[blueextc]

I have built my own computers for over 10 years now, and have used IDE drives forever. I am very interested in the SATA II 3.0mbps drives, but are they that much better than standard IDE drives?
Do they require a "SATA Raid" configuration, or are they pretty much plug and play? Could I combine SATA II and IDE - say the SATAII for programs, and use IDE for storage only?
I am heavy into video/graphic editing, so im looking for a pretty powerful machine.
I thought i was set on a X2 processor, but have seen many forums stating the Opteron 165 (overclocked) is the way to go.
I have never overclocked a PC before, so I need your advice.
Here are the components I have already purchased....

Case - Antec P180
MoBo - Asus a8N32-sli deluxe
Video - ASUS N78000GT
Memory - 2x(1gb) Corsair Twinx2048-3200c2 DDR400
Thermaltake Water cooler (Big Water or Rocket... cant decide)

I am looking for (1) my best option for processor, and (2) Convince me I NEED SataII drives.
One drive will hold the OS (of course) and the rest will be for storage.
THanks!!
X

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SATA is the way to go, faster drives better data density and transfer rates of up to 3Gbs, you dont need raid the only thing that is different for sata and ide is that when you install windows when it starts up and you get the press F6(i think maybe F7 friday night cant think what it is without checking it you get the jist though) and you stick the sata driver floppy you get with the mobo in and install the drivers on it, they are also plug and play as well in windows. And thats the only thing more complicated and its not hard only takes a minute to do. And the drives are much faster and usually cheaper and they have the big advantage of NCQ as well.

Opterons are good if you are up to overclocking you need faster ram than thta though for voerclocking really corsair do PC3500 and PC4200 ddr ram for overclockers, water cooling i would try and get asetek or swiftech(cool water kit is the best on budget) thermaltake kits arent bad but they are far from the best. Otherwise stick to an X2 if you dont want to overclock, vid card wise if you are US stick with what you got if UK or Europe get ATI as they are cheaper and have much better image quality which would be a factor for vid editing.

[warriorscot]

SATA is the way to go, faster drives better data density and transfer rates of up to 3Gbs, you dont need raid the only thing that is different for sata and ide is that when you install windows when it starts up and you get the press F6(i think maybe F7 friday night cant think what it is without checking it you get the jist though) and you stick the sata driver floppy you get with the mobo in and install the drivers on it, they are also plug and play as well in windows. And thats the only thing more complicated and its not hard only takes a minute to do. And the drives are much faster and usually cheaper and they have the big advantage of NCQ as well.

Opterons are good if you are up to overclocking you need faster ram than thta though for voerclocking really corsair do PC3500 and PC4200 ddr ram for overclockers, water cooling i would try and get asetek or swiftech(cool water kit is the best on budget) thermaltake kits arent bad but they are far from the best. Otherwise stick to an X2 if you dont want to overclock, vid card wise if you are US stick with what you got if UK or Europe get ATI as they are cheaper and have much better image quality which would be a factor for vid editing.

[blueextc]

coool.
So, i went with (2) WD2500ks
And Opteron 165 (crossong fingers) off NewEgg. Said they were in stock, Retail packaged, and 312ea
Are there any better Benchmarking tools than the ones listed below?
Does anyone have links or stickies for OCing the Opty 165?
Thanx
X

CPU-Z
ClockGen
Memtest86
SuperPI

[warriorscot]

To test dual core capabilities folding is a good benchmark as there isnt many true test of dual core performance. I dnt have anything specific for the opteron, lots of good overclocking sites just google them, and admin has an overclocked opteron maybe he will spot the topic and have some information for you.