I'm just about to buy (as in RIGHT NOW!) a bunch of components.
A few questions remain.
Do I buy a $160 Sapphire Radeon 9600XT or a $199 Sapphire Radeon 9500 Pro?
Decent case fans - which one are? Antec okay?
Athlon XP2500+ (probably a locked one), or should I go for something higher? May O/C but completely inexperienced. Just want a decent system as am not looking to upgrade often.
Thanks for the quick response.


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9500PRO and 9600XT are pretty close but since the 9600XT is little more than a slightly higher clocked 9600PRO it's o/c'ed speed is nothing compared to what the 9500PRO can do. Still all of these are held back by 128bitDDR, your choice really ... none of them are remotely bad choices. You shoudl also consider the Rad9600PRO as with some simple o/c'ing that can exceed the 9600XT almost every time and should be a good deal cheaper too. All good buys.
XP2500+ is a very good choice, certainly pointless going higher unless you're really scared to try o/c'ing. Even if it is locked so long as you have PC3200 and a 400FSB capable mobo (KT600, SiS748 or nForce2) it's not limiting for this CPU ... the higher CPUs generally use a higher multiplier which actually hinders you much of the time.
Don't forget the 9700 or 9700PRO if you can still find them too. They're easily as good as the 9800 series esp if you o/c. Should find them for $200ish?
The main problem with fans is that dbA and airflow are only really comparable when comparing products fromt he same manu, much like the Wattage rating of PSUs there is simply no independent industry standard. Much of the time the quiet fans push so little air they're practically pointless but the power fans are so noisy it can render them unusable. I'd suggest buying a fan you think is suitable and then either using a 12->7v convertor or fitting adjustable knob ... of course you could go for a fan that has adjustability fromt he off liek the Smart Fan 2 but they can be pricey.

