New build - memory, mobo and graphics - crossfire help

I am planning on building a new system and was wondering about various parts of it.

Memory - Should I get 1GB CAS2 memory or 2GB CAS3? The 2GB memory is about £80 more expensive but I don't know if 1GB is enough? I would be looking to running games and video editing at the same time but my dual core should help to take strain off the memory, no?

MOBO - I am a die hard ATI, and so I would love the new crossfire technology. The problem is that now only Sapphire have crossfire motherboards. Should I wait for someone like Asus or Abit to release a crossfire motherboard or should i stick with sapphire?

graphics card - Again with the crossfire....for it to work do I need to buy a special crossfire card at first, or does only the second card need to be a special crossfire one? Also, ATI have 512MB cards out. Should I go for that with an option of adding another 512 in the future or should i stick to 1 256 now and add another one in the future. Basically I am asking whether having 512 rather than 256 will make an improvement worth the extra £100. Also, in terms of ATI range, should i go for X800/ X850 or X1800?

Case/PSU - I'm not good with this part of the computer and was wondering if this is enough: Antec Black Super Mid Case, Antec TrueControl 550W PSU with 5.25ins drive bay control panel, an extra 120mm internal fan

Other specs are;
Athlon X2 4400+
Creative X-Fi sound card
DVD
DVD+RW
SATA hard drive with RAID

edit: If I've been to vague let me know

Quote:

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Originally Posted by browser

MOBO - I am a die hard ATI, and so I would love the new crossfire technology. The problem is that now only Sapphire have crossfire motherboards. Should I wait for someone like Asus or Abit to release a crossfire motherboard or should i stick with sapphire?

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nay. there's more mobos that are x-fire ready
I'm looking for the list I saw atm....

-edit- ffs I can't find the link
but I want to say there was at least 8 mobos that are x-fire ready
Asus, DFI were a couple of names that I think I saw on the list

-edit- I found a link, there's 9 listed here, and that's just for AMD s939 CPUs

http://www.ati.com/buy/promotions/ra...disccross.html

@browser....
Why are you a "die-hard ATI fan"?
Does "die-hard" imply willingness to overlook superior hardware in favor of a name?

...I'm not trying to talk you out of your choices, merely wondering if it's worth my time searching for comparisons that you won't consider....

fkdup74 - Thanks for that.....the ASUS board looks great.

@ clocker - obviously, if there is an alternative which outperforms ATI's card that I am considering I will seriously consider it....I am not norrowe minded.

By the original statement, what I actually meant was that I favour the crossfire dual graphics technology over the SLi and that's why I am looking for an ATI card rather than nVidia. I also find ATI are usually ahead of nVidia in technology. But fair point clocker.

Anyone have any memory recommendation?

edit: I am interested in your opinion on whether crossfire is better than SLi and if there is anything to show that SLi is better, i will look into that

ATI and Nvidia...
Intel and AMD...

Hell, they always jump ahead of one another, so just look out for leader. I believe Nvidia is leading the sales as of today due to it's marketing. Do you ever see games with "ATI Advertisements"?

I'm really a fan of both, so I went an Nvidia due to the Price/Quality comparison. Newegg recently dropped $100 off the evga Geforce 7800GT and people Lika that idea alot.

Hell Evga was leading the benchmark tests too! The XFX and Gigabyte versions of 7800GT had lower fps. What a sweet time it is.

previously, I bought a nice 9500 Pro from ATI though and it was very nice for the last 5 years