Hello,

I am in a bit of a dilemma with determining the best configuration for my system.  This is a HD dilemma!

Currently:  5 Drives
3 X Maxtor 160GB  in Raid 0 - Everything is on these, including boot, files, swap file, temps, etc.
1 X WD IDE 160GB - used solely for imaging the OS for backup.
1 X WD 160GB External fire wire drive - MP3, docs, backup for important files (turned off most of the time)

The dilemma: I will be rebuilding the OS shortly, and wish to change the configuration.  I feel that there are much better ways to separate my system resources, but am unable to determine which would work the most efficiently.  Lets pretend I only have the 4 drives (3 sata, 1 IDE), as one will always be on the back burner for backups (more than likely the external).  Having said that; I am interested in only the fastest possible configuration (I will devise a recovery strategy once all is in place).

Computer use: a LOT of downloading!  -  Machine is always pulling something down..music, videos, applications, etc...
Video Coding - constant encoding / decoding
Decompression - constant decompressing of archived files. This is the one area I would really like to see an improvement in speed.
as for games, I only use Flight simulator, and not regularly.  For me, that is second priority.

Sys specs: Hard drives pre listed
Abit AN8 (current 3 drive raid 0 on NVRAID, only 8% CPU utilization)
AMD 3800   / 2GB Mushkin mem
msi 6600GT / PCI capture card / DVD Burner
H/Q Thermaltake power supply for all those drives (spent a lot on this for obvious reasons!)

Let the configuration recommendation (and rationale behind said recommendations) begin!

Thank you