Sustained sequential transfer rates would be best served by the two 7200rpm drives in RAID configuration (PATA or SATA -- makes no difference). (Two 10k's would obviously be better, I suppose.) Two Barracudas are still much quieter together than a Raptor!! In terms of power draw, just look up the nu...

I have a few humble recommendations/comments: The Intel boards are extremely reliable, and I think the 875 would suit your needs well. Many people do not favour the Intel-brand boards, because they are relatively slow, and do not offer many overclocking features, etc. However, in your case, you will...

One of my roommates has LED fans in his computer, and would like to quiet it somewhat (not necessarily silence it). I have no problems undervolting regular fans to 5V or 7V (I even have little adaptors rigged up to quickly tell whether the fans will start up at those potentials). But before I bother...

Creative TechSupport, while they may take a few days to respond, should give you that information. They were happy to answer my question about custom-connecting a Live! 5.1 less than a year ago.