Maximum PC

Hi, I'm currently selecting components for my next build and am having trouble choosing between certain components. I was hoping some people here could make it a little easier to decide.

The choices to be made:
1. Chenbro Gaming Bomb 2 vs. CM WaveMaster
2. nVidia 6800 GT vs. 2x 6600 GTs in SLi
3. Hitachi 400 GB Deskstar vs. 2x 36.7 GB WD Raptors RAID 0
(I know no. 3 is apples and oranges, but it's more like saying speed or storage.)

The other key components I've already chosen are:
AMD Athlon 64 3500(Winchester Core)
Asus A8N SLi Deluxe
2 GB Corsair XMS Xtra Low Latency
ZALMAN 7000b Aluminium/Copper Heatsink
Antec NeoPower PSU

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks!

1. Wavemaster - sleek, classy, functional.

2. 6800GT - generally outperforms 2x6600GTs, ability to upgrade to 2x6800GTs down the line when they drop in price (if desired).

3. 400GB (or better yet, one of the Maxtor Diamondmax 10) - unless you have a need for RAID 0 (and gaming is not one of those needs - it will NOT help), then it's a waste of funds. The real questions should be 1x74gb Raptor or 1xMaxtor Diamondmax 10.

Thanks, I'm also looking into the 400 GB Seagate Barracuda, which seems like it might outperform the Maxtor, although the Diamondmax 10 does have a 16 MB Cache *drules*

Have to agree here.

If you want a little flash, the Shark isn't bad- it also has a $40 rebate




What are you planning to do with your computer? My ideal setup here on all of our computers would be a 40 gig as the main, with a larger drive slaved. I run everything from email to "My Documents" on the slave.

Well I'll probably be doing gaming 99.9999% of the time and looking for servers/loading a game the other .00001% of the time. And for your suggestion on the hard drives, how about a 36.7 GB raptor master and Maxtor DiamondMax 10 Slave, it's like the best of both worlds. Also I don't think I'd get a Shark, I'm not a TT fan at all, they rip off CM a little bit too much, although the Shark is pretty much the only original case they seem to have, and it's not that bad, since it doesn't have their logo plastered all over it.

If it's in the budget, it wouldn't be a bad combo. Keep in mind however the Diamondmax10 isn't terribly far behind the 74gb Raptor in terms of performance, so you may want to research how it compares to the 36gb Raptors.

If it were me and I was dealing with a budget, ideally I would initially throw a Maxtor drive in there and partition it (about 40gb for OS and apps, the rest for storage). Down the line, I would consider dropping a 74gb Raptor and replacing that OS partition. I just don't know if I could justify the expense of a first gen Raptor coupled with a Diamondmax10 on strictly a gaming rig.

So I guess Maxtor would be the way to go, it'sa good compromise, not far behind the raptor but with lots of storage, should I still get a 40 GB HD too to be the master?

It wouldn't be necessary - just create a 40gb partion and that will leave you with 200-250gb for storage, depending on which model you go with.

I might get two 74 GB Raptors, theyre fast and 148 GB is already more than enough, but should I put them in RAID 0 or just let 'em be, and I'm still accepting feedback on the case and video cards if anybody would lile to lend their opinion

A case is a personal choice they all hold your components in one spot.

I would defiantly put the Raptors in a raid set up, the risk of data loss is theoretically higher, at least double. But the performance is better….

Incorrect. The performance would be nil, nada, nothing on a PC that will "probably be doing gaming 99.9999% of the time." It's a colossal waste of funds.

To MC-Screwdriver, it sounds like you're determined to run with a RAID-0 setup. I really urge you to research that decision, as you're not going to see any benefit from it, but the difference in your wallet will be noticeable. There are uses for RAID-0, gaming is just not one of them.

From here on out, I'll concede this thread to other's opinions, as I'm just repeating myself.

Well I think I'm gonna trust One4yu2c, I'm probably gonna go with the diamonmax 10, or possibly the 400 GB Seagate Barracuda after I read some reviews on it, thanks.

One4 is dead on as usual. I've read more than one article with plenty of benchmarks (anandtech and maxpc) stating that RAID 0 is pretty much worthless for gaming. If you want two hard drives, just make one master and one slave (if ide only... sata doesn't have master/slave). Definitely go with the 6800gt. SLI isn't quite all it's cracked up to be. It requires a ton more CPU utilization, not to mention it doesn't work in some games yet. Case is totally up to you. Very subjective. I've heard the asus sli board has some issues. You might also want to take a look at DFI and MSI. Just some suggestions.

what about the Asus A8V Deluxe-E(not to be confused with the regular A8V deluxe, this one is PCIE). I'm not so sure about it because the NF4 chipset ahs alot more features but do I need them?

2nd'ed

if your gong to overclock you may get the pure copper zalman 7700 insted

pure copper, okay, but I'd perfer a the 92mm version instead.

1. CM WaveMaster
2. nVidia 6800 GT (get another later on)
3. Go with a 74GB raptor and a 250-300GB for storage

Thanks for your input everybody, I have one more thing to add to the list though: Asus A8N SLi Deluxe vs. Asus A8V-E Deluxe vs. any other suggestions you may have

I was debating the same thing. About a $42 CDN price difference between the two and I wouldn't really take advantage of the SLI.

DFI nF4 Ultra-D - $147 shipped

DFI Review (Anandtech)