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Building new long-term gaming PC

Z

Zoma

n00b
Joined
May 10, 2010
Messages
10
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
The most performance demanding will be gaming. I don't do any video editing type tasks.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
No strict budget. I'm trying to keep this build under $2000 total, though I can go over if I have to.
3) Where do you live?
Southeast US. No Microcenter near here :(
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU - Debating between i7 930, i7 860 and a Phenom II x6 1090T. All will run me about $300.

RAM - 4/6 GB, depending if the CPU I get ends up being dual or triple channel.

Mobo - Depends on CPU. Two main points: I don't plan on OC-ing and I want SATA 6 gbps capability.

Video - I may actually keep my 7800 GTX, unless I go with a 470/480, or if a ~$100 card would give me a decent enough boost and hold me over for another 6 months (I tend to prefer nVidia cards).

Case/PSU - This is probably where I need the most help. In the past, I just bought a huge case with a PSU together for about $100 (currently using Antec 1080 SOHO). Now it seems a bit pricier. I don't plan on running cards in SLI. I've had good experience with Antec. Case must fit a high-end graphics card.

Boot drive - Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC

File store - Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AADS 640GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

Sound - If there's anything better than onboard for gaming, I'd consider it.

DVD-ROM - ASUS DVD-E818A6T/BLK/B/G Black 18X SATA DVD-ROM Drive

DVD-RW - ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X


5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No old parts (not counting peripherals).
6) Will you be overclocking?
No, I don't overclock.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
27" Dell at 1920x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I could order today or wait a few months, depending on how things look.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
SATA 6 gbps is a must, as I intend to keep this for a while.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Will buy a new copy of Windows 7 Home 64-bit.


My current PC is now 5 years old (Athlon X2 4400/1 GB RAM/7800 GTX). I'll probably try to get another 5 years out of this build. I tend to go for performance first followed by stability when picking parts. I was originally waiting for Fermi, but am not sure if it's worth picking up a 470/480 now or waiting further.

One note about the case:
Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower seems like overkill, but currently has $60 off with an EVGA 015-P3-1482-AR GeForce GTX 480 if I decide to go that route.

Thanks in advance to anyone that responds.
 
$290 - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU + GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 Motherboard
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$90 - BFG Tech BFGE98512GTGE GeForce 9800 GT 512MB PCI-E Video Card
$90 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$80 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case
$24 - LG GH22NSS50 DVD Burner
--
$684 plus tax and shipping,

Go with the HDD and SSD that you chose. The 9800GT is a huge step up over the 7800GTX. However if you can ditch your preference for Nvidia cards, this card has an excellent bang for the buck value and is significantly faster than the 9800GT:
$110 - PowerColor AX4850 1GBD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI-E Video Card

However for a 24" monitor, I'd recommend the XFX HD 5850 due to its better bang for the buck value over the GTX 470.

Also, I see zero reason to go with that Asus DVD-ROM drive when it costs just as much as a DVD burner once you factor in free shipping.

The Antec 1200 is not a good choice for a case. The Coolermaster case that I recommended above is roomier and has just as good airflow as the Antec 1200 yet is significantly cheaper.
 
yeah that will be a sick computer, tho you should def get a 5850 or similar.

Even though it's just for storage, consider a slightly faster hd, maybe the samsung f3 or the 500gb platter wd's.
 
+1 to Danny Bui's build, however I disagree with the 1200 being a bad case.....i find that it suits my use perfectly, and all the equipment I have easily with room to spare, the only complaint is wire management is a bit of a pain, takes me about 2 hours to do it all nice and neat every time I get an itch to clean the case(it is a dust magnet)
 
W.Feather said:
+1 to Danny Bui's build, however I disagree with the 1200 being a bad case.....i find that it suits my use perfectly, and all the equipment I have easily with room to spare, the only complaint is wire management is a bit of a pain, takes me about 2 hours to do it all nice and neat every time I get an itch to clean the case(it is a dust magnet)
Click to expand...
The problem is that there are roomier and easier cable management cases for less money. That's my main issue/gripe/problem with the Antec 1200 case. As such, IMO, it's a bad case for the money. Maybe if it was like $70 or so..
 
