Originally posted by: harobikes333
bump for comments etc.
I was thinking for monitors, you might want to take a look at
This
because it is basically the same panel as the Dell 2005FPW/Apple 20" LCD except at a lower MSRP. Costco had it cheaper at 379.99 before selling out. 4:3 screen is so 2004.
and for your case, you might want to go with
Cooler Master Centurion 532 instead because it comes with your prequisite of having twin 120mm fans front and rear plus it also comes with a decent power supply (which I'm using at this moment on a Willamette 1.5@2.1Ghz with either a GF3 Ti 200 or a 9800Pro) that you can use for your future HTPC
OR
if you are going with Micro ATX motherboard, you might want to check
Cooler Master RC 540 Silver. It has 120mm fan up front (not included), a side intake funnel, and two 80mm fan mounting in the back. For 20 bucks more you get a decent 380Watt power supply. Just enough if you're not overclocking. You need the 430Watt version if you do.
All arrows is pointed to LG as the one that is having the best DVD/RW. I have Pioneer DVR-109A that i'm not really satisfied with because it's so picky with dvd blanks. LG is just a slight premium over NEC anyway but if you must have the cheapest one then go with NEC.
As far as fans, well for case fans, you don't really have a lot of options. If you are looking for the place to buy it, I would suggest you buy it off
Silicon Valley Compucycle because their 120x120x38 Panaflos is on sale for less than
five bucks (need a 3 pin tail though...less than a buck for that). BUT
if you want it nice and lighted, they're just about
a buck more. I have the non LED version of that fan and it works well for me. Whatever you do, do not buy the Cooler Master ones because it is too slow (though quiet). Also, you want to get a fan controller so you can turn it down when you want super still quietness when you are watching something. SVC has plenty of choices for less than most other stores sell and their shipping is quite reasonable as well.
I agree with everyone else's CPU choice. Opteron 165 eventhough has a lower clock compared to 3800+ X2, it does have 1MB L2 cache which could be better than 512K on the 3800+. Now for the CPU fan, there are a lot of choices for the air cooling options, but my choices from best to just okay (there is no worst than this list really):
1. Thermalright's
XP-120/
SI-120 (SI adds nickel plated copper bottom) with that 5 bucks Panaflo because it's lighter than the rest 370g for XP/400g for SI. Plus it is more compatible with ANY MOTHERBOARD than any cooler out there. No headaches on whether your cooler ever gonna hit your precious capacitor or what not.
2. Zalman
CPNS9500Cu-LED. Can't beat LED cooling fan for an open glass design case that you want/showing off what you have inside.
3. Thermaltake
Big Typhoon. It's huge, it's heavy, it's copper and it works!
4. Thermaltake
Silent Boost. Looks like they already came up with the replacement but at one time almost every AMD socket 754/939 swears by it and it's cheap too.
As far as Artic Silver 5 is concerned, The stock TIM would probably be okay, AS5 just a tad (if not drastically) better. Some people in this forum had gotten as much as 10 degrees cooler and there are some that got none at all or even worst but the success rate is far beyond 90% so don't take our word for it even when you're not OC'ing.
For memory:
These
2gb Super Talent kit (Infineon Chip) isn't that bad at all. Also, keep an eye on outpost.com because they had a sale on 2GB corsair value ram for 100 bucks after mail in rebate and 140 bucks before rebate.