Building a new computer... suggestions?

[Final-Fan]

your mother said:

rendo said:
#1 RAID5 requires 3 disks.

#2 Don't run RAID, especially 0 because if one drive fails, your entire system fails. You might get better performance, but you risk losing data, and if that happens you'll have great difficulty retrieving it. RAID1 would be better since it gives faster reading which is what you'll need for games, but slower writing, which won't be too noticeable.

Might want to look into the Q6600's, they've dropped down to sub $300 levels and will leave you set for the next 5 years.

Sorry, my bad - I meant matrix RAID. I think that's an Intel solution though...

It works fine. Matrix RAID combines the speed of RAID 0 with the redundancy of RAID 1. Basically you have two hard drives partitioned. One partition handles the RAID 0 bit while the other handles RAID 1. You place the OS and programs in RAID 0 and for your own files (read: My Documents) you have it set to RADI 1. That way you get a faster OS but reliable file storage.

If your RAID 0 poops on you, you just need to make sure you perform a backup with software like Acronis TrueImage. It's a lifesaver as well, once you get into the habit of backing up your data. With backup software you can be up and running in minutes if your RAID 0 dies.

Most of those proprietary solutions cost extra, right?  Does Matrix Raid cost more to implement than, say, simply running RAID 0+1 or 1+0?  And if you're going to use backup software anyway, why not run a simple RAID 0?