Hey all,
Last night my XP machine freaked out and will not boot, nor will it initiate the setup from the CD. My mobo is probably causing the problem, so that means two things for me: new motherboard, new XP installation.
Now, the silver lining to this is I'm seeing this as a sign to begin my biennial spend-a-thon on hardware. Plus, the fine state of Minnesota has graced me with some wealth (tax return, ~1k). I'm just looking to replace the motherboard and my discs, as I'm happy with the other components. I'm also thinking of moving my fault tolerance up a notch, and RAID 5 seems to be the way to go. Serial ATA is appealing as well, as I hate cable management.
So, the question: what motherboard/RAID controller/HDD combination would give me the most bang for the buck? Speed, quality and cost are all factors, as usual, but since this is my primary machine I'm putting expense a little more into the background.
Anyway, give me some ideas on what could work (or even has for you in the past).
EDIT> Okay, should have been specific. No RAID 0, and I'm fine with purchasing a PCI-based SATA RAID card. I'm not interested in RAID 0 as this machine is also my development box. I do have a DAT backup of all important information, but RAID 0 doesn't just hiccup when it fails -- it takes the whole installation with it. I'm not interested in fending off clients while rebuilding my machine with new drives; the whole point of this exercise is to have a machine that can take a HDD hit and keep on ticking.
Last night my XP machine freaked out and will not boot, nor will it initiate the setup from the CD. My mobo is probably causing the problem, so that means two things for me: new motherboard, new XP installation.
Now, the silver lining to this is I'm seeing this as a sign to begin my biennial spend-a-thon on hardware. Plus, the fine state of Minnesota has graced me with some wealth (tax return, ~1k). I'm just looking to replace the motherboard and my discs, as I'm happy with the other components. I'm also thinking of moving my fault tolerance up a notch, and RAID 5 seems to be the way to go. Serial ATA is appealing as well, as I hate cable management.
So, the question: what motherboard/RAID controller/HDD combination would give me the most bang for the buck? Speed, quality and cost are all factors, as usual, but since this is my primary machine I'm putting expense a little more into the background.
Anyway, give me some ideas on what could work (or even has for you in the past).
EDIT> Okay, should have been specific. No RAID 0, and I'm fine with purchasing a PCI-based SATA RAID card. I'm not interested in RAID 0 as this machine is also my development box. I do have a DAT backup of all important information, but RAID 0 doesn't just hiccup when it fails -- it takes the whole installation with it. I'm not interested in fending off clients while rebuilding my machine with new drives; the whole point of this exercise is to have a machine that can take a HDD hit and keep on ticking.
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