The Antec 1200 is a great case.Dont let anyone tell you different.I own an Antec 900,and love this case.The biggest problem with the 900,although 70-80 dollars cheaper vs 1200,is cable management,roomer,painted on the inside ect...I used a hole saw on the 900,and easily fixed that problem.The 1200 has filters,but there a PITA to clean.I don't want to take my case apart to change a filter.

I solved my problem by getting these filters http://www.purapc.com/ The software is a gimic,but you can buy the filter material for 5 dollars.You get 1 square yard.I bought 2 square yards to make some back-up replacements.The great thing about this filter material is it does not restrict airflow.Its made of polyurethane foam,similar to the motherboard box foam,except much less restriction.These filters are designed for pc's.

I cut out a piece for the side fan windowed door.I don't have a side fan,but I have 2 fans on my heat sink,and I can feel air coming out the door where I have the filter on the side.The BEST part is the front of the pc.I cut a piece of filter material,and put it over the 2 front 120's on the front.The Intake air will hold it in place.There is some doubled sided tape if needed with the filters,but I keep my pc on 24/7,so no need.Anyway,I just peel off the front filter and replace every week.Easy as pie.The 900 and 1200 are black,so the filter material on the front blends into the case better.It dulls the led's just a little,which is great.I like lights,but not a light show.My temps have not increased at all,and it keeps 95% of the dust out.

Whatever you decide,you cant go wrong with a bigger case.I have a GTS 250 and this case keeps it cool.I am going to get a 5850 soon,and will have no problem with room issues using this case.A 1200 even less.My cpu idle temp is 26 to 29 degrees celsius before adding this filters.After adding these filters nothing has changed.


Good-Luck!
 
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Danny Bui said:
The problem is that there are roomier and easier cable management cases for less money. That's my main issue/gripe/problem with the Antec 1200 case. As such, IMO, it's a bad case for the money. Maybe if it was like $70 or so..
Click to expand...

I think the cooling capabilities should be the first concern,along with looks.Room is not a factor with this case.I don't see the problem with cable management,as long as you take your time.70 dollars will not buy quality,unless you can find a deal,its possible:)You can get a 900 for that price every once in awhile on the egg.
 
7-8-7-24 at 1725mhz at 1.65v is pretty damn good ... a friend and his brother both got this on separate boards
 
I think you should check out these cases for yourself, if you have a computer store near you. I thought the Antec Gamer Series cases were nice until I saw them in person. lol. Again, cases are personal preference, so get what you like.

I'd go for the 1.5v ripjaws instead of the tighter timings with higher voltage rating, but thats just me. Obviously, you'd want it all: low voltage, higher speed, lower latency, for low price, but either of those choices should work fine. I think the importance of super tight CL ratings diminish with each progression of DDR.
 
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Shadowssong said:
It might have slightly better timings than what danny suggested but it also runs at 1.65v instead of 1.5v which means less overclocking headroom.
Click to expand...

And not all 1.5V RAM is created equal. In fact, some of the 1.5V RAM can't be overclocked at all by even 1 MHz above the stock ratings. This can create stability issues on even stock-speed systems (especially in systems that are already running above the standard settings) unless the memory is underclocked - and any attempt to raise the voltage by even 0.01V above the stock 1.5V will completely kill that RAM.

On the other hand, if the memory module requires 1.65V to run at even extremely loose 9-9-9 or 10-10-10 timings at a slow DDR3-1066 speed, then don't expect overclockability at all.
 
I have to agree with everything Danny Bui has said in this thread.
 
