http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148106

I found this SATA hard drive, it's only about two dollars difference. What are the advantages to running a SATA HD than running an IDE HD?

I don't think I would go with that type of hard drive, whether it be SATA or IDE.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/...es_at_a_price/

It looks like 500 GB HDs are slooooooow. If you want that much capacity, it looks like it would be still better to go with two half-capacity but faster drives. The higher capacity Western Digital drives seem to perform better than the Seagates.

If you're buying from Newegg, I hope you have taken shipping into account for your order. Buying tons of parts like that from them tends to increase the shipping.

The main advantage to SATA over PATA is that the cables are much smaller, which results in increased airflow. There is also a slight performance increase over PATA, but it is not very significant at this point. The prices are roughly the same, so get SATA.

That's true but Western Digital drives are also much noisier than Seagate drives, and most WD drives (excluding Raptors) have 1 year warranties, whereas Seagate drives have 5 year warranties.

I've never heard of thermal pads either. Are they still a problem if you're not overclocking? I am so clumsy about applying thermal paste. I'm not even sure how my Duron is running when I'm pretty sure I had paste running off the sides of the core.

For 50 more bucks your going to get about 200 more gig of space

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136003

Thermal pads are fine if you aren't overclocking - they come with the retail CPU, after all. However, don't go buying any to use instead of thermal paste, just learn how to use the paste more effectively.

I've upgraded my CPU from 1.8GHz to a 2.2Ghz model. I also went ahead and upgraded my memory to a more reputable brand, and combined the two 512's into a 1GB stick.

Is there a significant difference in, for example, getting a 1GB RAM rather than getting two 512 RAM's? Which would be the better option?

That RAM is only an upgrade if you are considering messing with the settings (generating more heat). If not, I'd stick with the Corsair. Corsair really is the best brand.

Two 512s is the way to go. Dual channel RAM/slots means that the RAM is going to work a bit better when you put two, identical, dual channel sticks in there.

I'll keep that in mind for when I upgrade, but for now, I think I'll stick with the single stick.

Alrighty guys, I'm gonna let this thread die down a little while I save up the money to actually buy this stuff. I work at Subway part-time, so it should only take me about another month to get enough dough together. Hang tight!

Alright, so I got the parts a couple of weeks ago, and scrapped the video card for a 6600 nVidia something-something. After having an amazing failure with the motherboard, I boxed it all up to RMA it and ship it back. As I was about to actually drop it off at the post office, I decided to try ONE more time...lo and behold, it worked! I spent the next weekend importing my stuff from the old hard drive and setting my new computer up...it's awesome, and I have the support of awesome Gamingforcers to thank for it...thanks dudes. :D