New computer configuration and questions

 

I'm in the process of trying to decide what configuration I would like to purchase for my next computer.  I've got a pretty good idea of what I want, but I have a few questions.  To start here is my current configuration:

 

Case: Digital Storm Twister LITE (Black Aluminum Edition)
Power Supply: 500W Thermaltake (Silent PurePower Edition)
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 5600+ 2.8GHz (Dual Core) (2 MB Cache)
w/HyperTransport
Motherboard: Asus M2N-Plus SLI (Vista Edition) (nForce 5 series SLI
Chipset)
Memory: 4GB DDR2 Corsair at 800MHz XMS2 (Dual Channel)
(Extreme-Performance)
Floppy / Media: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 500GB (Western Digital / Seagate) (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM)
(SATA)
Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL
/ Network Connections)
Modem: - No Thanks
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 640MB (By: eVGA / Asus)
(PCI-Express)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE (Up to 7.1 Channel)
Physics Card: - No Thanks
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink (Copper
Heatpipes)
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode
Tubes)
Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables
(Blue Edition)
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes
Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image
Based)
Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: Logitech Bluetooth MX5000 (MX 5000 Keyboard + MX 1000 Laser
Mouse)
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support

 

Now on with the questions.

 

1.  I'm not sure about the PS, I don't ever plan on going to SLI, mostly because I hear it's a pain in the ass, so I don't know if I'll ever need the extra power.  But is the current one big enough to run a  8800 videocard?

2.  I realize that with 4 gigs of ram I need to go to 64 bit vista.  Are there any issues with driver support, or the OS itself?  I've read both good and bad things about vista, but I figure after a service pack or 2 it should be fine.  Like XP I suppose.  I like a lot of the new features in vista and I want to give it a go, but the 64 bit version is a bit of a unknown to me.

3.  Currently I have a 640 meg video card, and from what I've read and seen the 320 will be almost as good.  Is it worth getting the extra ram on the videocard now, keeping in mind that I don't plan on going to SLI right now.  But I do have the availability in the mother board, might be better to use 2 x 320 cards?

4.  The one thing that bugs me about my current system is that it's loud as all get out.  What has the previous experience been with Digital Storm computers for noise?

5.  Because I live in Canada, I have no idea what the shipping costs are going to be, any other Canadian purchasers out there that might shed some light on this topic?

6.  I would like to use a different case then the ones offered by Digital Storm, Not that there is anything wrong with them, I personally just don't like the design of them.  I'm looking at using a NZXT Apollo case.  Any comments on it or recommendations?

 

I think thats enough for now.  Thanks for the help guys

However, I am not a computer tech - I just slept at a Holiday Inn last night

 

Too funny!!

 

Thanks for the help Alex,

 

I actually moved this to the configuration questions forum, but thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

I'm actually going to take almost all your advice to heart.  I've also decided that I'm going to use the Twister Ultra case as it seems to be the best looking case I've seen in a while, it's just not cheap.  but then you get what you pay for.

 

Thanks again.