Another Budget Box Question

[trdsdd]

Hi -

I have not built a PC in quite some time. Anyway, I have a 5 month old 500 wt PSU and DVD/CD burner that I am taking out of our current P4 PC to use in this build. I have a good 350 wt PS and a DVD ROM drive that will go back into the old PC for our child to use. The parts below I purchased from Newegg and I'm looking for some video card advice. In addition to general surfing and open office use, I do a little gaming, photo editing and during the spring and summer sometimes a lot of audio editing with the PC. I plan on RAID 0, part'ng the drives and running Win 7, Ubuntu and maybe XP on the box.

CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor Model HDZ550WFGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103680

MB: GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128392

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231275

HardDrives: Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136283

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

Is the best bang for the buck right now for me to go with ATI instead of NVIDIA? Are there any reasons to go with one over the other? I'm looking for a card in and around the $50 - $60 range after all is said and done.

Here is what I have come up with on the ATI side.

ASUS EAH4650/DI/1GD2/A(LP) Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit DDR2 $38 After $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121340

MSI R4650-MD1G Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 $50 after $10 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127416

GIGABYTE GV-R465OC-1GI Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 $50 after $10 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125253

I'm leaning toward the ASUS EAH4650 because it is the cheapest.

Thanks in advance
Dave

[flanzig1]

Before you commit to using that older PSU, want to make sure it has the correct connectors for the board you plan on using. The board you linked needs a 24 pin and 4x4 connectors for main power and at least 1 PCI-E video card connector. Would post the make and model so we can see if it will be suitable for your build.
Wouldn't bother with a RAID 0, with video editing you want stability not speed. With today's HDs, RAID 0 may give you a 10 to 20% increase over a single drive.

[trdsdd]

Hi flanzig1

Thanks for the assistance -

Here is the info on the power supply and a link to the deactivated item. It was installed in May 2009.
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W ATX12V / EPS12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341012

As for the RAID 0. Should I just go with RAID 1 or use the second drive as a back up drive? I guess I should explain what I am looking to achieve and/or prevent. Currently I have an old P4 with 3 HDs (160 GB, 2X100 GB) , all of the drives are over 6 years old. The two 100 GB drives are used exclusively to back up data. The 160 GB drive has 3 patitions. 1 for the OS, docs, photos and all the regular stuff; 1 for any audio I am working on; and 1 for any video I am working on. This system has worked fine for me up to now. I am beginning to worry about HD failures and what will happen to all of the photos of the kids and any other data that is currently only stored electronically. Programs can be reloaded, but moments in time cannot be. So I guess I am looking to ensure that the irreplaceable data is safe, secure and backed up. I also do data/photo/etc backups on DVD at least once a year as extra insurance.


Thanks in advance again
Dave

[glc]

I prefer a backup drive to using RAID 1. Use something like Acronis True Image to schedule and run backups.

If you want to play the rebate game, this is also under $50 end cost - and is the next step up from a 4650:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121329

[trdsdd]

glc -

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to look for a deal on the Acronis software.

I don't mind playing the rebate or bing cashback game. It's how I'm keeping this build so low cost. So it's looking like it's a 4670 for me.

Thanks
Dave