Oh, if you have spare time on your hands, and are up for some experimentation, I'd really suggest you take a look at gentoo. You can also look into the handbook, and see their step-for-step instructions. Some basic knowledge on how to use the shell (cd ls mount commands, etc.) should suffice. you will definitely learn alot from this, plus, all packages you compile use the 64 bit extensions. Best if you set up another partition to test this on.

I don't deny though, that you will probably stumble across a few problems, and compilation of EVERYTHING of course needs a very long time. I also don't want to force you into something. It's just some basic suggestion. Anyways, have fun with your new system

Yeah definitely thanks for the pointers. If I have the time, I'll for sure consider it. We'll see.

Forget Linux.  Install Windows and some games, post-haste!

Windows will definitely be first on the list. Linux is for after I'm done tinkering and playing. I'm thinking about going out and getting some case fans. I neglected to buy some with my order. So I need to get that and some cheap thermal paste. The A64 heatsink only has a thermal pad from what I hear. I ordered some Artic Silver CPU thermal compound, but it wasn't shipped with the rest of my order, and I aint waiting an extra day before I run this beast.

Well, I may not be using the Artic Silver after all. From my understanding now, using that voids the warranty on the CPU and motherboard. Nice to have notice in advance.