HDD configuration TIPS needed for Today’s Technology!

WOW is al I can say with technology moving at a rate of a speeding bullet. If it is not hard enough taking the plunge into the new 64bit realm with its new platforms to choose from, now I am faced with getting my head around HDD technology.

So as usual I now ask for help in the forums.

Can I expect to get the same results running say Western Digital 74G SATA Raptor 10000 rpm HDD as a stand alone ($369.00) compared with 2 Seagate Serial ATA 120GB 7200RPM ($165.00) in a raid 0 configuration using Sil3114 technology ?

Do any of you know about the Sil3114 technology? This is in a chipset I am considering buying. I know there is another version of this (Sil3512)? I hear this technology has greatly improved serial ATA putting augments to rest about the previous SATA to rest? How does one configure a HDD to use this tech? Can you only utilize it by using the raid options only, in which case would I be wasting my money on the Western Digital 74G SATA Raptor
10000 rpm HDD?


So in summery I’m thinking of either running the ($369.00) SATA10000rpm 74gig , as a stand alone, with a HDD of lesser performance for storage (8mb cache of course) or:

2 Seagate Serial ATA 120GB 7200RPM ($165.00) in a raid 0 configuration using Sil3114 technology?

Previously I have heard many people begrudging Raid configuration for hard rive performance?

Your thoughts or any tips as to using today’s HDD’s and or silicon technology and the array of raid config’s would be great. Please explain my options for better performance!

Thanx

If you are considering a 74gb hdd as a standalone, why not consider 2 36gb rapors in a raid 0, with the larger disk for mass storage? That will be faster than either the 74 alone or the 7200 rpm drives in raid 0. Check newegg.com, and you'll find you can get the 36gb raptor for only about $122US each.
It doesnt matter so much which chipset you get, the 3114 supports 4x SATA, the 3512 only 2x, so expandability-wise you might want the 3114.
So in summary, I would get 2 36gb 10000rpm raptors and put them in raid 0, with a bigger ide for mass storage.