My New Case

[clocker]

Just ordered it today, should be here by Thursday (I hope).

Specs

She comes bundled with a Thermaltake 420W PSU.

Now I'm thinking of upgrading my motherboard. Any suggestions?
I have a AMD AthlonXP 2600+ CPU already and a gig of PC2700 RAM. If possible I would like to use this heatsink/fan...

The Zalman 7000A, but it difficult to find a board which will accept it.
The alternative is another Zalman product...
.

My primary interest right now is to build a quiet machine. In the (semi-near) future I would like to explore either a watercooling solution or a Peltier cooler, but right now I need to try to stay with air cooling.

So I would really like a board with the 4 mounting holes around the processor base so I can upgrade my cooling later. Many maufacturers seem to be dropping this feature for some reason.

I am open to suggestions and would appreciate any advice.

Target price for the mobo is $100-150 US ( preferably closer to the low end of course).

I don't really want to go nuts with the chip/board combo as the technology is changing fast. My case should be good for quite a while ( I hope) and will accept the newer generation of boards so it is easily upgradable.

The floor is open...

[TheFilePirater]

holy fuck!!!, super computers dont even have heatsinks that big!!

nice fucking case 2, although i like mine better, thats just me...

[bigdawgfoxx]

Whats up with the alternative cooler? It doesn't have any fan!? The first one looks really good, but what socket will it fit in? Any thermaltake fan and heatsink combo will do great! Is that Zalman one just extra quite or what?

[3RA1N1AC]

LOL. does that thing transform into a robot, or what?

j/k. if it looks good in your room, that's all that matters. i've got sort of a riceboy case, too.

[TheFilePirater]

but my case is better...

[3RA1N1AC]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@20 October 2003 - 17:49
Whats up with the alternative cooler? It doesn't have any fan!? The first one looks really good, but what socket will it fit in? Any thermaltake fan and heatsink combo will do great! Is that Zalman one just extra quite or what?

hmm... i believe it is possible to put a fan on that Zalman heatsink? but it might not be necessary, depending on what CPU you use it with. those Zalman flower things are supposed to be really efficient.

[3RA1N1AC]

Originally posted by TheFilePirater@20 October 2003 - 17:52
but my case is better...

i've actually got one really similar to yours, from the same company. the front is slightly different, and the lights are just blue instead of rainbow colored. but it's basically the same.

[clocker]

The Zalman "flower" heatsink uses a 92mm fan that is mounted on a separate bracket.
My case has 2x 80mm fans mounted on the side, blowing directly on the mobo and heatsink, so it's (theoretically) possible that I won't need the Zalman fan.

It will depend on the board.

Board suggestions?

[bigdawgfoxx]

FilePirater, I really don't believe your case is better. His case cost like 130, and yours only cost 50. They have them at a LAN place in my town, there alright, but the thermaltake is better.

[3RA1N1AC]

any Nforce 2 Ultra 400 board with the MCP-T controller (for onboard sound) should go really well with that CPU. i dunno what brand to suggest, though... i've got a Gigabyte, but i admit it was a bit too expensive compared to other brands. hardcore PC hobbyists usually sing praises for Abit and Asus.