I replaced my existing DVD-ROM and CD-RW drives last week by splashing out on an NEC ND-3520A DVD/RW drive. I'm very pleased with its performance thus far. It reads and writes DVD's and CD's with ease. I also ordered an extra 512MB of RAM from Crucial yesterday evening, and that should arrive tomorrow.
During the installation of my new DVD/RW drive I also managed to slap some Arctic Silver 5 on to my blisteringly hot Prescott CPU. The results thus far have been promising. I've noticed at least a 7 degree temperature drop, if not more. Now, let's see what happens when I put the side of the case back on tonight...