ASUS "P4P800-E Deluxe" i865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU
The P4P800 series had some problems with the newer kernels. I believe they've been solved, but have heard better things about the A7N8X series. I am also a bit out-of-touch with motherboards, though, so take that with a grain of salt.
Also, just to encourage competition, save some money, and still get a kick-ass CPU, I recommend AMD rather than Intel where possible. Love 'em.
ASUS nVIDIA GeForce FX5200 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "V9520/TD"
Well, you mentioned being used to the driver issues, but you *will* have an easier time with a mid-range ATI card based on the R200 chip (like the 7200) if what I read on this list is correct (no personal experience there). ATI has not released specs or driver for the R300-based cards making their use even iffier than Nvidia. Just depends how much horsepower you need.
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD800JD
Check $/GB, get the best "deal" out there. I've been looking at the WD 160GB drives myself.
Do I even need a sound card, since the board comes with onboard audio?
Onboard should be fine, I'd guess.
Cheers,
-- Rodolfo J. Paiz rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.simpaticus.com
