1) I can't exactly speak from experience, since my system is still in transit, but I went with the ZEROtherm CPU fan instead of the XIGMATEK: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887016 Going by user comments here and on newegg, ZEROtherm is a lot easier to install than the XIGMA...

NewEgg just deactivated the MSI board, and it looks like most other resellers are out of stock. You had me convinced on it, and I was about to pull the trigger.

They still have the non-platinum board, but I was really wanting the one with the sideport memory for the integrated graphics.

If you're interested in ATX format I can recommend first hand Asus M3N-HT/HDMI. From a week's usage experience i can tell it's good - full SpeedFan control over at least 3 headers and nice passive cooling, loads of expansion slots. It's also supposed to undervolt/overclock really well, but I haven'...

It's been a long while since I've put together a new PC, and I'm stuck on the motherboard. This is what I've narrowed it down to: ASUS M3A78-T - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131331 MSI DKA790GX Platinum - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130190 GIG...

Thanks, I was wondering about the fan controls for these boards. It looks like the Gigabyte board has a setting to turn off automatic fan speed control, but I'm not sure what else it allows you to do. The MSI has a some funky looking chipset cooling. Are the round parts fans? Do those coolers work v...

I was looking at nearly the same setup actually, and I know why the_miker wants that power supply. The egg has a deal right now to get that case & ps for $250 shipped. That's only $30 more than the p182 with the CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX. Right now I'm stuck on the motherboard: ASUS M3A78-T - http://www.n...

What's a good AM2+ motherboard for a 720?

Not sure if it still is, but Crucial used to be the retail name/store for Micron memory.

/bump

I'm interested in this as well. There are so many options out there, and I have no idea where to start. I'm planning to get an Antec P182 case, and use a Q9400 or possibly a Q9550 processor. No idea for the video card yet.

What motherboards are laid out well to fit in the 182?

I'm fairly new to this as well, so I can't add too much. Just remember that anything over 3GB isn't used unless you have a 64-bit OS.

Also, are you using Firefox 2? All of my memory issues with Firefox went away when I upgraded to Firefox 3.

I know you're looking for a DIY spec, but for under $400 with minimal requirements and running linux I would suggest a netbook.