So I've got two 500GB HDs...

[Raapys]

I think you must have just been extremely unlucky with your hdds, Fyron. I can't recall the last time I heard of anyone I know having their hdd fail, nor have any of my own hdd's ever failed. You will also find that companies like Dell/Alienware are now selling their high-end computers with Raid0 by default. I wouldn't bother with 'wasting' a hdd on going Raid1 for anything but 'can't risk losing this'- type of data, and I wouldn't store that on my home-entertainment computer at any rate.

The average user might not notice a drastic difference with Raid0's performance increase( unless it's a 2x 10,000 RPM setup, i.e. 3x the speed of a normal hdd ), but it will definitely speed up things like loading of windows, faster loading of applications and demanding games, etc. You'll also get a smoother windows experience in general.