You could try Red Hat 7.2... it just came out and is rumored to have the nvidia and GLX drivers already installed. (if you got a GeForce, that is.)
Otherwise, 7.1 works fine, and putting in the nvidia drivers is a snap in RH.
IMO, Mandrake sucks because of this - same exact machine, and the nvidia drivers made for mandrake just choke and puke all over X - meaning no quake. RH installs in less than five minutes, and I've been playing WFA, UT, and HL on it ever since.
/P