i guess you could go with the vantec aeroflow. from what i hear, it's a really good heatsink considering the pricetag.
i have a spire microflow ii, and while it doesn't perform as well as i'd like, it was $10 and cooled better than my other cooler master.
lostspyder needs to say more about this, but it looks like you need mounting holes for the slk-900.
here's a nice review list: http://frostytech.com/articlesearch.cfm?Se...rch=Get+Listing
i think some motherboards have mounting holes. lostspyder will know better. i prefer heatsinks with clips, as they're more standard.
you should also read some reviews on cases. sometimes people have bad experiences with them. maybe it gets hot easily, or maybe the hinges break, etc.
lostspyder, do you still have that aeroflow? you could send it my way. :woot: 
There a versioun of the skl-900 that can be used with both intel and AMD because it uses 4 holes that are already in the motherboard (for gods sake dont drill some :6 ) and there is a version (skl-900a mabie) that uses the retnetion clips for an AMD socket. The abit nf7 has the holes, so theres no real worry. I have the one with the retention clip just cause i got it for dirt, but would prefer one with the 4 screw because it puts the strain on the motherboard instead of the conection between the socket and motherboard. If your looking at realy highpreformance heatsinks (like the skl), both thermalright and swiftech (whos heatsinks are very comperable in preformance and price, but not in design) have new heatsinks out for AMD. Thermalright has a new one with heatpipes, and swiftech with angled helicoils, so you might want to check thoe out if thats where you going.
lostspyder, do you still have that aeroflow? you could send it my way.
as a matter of fact i do, id want shipping $ and a little for the heatsink+fan
I can't thank you both enough! (If either of you want any parts from my old computer just ask 
) So all the following should be fine;?
Abit NF7-S Motherboard - Around £93
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton - Around £76
ATI Radeon 9600 XT 256MB - Around £130
(x2) Crucial 256MB DDR RAM - Around £55
(x2) Maxtor 80GB UDMA 150 7200RPM - Around £135
Vantec Stealth Aluminium PSU 420W - Around £66
Lite On CDRW Drive (52x32x52x) - Around £30
Lite On DVD+-R/+-RW - Around £120
Thermaltake Xaser III v2000+ AST Case - Around £122
Thermalright SLK-900U Heatsink - Around £33
Logitech Cordless Desktop (Optical) - Around £40
YS-Tech 80mm Fan (for heatsink) - Around £6
Arctic Ceramique Thermal Compound - Around £5
Total: Around £911
it looks like you've got yourself an awesome machine. i can't think of anything i'd add to that.
anyone else?
The memory is only PC2700, wich will be perfect at stock, but overclockign will be a gambe, ive had sticks or ram that woulnt budge 4 mhz over stock and some that go like 70-80mhz. The CPU and ram both run stock at a FSB (the frequency going into each) of 333. To get the CPU up to a 3200 equilvent you have 2 options, increase the FSB, or the multiplyer. An example of multiplyers would be my 2600. Right now its running at a fsb of 398 (doubles the frequency of 199 going it, i dont realy get why it does this). So my ram is running at 398, well under stock of 466. The multiplyer is set at 12 so thats 199*12=2388mhz. Stock speed is 2080=166*12.5. So i could reach 2400 mhz by running 166*14.5, or i could do 200*12 and just devide the frequency going to the ram by 1.2 and have the ram running at 166. This is a bottle neck tho, and the system wont preform as well as it could. You could probaly see an increase of 4-5% if the ram were running at 400mhz. Its up to you tho (realy, not jsut saying it) as more money always means more preformance, theres a limit tho.
Also you need to get a fan with that heatsink, they dont come with one, I recomend a paniflow hydrowave 92mm fan, nice and quiet, powerfull, high quality and cheap.
Nive choices. It's almost the same pc as my new one. (r9800pro, 1gb ddr, 120maxtor sata).
BTW, lostspyder mentioned that SATA drive may need a power adapter, but my maxtor has both sata and regular connectors (dunno if this was corrected, didn't read all the posts).
@lostspyder; Sounds rather complex.. I guess I could always leave it be until I decide I need the extra performance.. Another fan? Jesus! Thanks again for the help!
@Loofygun; Mmm 1GB DDR RAM..
Edit; Er I can't find ANY UK online-stores selling Paniflow Hydrowave/Hydro Wave 92mm fans.. Any other recommendations? 
heatsinks need fans; your chip will fry if it doesn't have the fan on it.
and maybe you're having trouble because it's spelled panaflo. 
i'm sure you can find it. they're one of the most popular fan manufacturers. 
Umm okay.. I've decided.. I've decided I do want a good PC, but I also really, really want an iBook and so I'm giving in. 
I'll sort out asking around (so as to either get from Preston PC World or Manchester Mac reseller (and possibly get iLife '04 if it doesn't come with it)) and I'm going to get one on friday.. Only a 12" 800MHz stock version mind, but I'll bump the RAM to max as soon as possible..
I want to thank everyone who helped and I'll still be building a new PC, but only buying a few parts a month. Thanks again.
(Sorry to double-post)
60% off you say? i would get it, sell it and get a mac MUAHAHAHHA
Nah, sounds like a very good deal, although i have never had an HP before so i cant speak about its service or quality, someone else might enlighten us on that particular topic.
i had an hp pavilion 7940 for my first two years in college. let's talk about it.
1. pretty low quality: my psu died after a year. the no-name ram is cheap. worst chipset ever. everything is proprietary, so it's hard to upgrade and work within the case. the drivers were wrong, and the bios update didn't work.
2. poor service: they wouldn't give me a new psu, but that's fine. it's a cheap one anyways, so i ended up buying an antec. the email communication was less than helpful.
3. low performance: it's not a great machine, and for the price $1200 at the time, i could've built a better one had i known how to do it.
i decided to sell it off in pieces and use the money to build a new computer. my new one is great.
but you're getting quite a deal there with 60% off (what's that in usd?). i'd check out prices for parts for a comparable machine and compare. it also depends on what you're looking to do with the computer.
@es.xxi - sorry for stealing your thread
But in US dollars, I'm getting $1,318 off the $2,198. That according to the currency converter.
Anyway, I'm typing this from an HP computer right now, and I've never had any bad experiences with it. Nothing really bad has ever gone wrong. And I doubt that HP have got worse at making computer since we bought this one. And bare in mind that I'm not going to be doing anything paticuarly out of the ordinary with my computer. So I am probably going to get that computer, simply because 60% off is an incredibly good deal, and I have very little money. :cry:
But the best thing of all is that I have to pay this thing over 3 years, and I have all the money I need for it now (I've been saving up my hard-earned cash for a year now). So I can get it, and still have enough money to upgrade stuff. I'm almost certainly going to upgrade the graphics card (9600 XT!). I've just had a look through this 60% off catalogue, and apparently I can stuff like bigger monitors, and printers and stuff, cheaply!
But yeah, thanks for your input guys. I'll remember to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't crap out on me >.<
for $880, you can build an awesome computer, but i'm glad you're getting it. new computers are always nice. i hope you enjoy it.
- I got a HP T365.UK for Xmas - It hasn't failed me yet, and it rocks!
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