After reading the reviews, the Raptor seems like it is everyone's favorite. But most of the reviews, they were comparing the Raptor, with a regular ATA hard drive. Of course it is going to be faster.
Of course, I am trying to get the most for my money. So I think that going w/ the 200 gig SATA hard drive is the way to go for me. Remember, I am coming from a five year old laptop..
But I don't doubt that I will upgrade to the Raptor down the road..
Monitor:
I don't have a monitor, b/c I have been on a laptop for the past 5 years. But I have a feeling that this is going to hurt the wallet the most...
For 1200-1400 dollars you should be able to build a sweet comp.
Try maybe
AMD 64 3400+ or better (290.00)
Nvidia GeForce FX5700 Ultra (170.00)
1GB PC3200 DDR (150.00)
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro MOBO (116.00)
160GB Hard Drive (120.00)
Thermaltake Xaser III Case 420ish power supply (150.00)
then what ever else
DVD Burner (100.00)
CD Burner (50.00)
thats about all you need... =1146.00 (plus shipping)
prices from www.newegg.com
as for the case, its really your choice . . . there are a TON of great cases out there, each for different people . . . i suggest newegg.com to search through them