Graphics Upgrade - advice please

[Da Viksta]

well, im getting an extra 4gb ram actually (got a good deal - about £45 for 4gb 800Mhz...), and am getting an identical maxtor HDD to mine to make a RAID array (no point having two high spec HDDs ad only using one at a time ) as well as a homeplug system because my wireless signal is atrocious. that comes to about £120, plus im getting some misc stuff likea dvd drive for a pc i just scrapped together using scrap parts and a toaster (literally...i took some screws from a broken toaster ). Im also getting a memory stick for my sony cybershot DSC-T100 since 1gb proved woefully inadequate when i went to egypt last week.

I am planning, however, to wait for the GTX 260 55nm, and get the monitor then as well, so as to allow the price to drop. otherwise i will get a 4870X2 or a 4850X2 if the prices drop enough. Thanks a lot for the advice guys - im planning on keeping the difference for some games no point getting a single 4870 now, SLI 8800GTS has proven adequate for 1440x900

It wasnt entirely my decision - i dont have enough money for the monitor and card, my parents were filling that in, im spending about £180 in total right now for the misc hardware,and will get the monitor and gfx card at latest in another 2 months.

Would you recommend i make a raid array using my 500GBs (time wastage in making it isnt a problem ) or should i just not bother?

 

[aspire]

I wouldn't bother.

 

[Hussein19891]

8800GTS SLI with a 19 inch wide screen? Dude your set up right now is great you don't even have to worry about upgrading or anything for atleast another year.

 

[Da Viksta]

8800GTS SLI with a 19 inch wide screen? Dude your set up right now is great you don't even have to worry about upgrading or anything for atleast another year.

hehe its only a G80 GTS bt yeh thats why im holding off for the moment

 

[Hussein19891]

hehe its only a G80 GTS bt yeh thats why im holding off for the moment

Good thinking.

 

[meat_helmet]

Would you recommend i make a raid array using my 500GBs (time wastage in making it isnt a problem ) or should i just not bother?

I would. I used to have 2 80GB drives in Raid0 before i got my 7200.11 and it was really quick to load windows, games etc. Im actually a little dissapointed that my new 500GB is so much slower.

 

[baron5]

the 55nm will most likely just have, higher clocks. and obviously better temperatures. i rec. waitign for them if u were to upgrade in the near future.

 

[Thresh25]

I heard raid was tricky and can crash. i just have one sata hdd and love it. if raid works well i think it can be awesome. but i was told its risky.

 

[meat_helmet]

I heard raid was tricky and can crash. i just have one sata hdd and love it. if raid works well i think it can be awesome. but i was told its risky.

Well it depends what raid they are talking about... Raid0 carries more risk due to the fact that if one drive fails, the whole raid array fails - so the probability of it failing is higher. Other raid versions actually make it much, much more safe because they mirror the other drives.

Anyway, raid is not that difficult, especially if you have vista. It is really not that risky, my previous array told me it was having problems so i backed up everything, but it still ran for months before i finally changed the hdd - but it never actually failed.

 

[Thresh25]

Yeah I have no personal experience with it. I am just going off of what other people have said about it.