Greetings. I've been lurking off and on for a while; thanks to all who contribute to this site. It's time to turn theory into practice and the Zen seems right for my needs. I'm hoping someone can help with a couple of questions that don't seem addressed in the archives.

1. How good are builders like Sysbuilder or GX/Aopen (their prices are suspiciously similar -- are they all the same company?)? I'm not averse to DIY but if someone will source components, wrestle them out of their packaging, assemble them, and do a little testing for $25 it would seem money well spent.

2. I'm not up on current CPU and RAM options. Can someone point me to material that would help me choose chips for the Zen, or advise? I don't game, but I do like to be able to have a lot of apps running at once.

not to sure how to answer question one, my advise is to learn how to do it yourself that way if you have a problem , you may be able to pinpoint it easier. It is not hard at all and the zen was one of the easest build i have ever done, including the HDD mod and fan change.

2. anything from a 2.4C to 3.2C is great. i would not get a prescott because they are really hot.
I have this ram in my zen right now and it is great
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 026&depa=1

Corsair, OCZ, Kingston, Crucial are all great companys

I you really like to use alot of apps at once then you may want to get a gig of RAM. i only use 512 in the zen and it works great still.

good luck
~RaNDoM

Thanks for the chip advice! A search suggests your new fan was a panaflo L1A. Did that make a large difference? What's your current HDD? Best, Colin

To me it made a huge difference. The temps did go way up tho. I only keep the fan at 7V and i cant hear it at all.

The problem is the harddrive. I have a 160gig Samsung and it is quiet, but you can still hear it late at night and sometime seeks are audible. I really think that NO SFF machine can be inaudible with ANY HDD unless it is a Samsung notebook drive suspended. The Al case just vibrates to much and doesnt dampen the HDD noise enough.

I think if i placed the zen where i would place a normal case it would be inaudible. I normally place my cases a meter away next to the end of the desk. But the zen is right next to my monitor, so i can pick up every little noise the HDD makes.

I did get use to seek noise tho.

maybe you might be interested in the new G5 and do a little review for us SPCR peepz=)
http://www.apple.com/imac/design.html

good luck
~RaNDoM