Help me get started on my PC build

This will be my second build, and first off I'd like to pick my case. I want a full-tower, and there are a bunch on Newegg in my price range that have good reviews, but I always get stopped at the negatives....Could someone else chime in and help me make up my mind on some quality cases. My primary concern is cooling, and noise comes secondarily. I'm trying to stay under $150.

Secondly, I already have an Asus A8n SLI Premium motherboard in my current build, is it time to upgrade that yet or is it still fairly current?

Finally, I have an Antec SLK3000 -B midtower case, and in addition to the two fans I have already installed, it has something that looks almost like a windtunnel built into the side panel. Is this something that is meant to hold an additional fan? I'm asking because I think my RAM is overheating and causing all kinds of problems. I've been unable to fix a recurring TDR and I'm trying to eliminate all possibilities. What is the best way to get my RAM cooled considering I don't think I have any more "standard" cooling fan mounts? I'm new at after-market cooling.

Thanks! Answer as much as you can please.

 

first of all, what are you going to be using it for? that answer will keep me from having to write a whole crap load of generic info

 

Oops, sorry. I want equal performance for gaming and TV shows/Movies. I've got a nice 22" LCD and will add a sound card and speaker set-up when my budget allows.

My first (current) build is:
Asus A8N SLI Premium
AMD Ahtlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ @ 2ghz
Nvidia 7800GT
2 gb Corsair XMS DDR 400 (PC3200) Ram ( Running too hot I think?)
One 250 gb WD storage drive
One 40 GB WD OS drive (quite old though, probably have to upgrade soon)

I might as well post it here instead of a new thread, but I decided to experiment and I moved my HD-cooling 120mm fan right above my sticks of RAM and it seems to have solved my problem (temporarily at least). I bought this fan a long time ago and it currently sells for 5 bucks, but if you have any strong opinions about the best power/noise ratio case fans out there for under $15 I'd love to hear them.

 

You can get small cooling "sticks" that click onto your ram and are supposed to keep it cool, I have never used them myself but its worth a try

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=22382&vpn=ACRAM&manufacture=CoolIT Systems

http://www.casecooler.com/vico.html

good luck

 

the "windtunnel" question: Its designed to fit over the cooler on your cpu.

 

it just directs the air toward the CPU, it doesnt really fit over anything.

anyways, here are a bunch of memory cooling options: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=572&name=Memory-Chipset-Cooling

As far as cases, Coolermaster, Antec, and Thermaltake have some good cases that are designed for good airflow. Lian Li is really good as well.

check out the CM stacker, Antec 900, and Thermaltake Armor. They are probably the best of each brand but there are others too

Also, how much were u looking to spend?

 

Ok I'm looking at the chipset cooling options now, thanks. I think I'll buy one or two for Ram AND another case fan just to be safe. I'm more and more convinced that this was my main problem. I'm planning on spending around $30-40 max for the 2 cooling options.

For my overall build (which I will either buy piecemeal over the next few months or just plan it out and buy it at tax-refund time) I plan to spend around 1200 max. I am hoping to recycle my current motherboard and RAM, and I've got a great monitor already. I mainly need to invest in a new case, new, fast OS drive, and a video card. I will buy more RAM when I upgrade to a new motherboard (as the RAM i'm using now appears to be the only one suitable for my current ASUS A8N SLI Premium). Thanks for the help thus far, but please keep the opinions flowing!

 

That's better than my rig, A8N-E / same CPU with a 7600GT and gig of RAM. It all depends on what you need. As someone said above, it's what you need as that rig is plenty fast IMO. I'm looking for a new quad build as the AM2+ chips are out but I'm not sure yet, Intel or AMD. I do a lot of video transcoding so that may help me.

 

Well my main impetus behind rebuilding is that I seem to have a nearly unconquerable TDR problem and I figured starting from scratch might be the only way to solve it. I'm hoping that lots of extra cooling is gonna solve the problem, but I remain a little skeptical due to the massive failures of numerous other "fixes" i've tried.

My temps according to Speedfan are 25-44C at idle, would it make sense that under moderate-heavy game/video loads it would cause a BSOD and then a permanent screen corruption/TDR or BSOD on reboot until I reinstall the drivers? Btw, this only started occuring when I "upgraded" to Vista 32 bit. This thread has gotten way off the original topic, but its sort of a grasping at lifelines sorta question anyways.......If I could stabilize my current system I'd be happy with it for a few more years I bet.