OneEyeWilly said:
I think the cooling capabilities should be the first concern,along with looks.Room is not a factor with this case.I don't see the problem with cable management,as long as you take your time.70 dollars will not buy quality,unless you can find a deal,its possible:)You can get a 900 for that price every once in awhile on the egg.
Click to expand...
Of course cooling capabilities should be the first concern. But room and cable management do affect the cooling capability of a case. Little to no room means a higher chance of heat buildup in a PC. In addition, a large amount of room in the case allows for easier cable management and easier to work with. Yes you can do good cable management with the Antec 900 and 1200 if you take the time and extra effort. However, it's still harder and more time consuming to do so then with other cases in those price ranges.

Here's a good comparison of the room difference between the Coolermaster RC-690 case and the Antec 900-2 case:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034082083&postcount=53

Note the extra room offered by the Coolermaster case.

So from a price to performance perspective, there's very little reason IMO to get the Antec 1200 or 900 cases when there are better cases for the money. Why pay more for a case that's of lesser quality than other cases in the same price range, that has equal cooling to cases of lower costs, and that has less room and harder/more time consuming to cable manage than cases of lower or equal costs?

After seeing/playing with the Coolermaster RC-590 and RC-690 cases side by side with the Antec 1200 and Antec 900 cases and after building an Antec 900 setup, I can honestly say that the Coolermaster RC-590 and RC-690 are better cases than the Antec Gamer series. And they're often $60 to $80, much cheaper than the Antec 900 or Antec 1200 cases.

But as enginurd said: "Cases are personal preference, so get what you like." My personal preference is toward the Coolermaster RC-590/RC-690 cases due to the all of the above mentioned facts. Some people may want the Antec 900/1200 cases simply for looks and can ignore the major deficiencies and higher prices.
 
Thanks to everyone who responded, especially to Danny Bui for giving the main breakdown. I'm probably going to order in the next few days to give myself a Memorial Day weekend project :D

Though of a few things reading this:

Just curious about the choice of AMD over Intel. Originally I was going to get a Phenom II X4 965, but after browsing these forums the last few months, it seems like Intel has been favored lately for gaming.

I can bundle the RAM with the CPU and save $20, so the brand of motherboard may be a bit more open. I've noticed that Gigabyte does not include the GA-870A-UD3 in their list of boards that support Phenom II X6 chips (recent thread about it here: http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/gigabyte-ga-870a-ud3-x6-39547/). The main product page for the GA-870A-UD3 does, however. If this is not an issue, Gigabyte is the best board, I'll still stick with it. Looks like the only thing I'll really miss going from an 890FX to an 870 is an extra PCI-e 16x slot (provided the 870 has an SB850 which it does).

Per cbliss1000's hard drive comment: I'm really just looking for the cheapest reliable hard drive at a "sweet spot" price. I've used Seagate in the last two computers, but have heard they haven't been as reliable as of late. I'm open to suggestions, but the WD looks like it should do fine, and the power reduction may be good for a non-OS drive.

One final note:
I noticed I can bundle the 9800 GT with an upgraded Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W PSU for $10 less than the 650W ($170: Link). Though this then makes me want to splurge and just buy this combo instead :p
 
Zoma said:
Just curious about the choice of AMD over Intel. Originally I was going to get a Phenom II X4 965, but after browsing these forums the last few months, it seems like Intel has been favored lately for gaming.
Click to expand...

Hmm, for some reason, I didn't see that you had a $2000 upper limit.Yeah generally for high-end or higher priced gaming PCs, we do tend to recommend Intel more in this part of the forum. But for bang for the buck or budget PCs, AMD CPUs are recommended more often. With that said, and with your budget in mind, the extra gaming performance from a $40 increase is well worth it:
$200 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$130 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
--
$330 plus tax and shipping.

Zoma said:
I can bundle the RAM with the CPU and save $20, so the brand of motherboard may be a bit more open. I've noticed that Gigabyte does not include the GA-870A-UD3 in their list of boards that support Phenom II X6 chips (recent thread about it here: http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/gigabyte-ga-870a-ud3-x6-39547/). The main product page for the GA-870A-UD3 does, however. If this is not an issue, Gigabyte is the best board, I'll still stick with it. Looks like the only thing I'll really miss going from an 890FX to an 870 is an extra PCI-e 16x slot (provided the 870 has an SB850 which it does).
Click to expand...
As long as the mobo page says it supports the CPU, it will support the CPU.

