Desktop case

[bob]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-119-024&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE

Im looking into using that case for my computer. I hate big fat "tower" or "mid tower" cases that are 7" wide and take up desk space. With my current set up, there is barley room for a 15" monitor and my wireless keyboard & mouse.

Going with an athlon 64 system, my main concern is space & cooling. Ive chosen a PC-Chips MicroAtx motherboard, a 480W 30$ PSU.

I have a 400Mhz Celeron Emachine mid-tower, for my current computer. I just about had to get a crow-bar to install the hard drives in the mounting thing, and getting a stick of ram in past the PSU would need a toddler with nimble fingers.

With a desktop case, I hope to leave more room open to the motherboard. The one I want above, has two 5 1/2" drive bays. So, my DVD drive and CD burner will be going in there. And of course, one hard drive and floppy drive.

My question is about the heatsink, space for cables, PSU, and other various stuff. Im sure the jumbo zalman would help quiet things down and wouldnt need lots of air movement. But, this is my first modern computer project, and I dont know anything.

 

[pandora's box]

erm dude i dont know much about desktop cases but that power supply is crap and that heatsink looks pretty shitty too. whats your budget?

 

[bob]

http://abcdefg.dajoob.com/computer/newegg.htm Is what Im ready to order, and hope to within the next day if my parents wont tell me to "wait" again (its been almost a year now). If they finnaly say yes, I will go with 2-day shipping and hope its here on friday.

I dont want to spend much over 600. I originally had a 400$ budget, and somehow managed to figure out a 64bit gaming system for just slightly over 400.

I dont do games, mainly Audio & Video editing. Some C&C Generals or mafia, but nothing else. The psu seems to be rated well when I searched through google. This PC is more of a HTPC than anything, and it replace my 400Mhz celeron (which needs to be shot).

I may plasma-cut the lid and stick in a peice of glass for a window, or maybe a hole for an 80MM fan or two, but thats not part of my problem. back in the '90s everything was almost the same. Desktop cases were alike, PSUs were identical, 586 heatsinks were small. Now we have 1Kg heatsinks, 120MM fans, 400GB hard drives, and 50 different PSU styles, not to mention motherboard variety. I just need to know if my current setup will work, have the lid shut, and have it power on and work great.

 

[bob]

bump

 

[bob]

bump

so in the past 80 hours or so, no one can answer my questions?

 

[pandora's box]

probably because i tried to help you but you blew off my help and still stuck with the crappy PSU and heatsink.

 

[Z(+)DIAC]

He's right, the heatsink isn't horribl (just make sure it fits your processor), but that PSU is God Awful, I wouldn't even take a shit on it. Honestly, go with a better brand, of course you might spend more, but what's aa extra $30-$40 bucks when it can mean sufficient power and not fry the rest of your components.

I have an Antec 380 True Power and it's wonderful...

 

[hegulator]

Avoid the 20 dollar PSUs. Seriously. You really can't skimp on the PSU, in my experience. A cheap one might get you by for a year or so, but if you find yourself with random reboots and crashes, that's probably the cause.

I think you're better off going with one of the more solid PSUs. Check the PSU forum for lists of good PSUs.

 

[bob]

probably because i tried to help you but you blew off my help and still stuck with the crappy PSU and heatsink.

I didnt blow anyone off, I just have other questions that no one has answered yet, and I am about ready to shoot holes in my Emachine. No one will ever know how bad they want an Athlon system untill they use a 400Mhz Celeron Emachine that cant even play the first version of unreal tournament, with a 16mb PCI video card, and 192Mb PC100.

I do not know much about new stuff besides what I have researched on components. The Rosewill silent was rated very good out of the five or so tomswareware-like websites ive read through. But I cant belive everything I read. Im just dissapointed that out of 34,000 members, only two are willing to help.

What makes the heatsink crappy? my 3200+ with a 12$ newegg heatsink idles at 32C and full load is 50C. I figured that one would be much better on a quiet pc, because its more open and taller for a larger fan.

I dont know about the powersupplies. Like Ive said before, I havent built a computer in 6 years, since the day of the PII-400. But if you own that PSU, or have a friend who owns one and they die and cause probems on a regular basis, I will take your word for it. Im used to people full of BS, saying this and that is crap, because they had only one and it broke. just like fords "my brakes went out because its a peice of *(#$ ford".

If someone has an opinion about what i should change, please say so. I dont want to be stuck with an Emachine-performace like Athlon64 system.

 

[s4rge]

powersupply =

ww

 

[Z(+)DIAC]

Alright bobby, if you need some help getting your components then keep posting in here and I will try as much as possible. By the way, that heatsink should be fine...

 

[bob]

I changed a few things, and selected a better motherboard (i hope). I chose a fancy PSU with a 120mm fan and an 80mm fan, with a window and some fancy blue led's. (who would honestly pop the lid of their case to stare in the psu?)

