My wish list

[imported_brad]

alrighty boys and girls...its time for me to build another rig. got a couple questions though, hopefully some of you can drop some knowledge on me.

Here's what im shooting for:
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Antec Performance Plus PLUS1080AMG Antec Metalic Gray 1mm SECC Steel Server Computer Case 430W Power Supply

MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard

eVGA Geforce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor

GeIL Ultra 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory

Western Digital Raptor WD740GDRTL 73GB 10,000 RPM 8M Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

Turtle Beach CATALINA 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card
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and a dvd-rw, and cd-rw.

My questions:
Do any of you have or have experience with the Raptors? Is it an easy install? Do they have more problems than a normal HD?

Would any of you suggest better 'bang for buck' components?

Is the turtle beach sound card just as good as the audigy?

would you select a different mobo?

is my ram selection ok? different vendor? any issues with 2gb of ram on win xp pro or operability with other components?

fwiw, the drive out price on this thing is currently at $1360

thx in advance. this thing should come to life in about 2 weeks.

 

[shoRunner]

73gb isn't that much. may want to add another drive for some storage. if your looking for bang for the buck the raptor isn't a good choice its really doesn't offer that much of a improvement if at all. see the recent anandtech benchmark article.

http://anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2396&p=11

 

[imported_brad]

i dont need much storage. Ive got an 80gig now and its only about 45% full running on about 2 years of stuff. I remove/uninstall/delete most of what i dont need.

 

[shoRunner]

oh ok...everyone's different i've filled 300gb and and could fill much more if i had the space

 

[imported_brad]

bump for the morning crews.

 

[SVT Cobra]

if you play games at all you are going to want to go with a creative sound card because of EAX, but if not then a turtle beach one is just fine. Also do you need a sound card, becuase there is integrated sound on the motherbard that is fine for the average user, if you play light music ect. Just some tips to keep the cost down for you.

You do not really need the raptorz, i have always had them in my past few computers and i love them, but for your needs they do not offer any advantages over another brand. Get more storage for the same price.

While i have never owned an MSI board, they are great mobo's. You might want to check out the gigabyte boards also for that price range, in my experience they offer more bang for your buck.

Geil RAM is good, i usually go with OCZ, so i do not know about pricing. I am sure someone on here might be able to find something better for cheaper.

 

[imported_brad]

im pretty much a gamer and tinker with some multimedia stuff. What would the raptor speed be useful for if not for me?

 

[SVT Cobra]

nothing really.....

if your a gamer go with creative...ull get better sound....

 

[vailr]

For a new build, I'd consider the Venice core AMD64 (if not their new dual-core CPU's).
The Abit AN8, either the regular or Fatal1ty versions, have some nice features. Such as no legacy parallel port, and includes Abit's U-Guru chip.
The DFI Lanparty NF4 board also has its good qualities.
A slightly better PSU (510W+) might be a good idea, in case you later decide to go SLI.

 

[2Xtreme21]

x800XL would be more beneficial for a PCI Express route. They can be had for around ~$300 as opposed to the more expensive, yet extremely similar 6800GT.

Other than that, nice rig.

 

[Mrvile]

What multimedia stuff do you tinker with? If it's just light tinkering and nothing too crazy, 1gb ram is more than enough.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Nice pile.