PC upgrade opinions, suggestions, alternatives...please

I am seriously considering upgrading my PC (almost certainly).

Opinions, suggestions, alternatives, ideas ... please.

At the moment I have P4C800-ED, 3.0ghz Northwood, 2*SATA2 HDD's,
2*Corsair CMX512-3200LL, ATI 9600 graphics & 3 optical drives in a old
full tower case. In addition the stock Intel fan is starting to "play
up".

My current upgrade selections are:

ASUS A8N-E (NF4 Ultra)
AMD 64 X2 4200+
Thermaltake ToughPower 750W PSU (or maybe the 600W version)
Gainward 7900GT 512mb GS (may drop down to the 7800GT)
Antec P180 Case
Zalman CNPS 9500 cooler

Memory, HDD's & optical drives as before.

I don't need SLI; at least my understanding is that SLI is used to
combine 2 graphics cards and I am very unlikely to need 2 graphic
cards.

I did consider the new AM2 processors, however, the new NF5 chipset
only has 1 IDE header for 2 PATA drives ... and I have 3 (which I want
to keep). Also the new AM2 CPU's have the DRM stuff on the CPU. I
presume the new Intel Conroe's also include the DRM stuff. Personally
I would prefer to stay far, far away from any DRM code (where possible).

Another advantage of moving to NF4 is that I don't have to upgrade the
memory ... saving about $200-$300 Aussie dollars depending on the
quality/speed.

Looking at Tom's Hardware 60+ page review of the new AM2 CPU's the
older 4200+ & 400mhz DDR combination still outperforms many of the new
AM2 CPU's.

I also looked at staying with Intel ... probably a D950 but would need
to upgrade the memory to DDR2. Once again some of the LGA775 MB's
also only have 1 IDE port.

The only concern I have with the A8N-E MB is that it doesn't have a 1394
port ... not a problem today since I currently don't have any Firewire
devices but it would be nice to have for the future. Dual GB LAN would
also be nice but not essential.

My biggest concern is with the Antec P180 case. Although it gets very
good reviews, I'm not 100% certain the cables on the ToughPower PSU are
long enough ... from what I found on the web they should be.

I even looked at Thermaltake Tai-Chi case with builtin water cooling !!!

I would be very interested in other case suggestions ... I don't want a
case with fancy lights, windows & the like. Just a good quality, quiet
case that doesn't cost a fortune, eg. the P180 costs about AU$220. Most
LIAN LI cases are available in Oz, however, they are generally very
expensive.

Cheers & TIA for your suggestions, etc.
Bazza...

.

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