1gb RAM or RAID 0?

[The Terk]

hello, its that time of year again (tax season, going to be getting scholarships, etc) and its time to get a BIG RIG built for college

My main concern is this: should i get 2 80gig hdd's and run them in RAID 0 or get 1 GB ram?

I plan on backing up DVDs onto my computer, i game a lot (gettin a 9800pro woot!) and doing a dual monitor setup for coding, editing, etc...... so would the RAID 0 or gig o ram be better? any comments are apreciated

[LeftCoast]

How about two 80s NOT in raid, and 512 mb ram?

The dvd back-up and editing is pretty space intensive, and while I'm not a gamer, I've heard a raid array doesn't help much in making games run faster.

I'd look at a Dell 400SC, with a 2.8c 800 fsb. They are almost identical to the Dimension 8300, at half the price.

Link of interest:

http://www.aaltonen.us/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8

[The_Shooter]

I dont know about you guys, but I prefer building my own machine, knowing what exactly I put in and not worring about upgrading it to void the warrantee... If you know how to install hardware 'The Terk', then I would build your own machine and do like LeftCoast said, just 2 80gig HDs (not raid) and 512DDR PC3200. If your gonna store many DVDs on your machine, then I would go with 120GB HDs. Right now I have a 120, 160, and 40 in my machine. Before the 160GB upgrade, I had only about 10GB free... So if your going to really get into storing DVDs on your HD, think about getting something larger.

[brandon184]

I put in and not worring about upgrading it to void the warrantee...

I've upgraded my Dell PC's many times.. has never voided (sp?) the warranty. Maybe my warranty is different, though.

I'd still probably custom build the PC in this case, but only if you can save some cash by doing so.

Brandon

[LeftCoast]

Originally posted by brandon184

...I'd still probably custom build the PC in this case, but only if you can save some cash by doing so...

Here's the deal I got in August on the 400SC (and there've been better deals since then on this same machine):
---------------------------------------------------------
Free Upgrade to an Intel® P®4, 2.8GHz,800FSB at a 2.4 price Qty: 1 Unit Price: 598.00
Floppy Drive 3.5 in, 1.44MB, Floppy Drive
Mouse Logitec System Mouse, Gray
Hardware Support Services 1Yr,Parts + Onsite Labor (Next Business Day)
Operating System No Operating System, Microsoft
Memory 128MB DDR, ECC, 333MHz, 1X128MB
Monitor NO MONITOR OPTION
Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard,Gray
Documentation Electronic Documentation, PowerEdge 400SC
Hard Drive Configurations C1, Motherboard IDE, Ascending Order, 1 Hard drive
1st Hard Drive 40GB 7.2K RPM IDE Hard Drive
Installation Support Services No Installation
Network Adapter Onboard NIC
CD ROM/DVD ROM 48X CD-ROM


Sub-Total $598.00

Discount -$150.00

Shipping $0.00

Tax $31.36

Total Price $479.36
-------------------------------------------------------------

Keep in mind, the 2.8c P4 chip was at that time, I believe, over $300 at Newegg.

[The Terk]

Originally posted by The Terk
and its time to get a BIG RIG built for college

lol, i guess it was unclear, but yes i am building my own system! here are the specs

AMD XP 2500+ (will OC to 3200+)
a good hsf (its the aero 7+ just forgot the name right now)
ABIT NF7-s
1 80gig Maxtor SATA HDD (or 2)
2 256 MB 3200DDR Corsair XMS series (or 2 512 sticks)
ATI Sapphire 9800pro (finally a good card)
Sony 16x Silver DVD-rom (to match my case)
all the extras, floppy, cords, cables

does this change yalls opinions on the RAID or 1gig? post away

[tony_j15]

Get the gig of RAM! It will help your games load faster and play better with less lag. I only got 512, and crave more.

RAID is good, but IMO, pick up a 120, 160, or 250gb western digital model.

[John Prophet]

I think the ram is way more practical of an upgrade...RAID is more like somethign to do when you want that last little boost and you have maxed out the other stuff.

RAID0 increases ur chance of losing data and the ram boost wont.

Raid takes a while to set up....ram takes 30 seconds, lol.

---

the slowest ram is faster than the fastest virtual memory (swap file)...so whatever you can do to keep from accessing the swap file..do it...that means add memory

[ShawnD1]

Get the ram, seriously. If you run lots of programs at once like I do, you will need that ram. I'm using 480mb of ram and I'm not even in a game .

Hard drive speed IS a major factor of game speed but instead of using a RAID setup, just defrag every single day. Get a copy of Diskeeper Pro and make it continually defrag for at least 2 hours every day while you're asleep. If you play games from virtual CDs, defragging makes a huge difference. On my computer, without defragging, it takes about 30 seconds for Vice City to load. After 2 hours of defragging it only takes about 5 seconds.

[Chiguy]

Are you considering the 2 hard drives in RAID for performance or for the additional storage space? Knowing that you said that you'll be backing up DVDs, I'd say go for bigger hard drives.

More RAM is always nice too.