I'm glad one of you is training to be a cagefighter.... because "Maybe I will! Gosh!"
That's my quote! Go find your own! Frickin' IDIOT!
So X2 is the way to go for now (if only to keep Norton running without interupting my games) as far as I can tell.
I wouldn't. X2 is a lot more expensive and if what you want to do is play games, well, the games just aren't there yet. You don't need a whole second core to run Norton.
What I would do is buy a 3000+ or 3200+ Venice, and in a few years when more games support dual-core, buy an X2 then when they'll be way cheaper. All decent NF4 mobos are X2-compatible anyway (at least after a BIOS update). In the meantime, spend the cash you saved on a 7800GT or GTX - that will make a far, far bigger improvement in games.
I'd go for a DFI Ultra and mod it to SLI, or just buy the DFI SLI board. Or possibly an Epox. Those are the best overclocking boards right now. DFI has a ton of overclocking features and can supply huge voltages for OCZ VX or Redline RAM.
Not much point, IMHO (and there is no 7800 Ultra yet anyway). A single 7800GTX can run Battlefield II at 2048*1536 with anti-aliasing. Put two in and you're going to be severely CPU-bottlenecked. One 7800GTX is faster than two 6800 Ultras in most tests, and it runs cooler and uses less power too.
unless the ATI X-Fire boards kick its a$$, or another is more friendly to OC'ing... when they come out unless R520 stomps them
When do you want to buy this thing? There's not much indication that ATi's new stuff will be on the market anytime soon. If you're going to wait until Christmas the whole picture will have changed. Heck, maybe Intel will bring out a desktop Dothan solution that'll be even better (I've read that in gaming, Dothans can outperform A64s clock-for-clock, and that's with a much weaker bus speed and memory).
2 WD Raptor 36gb HD's RAID 0
Total waste. Anandtech did a review of RAID 0 and found for desktop use the difference is completely imperceptible. Far Cry loaded levels maybe a second faster. The Raptor itself is really not necessary, I think. Desktop apps and games are not disk I/O intensive, so ultra-fast hard drives are wasted. Leave that stuff for the database servers. Just get yourself a decent 7200rpm 250GB drive instead. Seagates and Samsungs are quiet, Hitachis are fast. Since the IBM Deathstar disappeared there really aren't any bad hard drives out there anymore.
2gb of Corsair 3200PRO memory w/led's
Read Zebo's memory guide. Paying the extra over PC3200 value RAM only buys you a few extra FPS. The A64 has an on-die memory controller and isn't starved for bandwidth. Get yourself some OCZ value memory (Value VX is very good, especially if you have a DFI board that can feed it over 3v) and spend the difference elsewhere.
Also ask why you need 2GB. As of right now, the only games that really like to have 2GB are Battlefield 2 and FEAR (which isn't even out yet), that I'm aware of. If you run 2*1GB, be aware that most of those modules will be slower than 2*512MB, unless you're willing to pay a massive premium. 4*512MB will stop you running the 1T command rate, which is also slower.
None of this will be very noticeable, however, but it seems to me that you are just throwing money around for the sake of it. I think that a computer that'll achieve 95% of the performance you want could be built for a much smaller cost, which gives you more to spend on a nice flat-screen monitor, a 5.1 surround speaker setup, or to buy games with.
Doh! I meant 2.8-2.9ghz on that X2 4800+
Optimistic, for a first-time overclocker. Go to
www.overclockers.com and look at the CPU database to see what other people have been achieving with your CPU. Not to put you off, but overclocking is as much about luck as anything else and be aware that you could have the best cooling in the world and you might still not get more than 2.5-2.6GHz out of a 4800+. I just don't want you to spend a ton of cash and then wind up disappointed.
One thing you could do is post a WTB in the for sale and trade forums, and ask for a CPU that someone has already tested and can verify has achieved a good overclock. Lots of people have good Venice chips they're getting rid of for dual-core. You'll probably pay a premium over an untested chip, but it'd probably be worth it to you. YMMV, but if your other components are good (DFI mobo, OCZ RAM, strong PSU) your chances of a good overclock are far better with such a chip.
in my xp, Water cooling is a pain in the ass. Wasted money.
Depends on what your purpose is. If you're looking for silence, a well-designed watercooling system will beat out any air-cooled system. Heck, I saw a guy who passively cooled a 3000+ running at 2.6GHz.
But I would still start with air-cooling. Get an XP90 or XP120 and see what you can do. One of those can get a very respectable overclock and still be pretty quiet.
How about an 8-disk 15000RPM SCSI RAID-5 array? Gah.
that 2GB of ram is okay, but maybe you should consider ddr2-800 or 667?
DDR2 is not available on A64s. It doesn't make sense anyway since the A64 benefits more from better timings than higher memory clock.