Zoma said:
I noticed I can bundle the 9800 GT with an upgraded Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W PSU for $10 less than the 650W ($170: Link). Though this then makes me want to splurge and just buy this combo instead :p
Click to expand...
Even though the 9800GT is a major step up over the 7800GTX, it will still struggle at 1920x1200. You may have to lower your resolution or lower settings dramatically to play games. Still significantly better than the 7800GTX.

If you don't mind the high power usage and higher temperatures compared to the cheaper HD 5850, then that GTX 470 combo deal with the Corsair PSU isn't that bad.
 
Danny Bui said:
Of course cooling capabilities should be the first concern. But room and cable management do affect the cooling capability of a case. Little to no room means a higher chance of heat buildup in a PC. In addition, a large amount of room in the case allows for easier cable management and easier to work with. Yes you can do good cable management with the Antec 900 and 1200 if you take the time and extra effort. However, it's still harder and more time consuming to do so then with other cases in those price ranges.

Here's a good comparison of the room difference between the Coolermaster RC-690 case and the Antec 900-2 case:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034082083&postcount=53

Note the extra room offered by the Coolermaster case.

So from a price to performance perspective, there's very little reason IMO to get the Antec 1200 or 900 cases when there are better cases for the money. Why pay more for a case that's of lesser quality than other cases in the same price range, that has equal cooling to cases of lower costs, and that has less room and harder/more time consuming to cable manage than cases of lower or equal costs?

After seeing/playing with the Coolermaster RC-590 and RC-690 cases side by side with the Antec 1200 and Antec 900 cases and after building an Antec 900 setup, I can honestly say that the Coolermaster RC-590 and RC-690 are better cases than the Antec Gamer series. And they're often $60 to $80, much cheaper than the Antec 900 or Antec 1200 cases.

But as enginurd said: "Cases are personal preference, so get what you like." My personal preference is toward the Coolermaster RC-590/RC-690 cases due to the all of the above mentioned facts. Some people may want the Antec 900/1200 cases simply for looks and can ignore the major deficiencies and higher prices.
Click to expand...


I agree.Cases are personal preference,but in your comparison,the person that did wire management in the 902 sure didn't make an effort to hide wires.In fact, he made no effort at all!The 250/260 are 10.5 inches long in length.I did have to take out the 120 internal fan for the video card to fit,but I still have room for a larger card,and cooling is not affected,as far as I can tell.I could have done better with wire management (ie) drilling a 2 inch hole for the 24 inch power plug next to the psu instead of 1 inch,and some other issues I will correct.Secondly,if your investing alot of $$ in parts in a case,taking some effort to make it better should not be a factor.

I will use my case as an example.

http://img175.imageshack.us/i/img0078we.jpg/


http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3484/img0079mm.jpg

I have 3 hard drives in this case,and you can see the middle bay is virtually open minus 1 hdd in the bottom of the bay.I have one of the front 120's blowing right over the hhd and video card.The second 120 blows over the other 2 hard drives.Your case has 1 front fan,and no top exhaust.Heat rises,and both of the cases have bottom mounted psu.The 900 gets rid of the heat more efficiently with the rear and top fans,especially a 200mm top fan imo.Side fans seem to mess with the natural flow of air.Front to back/top.I could be wrong,but as long as I get great temps I dont care.The case you compare does look nice on the inside,but what about airflow.It looks restrictive from top to bottom.Were basically talking 20 dollar price difference.I would like to see the cooling results comparing these cases.
 
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Well first things first: The GTS 250 you have is significantly shorter than the GTX 260. The GTS 250 is 9" long whereas the GTX 260 is 10.5" long. Hence why you have a bit more room to spare compared to the example I posted. The HD 5850 you're planning on geting is 9.5" BTW.

