Well after all your helpful advice folks, I have finally built the new PC and its up and running, bar putting on the usual ancillary programs etc:
AMD 64 X2 3800+ Manchester
Asus A8N-Sli Premium
2GB Corsair XMS3200PT RAM - matched pair
2 x Samsung Spinpoint 80GB SATA II (Raid0)
1 x Samsung Spinpoint 160 SATA II
Leadtek Winfast PCX6600GT
Plextor PX-130A DVD-ROM
NEC ND4550 DVDRW DL
Thermaltake Soprano Case
Hiper TypeR 580W PSU
(always interesting to see how the final build differs from the original specs!)
Build went really well, that Hiper PSU is quality, quiet and a dream to work with (Thanks Chris Postill
).
Only real difficulty was getting the Raid0 set up correctly first time, its not explained that well in the Asus user guide, but I scoured various user forums and got the relevant info there.
(one thing to note on this, if your going to raid with sata II HD's with this mobo, always use the nvidia sata raid controller and not the Silicon Image set as it doesn't support sataII - also apparently the nvraid controller is faster and more stable due to its direct integration with the nvidia chipset drivers, and also update the bios via a DOS boot disk prior to connecting your hardware)
Apart from that, had Windows XP Pro and all device drivers installed and running in under 2 hours, and it seems to fly!
Must admit as it was my first build, I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew with raid etc - but have to admit it was easier than expected and so rewarding, I would encourage everyone to have a go, just do your homework on the net first
Thanks again everyone - this machine is now crunching for the team!!