HDD and setup recommendations for fresh install

[drmcgahey]

First post...please be nice

Recently fried the mobo on my system:

Athlon64 3500+, MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI, PC P&C Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI, 2 x BFG 6800GT OC, 2 x WD Raptor 74G RAID 0, 2 x 1GB Crucial Value

I Replaced the mobo with this one: http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=744&l1=3&l2=15&l3=226&l4=0 Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe. Attempted a repair install of XP Pro, only to determine after much frustration that both of my hard drives were also fried (perhaps a power surge to do so much damage?).

So, it appears I'm looking at new HDD/drives. I plan on going with Vista Pro on this install, and am looking for recommendations on whether to go with a single drive (and which one), or whether to go with another Raid setup. This system is used for some gaming, but mostly for business applications. I use online storage for my important documents.

Two questions:

1. I plan on somewhere between 250 and 350 GB of storage. Is there really any benefit, considering what this machine is used for, in running a RAID setup vs. a single drive?

2. I remember the hassle of trying to have XP recognize my drives when doing a fresh install in Raid 0 (when first building the machine above). Is there an article/tutorial on this site to talk me through loading RAID controllers, SATA drivers, etc. when doing a fresh install of Vista with new mobo, etc.?

Thanks so much for the help. Much appreciated!!!! BTW, I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous (to myself), so please dumb it down for me.

Keith

[krips]

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage.html
After going through Tom's HDD charts, I decided to pick up a Seagate 7200.11 500gb. It appears to be basically the quietest, fastest, and coolest around.
A few years ago there was a bunch of talk about raid0 not being very beneficial - not sure whether there's any truth in that or not.

[drmcgahey]

Thanks krips!

I've heard that recommendation more than any by far.