My first build

[Carlisledp]

Hey guys I'm a newbie here on this forum and to pc building but have learned a lot of great stuff from reading your threads. I read about the Aria in maximum pc and decided I wanted one.
Heres what I have ordered so far

Aria sff case
A64 3000+
Gigabyte GA K8VT800M
1gig corsair value select pc3200
Sony DRU710 dvd-dl burner
ATI AIW 9600xt

This will be replacing my current pc (amd t-bird 1.1ghz, 512mb pc 2100 ddr,gforce4 mx440, 2x40gig maxtors, sblive 5.1all in an old gateway case).
I'm not an avid gamer but dabble sometimes with stuff like dungeon siege,lotr... we surf a lot, some word and excel and cd burning.
So heres my questions
1) what hard drive/drives do you recommend? I want it to feel FAST!
2)Should I get a sound card or is onboard sufficient? (looking at audigy2)
3)If I get 2 hard drives , has anyone used onboard raid with this mobo?
4)Will stock HSF be good enough to keep this puppy cool?
Thanks in advanced for any help

 

[G'ßöö]

1) any reputable newer drive will kick (_x_)
2) never use onboard sound unless you have to
3) not sure
4) I am sure it is but you should always test. ya never know!

 

[Carlisledp]

Thanks alot
So I will be ordering an audigy 2zs....not sure which one yet and I think I'm going to go with a set up like MrE a 36gb raptor for the os and a larger sata drive for storage.
I really wanted to try the RAID 0 set up but I've heard the F6 stories and I'm not feeling confident
thanks for the info