My new computer, need cooling suggestions

Hey everybody. I'm building a new computer, and I've ordered almost all my parts. I built my previous computer, but I never really knew much about cooling and what not. Well, I've been doing a lot of reading on this site and others and have learned a lot. But I just wanted to see if I could get some suggestions on my computer, because I wanna make sure it runs well. Here are my specs...

2.4c w/ IS7, and I plan to overclock maybe to 3 or 3.2
2x256 Corsair TwinX PC3200
WD 40gb w/ 8mb
Radeon 9700 np or pro (haven't decided yet)
I'm only gonna have one CD(-R) drive and a good ol' floppy drive.
I'm going to have a Zalman CNPS7000-CU cooling my CPU.

I bought this case here (the very top blue case) and a Fortron/Sparkle 300w PSU. The case comes with 3 fans, two 80mm in the back and an 80mm in the side. Should I add 1 or 2 more fans to the front of the case? Also, is the fan on the side an intake fan? I'm guessing it is. Any help is greatly appreciated.

i would add two intake fans in the front, because the way its configured right now, you have 3 exhaust fans (back), and only 1 intake (side). it should be somewhat balanced, otherwise you won't get the proper ratios of cool intake air/hot exhaust air.

oh, and welcome to the forums

I have the same case without the side window. I have 2-80mm 37cfm in the front and rear of the case. I wanted to keep a clear fan in the side, so i used a 32cfm ballbearing fan. I'm using a fortron 350W powersupply. I'm still ironing out the processor, but the case and processor temps are very good. The case temps are ambient with the room air.

are you looking for a cool computer? or a quiet one?

these cases are fairly loud in stock form since they use loud/cheap fans and no sound insulation... but your choice of HSF makes me think that you are concerned with noise as well...

if you just want pretty good cooling, then slap 2 more fans in the front...

if you want excellent cooling, then replace the fans with faster/louder ones and mod the case a bit to allow for more airflow...

if you want quiet, on the other hand, then dump the stock fans, and replace them with something like Panaflo L1A's (they're on sale now at case-mod.com...

hope this helps

Thanks for the info guys. I love this forum! Yeah I'm not too concerned about noise, but I don't want it to be too loud. I'm thinking somewhere right in the middle would be good. Those Panaflow L1A's look really nice and quiet, but I'm not sure if they'll move as much air as I want. I was looking at another Panaflow model, says it moves 39.6 CFM and 32 db-a.

Well I was looking at the other fans on that case-mod.com site, Vantec Stealth - 27cfm at 21dba. I don't really know which brands are good and which aren't. Another thing though, where do these fans get their power from? Where do they connect to? I was reading one of the reviews on Newegg.com, and he said something about having to buy some 3 and/or 4 pin connectors....what is that about? Sorry about all the questions, I'm trying to learn! Once I do learn, I can give back to the community. Thanks again guys. My brain hurts!

Okay, I'm replying to my own reply ... But I was looking on Newegg, and I found this fan HERE . It got good reviews, seems to push a good amount of air is looks relatively quiet. And I know Thermaltake is a good brand. Anybody have one of these fans?

I'm thinking I can either get 2 of them for the front of my case for $16 shipped, or go all out with 5 of them and replace the other 3 fans for $30 shipped....but I've already spent so much money...

You choose Zalman CNPS7000-CU as your HSF, this fan is generally used fore silent operation and some decent overclocking. You might consider a termalright slk 800 instead which is one of the top performers amongst HSF's and will give you some more headroom for OC if used with a good fan, will be a tad noisier though.

The Zalman has the best of both worlds apparently. I've read nothing but great things about it. Heres a review that I found. Says its really quiet and has "Super high performance."