buying parts for overclocking

[Cheesin]

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but this is my first time building a computer.

I'm still deciding what parts to get for building a computer, and i need help on my RAM, case, and fan.

I'm either going to get an Athlon 64 3400+ or 3500+, so my fan will change depending on which i get.

Currently i've been looking at the Antec p160 for my case. Should this be sufficient for cooling? I'm also concerned about sound, which is why i picked a case with 120mm fans. However i've also been looking at the cooler master praetorian; i'm just not sure how loud it is.

For a fan i've planned on getting the ZALMAN CNPS7000A-Cu, as that's the only fan i've seen benchmarks for. Can anyone suggest a better one? Or should i just stick with this. If i get the 3500+, that means i'll have to have a socket 939 fan, of which i know nothing about.

And as for RAM; i had originally planned on getting a p4 2.8ghz and 1gb corsair twinx pc4000, but since you generally don't add as many mhz onto an Athlon, am i right in assuming that 1gb dual channel OCZ pc3700 should be fine? Or should i stick with the corsair memory.....or get corsair pc3700?

Any help is appreciated.

[Remix]

For a good CPU fan/heatsink combo, I would go with the Vantec Tornado mounted on a Thermalright SLK948U. The heatsink is compatible with Socket 939, Socket 940, Socket 768, and Intel's Socket 478, giving it much flexibility, in addition to having a huge thermal conductivity. The Vantec Tornado is a monster, moving the most air that I've ever seen in an 80mm fan.

There is one problem, the Vantec Fan is rather loud, so whilst you are not gaming or running on high load, you may want to invest in a Pentiometer set so you can slow the fan down.

[Cheesin]

I'm mainly into gaming. Do you know of a quieter solution?

Thanks for the reply by the way.

[Delph1]

First of all: the zalman cooler you're speaking of is a pain in the ass to install on AMD systems. Believe me I installed about ten at the last DreamHack...

Antec is to prefer over Thermaltake when it comes to cases . At the same DreamHack we at teh NH crew worked our way through quite a lot of Thermatake cases and our hands was pretty scarred, and for some covered in blood, because of crappy construction and sharp edges. Even though Thermaltake claims there are no sharp edges ....

//Andreas

[Adrienne]

I don't know how anybody could like those Thermaltake cases. They are so ugly I'd hide it in a box if I had one so I didn't have to look at it.

[Delph1]

I don't know how anybody could like those Thermaltake cases. They are so ugly I'd hide it in a box if I had one so I didn't have to look at it.

Hehe 8) . I think "overstyled" is the word I'm looking for. They are just too much.

//Andreas

[Ubermann]

http://www.systemcooling.com/thermalright_xp120-01.html

[mjw21a]

I'd agree with Ubermann on his choicec of cooler. There's nothing better than the ThermalRight XP-120. Paired with a mainstream quiet fan like the Vantec Stealth SF12025L 120ML case fan, you've got an excellent cooling solution.

From reviews I've seen, CPU temp stays the same regardless of whether you have the fan blowing or sucking air through the heatsink.

However, sucking air through the cooler has showns the additional benefit of cooling down the motherboard by moving hot air away from it instead of towards it.

Nothing comes close to this cooler in terms of performance!