opinions wanted

hi,
I'm a software engineering student building my first computer. My knowledge
on hardware is a little shaky so I was hoping I could get some opinions on
the following system...

mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
cpu - AMD 3500+ (Venice) ... possibly 3800+ instead is it worth the extra
money?
graphics - ASUS Extreme EN6800GT (just one for the time being)
memory - 1024MB TWINX-3200XL (400MHz) DDR RAM Corsair
HDD - Western Digital 74G SATA raptor
DVD - LG 4163
LCD - LG L173ST

its intended for gaming/media as well as work.

A few things I'm wondering... firstly what sort of PSU should I be getting?
Currently I'm probably going to go with a case packaged with a PSU (the
Thermaltake Soprano Black case with 400W PSU)... will 400W be enough?
Especially seeing as though I will probably upgrade/add components...?

Also is it better (faster) to go with the raptor or would it be better to
get two SATA hard drives and set them up in a RAID 0 configuration? (Is that
even right? I understand how data striping would make disk access faster but
the different types of hard drives confuse me... is RAID only available to
SATA drives?)

Finally has anyone had any problem with these components before? Has anyone
had any hardware compatibility problems with any of these components before?

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 08:33:28 GMT, "CameronK" wrote:

hi,
I'm a software engineering student building my first computer. My knowledge
on hardware is a little shaky so I was hoping I could get some opinions on
the following system...

mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
cpu - AMD 3500+ (Venice) ... possibly 3800+ instead is it worth the extra
money?
graphics - ASUS Extreme EN6800GT (just one for the time being)
memory - 1024MB TWINX-3200XL (400MHz) DDR RAM Corsair
HDD - Western Digital 74G SATA raptor
DVD - LG 4163
LCD - LG L173ST

Looks OK to me just depends on what kind of deal you are getting for
these things. Thats really the key.

its intended for gaming/media as well as work.

A few things I'm wondering... firstly what sort of PSU should I be getting?
Currently I'm probably going to go with a case packaged with a PSU (the
Thermaltake Soprano Black case with 400W PSU)... will 400W be enough?
Especially seeing as though I will probably upgrade/add components...?

Should be if its decent.

Also is it better (faster) to go with the raptor or would it be better to
get two SATA hard drives and set them up in a RAID 0 configuration? (Is that
even right? I understand how data striping would make disk access faster but
the different types of hard drives confuse me... is RAID only available to
SATA drives?)

You know Ive already posted several times that Anandtech claimed in an
article where tested two raptors raided together including a game
loading test that there was no benefits to most users using raid. I
raided some HDs for a while but after I read that I went back to
non-raid. He recommended not using RAID and also pointed out that it
was riskier since it increased the chances of a data loss since if one
of the HDs failed you lost everything.

Generally as everyone says theres no real advantage to SATA except
that most of the MBs come with SATA connectors so its convenient to
get SATA HDs , though Ive always gotten PATA HDs because theyve
incredibly discounted vs SATA super cheap with rebate deals so there
was no comparison eg. Seagate 160 gig for $29 for PATA with 5 yr
warranty. I use SATA to PATA converters so I can use some HDs on my
SATA controllers which negated some of the cost advantage but Ive been
reusing them over several HDs so the cost is really low - they are
around $15 a piece at www.monoprice.com in the US - the cheapest place
I know. They also have the cheapest DVI cables that I know of.
Of course if you want raptors its a moot point cause they come in SATA
form..

Anandtech also did a test later on SATA II with NCQ and he was far
more upbeat about it suggesting that the big advantage of RAPTORS
wasnt so great anymore and he did a pretty upbeat review on a Maxtor
SATAII so Im not sure Id get the raptors since they are so dinky and
expensive. Read some tests online and compare them to make sure there
is still an advantage using them, I was all hot about getting at least
one a while ago but the cost per size was so ridiculous that I decided
not to. I still have all PATA but the SATA s are really falling in
price and Office depot recently had a sale where they sold I think a
sata version and pata at the same price. If i do find one low enough
Ill go sata , especially sata II because of the upbeat review
anandtech gave a maxtor sata II with NCQ HD a while ago. I posted
about it here but it seems like the regular here were still fairly
unimpressed about SATA II NCQ in regards to any advantages.
Its true the SATA II was still 7200 and the raptors are 10,000 so I
would expect better perf but check to see if the difference is really
all that much better to justify the PUNY sizes of the raptors and the
cost. For all I know the costs of the raptors may have fallen by now
though.

If you work with video etc youll want HUGE HD space. capturing video
for instance with a TV card and other things really uses space.

CameronK wrote:

" mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe "

Be aware that the A8N-SLI Premium has a few changes that from the Deluxe
that are very beneficial, particularly the northbridge heatpipe and the
ability to switch between SLI and single card operation via software.
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050323/

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 14:24:13 +0100, Cuzman
wrote:

CameronK wrote:

" mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe "

Be aware that the A8N-SLI Premium has a few changes that from the Deluxe
that are very beneficial, particularly the northbridge heatpipe and the
ability to switch between SLI and single card operation via software.
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050323/

Nice changes but it's still about $60 more expensive, yes?
Hard to believe those changes are worth $60, but rather it
seems great that the Premium displaces the Deluxe to
depreciate it's market value some.

The ability to change SLI settings through software,rather than having to
open the case and rearrange the cards every time is a plus.And the heatpipe
replaces a chipset fan in the Deluxe that's very noisy and seems to have a
high failure rate.Last time I checked the price,it was more like $20.00
above the Deluxe's price.And I'd go closer to 500W for the psu.Enermax has a
535W model designed specifically for SLI.
"kony" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 14:24:13 +0100, Cuzman
wrote:

CameronK wrote:

" mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe "

Be aware that the A8N-SLI Premium has a few changes that from the Deluxe
that are very beneficial, particularly the northbridge heatpipe and the
ability to switch between SLI and single card operation via software.
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050323/

Nice changes but it's still about $60 more expensive, yes?
Hard to believe those changes are worth $60, but rather it
seems great that the Premium displaces the Deluxe to
depreciate it's market value some.

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 16:06:25 GMT, "Gojira"
wrote:

The ability to change SLI settings through software,rather than having to
open the case and rearrange the cards every time is a plus.

"every time" what?
You plan on swapping cards around _without_ having to open
the system? That's a trick I'd like to see.
I don't deny that there might be some kind of remote, rare
circumstance where it might save 2 minutes. $60 is a lot
for that.




And the heatpipe
replaces a chipset fan in the Deluxe that's very noisy and seems to have a
high failure rate.Last time I checked the price,it was more like $20.00
above the Deluxe's price.

Ok, get a Zalman et al passive 'sink for $5. Still $55
difference if my pricing estimate was correct.

It was based on Froogle pricing,
$120 vs $180.
I admit I only spent a brief moment searching, but it
certainly looked like more than $20 difference.



And I'd go closer to 500W for the psu.Enermax has a
535W model designed specifically for SLI.


If one was running two higher-end SLI'd cards though, I
agree 500W of quality power is a good idea. Otherwise,
probably overkill unless one has a boatload of HDDs.