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Component Selection Considerations - Part 2

Continued from previous page:> Component Selection Considerations (Part 1)

• MEMORY - Choose MEMORY_1 is you do NOT plan to overclock, and MEMORY_2 if you DO.

• SYSTEM DRIVE - Did you notice I went with the (10K-rpm) Raptor over a 15K-rpm SCSI beast? I've long been a fan a SCSI, but want to try out one of these Raptors for myself, and see if they measure up. Sometimes, real-world use does not correspond to what (synthetic) benchmarks tell us. I'll let you know what I think.

Reliability still plays a major part of my decision-making process, and SCSI drives are known to be the most reliable. They are designed for (enterprise) systems that work hard 24X7. I would never consider a nasty 15K-rpm SCSI beast a bad decision for someone who could actually put those blazing-fast access times to good use.

• STORAGE DRIVE - Of these new 7200.9 drives, only the 80-GB and 160-GB models employ Seagate's industry-leading data-density of 160-GB-per-platter. (The 80-GB drive only uses one side of the platter, with a single read/write head.) See here.

Which is why I selected it over the 200-GB or the 250-GB models. But if you need more storage space, there's nothing wrong with one of those those roomier puppies. The technology just isn't quite as bleeding-edge.

See here from an article that says Seagate drives are very reliable, which is why I prefer them over other brands.

• VIDEO DRIVE - This 400-GB 7200.8 actually uses denser platters (3X133-GB per platter) than the new 500-GB 7200.9 (4X125-GB per platter), and costs less on a $/GB ratio.

Since drives with more platters and more heads tend to run hotter and noisier, and therefore are more likely to fail than their cooler/quieter counterparts, I would rather have the (3-platter) 400-GB 7200.8 than the (4-platter) 500-GB 7200.9, even tho the latter is a later-generation drive.

• EXTERNAL DRIVE - This external drive come with both Firewire & USB 2.0 interfaces. If you don't need Firewire, you can save a little money by selecting the USB-only model. But I feel it is worth the extra cash to get an external drive that supports both interfaces .. just in case.


• GRAPHICS CARD - I choose ATI Radeon for good combination of sharp 2D desktop and powerful 3D graphics. Nothing wrong with nVidia cards, paricularly if your PC will be used primarily for gaming (3D). I've heard nVidia's 2D is not as crisp as ATI's 2D, which is why I opted for the ATI card .. cuz I spend much more time in 2D-world (like now) than 3D.

If you do no 3D at all, I've heard Matrox makes the absolute best 2D possible (sharp, crisp, clear), so one of their cards would be the best solution, but it is always smart to have a good 3D card handy .. for when the kids stop by.

If you plan to edit video with your system, it is best to delect your components based on the application you plan to use (such as Avid Xpress Pro). The manufactures of these apps will provide specific recommendations, sich as Matrox does here.

If you are a hardcore gamer, get a motherboard that comes with an extra PCI Express X16 slot (2 total) for SLI / Crossfire .. and get *two* graphics card that support either SLI or Crossfire technologies .. and be the envy of everyone on your block. =)

Or, you could get a dual X16-slotted board now, with *one* SLI/Crossfire card, and get a second SLI/Crossfire card down the road. In this case, you would also want the fastest CPU you can afford, so the CPU doesn't become the performance bottleneck.

With that said, I am not totally convinced about the value of the SLI / Crossfire technology. I believe games need to be specifically coded to take advantage of the technology. And I don't think many such games esist at this time.

Also, far as I know (I am no expert in this area), I believe the SLI technology more developed that Crossfire. Years ago, nVidia bought (the company) 3Dfx. And 3Dfx was the king-of-SLI. Back in the day, I had two Voodoo2's in SLI myself. Ah, the good ol' days of Quake II at 1024x768 .. thought we'd died and gone to heaven.

Both Matrox & ATI are Canadian companies. nVidia is American.