MB/s are RAID 0's with a wrong installation on XP SP2(I know it's a pain I.T.A.).

If you're working and playing around at the same time you will notice the difference. Working in Word, editing in Photoshop, converting to PDF with Adobe 7 Pro and at the background dl-ing with BitComet on ADSL.

Just playing around a little with Microsoft Encarta 2006 shows it already (I have 4 different computer configurations, 1 at home, 1 laptop and 2 at work, running all the same programs).

Petch01

Edited February 26, 2006 by Petch01