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Quoted: I would install your OS on a faster harddrive than you have or you are not going to take advantage of all your upgrades as much. $100.00 250 GB 7500rpm
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alright ill check it out...I wasnt aware of much faster drives being available, guess 3 years allows for some development thanks
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I am running my OS on a SATA 37GB Raptor (WD?) 10,000 RPM drive on one computer and have run some test programs showing that it is faster than my other computers. But to tell you the truth, another computer I built with 7,500 RPM drives with the regular/old ide(?) connections seem just as fast. It could be the processor though that is a bit faster.
Check out NewEgg.com, cheap shipping for single items, buy your parts when they are on sale there and you can usually get great deals. The have very large SATA drives faster than the ones you have for about $130.00 right now. Your slower drives can be used for slave drives for storage and if you do any copying of DVD's you can store them on the slave drive.
Except for your operating system, you can get any other software you will need on a new system for free. Windows XP home can be bought online for around $80.00, XP Professional for about $134.00 or so. I have 2 of each and actually for my needs I don't see any reason for Professional if you are just using one computer. I have a network with 6 computers in my house.
Antivirus, firewalls, DVD authoring software and just about anything you could need on a new system is available for free. The crap on off the shelf computers is never really used anyway by most people. Something like Word or Wordperfect for documents can usually be installed if you have a disc from an older system.
Microsoft will be coming out with a new OS, but when? I have never had problems with XP, except for compatibility with some of my older programs and hardware.
Build your own, you won't regret it. The hardest part is getting the switches from your new case hooked up to the motherboard if you can't read/don't have the diagram. I like Antec (Lanboy) cases, simple, silver, nice power supply, plenty of room, couple of fans installed for cooling.
Let me know if you need any ideas or software if you decide to build.