Best Inexpensive Sata Hdd Solution?

[UWestSider]

I'm getting closer to spec'ing out and starting to assemble my system -- mostly for gaming and to start delving into overclocking. Some of the vitals like mobo and CPU are below. But I got thrown recently when I read some threads and articles on anandtech and storagereview.com that say for most desktop computers using a RAID array is a waste. Until i read that, I was pretty set on going RAID 0 with a couple of 80GB 7200rpm Western Digital Caviars -- which would only run me about $130 since my Neo2 has an onboard RAID controller.

 

Now, I'm not sure what to do. I don't plan on doing much (if any) video editing, just gaming and simple apps. If I want to keep my costs for storage under $200, here are my questions:

 

- Is it worth setting up a RAID 0 array? Or are the risks of losing your data if one drive fails too risky?

- Would I be better off getting one faster, large volume drive? Or a couple drives to keep the OS and games separate from other files and data (Raptor for 1st drive, something slower for 2nd) that aren't in a RAID array?

- Which brand drive should I go with if I do go the RAID avenue? I've read good things about the WD and the cheaper (and supposedly faster) Hitachi drives. Newegg has those for under $65 OEM.

 

Basically, tell me what you would do if you had a system with a pretty fast processor that you were going to OC with 1 gig of memory and about $150-200 to spend on hard drives.

 

Thanks for your help!

-UWS