ShosMeister

1. Budget: $1500.
2. Brands: Any.
3. Multitasking: No. Just gaming and mapping.
4. Gaming: Yes, primary/only use and latest games like COD 4.
5. Calculations: Only during mapping.
6. Overclocking: No.
7. Storage: Not sure. That's one of the questions to answer.
8. Legacy Support: Possibly IDE.
9. Operating System: Own XP Pro.
10. Case: Have one in the list, but, if it's not a good one, can change.
11. Accessories: Plan to use existing right now (PS/2)
12. Recycled Components: Maybe IDE drive. As mentioned, keyboard and mouse.
13. Monitor: Existing 18" Dell FP.
14. Stores: Not really. Been using NewEgg to config and have purchased from them before.
15. Location: USA

Here is the latest config: AJM Gaming System.

The last few questions are on the RAM, motherboard and drives.

From reading all the other threads (most of them) and some other input to my questions, I figure for now, stick with DDR2 as it's good enough and DDR2-800 at that. My thought is if I could find a board that would support DDR2 and DDR3, and there wasn't a huge difference in price, go that way to allow for upgrading the RAM in a few years. If I don't need to worry about the DDR3 then that changes my motherboard considerations some.

If I get a motherboard that shows the memory supported as DDR2 1066, what is the downside of running DDR2 800 in that board? Should I get the 1066 instead or find a board that is rated for the 800? Or should I go higher?

What I was thinking for drives was get two 80GB drives in a RAID configuration for the system and a single 120-250GB drive for my games and applications. I would only install games on the 120-250 and the 80 would just be for the system.

I know it's fairly easy to install applications on some drive other than C:, but, what about moving the other "system" directories like Common, Documents & Settings, and the like. Personally, don't use the D&S anyway, but, figured I'd ask. Is this possible? Does it take regedit? As noted above, I'm using XP Pro.

Hows this sound for a config for the drives:

• Two 80GB (SATA) - Total of 160GB
• 20GB RAID 1 (that's 20GB on each then) for the OS only; mirrored
• 10GB RAID 0 (that's 5GB on each then) for pagefile and maybe a few misc (like temp and stuff); striped
• 55GB RAID 1 (that's 55GB on each then) for Program Files; mirrored
• Total=20*2+10+55*2=40+10+110=160GB

Separate 250GB (maybe 120GB) drive (IDE/SATA???) for my data and goofing off. I used to do a lot of mapping for my games but haven't since I've been offline with school. Like to get back into that at some point.

Motherboards: Asus or Gigabyte and I can't go wrong. Still don't quite get the difference between P35 and X35 though. Everyone seems to be recommending the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L which is the primary one I've been looking at. What about the GA-EP35C-DS3R? It has DDR2 and DDR3 support, no serial or parallel ports (which I haven't used in years anyway) and it has RAID built in (I guess as built in as you can get).

If I'm dead set on RAID, is it better to have the RAID ON the motherboard rather than an add-on PCI card? I'm thinking yes as it's probably easier to setup since it's integrated; more control through the BIOS; less problems if you have to reinstall OS (was going to be on RAID 1/mirror, NOT striped) since the driver/controller is built-in.

The decision on RAID will determine my drive decision, but, I'm still thinking a smaller drive for OS and Applications (games) and a separate for data like mapping and such. If I don't RAID, I may just get one 160 or 250 GB drive also.

As you can see on my list, I still have a few duplicates. That's what the help here will do; help me decide :) :)

Last question (for now of course) is the CPU fan. According to NewEgg, the heatsink and fan are included. The question though is how good are they and should I buy a better one? Notice on the list I have two. Not sure the best or what to look for as far as 2 ball, 1 ball, etc. I do have the Arctic Cooling in my other machine and it seems to be fine.

As always, thanks for any input you care to provide. I may even send pictures when I'm done :) :)

ShosMeister

RAM question: I've noted in a few other threads that people are being told that in order to use/access/install/whatever more than 2-3GB of RAM, they need the 64 bit version of XP or Vista. Is that true? I have XP Pro 2002/SP2. According to Microsoft's site, it can access 4GB but only allocates either 2 or 3GB or actual RAM to the applications. The rest is reserved for the OS.

Maybe that's what those indicating you can't have 4GB are trying to convey and I'm just not reading it properly?

forcifer

4gb will have a performance gain over if you had exactly 3.7 or whatever. it dedicates the ram that doesnt show up to stuff like drivers, freeing up more ram for other apps. think of it like this: at a stadium, there are VIP seats that only VIPs buy. lets say the stadium owners open up a new suite area that are VIP only. even though the stadium didnt get any bigger for the average person, there are still more areas to sit

ShosMeister

Are you referring to the 3GB switch in the article? If so, then cool, I understand. If not, then I'm more confused than before :) :( :) :(

Noone has any thoughts on the rest of it? I know I have 3 or 4 cases in there now, but, for the most part, it's cleaned up.

Thanks as always guys for the support and information!!!

forcifer

im referring to the fact that although only 3.(something)gbs show up in 32 bit OSes, your computer will use all 4gb

ShosMeister

I've decided to get this motherboard. It has RAID, no wasted serial or parallel ports and supports DDR2 and DDR3.

Thanks to all who provided information!!!!

forcifer

wow thats expensive P35 o.o whatever you want though. gigabyte is good. if you need raid i guess thats what you need.

ShosMeister

Thanks for the input Forcifer. I did think about it and the stock Gigabyte P35 is $100 and yes I was looking to get RAID. The thing that put this one over the top though was that it supports DDR2 and DDR3 so I can wait for the DDR3 to come down in price and improve their performance and upgrade without changing the motherboard.

ShosMeister

I've consolidated everything into a Final Config for easy viewing :) :)

Just need to decide on a case and I'll move it all to my cart since I did manage to get an A in all three classes

I'd like to get any final thoughts and input on any questions about decisions I've made as they may be wrong.

Thanks again to all for the input and support. I'll keep you posted and bring pictures for your portfolio