Hey, I'm ready for a major upgrade to my computer and wanted some advice. This is what I'm thinking.
UPGRADE
Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe - $129(newegg.com)
CPU: AMD XP 3000+ 400 BUS $258 (newegg.com)
RAM: Crucial PC3200 DDR 512mb $94 (crucial)

CURRENTLY OWNED
Video Card: Geforce FX 5600 256mb
(big mistake I'm told)
HDD: Maxtor 80gb 7200 rpm
40gb 5600 rpm
CD-ROM: 10x4x32
DVD: not sure but it works :)

I would like any advice. Is this good, should everything work with each other, could I save money without a significant loss of performance(or vice versa), better buy elsewhere, etc? I know this is a lot of questions but I see so many conflicting reviews about indivual components so I wanted to put something together and see what you thought.
Just answer what you want/can and leave the rest to someone else. Also, I use this computer alot for gaming. Thanks alot.

well, the mobo is a good buy, personally i wouldn't go so far as the XP3000, you can get the 2600 with the 33FSB for 150 less, with not much less cpu power. i've heard some ups and downs with Crucial RAM but if its faulty then you could always return it. your vid card isn't a big mistake, its not the 5200 series, which the Ti beats. so, in all, yes it would all function together. if you go with 2600 you could use the money you save to get a faster CDRW. just my opinion. there you have it.

I would consider a different o.s. as well. 98 SE has fewer conflicts with older games. XP does well too, but it doesn't like some of my older games. You can pick up a retail version of XP home at Newegg.com for about $100.00. I agree with person51 on your hardware setup. Should work fine. Your older HDD ie:slower HDD is slowing down your newer, faster WD HDD. I would transfer all data from older HDD to the newer one and just use the one 80gig. Then buy a PCI IDE controler card and hook the 40 gig HDD to it and use it as a backup device. You should get good streamlined performance with that configuration. You asked for opinions and I give you mine. Right, wrong, or indifferent...

Thanks for the input. I think I will Back the cpu you down a bit. I thought Crucial was supposed to be real good. Do you have some alternatives? I've heard the worst place to skimp on is the RAM.

Dave, I am planning on getting XP also, forgot to mention that. My 40gig HDD is hooked up but it is being used right now. Does that still have an effect?

If there is a drive letter assigned to it, then yes, it is slowing your new HDD down. Just power down and unplug it from the IDE cable and power back up. I've used crucial with great success. Haven't had any problems with it. Maybe I'm just lucky. Who knows. Most gamers usually go for Corsair RAM and the like. The kinda stuff you can easily overclock.