New System, advice for lil me?

[Nightchill]

My p3 800 is aging somewhat so I've opted for an entirely new system.Unfortunately my budget only runs to around £400 so after much searching (starting at Scan then ending up at MicroDirect) here's what I've got:

- Intel Pentium® 4 3.0GHz (800MHz) Hyper threading 512K cache Retail (3 year warranty)
- Asus P4S800D P4 SIS655FX 800FSB dual ch. DDR400 SATA/RAID 8xAGP 6 ch. audio +LAN +USB2 ATX +WiFi slot (Hyperthreading support)
- 512MB DDR400 PC3200 RAM (major brand)
- 120 GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 SATA 7200rpm UDMA150 8MB Cache
- Zorro-x Midi Tower Black 400W + clear side panel + 3x int fan +USB2.0 +Firewire +audio ports ATX
- Gainward GF FX5700LE 128Mb PP Ultra 860LE TV+DVI Retail (5827)
- Sony 16x DVD ROM Black OEM

All from microdirect, total cost is around £430. Opted for the Northwood cpu (as opposed to a Prescott) due to the power whorage/furnace that is the Prescott. And the benchmarks aren't noticeably different to the Northwood.

Any advice or suggestions on how to improve but keeping within the same budget? It's all more than welcome, been a while since I explored the diverse world of PC specs. If not, it shall be mine next Tuesday

 

[Ardrias]

With a CPU like that, you should really get 1gig RAM minimum. Also, a better GFX card never hurts. Not going to be able to do it without killing your budget tho, so not much help I guess.

 

[Nightchill]

Yep, first upgrades will be another 512 RAM, right now I only have the 1 512 stick, so isn't taking advantage of dual ram.

Built the pc yesterday, though it involved travelling to Microdirect, then to Scan, then back to Microdirect. I didn't buy a floppy drive for it since Win XP is bootable off cd. It didn't occur to me that Win XP wouldn't like a SATA drive. Sure enough, it didn't detect it. So had to go online and download the files for it onto floppy, then go out and buy a floppy drive (from Microdirect, I got a "back again??"). All sorted now

 

[Tom]

I can't see you needing 3 internal fans, I honestly think that case cooling is overrated. A hole at the bottom and a hole at the top and the laws of physics do the rest.

I would also try and get a Zalman PSU, I have one in mine and they make a huge difference to the amount of noise your computer generates. Its like driving with the window open, and then shutting it. Brilliant!