Raptor help

[N1NJA]

I'm planning out a whole new system from scratch strictly for gaming/media. So far I have the whole system picked out and I'm jumping to AM2 unless I hear more of AM3 by January, and I've got a 500GB Caviar for basic storage. What I'm not sure about is if I should get a Raptor to hold XP and games to increase the speed a bit from the 7200rpm of the Caviar (and also if Raptors can use the SATA 3.0GB but I'm assuming they can) or if I should just put the money towards another gig of DDR2 800 from 2x512MB to 2x1GB. Also, If I get a raptor It'll have XP and allt eh games on it and the Caviar will be running Fedora Core, there shouldn't be any problems with that right?

[tuskenraider]

Raptors can run on a 3Gb/SATAII controller, but work at 1.5Gb/SATAI speeds. Still the fastest desktop drives either way. For gaming, get more RAM as it will be much more beneficial to have more of the game loaded in it from a "slower" drive than sitting on a little quicker hard drive waiting to be swapped in and out because of less memory. Get the Raptor later when budget allows.

[jeffp83]

Go with the 2GB kit of RAM if gaming. You will notice a much bigger difference on current/next-gen games than just upgrading your HDD. If you have $ to spend, the Raptor will provide an even nicer increase in loading speed along with the 2G's of RAM.