Second, the effort to make a PC is a factor since you're advocating/defending a case that requires more effort to make it better than a cheaper case that'll provide the same results but with little to no effort. So again, I ask you: Why pay more for a case that's of lesser quality than other cases in the same price range, that has equal cooling to cases of lower costs, and that has less room and harder/more time consuming to cable manage than cases of lower or equal costs? I mean, why make things harder for yourself than necessary when it comes to the case?

Third, look at the picture of the Coolermaster RC-690 case I posted again: It has TWO 120mm fans in the top. It's a bit rescessed into the case but those two 120mm fans are there. I'm willing to bet two 120mm fans will cool just as well as a single 200mm fan. In addition, the

Fourth, I've yet to see any report or article showing the side fan being a negative influence on airflow. In addition, it looks like you and I have different definitions of "restrictive".
 
I only went through the first 50 reviews on this case. 50 out of 1800.I think you can get a good indication to stay away from this case. this is what alot of customers think.CHEAP!I Secondly,It only comes with 3 120mm fans.Antec has 3 120mms & 200mm tricool preinstalled.So if you need more cooling plan on spending more money

The spots for the hard disks are very nice. the bay drives, when used screwless, still move a bit.
Imagine mounting a DVD burner and pressing the eject button and the drive moves (this currently happens to me).

Unfortunately, I'm not a fan on the cable management. I think the opening behind the motherboard tray could have been bigger. I also think more openings could have been placed. I had a hell of a time trying to get my Corsair 750TX's cables through that. Also, some of the plastic on the toolless bays and hardware feels cheap. AND, the instructions absolutely suck. No text instructions, just cheap, wordless pictures with arrows.... One of the fans cords slipped out of its placement and was hitting the fan. I had to tape it down with electrical tape. This is a very mediocre case in my opinion

Headphone header came broken and Coolermaster appears to have the worst customer support ever. If you order this you had better hope nothing is broken on it.

As others mentioned, taking the top panes is a bit troublesome, and you need to be careful when dealing with the tabs that hold the top panel in place. They are plastic, and could easily break if not careful. The best solution I found was to start with the front tabs and slowly, carefully work your way down.

LOUD and Cheap. The front power button broke on me fairly quickly into the case's life. So I have to stick my finger into the recess where the button was to depress the actual power switch. Also, the fans on the case are way loud and over abundant. If you're gonna have that many fans, make sure they're quieter.

The side panel fan grills make a very annoying humming sound when a 2000+ rpm fan is applied to that spot, it is so loud that it actually gives me a headache. I now have to use my headphones while gaming because my video cards run very hot and I need full fan speed to keep them cool.

Fans make an odd noise, mainly the one mounted to the side panel. (easily fixed by unplugging them)

Power button is taken from a $20 case, I own a CNC machine and made a prototype from Delrin, and ended up coating it with automotive rubberized undercoating to stop it from rattling.

A little too open, with all the mesh the noise will come out all the sides, I ended up plastering the sides, top and bottom with automotive sound deadening.

Other Thoughts: As I mentioned the open air design of this case has two draw backs
1) Air flow has no direction without adding more fans
2) All the little holes let the sound escape in all directions


The power switch takes some getting used to.It's mounted on the curved front bezel and half the time I think I push it in the wrong direction.

Front panels are a pain to get off. I had to stick a screwdriver in from inside the pc and pry the panels out. The second panel was even more difficult since I had to remove the metal shield; lots of twisting, pushing, and pulling to get it to snap off. I had to use screws for one of the blu-ray drives I installed. The snap-lock retainers just weren't enough to hold it securely, wiggled too much for my tastes, felt unsecured and cheap.

Taking the front panel cover off in order to remove the drive bay cover plates is a bit of a scary experience. I have two friends with this same case, and it's uncomfortable every time. One friend wound up breaking a clip one time when he did it. Doesn't have any 2.5" bays, which is kind of expected.

