I can echo Mroleg's comments. I just finished the basic build on a P4PE w/LAN, Firewire, RAID, USB 2, 6-channel sound, and 13 virgins rampant on a field of shame. I found the P4 2.53 to be the best value price wise - and that will handle all I need with 1024 MB of PC3200 XMS DDR RAM from Corsair via Newegg.
It was a fun build - but not without some heartaches along the way. Took about two good days to get it all humming. Today I was about 70% finished and had a minor setback. In messing with Tweak UI, somehow a key file got corrupted (NTOSKERNL.EXE) and the puppy would not boot. Alas - I was also in NTFS, so there was no way to replace the file. So, I had a backup drive that was about 35% done, so I reverted - recloned, and now we're finished except for apps. I now have two cloned HDDs ready to go in case of a hiccup on my part.
I like the mobo and the ease of which Asus puts it all together. I would suggest downloading the manual in PDF format and printing it letter-size pages in color and put it in a loose leaf binder. It makes the details so much easier. All the periphs came alive - Firewire CD/RW, and external data drive - USB hub, Wacom pad and the printer. All are happy and the Device Manager screen is full, but clean and green.
My lesson learned is to not go to NTFS until all the work is done and everything is backed up.
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