Need suggestions on computer

[Compubrain]

What follows is a list of components for a computer I'm planning on building. Your suggestions are appreciated.

Intel VC820 Motherboard w/ 800Mhz Pentium III Processor
512 MB RDRAM
Ricoh MediaMaster 9060A DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive
Western Digital Caviar 30.7 GB HDD
Deluxe Chrome Tower from PC Power and Cooling
Turbo-Cool 600 ATX power supply from PC Power and Cooling
Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annhilator Pro
Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite
Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer
Iomega Zip 250 USB
Hi-Val SuperDisk LS-120 FDD
Sony GDM-F400 Monitor
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer

[Wiz]

512 meg of RDRAM is overkill. id go with 256meg

[Dave2]

You don't need a a Zip drive if you're getting a CDRW drive. In the long run a CDRW drive is cheaper because the CDs are cheaper than Zip disks. Instead of an LS 120 drive get a regular 1.44MB floppy drive. This will save you lots of money but then again you might be rich enough to not care wasting your money.

[Dominus]

You'll have to give your firstborn to pay for 512MB of RDRAM, or just sell both your kidneys.

My advice is go with SDRAM. RDRAM simply isn't that great. Holds no significant advantage over SDRAM really, and will die horribly when DDR-SDRAM comes out.

The LS120 is up to you. If no-one else you know has one, then it's kinda useless for transporting data. And having it AND the zip is kinda wasteful.

But it's your comp. I'm just saying that if I had that kinda cash, I wouldn't waste it on that.

[Colonel Casio]

I would get either the Zip or the LS 120, not both. If you decide on the Zip, forget the LS 120 & use a regular floppy drive. But if you want the LS 120, then forget the Zip. I use a LS 120 and find it to be very useful despite the fact that I don't know anyone else who uses one. That is not the main criteria for buying a LS 120 as the other posting persons might have you believe.

[Compubrain]

First of all, I don't expect to get this right away. This is just the current plan. It will be updated as I save my money. So, please, no complaints about the cost.

Second, the LS-120 and Zip is so that I can swap large files w/ my friends, yet still be able to hold large amounts of my own data on a disk.

Third, this is supposed to mainly be the ultimate gaming machine. So, if anyone has any suggestions based on that, let me know.

Just clearing things up.

[Chef Mark]

Likewise - I would stay away from the WD - had nothing but bad luck with these drives. I prefer Maxtor and IBM any day. IBM is at the top of my list and I buy Maxtor on special.

Chef

[bdog]

I would save your money and get 256 mb of pc133 instead. Also I would get a slower cpu and overclock it. I have a dual celeron 366 at 550 and 196 mb ram. I am sure that the proposed machine you are wanting to build would be way faster than mine in the benchmarcks, But I bet you couldn't even tell the difference in game play between the two. Don't just go out and buy the fastest thing out there. Buy what you need. Also I wouldn't get an intel mobo. My friend has one and doesn't like it. They are designed for the business environment. They are supposedly real stable, but lack some features and abilities to overclock. I would suggest a soyo or abit mobo. Also I would get an IBM hard drive as well. I have sent back several bad wd hd's this year. No problems with the IBM's.

[Apostle 83]

the thing about ultimate gaming machines is that they're ultimate for about two minutes....then they arent. Go medium end, upgrade! (hehe, medium end...)

[alpha]

I quite like WDs. I'd get this:
Abit BP6
Twin celeron 366@506mhz or twin 533s ( if you don't want ot overclock it :P)
192mb PC100 SDRAM
Savage4 32mb or Savage2k (ViperII) or Geforce 256 DDR
18gb UDMA IBM or Quantum harddrive
8x DVD ROM
Landmark case and 250watt PSU
A cool 17in or a nifty TFT monitor
Aureal SQ2500 sound card
Windows 2000/Win98 Dual boot for comapibility
8x CD-R to complement the DVD

Good luck! Hope you get a good system!!