Sidewards HDD rack cause blending cables - you can swap HDD fairly easily, but you may have problem connecting the SATA cables. There is very little space for the SATA cable to finesse between the HDD's SATA and right case cover, so the SATA cable is quite literally blending 90 degree. For that reason, my computer often cannot detect the HDD. (problem solved if i don't close the case cover on the motherboard side...)

Like many here, I am having issues with the fans. The door fan is loud, as if grinding on the lower section of the fan casing. The front blue led fan is making a high pitched hum that is enough to make you go crazy. I've had to swap the parts back into my original case because I just couldn't stand the horrible sounds coming from my case.

Searching the reviews here I see that cooler master is sending people to their parts request site and having them submit their issues. Well, that was over a week ago and I have yet to even receive an approval or denial. The status just shows pending. I can't get a hold of anyone from cooler master (And it seems that there is nothing showing on live chat) and my return date for newegg is coming up fast.

The front panel is an absolute PITA. You have to use a LOT of brute force to remove it, and then only slightly less force to get it back into place. This is such a serious PITA that I did remove one egg for it, especially since the PITA is not limited to removing the panel but also replacing it.

The top panel is great with eSATA, Firewire, and 2 USB ports, and mic & audio out (which you'll probably never use). Unfortunately Cooler Master was incredibly stupid putting the USB ports so close together. There's no way to stick two Flash drives in it, which is about the only thing you'll ever want to stick in them. Every other (more permanent) USB device would just get plugged into the back of case on the motherboard's back panel. It's a big enough gripe that I'm dropping it's rating because of it. The fans are quiet but one is considerably louder than the other - still my external Rosewill HDD enclosure with an 80mm fan is louder. Cooler Master emblem smooshed into the metal mesh on the front is crooked.
 
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OneEyeWilly said:
I only went through the first 50 reviews on this case. 50 out of 1800.I think you can get a good indication to stay away from this case. this is what alot of customers think.CHEAP!I Secondly,It only comes with 3 120mm fans.Antec has 3 120mms & 200mm tricool preinstalled.So if you need more cooling plan on spending more money
Click to expand...

And I'm willing to bet that I can find just as many bad reviews about the Antec 900 or 1200 cases. Also, fans are pretty cheap, $5 to $8. Not that much of an increase in price. In addition, more fans doesn't necessarily mean better cooling.

You still haven't answered my question: Why pay more for a case that's of lesser quality than other cases in the same price range, that has equal cooling to cases of lower costs, and that has less room and harder/more time consuming to cable manage than cases of lower or equal costs? I mean, why make things harder for yourself than necessary when it comes to the case?

Make an argument FOR the Antec 900, not AGAINST the RC-690. You still haven't made a strong case for the Antec 900 yet.
 
I forgot to add,since all the fans are so cheap in this case you will need to replace all of the 3 fans,then you can spend more money on additional fans.I dont hear Antec setting up a support line for fan issues. The Tricool fans are not top of the line,but they seem to have less problems from what I read.CM found a cheaper place than China for there fans.Cable management does not appear to be so easy and effortless as you expressed.The 900 side panels are made of metal,and very easy to take apart and replace.Front panel is easy to remove,and doesn't take twisting and pulling on plastic.Drive bay cages on the Antec are metal,and both can be removed easily .Installing drives does require removing both panels,but at least there secure,and do not feel cheap.Both cases have flaws,but you make the Coolermaster RC-690 sound like a dream case.I dont hear many people complain about cheap fans,mediocre design for drive connections, usb connections,power buttons,and cheap plastic parts that easily break.

So, you keep saying "Why pay more for a case that's of lesser quality,"-I mentioned what alot of people think about quality of this case.If that your definition of quality thats more reason to avoid this case.

Lets say all the fans in your case work perfect,you still have to spend money to add top fans.Now your at the price of the 900 with a cheaply made case!
 
