Need help/recommendations for purchasing a new CAD/VIZ Workstation

[chungsotheby]

First off, thanks to anyone that is reading/has read this post, and would like to help.

Basically, I am looking to buy a graphics and cad/viz workstation within the next week. It will only be used in a work environment, with NO games being played, and the only video will be from AVI's and other video files generated from software. The programs most used on it will be(in descending frequency):

AutoCad Architectural Desktop
Photoshop
Illustrator
Indesign
Viz

Right now, I am looking at workstations from (in descending pricing order) Velocity Micro, Xi, Polywell, and Monarch. The configuration will include:

Athlon X2 4400
2x1GB Ram
2x74GB Raptor in RaidO
Asus A8N-SLI DLX or Premium MoBo
DVDRW D/L
Floppy Drive
Win XP Pro
450-500W Power Supply

The questions that arise are these:
-Does the initial configuration that I am looking to put together seem to be optimal for my tasks?
-Does anyone have experience or particular opinions about the above manufacturers, either positive or negative? I have read the online/magazine reviews, but since they are all custom computer makers the user reviews are a little harder to find
-With the software being used, is it worth it to spend 2-3X more on a professional video card (ie FireGL 7100 or Quadro 3400) over the GeForce 7800GT / 7800GTX or x1900?
-Since I will not be doing too much video viewing or gaming, does the video card really need to have 256MB or ram, or would 128MB be enough
-And finally, if I do decide to go with a 256MB pro card, is there that much of a difference between the FireGL 7100 and the Quadro 3400? The 3400 can be anywhere from $150 to $600 more expensive when configuring systems.

Thanks in advance for all your responses, and I hope that any/all information can guide me in making the right decision.

 

[chungsotheby]

bump. Anyone?

 

[Slowlearner]

Raid 0 is bad news - You need Raid 1, with bigger drives
Velocity Micro and Polywell are established makers. Monarch should be ok.
Yes, at least a Fire GL XXX
128 MB
Never used a quadro 3400 - hands on exp with your software is best way to determine if it will make a difference

 

[Bobthelost]

Don't get the 4400X2, the apps that tend to benifit from the increased cache are mostly gaming, photoshop at least gains absolutly nothing going from a 4200 to a 4400. Look carefully at the CPU tables if i were you.

If you want fast read/write speed then RAID0 is the way forwards, but even if you do a daily backup to another HD you may well lose a full day's work if a drive dies. Think about a Raptor 150, it'll be a bit slower for large file transfers, but it'll be a lot faster for other tasks than the 2 74 raptors (like booting apps up).

Don't have the foggiest about the graphics cards i'm afraid.