New PC Specs

[Yamaneko]

The video card has a built-in fan, but you'll still need a powerful outake fan.

I might be a tad crazy, but my box has an intake at the front. A GPU fan, a mobo fan, an intake inside the box that pushes the hot air into the power/fan unit, and an outake at the back of the power/fan unit. Plus as DVD-RW/ROM fan.

EDIT: Also forgot that I have an intake in the back as well.

[Samuraid]

What if I was to throw a "Vantec SF12025L Stealth 120mm fan" at the front and the rear of the PC? Or would I need a fan specifically for the graphics card, like the... *checks* "Zalman VF700-CU Quiet Copper VGA Cooler"...?

Use the 120mm fan that comes with the sonata case...otherwise you might be adding noise. The sonata case has a spot for an extra 120mm fan near the front (right behind the hard drive chassis). If you would like more cooling, I suggest you populate it with something quiet like a 120mm antec smartcool fan. (I have two in my computer, and they are virtually silent.)

As for the specs:

- If it is favorable with respect to cost, get a NEC DVD±RW instead of a Sony. Sony is good, (I have one in my compy) but the NEC 16x DVD±RW drives are better (I have used 5 so far in other computers).

- I have had bad experiences with Geil RAM in the past...but that was only in one single instance. Just thought I would make mention.

[Loony BoB]

Indeed, looks like it'll save me about 94p to go with the NEC ND3520 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black). Cheers.

[Eternal Snow]

personally, i think 2 gig RAM is an overkill~ no matter how high end the game is, it's based more on your graphics card~

another thing is if you want a Radeon 9800, look for Hercules rather than Sapphire~ from what i've seen, it's more reliable~

[Loony BoB]

I've been told to get the Sapphire one by a few people so far already, so yeah... guess it's just a matter of personal opinion / experience.

[Bulldog]

Maybe wait and observe the impact of the BTX boards.