Question: what's the noise of the fans like, if it's keeping cool?

As for games, Gears of War 2 should do you well, particularly if you want the original. It looks to be along the same lines... though I'd wait until you've played GeoW1 before buying the second - I tried it at a friend's house and I found it horrible. The gameplay was terrible at best, the graphics, however good they're supposed to be, make everything look the same (I spent a minute shooting at a pillar from cover, which was bloody hard to get into, thinking it was a Locust), and the hour of story I sat through was awful. Some people seem to like it, though.