got a little more of a budget so here is my comp from ibuypower but i have some questions,i still havent been able to decide on a case but will these cases be compatible with it wich one would you pick?(links posted below), are all monitors compatible im getting mine seperate the link is below, and can someone give me a good and compatible power supply at the Watts needed for 40-50 dollars that i can order with the monitor from newegg. dont know how many watts i would need to run my system?


Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light Green )
Power Supply ( Standard Case Power Supply )

[Socket-AM2] AMD Athlon™64 3500+ CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology

Free Game - [Age of Empires III] Free Drive - [1GB USB Flash Drive]

CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit )

GigaByte GA-M55SLI-S4 nForce4-SLI Chipset w/7.1 Audio, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 Dual PCI-E MB

1024MB [512MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module

Nvidia Geforce 6600 256MB w/DVI + TV Out Video

Physics Processing Unit ( None )

160 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache]
2nd Hard Drive ( None )

Raid Configuration ( None/ Do i need this, what is this?)

16X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black (this will play and burn cds and dvds right?)

Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )

[Black] Logitech X-530 5.1 Surround Speakers + Subwoofer )

Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Mitsumi 1.44 MB Internal Floppy Drive Beige )

PS/2 104 Key Windows 98 Keyboard Beige
Mouse ( Microsoft Optical Intelli-Mouse 5-Button Beige )

Meter Display ( What is ths?)

Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Beige )

Operation System ( MS Windows XP Home Edition w/Service Pack-2 )

Additional Software ( Microsoft Works 8.0 (make the most of your home PC)

here is the config im using.
http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=182

monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824222011


case choices What do you guys like better

raidmax ninja
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156177

Nzxt Apollo (not sure color?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146021

silver
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146024



so let me get some major input. need to make decisions, probably ordering nex week.

and one more thing can someone explain this liquid CPU cooling system to me, how it works etc..?

thanks

1. as long as it's an ATX case, it will be compatible. it all comes down to your personal preference. out of the choices you gave, i would go with the apollo case due to its side intake fan location (keep the video card cooler).

2. not all monitors are compatible. you need to match the monitor's input with the video card's output. most video cards use a DVI-I output which can output both digital and analog (via a VGA adapter).

digital is best. and since you're going to get a flat panel monitor then you should get one with a DVI input (the monitor you chose only has VGA). if you hook a flat panel up with a VGA cable, then the digital signal from the video card has to be converted to analog to go through the VGA cable, then converted back to digital again in the monitor. if you get one with a DVI input, then the signal stays digital the whole time, avoiding the unnecessary signal conversions that can degrade picture quality.

cheers :wave:

what liquid cooling system? you didn't list one

if you're just asking about liquid cooling in general, it's a pretty simple process. instead of a heatsink, it uses a waterblock. water is pumped through the waterblock (to carry the heat away from the CPU) and into a radiator (to dissipate the heat).

the advantages of a water cooled system are that you can obtain lower temps than with air cooling, maintain more consistent temps than with air cooling, and it can be much quieter as well.

the disadvantage is that there is a danger to your components if it leaks (you can buy expensive non-conductive fluids or use simple and cheap distilled water to lessen that danger)

I have been water cooling my rigs for years. I do it for silencing purposes and for moderate overclocking.

:wave:

and do i have to change the water out?

do i have to take it apart and clean it?

it comes with CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit.

if you think its too complicated then should i just get a regular cpu fan and heatsink.

1. yes, the water needs to be flushed out periodically to flush out algae

2. no, a simple "drain and refill " a couple times over will suffice. however if it's removable, i would recommend cleaning the rotor and impeller blades in the motor as well.

3. oh, sorry i didn't see that listed earlier

4. i don't think it's too complicated at all. but i would question the quality of a prebuilt water cooling setup like that. you will have to assemble a prebuilt system yourself anyways, so why not buy separate parts that are better quality and less expensive too [there are a few threads on building your own water cooling setup here on techspot as well, just use the search feature]

that's up to you to decide to water cool or to air cool. your athlon64 should run cool even on stock air cooling. so unless you plan on significantly overclocking it or want a silent system (which means the rest of your components need to be very quiet as well) then you don't need it.

:wave:

yea then i dont need it, ive loooked around and i cant figure out what overclocking means. help?