Few questions regarding future build

[jfall]

I'm thinking about putting together the following system:

Asus A7N8X Deluxe SocketA Nforce2 AGP8x Firewire USB2 Serial ATA Audio Lan = 168.98
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 512k 333fsb Socket A Barton Retial = 128.88
OCZ 512MB Pc3200 DDR400 CAS2 184Pin w/ Copper Heat Spreader = 155.98
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB AGP VGA DVI w/ TV Out Retail = 239.98

Total $693.82 Canadian

I have a few questions. I'm not sure to go with a regular 7200RPM HDD 80-120gb or so, or get a SATA Raptor. Will I notice much difference in speed? Is the particular OCZ ram I picked out good with this board and for overclocking? I'm not sure which 9600 pro to get, I want to have good overclocking results with it. Any particular brand recommended? Also, what headsink/fan are people using on the 9600s for best overclocking?

I was looking at the SLK800u heatsink, but its like $70 on Ncix and doesn't even come with a fan, I am also not sure if I want something that loud. I would like to get the 2500 up to at least 3000+ speeds.. is there any other heatsink/fan that may be cheaper that other people are using to overclock the barton with?

And finally, would a decent quality 350w power supply be good for this system, I doubt I would be adding much in the future, possibly a DVD burner.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I have a few questions. I'm not sure to go with a regular 7200RPM HDD 80-120gb or so, or get a SATA Raptor. Will I notice much difference in speed? Is the particular OCZ ram I picked out good with this board and for overclocking? I'm not sure which 9600 pro to get, I want to have good overclocking results with it. Any particular brand recommended? Also, what headsink/fan are people using on the 9600s for best overclocking?

the raptor will be a lot faster but here in the states, a raptor goes for $130-140. for the same price you can get a 200 GB 8 mb cache HDD, so it all depends on how much storage you need. if 36 GB is enough for you, then the raptor is a great choice (or if you have a second HDD)


OCZ El, OCZ gold is the good stuff, if it isnt EL or Gold, jut get XMS or HyperX


i got a built by ATi 9600 pro, it has 2.86 ns memory. core does 525, memory does 750

I was looking at the SLK800u heatsink, but its like $70 on Ncix and doesn't even come with a fan, I am also not sure if I want something that loud. I would like to get the 2500 up to at least 3000+ speeds.. is there any other heatsink/fan that may be cheaper that other people are using to overclock the barton with?

slk800 is a great heatsink and worth the investment. it doesnt have to be loud, since you choose what fan goes on it, you make make it as silent or loud as you like

a good qulaity 350W would be more than enough

 

[een]

Barton 2500+ -> I assume you are going to overclock it...
Otherwise get a 2600+ it's 300 MHZ faster without o/c, Barton overclocks a lot though..

For PSU... get the best one, I know 350W is enough, but you wouldn't want to wear a $5 T-shirt to go with your $3000 Tag Heuer... Stability is king

Anyways, get Antec True power 480W/550W...