Here's a bunch of really dumb questions from a guy who has used laptops for his entire computing life, but is now thinking of getting his first desktop PC:
- In a PC with multiple internal HDDs, is there a way to shut down the power to individual drives using software or the OS? I want to keep a bunch of hard drives plugged in the internal bays, but don't want them spinning up until I actually need some files off of them.
- To decode x264 and high-resolution HDTV video files, what matters more: CPU or video card?
- For gaming, what's better: getting two cheap video cards and running them SLI, or getting a good video card that's twice as expensive?
- If a motherboard says it supports RAID, does that mean I can configure a pair of drives to do RAID 0 and another pair of drives to do RAID 1 - at the same time? Or will I need a seperate RAID controller to do both RAID 0 and RAID 1?
- When the specs of a motherboard says PATA 1 x ATA133 2 Dev. Max, does that mean that just 1 PATA drive can be plugged in?
- I'm going to be using a lot of USB devices. Is there any reason for me to choose a motherboard with a lot of USB ports, or is it OK if I just use hubs?
- I'm thinking of getting a 1080p 50" DLP TV and using it as both a TV and as a general computer monitor. Assuming I can good seating distance for both uses, does this idea make sense? The TV has HDMI, DVI, VGA, and a bunch of other inputs.