Last minute questions on rig parts order.

[MBrown]

I will be ordering today. I already have an 8800gts 640mb, Antec P182 case, 500W NeoHE, 22inch LG Flatron Wide, DVD Burner, and Vista Home Premium 32bit. The following parts are what I am pretty much sure on...

E4500 (I am planning to OC to 3.3Ghz)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115031

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128059

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820148076

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835186134

Now, I already have an 160GB 16mb cache hard drive. Will a single 160GB hard drive be as fast as two 160GB hard drives in raid 0? One more question...how well would this run crysis @ 1680x1050 at high settings?

Are there any suggestions you guys have to the parts I am ordering?


Edit: I actually went for the Crucial Ballistix Tracer for the ram. They were the exact same thing as what I had before except it had them cool lookin' LEDs on it. I don't have a window in my case but hey, the tracers were the exact same price. Might as well go for them right? So I went ahead and ordered my parts. The should be here next week. The problem is I can't open them 'til Christmas. My 'rents are getting me this for a Christmas present. I can't wait!

 

[Doclife]

I would get the Gigabyte DS3R Revision 2.0 motherboard instead. Revision 2.0 eliminate the parrallel and serial out ports from the back plate and replaces them with 4 additional USB ports for a total of 8 USB ports on the back plate. In addition, the NB heatsink is bigger. make sure you buy from clubit.com since they specifically states that rev 2.0 will be shipped. Newegg still have rev 1.0

http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4830711

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: MBrown
Will a single 160GB hard drive be as fast as two 160GB hard drives in raid 0? One more question...how well would this run crysis @ 1680x1050 at high settings?

It'll run well at the beginning, then you'll experience slowdowns in large firefights and "ice" conditions later on. Lower particles, shadows and postprocessing to Medium and you'll be ok.

-z

 

[MBrown]

Originally posted by: Doclife
I would get the Gigabyte DS3R Revision 2.0 motherboard instead. Revision 2.0 eliminate the parrallel and serial out ports from the back plate and replaces them with 4 additional USB ports for a total of 8 USB ports on the back plate. In addition, the NB heatsink is bigger. make sure you buy from clubit.com since they specifically states that rev 2.0 will be shipped. Newegg still have rev 1.0

http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4830711

I actually need the serial ports for my embedded microsystems class. As far as performance, are these boards the same?

 

[Doclife]

As far as performance is concerned, both boards are about the same. The DS3R just have more features and better components for longer life (so the manufacturer claimed).

 

[Denithor]

I would suggest the Kingston N5 DDR2-800 instead of that Ballistix memory. The Kingston has better compatibility and will generally clock >1000MHz if you need that kind of speed at some point. It also costs $60 shipped with no need to mess with rebates.

 

[cozumel]

The ballistix will clock at 1000+MHz too and should work fine with that board.

 

[MBrown]

Originally posted by: Denithor
I would suggest the Kingston N5 DDR2-800 instead of that Ballistix memory. The Kingston has better compatibility and will generally clock >1000MHz if you need that kind of speed at some point. It also costs $60 shipped with no need to mess with rebates.

I wanted 4-4-4 12.