Best Xtreme preformance PC

[foq]

No, RAID is good. RAID 0 is great for performance as it merges two drives to one (i.e. 2 500GB drives are seen as a single 1TB drive), but if one drive goes boom, you lose everything. RAID 1 is mirror more, 2 500GB drives are seen as 1 500GB drive, but everything is copied from one drive to the other, so if one drive goes boom, you don't lose shit but a hard drive. I like RAID 0 + 1... (sometimes called RAID 10)... you need 4 drives minimum, but basically if you have 4 500GB hard drives, it gets seen as one 1TB hard drive... but it's also in mirror mode. It's like having two RAID 0 arrays.

[Disco]

XP Pro is 4GB RAM

All 32 bit OS's = 4 GB RAM and Windows wont even read the full 4. Also because of your Video card having 512MG, etc that would be 4GB minus that.

the 64 bit OS's can handle plenty of RAM but it is the Motherboard that is the limiting factor these days. The newer ones can support up to 24GB total now. Im talking about the commercial every day use joe motherboards, not server boards.

rAId 0 - Works like this (this is a high level overview): you buy 2 hard drives both 100GB each. Raid 0 treats them both like 1 DEVICE. However, everything you install on this device is Halved. so if you install a 10GB GAME, half of it is stored on one drive and the other half on the other drive. That way it only has to access half as much on each drive which takes less time then having to access the full amount from one drive. If 1 drive dies though, you obviously will lose all data on both.

[MH]

In summary, if you're going to use RAID0 you need to be absolutely certain that the data you have on those drives can be easily recreated easily (and that you won't be out of action for long if you lose the array).

RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ranger]

Where can I get liquid cooling and the parts for the computer?
I'd rather have it not from an online order and from a walkin place.

And is there a power issue? I mean when I dump in all this expensive tech will there be a specific required power supply?

[foq]

My wishlist from before...

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=13906526

There's nothing wrong with ordering online, my friend. I havn't really been to a place that sells pc components besides places like walmart, but they certianly won't have what you're looking for. I've heard good things about Microcenter and Fry's electronics, but I havn't been to any of those places... but they should have what you're looking for. I much prefer ordering online because everything's right there... no wandering around in a store physically looking for an item.

Power is definately issue. Never trust a high powered rig to a generic power supply. The power supply I reccomended in my wish list will handle the rest of the parts that I reccomended with it with ease.

Liquid cooling... meh. I'm not an expert in liquid cooling. Personally, I stay away from it. I like air coolers, as there's zero potential for them to spring a leak and ruin your hardware forever... you can count on them to work just as well as you can count on the sun to come up over the horizon every day for the next 5 billion years or so. The worst thing that can happen is the fan will quit running, or it will get clogged with dust, making temps go high... but you'll see the warning signs and know something's up. With water cooling, not only can the fans break on the radiator that can get clogged with dust just as well as anything else, but the pumps can break, and it can leak, and it's in general a huge pain in the ass. If you're dead set on water cooling though, all I can say is build your own kit... most prebuilt kits are pretty crappy and not much better than air cooling anyway.

[eieio]

Where can I get liquid cooling and the parts for the computer?
I'd rather have it not from an online order and from a walkin place.

It seems that you have never built a computer before. Are you sure you want to start with liquid cooling? Unless you are planning to overclock your hardware, there is no real reason for this. It will just make your build more complicated.

If you have them in your area, Fry's Electronics is probably the best brick and mortar store for comp parts if you want to walk in. Micro center is decent also. I would stay away from CompUSA. I had an issue where a mobo i bought there wasn't functioning properly and they charged me a 15% restocking fee. I will never go there again.

[Dreadlorde]

There's no need to overclock hardware anymore, btw.

[eieio]

why is that? haven't researched new hw for about 6 years now.

[Disco]

there is if you are bragging to the ladies at the bar about your highest score in 3D Mark06 or how many FPS you get with AA turned off... That kinda talk brings the ladies back for more.

[MH]

Dreadlorde is right. In most cases hardware is so fast these days that overclocking is just not needed. Not overclocking will give you better reliability and a longer lifetime (and cost less in terms of the old go-juice, i.e. electricity), both important if you're spending lotsa money. Finally, the cost of the shorter lifetime (and the additional cost of more power to run the cooling systems) is likely gonna be more than the cost of just buying a faster CPU - hardware is so cheap nowadays too.

[foq]

Sure, overclocking isn't nescessary. Hell, it never way 'nescesary'. I do it because I can, and it doesn't cost anything (save the $20 I spent on my AC Freezer 64 Pro). Electricity isn't really a factor if you're just overclocking and not overvolting.

More power to run the cooling systems? What cooling systems? You don't need high power cooling systems to overclock. As I said before, I have a $20 air cooler and it's served me well through all the years I've had it. There's no extra power draw involved over the stock cooler with air coolers.

As far as shorter lifetimes goes, that's really a myth. You're only going to get shorter lifetime if you overvolt (a lot), or if your hardware is running really hot. You can get a decent cooler like I did and overclock stuff, and it will still be running cooler than it was at stock with the stock cooler, thus, longer life... until you overvolt it too much.

[powerzord]

get a xigmatek Heatpipe Cooler , NEWB

[foq]

No way. My cooler serves me well, why would I spend extra money to replace something that works great?

[Ranger]

This has been really helpful, thanks guys.

[MH]

More power to run the cooling systems? What cooling systems?

Depends. The OP said water cooled, so that's not gonna come cheap.