Really need advice on what parts I should use in my new system

[Snow White]

This is what I think I'm getting:

Athlon 3500
Sapphire X800 Pro w.VIVO (softmodding to an XT)
MSI Neo2 Platinum (Unless you think I should go with something else)
Audigy 2
1 160gb s-ata drive for storage of music, files etc
Dual Layer DVD-RW drive (don't know which to buy either)


These are the components which I don't know much about and need advice as to what will work best with this system, with a performance focus on gaming.


RAM:
I think I want 1 gb, but I don't really know anything about latancy, or ddr speeds, or anything like that.

First of all, dual channel. A friend told me that it doesn't make a performance difference on AMD systems, another told me that it might because i'm getting a socket 939, and the 3500 has a dual channel memory controller or something. Should I go for it?
Second, ddr speed. Can i use anything faster than DDR400 on this motherboard? To do so would I have to overclock my cpu or fsb? if so, will i have trouble with data corruption on my s-ata drive?
Thirdly, I just don't know what memory to buy.. I don't know much about latancy but I've read that it's important to get the right one with an Athon 3500 because it's so fast. I just don't know what would be the best choice.


Hard Drive:
I want to have two drives- one for storing my media files etc, and the other to run Windows XP Pro along with all of my programs and games. I'm considering several options but don't know enough about this to decide which will be best for my system.

I thought about getting two 80gb s-atas and running them both in Raid 0. Will this give me much faster loading times? A friend told me that perhaps running such large drives in Raid 0 will mean i'll have to reformat a lot and it may not be worth it, and recommended i just get one 160gb s-ata..
I'm also considering buying a single smaller, but faster drive.. 80gb maybe.. like a Raptor or something, although I don't know much about these and need advice. What about s-ata150, or s-ata II? What's the dealy-yo? :$


Case:
Finally I don't know what case I should get. I was considering the thermaltake tsunami dream, but I just don't know what's good and I'm open to any and all suggestions. I really have no clue what case would be best for my system. Also would the power on the tsunami be sufficient? I could get a barebone case and buy my own power supply instead.. Again I just don't know much about cases, power or cooling and need suggestions of what parts would compliment my setup best.


Finally...can I just use the cpu fan that comes with the Athlon 3500? What about thermal paste? Is there anything else I'm missing?

As you can see I'm spending a lot of money so I want to make sure the components are exactly the right ones.. I don't want anything being bottlenecked just because I got the wrong type of memory or something, and I'm really worried I'll screw up. Can I please get some advice??? THANK YOU!

 

[ts3433]

RAM: You can use faster than PC3200 on the board--but anything above that is, after all, overclocking memory. Since those higher speeds are not official specs, a board manufacturer can't say their product officially supports those speeds. Get 2x512MB sticks since you have a dual-channel socket 939 (while on this subject, make sure the 3500+ is a winchester 90nm core; cooler and more OCable). Latency.... I forget how much effect it has on a K8.

HD: Get a standard IDE drive, since SATA itself offers no performance benefit over an IDE 7200RPM/8MB. (Come to think of it, a Raptor's generally not that much faster than those either, though go ahead and get one if you have a fairly large sum of money for this.) RAID0's a waste on the desktop too.

Case: I like my Antec SLK3700AMB, though you'll want to ditch the PSU if you're going to overclock (for a better Antec, Enermax, PCP&C, Fortron, or OCZ). It's not much for bling, either, though I hear these are quite moddable, if you're looking for something flashier.

CPU fan: In the retail box it comes with everything you need. If you buy an aftermarket heatsink (a must for moderate-heavy to heavy OCing) it should come with its own thermal grease, though you can splurge on AS5 if you want.