Advice for a New Case and Fans

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Aresrin

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I am looking to upgrade my case. I have gone through a lot of sites trying to find the best case/fan(s) combination. Allow me to explain my situation in detail:

Location: My computer is located on the floor of my bedroom about five feet from my bed, I would like to keep my computer running during the night so a low noise level and minimal light are a fairly high priority.

System: a slightly upgraded hp a220n, the specs for which can be found here:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bph08440.pdf
the upgrades I have made are:
a leadtek 6800gt AGP8x
1 gig of Kingston Value Ram
a Creaive Soundblaster Live! PCi card

Main issues: My current case has only one 80mm exhaust fan, and only has one open slot for a 80mm intake fan. I am finding that my 6800gt is running hotter than I like: 62C idle/69-71C Load with an ambient temp of 50C (taking the side panel off my case lowers these temps to 56C idle/61-63C load with an ambient temp fo 46C) . What really scares me is my CPU temps: 38C idle/70C Load (God Help my CPU). Plus my case just doesn't look very good next to the pimped-out rigs some of my friends bring to the LAN parties.

My current thoughts: I hope to build a new system soon, but do not have the money at the moment, so I would like to get a new case and fan system that will help out my current PC and can be used for a new system when the time comes.

so far I am considering the fallowing:

Black Dynapower Prestige Mid-Tower Computer Case
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/cspd3bc563.html
250mm case fan should provide plenty of airflow with low dBAs, however I haven't found any solid reviews on this case so I can't be sure. The only other case I have to compare it to is the AeroCool ExtremEngine 3T, which is just a little too expensive considering it only has a manual fan controller, has no psu, and has no external 3.5” bays.

2X Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm fan
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/a1926.html
heard mixed reviews about this fan, stats seem solid but the reviews at newegg suggest that it is far louder than its stated volume of 21dBA, plus these have LEDs which I would like to avoid.

Black SilverStone Eudemon SSTFP52
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/sstfp52b.html
don't want to constantly mess with knobs so an automatic fan controller sounds like a good way to keep the noise to a minimum at night, although I will have to buy some 4-pin to 3-pin adapters to get it to work with the Thunderblades.

and finally some noise dampeners for the 120mm fans, maybe these rubber washers
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/grommet.html

so right now my cart looks like this:
2X 4 Pieces of Grommets (Rubber Washers) 3.50
Silver/Black Dynapower Prestige Mid-Tower Computer Case CS-PD3B.C563, w/ 500W PSU, 25cm Side Fan, Blue Light Button 57.00
2X Blue Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm LED Fan, 17.98
Black SilverStone Eudemon SSTFP52 33.00
Total Purchases 111.48
Shipping 21.55
Total $133.03

Any thoughts about how to lower costs, lower noise, raise cooling performance, or this setup in general would be greatly appreciated, especially in regards to the 120mm fans. I would like to keep costs below $150.
 
The antec Lanboy is great for lanparties. It's light and comes with this strap. plus its pretty good looking - charlie
 
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