I'm Building my new computer.So far Abit AN8 Ultra MB, AMD 64 3500 chip, I gig Kinston 400 PC3200 ram. Need ideas for my hard drives. I'm going to run RAID 0. Any ideas would be helpful, Thanks , Bob

Just about any of the newer drives these days are fine and in what little research I did found them all pretty much equal in most respects. Want to go crazy fast?, get a pair of WD Raptor's. Myself, I just bought a 74G Raptor(system) and a WD2500KS for Games and data. Jay EklundCAT VI Senior Captain KDENhttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/812321/764.png

Just remember that high speed Raptor drives (10K RPM) will benefit FS very little. It is processor intensive and typically accesses the drive little during actual use.However, if you're using the machine to do DVD encoding, playing other games that do use the drive a lot, etc., it will help some.Also, while it is very fast, remember if you have vital data on this system that RAID 0 will be risky because there is no redundancy to RAID 0. You probably already know this but it's the standard spill on RAID 0, LOL.From the research I've done and what I've installed in my new system, it seems that any of the new SATA 2.0 drives (up to 3GB data bandwidth) with 16MB buffer do extremely well because of NCQ and will do so without the premium of paying for higher speed drives.YMMV. Hope this helps.Steve

Jay and Steve,thanks for the reply's and info. Steve,so maybe RAID 0 is not for me, and having that 10k Rapter will have little use in FS, which is the main reason for building this computer. ( Don't tell my wife that LOL).If you don't mind, could you tell me about your set-up and what hard drive you ended up using, Thanks again, Bob McDuff

Bob,I have an nForce4 Ultra board as well. Mine's an ASUS but ABIT and ASUS are the two top brands so you really can't go wrong with either.I see you're not going for SLI which neither did I. It's nice for some of the bleeding edge stuff but there is just too much mixed information to use it with FS2004 right now.Since your board will support SATA 2.0 you'll get the full benefit of one of the newer SATA drives. I chose two Seagate 160GB drives. I run the OS and all my programs on the C: drive and then install all my Flight stuff on the D: drive. It doesn't matter much as far as performance goes but it allows me to back up all my add-ons much easier.I like Seagate and have never had any trouble with them.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16822148105At ~ $92 for a SATA 2.0 vs ~$160 for a Raptor (with less storage), I think the SATA is the way to go.Also, I think you can't go wrong with the AMD. They consistenly wreak havoc on Intel as far as gaming goes and run cooler to boot. Make sure you go with the Venice version of the 3500. It has much lower power requirements and an upgraded MMI set. There is an E6 revision of it so you'll need to compare the 2. It appears that the E6 revision is updated so it will be the one you want.I went with the X2 4400+ because I wanted dual-core since I also do digital photo processing, video, etc. Unfortunately, I had to pay the premium for it as well.Also, be sure to keep in mind that the mobo supports dual channel so get two 512 matched stick of memory.Hope this info helps. If you have any more questions, I'll try my best to answwer them.Steve

WOW Steve, thanks. Yea I thought about an SLI board, but have read that FS9 will not take advantage of it. ( plus I'd have to buy 2 graphics cards, explain that to the wife:D)I've read about the Seagate hard drive and you've made up my mind, gonna order it tonight.As far as the CPU I have already ordered it. Here are the specs http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=A64-3500BWI have also ordered the memoryhttp://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=D400_1GKILet me know how I have done so far, and again you've been a great help. Thanks, Bob

Bob,Looks great!You did indeed order the E6 and the memory is dual channel.I think you will be very happy with your system. It should provide you with very decent performance.Keep us updated on how the build goes and how you like it.Congratulations on the new system!Steve