I'm a die-hard Western Digital fan. I'll never choose anything else. I've never had problems with a Sea Gate, per se (only owned one), but I've found that over time it's become quite noisy. Whatever you do, though, stay the hell away from Maxtor. Just... ugh. One thing to remember: ALWAYS go with 7200+ RPMs. Anything less, and you'll be strangling yourself. Personally, I run a 45 Gig and a 120 Gig in one box, and a 40 Gig in the other. I wouldn't go with ANYTHING less than 80 in a single drive, and preferably 120, but that's up to you. I do alot of "archival" of programs, etc., and tend to have a LOT of games installed at any given time (i.e. 30+ Gigs), so I'm a space hog. And, a 120+ Gig drive won't go "obsolete" for another few years, as more and more applications start utilizing that space. 20 Gig was the standard not too long ago, but it may be up to 40 Gig, hence why you'd want at LEAST 80 Gig now, and preferably 120 Gig, to stay on top of the curve.
For video cards, I'm an nVIDIA nut. If you're gonna nab one, there's ALOT of different cards to buy, so shop around and read the reviews. I went with a PNY Verto card. They're supposed to be good; nothing major, but nothing shoddy, either. Chaintech's are good, as well. And, like Lum said, stay away from MX anything. ALWAYS go mainstream, regular cards. The cheaper cost of the lower-end cards is NOT worth it, and more often than not you can get a better low-end mainstream card for the same price as a mid/high-end cheap card.
As for the power supply, 350 Watts is the bare recommended minimum for a P4. And that's straight from Intel. You COULD do alright with 300, but you'd be pushing it. A HD, CD/DVD-ROM drive, and a good graphics card will eat that power up in no time. And if you're going dual-HD or dual-CD/DVD-ROMs, 300 ain't gonna cut it. 350 is the bare minimum I'd recommend, but 400 - 450 won't cost you much more, will give you room to grow, and always keep you on the safe side of things.
For video cards, I'm an nVIDIA nut. If you're gonna nab one, there's ALOT of different cards to buy, so shop around and read the reviews. I went with a PNY Verto card. They're supposed to be good; nothing major, but nothing shoddy, either. Chaintech's are good, as well. And, like Lum said, stay away from MX anything. ALWAYS go mainstream, regular cards. The cheaper cost of the lower-end cards is NOT worth it, and more often than not you can get a better low-end mainstream card for the same price as a mid/high-end cheap card.
As for the power supply, 350 Watts is the bare recommended minimum for a P4. And that's straight from Intel. You COULD do alright with 300, but you'd be pushing it. A HD, CD/DVD-ROM drive, and a good graphics card will eat that power up in no time. And if you're going dual-HD or dual-CD/DVD-ROMs, 300 ain't gonna cut it. 350 is the bare minimum I'd recommend, but 400 - 450 won't cost you much more, will give you room to grow, and always keep you on the safe side of things.
Roland *The Gunslinger*