I tried to go with cheap parts for an athlon 3400+, but Id rather have 1GB of ram than 400 more plus'es. Hopefully the asus has Overclocking, that will be tested during the winter months of the year .

I dont like having only one ATA connector, its going to be tough fitting in two drives. I need a DVD for DVDs, and a regular burner. DVD drives cant play crap if the cds are scratched, regular drives seem to be more tolerant. Newegg had a very small MicroAtx 754 selections, so I guess the asus is fine.

here is the link once again to my shopping cart

is there much difference between the 3400 and the 3000? or between the 2800 and the 3000?

 

[Z(+)DIAC]

Well to be honest, yes, but nothing too drastic. Between the 2800 and 3000 there is not much difference, now with the 3000 and 3400 yes, there will be some difference but nothing outrageous (maybe up to a 3500). I just switched over to AMD and have a 3000+ and it is much faster than my old P4 2.4.

I reviewed your items and have only a few suggestions.

I am not sure what type of memory brands your board supports (check Asus's website), but if they offer Mushkin, I highly suggest going with this set:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-299&depa=0

It's a great brand with a great product, I purchased myself a pair and can't believe how great it is.

Next your mobo. It seems you are on a tight budget, but seeing as you're building a whole new pc, makes me wonder if you want this somewhat future proof or just something for the next year and half. If you plan on keeping this a bit longer, I would suggest going 939 *socket 939*. You are spending an extra $20, but it's worth it.

Get rid of the PSU, plain and simple. Not sure if you have this mentality, but just because a PSU might have a large amount of voltage, doesn't mean it's superior. I would suggest going with these brands:

Antec, OCZ, Enermax, Thermaltake - Great PSU Makers

Seeing as you are going light on your pc, all you would really need would be a 380 or 400 PSU - TOPS

THen there's your Graphics Card. Again I have no idea what you plan on doing with this machine, but if you plan on gaming, I would think again. Seeing as PCI-E is coming popular, card makers are trying to get some great AGP cards out before PCI-E takesover. Seeing as the NVIDIA's 6 series was just released and ATI's soon to be, it makes sense to go with a more recent card (that is if you want to game and do some mutlimedia stuff - dvds and the such).

I'm not sure how much you are willing to spend, but I would look at going with a Nvidia 5900, ATI 9800 Pro, or a Nvidia 6600gt.

Again if you need some more help then please tell me

PS: Great choice on hdd, I love me some samsung to.

 

[bob]

http://abcdefg.dajoob.com/computer/newegg2.htm

My only mentality, is that 300W PSU is good enough. IF they are rated to run at, say, 100K hours at 300W, why not buy it?

my 5' tall full tower case had about 4 cdrom drives in it, and three hard drives. Every one of the six PCI slots had something in them (network, SCSI, TV TUNER...), and I had a Geforce2 Ultra in there. All was powered by a 1996 140W gateway ATX PSU for 5 years of about 4 out of 7 days a week of 24hrs a day operation. I did didnt stop working untill late last year. Nine years of reliable service.



I dropped the desktop case, there is no such thing as a microatx socket 939. There was one desktop case that used a full sized board, but it came with a crap PSU for 90$.

In the reveiw of the motherboard I chose, someone mentioned to use a 24pin psu and not to get a 20pin. Im not sure about that, the cheap yeller case comes with a crappy psu, i dont know about it.

Right now, the only think I know about PCI express is that its faster. The Nvidia 5900 has higher clock speeds for a similar price, is that better?

and I hope that motherboard is a good one. I can not afford to pay 184$ for a socket 939 board with PCI express.

Please reveiw over the list, Im sure I have incompatible items, the price is still under $700 and I have this feeling like something isnt right.

 

[Mac Cool]

Right now, the only think I know about PCI express is that its faster. The Nvidia 5900 has higher clock speeds for a similar price, is that better?

PCI-E is not faster... yet. It has the potential to be faster.

I don't know how you are on your budget, but the ATI cards are a much better value in the low and midrange market. The 9600Pro can be had for under $110. The Nvidia FX cards are overpriced IMO, even though a I have a 5900XT, but I only paid $150 shipped for it.

I have this feeling like something isnt right.

Here is an excellent power supply: Fortron 400W

Personally I would rather have an nforce board than a SIS.
Something like Gigabyte GA-K8NS

 

[Z(+)DIAC]

Looks much better, good Job. PCI-E is a bit faster than AGP, but the signifance is very small. PCI-E is not being taken advantage of all that greatly yet, maybe in the next 2 years or so (I would suggest only 10% have PCI-E).

That Forton is also a good PSU, fact of the matter is that you should not go cheap on your PSU, never ever.

Otherwise everything is looking great.

 

[bob]

is that Forton PSU a 24 pin? I see two power connectors on the Chaintech board. a 4 pin, and a 24 pin. From the newegg picture, I see the four pin connector but I dont know if the regular plug is 20 or 24 pin.