So, sometime around December I'll be getting the components to build a computer to replace the shitty one I currently have, and I need a bit of help with a couple things.
This will be a gaming computer primarily, but will also have to put up with high-end graphics use(Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Macromedia Flash, AutoCAD, 3DSMax or Maya if I can get and run them, but those are a big "if." High-end movie-editing software is likely, too). There will also be some low-demand use (low-end programming , internet, Microsoft Office, and such)
First off, RAID. Since my data isn't generally important enough to back up (I will use an external HDD or tape drive to back up the few important files), but speed and space are high-priority, I was planning on doing a RAID 0 configuration of 2 or 3 HDDs (7200 RPM IDE, 200GiB if it's 2 drives, 140GiB if it'll be 3 drives, Serial ATA 150 if there's a definite advantage, but most likely PATA). What I'd like to know is:
-Should I not do RAID and just stick with JBOD or a single, large disk?
-Is there any reason to do a software-controlled configuration over a hardware-controlled besides cost?
-If not, suggestions for a good hardware controller?
-Could somebody point me to a tutorial on installing and setting up a RAID 0 configuration?
Secondly, I'm thinking an AMD processor, but is there any reason to go with Intel for my intended uses? I also wanted to know what the difference is between the Athlon 64 cores. I've heard that Winchester cores are the first-generation, and Venice and San Diego are the second-gen and have fixed some problems. Is that about right? Is there any need to go with a higher processor than, say, the Athlon 64 3200+ Venice core?
Third, memory. Do the higher-pin-count chips have a definite advantage over the lower-count chips?
Finally, ATI or NVidia graphics card? Will I see a marked performance increase between 128mb video memory and 256?
Thanks for your help.