Making My Own Computer

[evulish]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

Next to the RAM. It comes with 512mb DDR400 included. The motherboard supports dual channel RAM, but since it comes with bundled with one stick of RAM this feature is not available. So to overcome this I would buy another 512 stick of DDR400 (pc3200) Corsair for 73 bucks If you get this you will have a gig of RAM and will be able to run it dual channel, which makes the memory run much more efficiently and faster.

Actually, to get dual-channel DDR working, you'd need a matched pair, I believe. And I don't think there are many advantages to Dual-channel DDR, if I remember the reviews I read about it correctly.

Also, if you want the fastest drive setup, RAID 0 a few of those 10k rpm Raptors

[NoodleKnight]

Instead of only considering on what you want the computer to do, you should also design your computer around your budget limit.
And, from my experiences, Dual-Channel DDR does make a difference, but not that much, best save your money for something else. I've always stuck to intel processors since they generally are a bit more reliable, and run less hot, than AMD's. AMD's are much faster and cheaper, though.

[gobeavs]

Dual channel RAM makes a difference in Intel setups (and some with the regular Athlons), but not as much with Athlon 64's. The Athlon 64's on-die memory controller makes the RAM so accessible, that another channel to access it from doesn't help that much. There is so much latency with the RAM in Intel setups, that dual channel memory helps.

As noodlenight said, the budget issue is paramount. If you are tight, then that barebones system you picked out seems to be an excellent choice.