I am buying a new comp in next 30 days - I am thinking about a cyberpower pc with specs as above (Athlon 64 x2 4400, 2 gig corsair memory) If you had to choose between a 512 mb 7900 gtx or two 256 mb gtx (or 2 256 7900's) which would you go with? ( i.e. SLI setup or single card?) I am tempted to go with 512 - card performs very well plus I can buy second one when I rob a bank and then go sli with 2 512 mb cards.
Of course, that may never happen so???????
Also, is 10k rpm raptor drive worth it or am I better off going with a raid 0 config with two 7200 rpm drives Thanks!!!

I think you should reconsider your configuration completely

http://www.computing.net/gaming/wwwboard/forum/6596.html

Thanks - I assume the point is that a dual core cpu is not worth the extra money right now. I left something out- I will be using this for work - sometimes multi tasking AND for pro audio work where a dual core cpu does make a difference (SONAR 5). I still have the Q about the cards. (Monitor is a Dell 24 inch ultrasharp LCD if tht makas a diference.) Thanks again.

Either way you go with your graphics card, single or SLI, your graphics solution will overpower all your other PC components, namely your processor. Instead of getting two very expensive and wasteful cards, get an
Athlon FX-60. Not only is it dual core, but it is incredibly powerful for single threaded applications of today. Go with that.

FX-60? Are you serious? It sells for over $1000!

I'm not gonna pretend that I'm familiar with "pro audio work", but I did have a look at SONAR 5's recommended system requirements & they're no steeper than most video games. In fact, the recommended requirements for F.E.A.R. are higher.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/sonar/system.asp

IMO, the Raptor isn't worth it, especially when you consider the small capacity...& if your data is important to you, RAID-0 is definitely NOT the way to go.

And why would you need a 512MB video card, let alone two of them in SLi?

Hey, it's your money & you're free to spend it however you please, but you might wanna do some more research before jumping into anything

I agree with jam.

About the FX-60 recommendation... I'd call it a waste even if you robed a bank. The x2 4400+ overclocks easily to fx-60 speeds. Besides, the new amd socket which supports ddr2 will be released (Last time I checked it was announced for mid 2006) and new fx processors will be coming out faster&cheaper than the fx-60. I almost feel sorry for anyone who has bought an fx-60 with hard-work money.

If you go dual core the x2 4400 is the one to buy.

About sli... don't get sli xD
if you have the money to get a single 7900gtx 512mb that is MORE THAN ENOUGH. However I think ati is doing better now with the x1900xtx, cause it performs not only slightly better than the 7900gtx but it also has better image quality (high quality anisotropic filtering -beats nvidias filtering- and the ability to render antialasing + HDR at the same time - something the 7900gtx can't do)

If I were you, I'd get only an overclocked 7900gt, there is an xfx version tha has an amazing overclock from 450mhz to 550mhz, and it's only at 350 bucks, that is what the 7800gt used to cost, but this baby performs better than the 7800gtx.

Free

First of all thanks to all for your time.

Second arghhhh!!

If I have this straight, the rec is to just get "regular" 7200 rpm HDDs and I will be fine?

Re the card, I was leaning toward the 512 single card but your comments re the 7900 gt are intruiging - the upgrade is $326 - Are you saying it is not worth it? Keep in mind that I am a guy that upgrades soup to nuts about every 3-4 years so I cannot keep up with you guys and gals. Anyhow, here is what the card options are (the system as pre configured comes with two 7900 gt's but I cannot confirm clock speed and know nothing about overclocking) :
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD()[-217]
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 GT 128MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD()[-185]
NVIDIA Geforce 6800 XT 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD()[-175]
NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GS 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD()[-125]
NEW !!! NVIDIA Geforce 7600 GT 256MB PCI Express x16 Video Card()[-105]
NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GT 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card()[-45]
NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GTX 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card()[+144]
NEW !!! NVIDIA Geforce 7900 GT 256MB 16X PCI Express Video Card()[+0]
NEW! NVIDIA Geforce 7900 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express Video Card()[+326]
NONE()[-290]

The 7900GT is the best buy on the market right now, in my opinion. Go for that. I just bought an eVGA 7800GT about 2 months ago and I'm going through their step-up program to get the 7900GT because it's only going to cost me an additional $5-$10. I personally think that buying top of the line (i.e. 7900GTX or x1900xtx) is wasting money considering the price drop-off when the next card comes out. I went for an eVGA card because I had heard about their step up program which allows you to upgrade for only the price difference.

I don't even need the 7900GT right now because my 7800GT is still capabale of running anything thrown at it currently and I don't even have it OC'd, but for $5-$10, I'll make the jump.

P.S. Are you buying a Dell? It looks like you cut and pasted right off their site...

Thanks. No actually that was from cyberpower pc - good/bad?

Heard a lot of good things about Cyberpower. Personally, I'd just build it myself. It's not that difficult, you get to drink wine while doing it (in moderation), it will be completely upgradeable if you do your homework, and you'll save yourself a huge chunk of change!

I just built my first one, like I said, 2 months ago. This thing runs like a champ! I've never gotten so much satisfaction out of building something before. For what I built, I think I saved closed to $600 doing it myself rather than buying a pre-built PC. If you want, I'd be more than happy to send you an easy tutorial that I used, or you can find a bunch online. It's way more gratifying...trust me!