Feedback on PC build.

[yellowmonkyman]

Hey, i'm going to be buying a new PC soon. I'm planning it out, and this is what i got so far...
Intel P4 2.8E 800FSB 1MbCache
Asus P4P800 Mobo
512Mb PC3200
Seagate 120Gb Hard Drive
Samsung DF19" CRT Monitor
Radeon 9600 (base. not se/pro/xt)
DVDRW drive

I'm basically unsure of everything. I've read a lot, but i'm still undecided on a number of issues.

Processor- AMD or Intel?? How come Intel processors that the same Ghz, but various bus speeds or various amounts of cache are so closely priced? More cache is good right? Is faster FSB good?? If a have 2.8 at a lower FSB doesn't that mean that i can overclock it more than a 800FSB?

Motherboard- I'm happy with Asus products, but if i choose a different CPU than i may change my mobo.

Memory- I have no idea what is going on with memory these days.. It used to be that you would just try to stick in the most ram that you could fit/afford. I'm not sure if i would overclock this puppy.. I can't imagine needing more than 2.8Ghz, so i'm not going to worry about special overclocking RAM.

Hard Drive & Monitor - Basically the only things i'm sure on. They haven't changed much, they just got bigger, and bigger is better IMO.

Video Card- I'm not going to be playing many of the latest games, but i want a decent card, so I chose the base (built by) ATI Radeon 9600. I see the huge price gaps, and i just chose that which i could see myself spending.

Optical Drive- I dont burn much because my current drive gives me about a 15% success rate, but i plan on buying a reliable DVD burner. I dont know much about them. Originally, i was planning on buying a CDRW drive and a DVD player, but the price of both comes out to slightly less than a 8x dual format DVD burner. I'm concerned about brand quality.. I would like to get a Plextor, but they just cost too much. I'm thinking maybe a Pioneer drive, considering I dont have a high opinion of LG, Lite-On, or Sony.

Advice and feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[I-wanna-be-unfamous!]

I have an 80GB seagate hard-drive and it's kinda buggy with windows 2000.

[Van Nugent]

What does it do to make you think it's buggy with Windows 2000?

[Neo]

Hard Drives have nothing to do with your OS being buggy. Unless of coarse there is something actually wrong with the HD (do a diag test).

Anyways, these links should help you make a decision.
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,14,page,3,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,14,page,2,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,14,page,4,00.asp

[yellowmonkyman]

I have an 80GB seagate hard-drive and it's kinda buggy with windows 2000. I'm not concerned. My two Seagates are many years old and never gave me a problem.

Anyways, these links should help you make a decision.
I have seen this guide and i didn't find much useful information from it. Thanks, but i wrote specific information and i was hoping for specific feedback.

What about DVD recorders? I should at least be able to get some answers on that front.. What do yall think?? I'm looking at Pioneer's DVR-A07 (which also seems to be referred to as the 107, same thing i assume?). I've heard good things about Pioneer's burners, and I dont feel like spending $100 more just to get a Plextor. Good choice?

[smokafatty]

How come Intel processors that the same Ghz, but various bus speeds or various amounts of cache are so closely priced? More cache is good right? Is faster FSB good?? If a have 2.8 at a lower FSB doesn't that mean that i can overclock it more than a 800FSB? I don't think the cache would make much of a difference. Faster fsb is definitely good (especially for dual channel memory). If you are thinking of overclocking then you need to get overclockable memory.
Video Card- I'm not going to be playing many of the latest games, but i want a decent card, so I chose the base (built by) ATI Radeon 9600. I see the huge price gaps, and i just chose that which i could see myself spending. I think the 9600 nonpro is a good choice for the price. They are pretty easy to overclock I have the same card and was able to get a 25% increase in its speed fairly easily.
What about DVD recorders? I should at least be able to get some answers on that front.. What do yall think?? I'm looking at Pioneer's DVR-A07 (which also seems to be referred to as the 107, same thing i assume?). I've heard good things about Pioneer's burners, and I dont feel like spending $100 more just to get a Plextor. Good choice? I would go with the pioneer ao7/107 but I've also heard good things about NEC dvdrws and they are cheap (around $80).

[Neo]

Cache does make a difference. Look at the pentium 4 extreme edition. If you want specific opinions then go look at some reviews rather than givng a snotty reply. The 107 and a07 are indentical in hardware, only one is OEM and the other retail. There is also a firmwire difference, but you can always flash that.

[emailrob]

Also consider a decent case and PSU, if you get an option. Antec or Enermax make the best PSUs. You'll need around a decent 350/400W (not generic) PSU to run all those hot items!

[smokafatty]

Cache does make a difference. Look at the pentium 4 extreme edition. From what I understand the EE is quite different than just a bigger cache: (not to mention the $900 price tag)

the "Extreme Edition" processor is nothing more than an Intel Xeon with a P4 label tacked onto it, complete with a 2 MB L3 cache, now offered with FSB800 (200 MHz real FSB speed) and 3.2 GHz. But as far as going from 512k to 1M cache do you think there would be any noticable difference?