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OneEyeWilly said:
I forgot to add,since all the fans are so cheap in this case you will need to replace all of the 3 fans.Then you can spend more money on additional fans.Cable management does not appear to be so easy and effortless as you expressed.The 900 side panels are made of metal,and very easy to take apart and replace.Installing drives does require removing both panels,but at least there secure,and do not feel cheap.Both cases have flaws,but you make the Coolermaster RC-690 sound like a dream case.I dont hear many people complain about cheap fans,medicore design for drive connections,and usb,power buttons,and cheap plastic parts that easily break.

Lets say all the fans in your case work perfect,you still have to spend money to add top fans.Now your at the price of the 900.
Click to expand...

I never made the RC-690 a "dream case". I just made it a better case compared to the Antec 900. In addition, who says the fans in the Antec 900 are any better than the ones in Coolermaster RC-690 case? Yes both cases have flaws but the flaws of the Antec 900 outweigh the flaws in the Coolermaster RC-690 IMO.

A fan does not cost as much money as you make it out to be:
$3.60 - 120mm Yate Loon D12SL-12 Case Fan

That's only ~$8. Considering that the RC-690 costs $70 (avg price is $80), that's a total of $78 to $88 for just the fans. Still $10 less than the Antec 900 and $30 less than the Antec 902 case.
 
Zoma said:
Per cbliss1000's hard drive comment: I'm really just looking for the cheapest reliable hard drive at a "sweet spot" price. I've used Seagate in the last two computers, but have heard they haven't been as reliable as of late. I'm open to suggestions, but the WD looks like it should do fine, and the power reduction may be good for a non-OS drive.
Click to expand...

Check out the hot deals forum today - the samsung f3 is on sale for 70 bucks or so, which is a very good price. It's a reliable drive, and one of the fastest mechanical ones out there. Alternatively, you could try the WD blue or black drives - there's lots of info in other posts about these - or the newer hitachis. For your buck though, you can't beat that f3 deal. It's one of the better drives out there.
 
Hey Danny! Its all good.We seem to have a difference of opinion,but I agree that the 902 & 1200 are overpriced.You had some good suggestions for parts on his gaming build,but not case:)Maybe are discussion has helped in is decision.You taking your position,I'll take mine.
 
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Another thing I forgot to mention is the length of the GTS 250.I stand corrected.It is 9 inches.A 260 would fit in the 900,but it would be tight.The Antec 900 is a gaming case,so I wish they put more thought for video card clearance.This was a big oversight on my part when buying this case.This case seems limited for cards over 10.5 inches,unless you want to hack:rolleyes:
 
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Hmmm...now you got me thinking about the case :p

Would an Antec 900 be worth an extra $20? They're currently running it for $100 with free shipping.

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

btw, right now I've got:

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W (debating about i7-860) $195
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 $130
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $110
Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC SSD $215
Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB $45
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V + GTX 470 1280MB $420
LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS50 - OEM $24

$1,139 total before I get a case and Windows 7.
 
I like your choices so far. A case I personally did a build for someone with lately that I really like is the CoolerMaster Storm Sniper, it is a awesome case and is sometimes on Newegg for around $100. I like it better than my Antec P182, but not enough to switch at the moment. Worth looking at.

Also my gaming rig has tons on games on it, lots. Getting closer to 500GB every day, I suggest maybe switching out that 500GB WD for a 1TB Samsung F3, which were just $65 the other day.

Also since you are getting new stuff and want to future proof a bit, might want to switch out the plain LG DVD burner for a Blu-Ray combo drive for a extra $60.
 
Zoma said:
Would an Antec 900 be worth an extra $20? They're currently running it for $100 with free shipping.

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
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Dude, have you not been reading your thread? Both OneEyeWilly and I have made strong cases for and against the Antec 900 and Coolermaster RC-690 cases. Just read our posts again and you should be able to figure whether or not the Antec 900 is worht the extra $20.

