from what i've read sata allows the computer to run cooler, thats why i would want to use it. the hdd's you buy compatible with either, or do i have to look for one specificly for sata or ide?
as far as the ram goes, i'm running 64bit vista ultimate, and am using about 75-80% ram usage. how do i know what ram i need? all my computer says is DDR2 (support dual-channel)
my hard drive is currently in two partitions. one for xp, and one for vista. the xp partition has about 3 gig free, and the vista partition has about 12 gigs free. however i plan on installing macromedia with alltogether is over a gig, and i also have an expanding video library. besides that, i want to use vista as my primary OS, and i want to use my current HDD as an external, so when i install vista on the new hd i can just copy all the stuff over from the old hd. plus, my current hd is 4200 rpm, and i would like to upgrade to 5400.
thank you for all your help, i'm sorry i hope i'm being to difficult i just want to make sure i know exactly what i need before i buy anything.