To reiterate my stance again: There are better quality cases than the Antec 900 for $100:
$80 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922M RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case

Zoma said:
$215
Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB
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Ditch that slow drive and get this significantly faster drive:
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
 
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As always, I agree with Danny. I'll take any of those cases over the 900 any day.
 
Danny Bui said:
Dude, have you not been reading your thread? Both OneEyeWilly and I have made strong cases for and against the Antec 900 and Coolermaster RC-690 cases. Just read our posts again and you should be able to figure whether or not the Antec 900 is worht the extra $20.
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Yes, I was writing that as a response to Willy's last post on the first page. He really seemed to dislike the RC 690. I thought I saw a special for the 900 being cheaper than it was last time I checked, but I may have been mistaken.

I took most of your initial criticism to be against the 1200 that runs double the cost of the RC 690. I started writing my post immediately following his first post on the second page, I was just flipping back and forth on various hardware sites for a few hours before I wrote the second part of it and submitted it. Sorry :(
 
OneEyeWilly said:
I think the cooling capabilities should be the first concern,along with looks.Room is not a factor with this case.I don't see the problem with cable management,as long as you take your time.70 dollars will not buy quality,unless you can find a deal,its possible:)You can get a 900 for that price every once in awhile on the egg.
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Actually, room is a factor in this case. What good is an expensive case that can barely fit even a typical low-end full-ATX motherboard, and that the motherboard had to be completely removed from the case just to reach the front-edge-mounted internal SATA ports that are becoming increasingly common on newer motherboards? IMHO the Nine Hundred can comfortably fit only a "baby" ATX motherboard (whose depth is shorter than a regular ATX motherboard) such as the Gigabyte GA-EP43/45-UD3L without having the critical motherboard sockets obstructed by something else.

Also, what good is an expensive case that cannot fit even a single 5850 or 5870 without having the PCI-e power connector's cabling bent completely out of shape (and thus greatly increasing the potential for failure)? And even a 5770 is too close for comfort with this case.

One thing to remember is that the Nine Hundred was designed several years ago, when the Conroe (eventually named Core 2 Duo) CPUs were still in the planning stages, the Pentium 4/Pentium D (Prescott/Smithfield; neither Presler nor Cedar Mill was yet released at that time) was the highest-end "consumer" CPU that was available at the time and the highest-end NVIDIA GPU was still the GeForce 7800 GTX. As such, the designers did not foresee the increasing need for larger, more feature-laden motherboards and larger CPU coolers on newer CPUs--they merely designed the Nine Hundred to accommodate the largest "enthusiast" components that were available at the time (for example, all of the motherboards that were available at the time of the Nine Hundred's conception had SATA ports on the motherboard itself rather than the front edge of the board).

Moreover, although the Nine Hundred's stock fans offer greater cooling potential than the CM 690, in practice the Nine Hundred's stock fans don't outperform those in the CM 690 II unless the fans' output is turned to higher speeds, which would end up being significantly louder and noisier overall than the fixed output of the CM 690 II's stock fans. So in other words, with the Nine Hundred it's either good cooling or low noise - but not both at the same time.

Sorry that I revived a dormant thread, but I read it and had to respond.
 
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Haha, sall good. That's still good info for the next time some dude wants to get the Antec 900.
 
Danny Bui said:
Haha, sall good. That's still good info for the next time some dude wants to get the Antec 900.
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And recently I've seen the 900 SE. I thought it would have more features - but in actuality the 900 SE is simply a 900 with silver grilles (instead of black ones). Hence, in that case the "SE" means "Silver Edition".
 
I own an Antec 900 and it isn't that great of a case. Sorry to bust your bubble OneEyeWilly but this case doesn't compare to the rc690. I've used both and the CM was much roomier and easier to work with. The antec 900's stock cooling is much better but tricools are shitty fans so with some extra $$ you can put some quality fans into the 690. The 690 stock is also much quieter than the 900 (all on low) at stock.

+1 to all of what Danny has said.
 
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