Choosing the perfect case

[deckmoney]

Hello,


I am looking at building my own computer with individual parts that I chose (a first for me). I was looking for ideas, specifically on the case, as well as some answers to some questions that I have.


I have had trouble finding a case that I thought looked nice, while still serving it's purpose. I need a case that has:

-headphone output on bottom, front of case.
-A few USB inputs on the bottom, front of the case.
-some color, while still allowing me to use white (or beige, whatever is the standard) components and not have it look stupid.
-support for Pentium 4 processors
-decent cooling setup
-a reliable PCU.
-room for 6 PCI slots, AGP slot
-Mid-tower is preferred.
-at least 3 external 5.25 slots, 2 external 3.5, and 2 internal 3.5 slots.


I have looked at Antec and Li-Lian or whatever his name is and I wasn't all that impressed by the combination of looks and money. And of course the one I did like isn't in stock. I'm looking to spend around $100 including the PCU.




I realize that the below text is off-topic, so if you are only interested in Cases please stop reading now...otherwise keep reading to help me out even more! TIA!


I also could use some advice on the components. So far I'm looking at:
-Soyo DRAGON Ultra SY-P4S
-Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz Processor
-512 MB of DDR 2700 RAM
-100 GB IBM DeskStar Hard Drive
-ATI All-In-Wonder 8500DV
-Sound card is built-in
-NIC is built-in
-Cheap non-WinModem



Some questions/concerns I have:
-Does anyone think going with a 100 Gig hard drive is a dumb idea? I plan on downloading a lot of movies and MP3s, but I also want to run Linux. Does it make more sense to buy like a 20 Gig hard drive for Linux, and then an 80 Gig for my Windows drive? I know I can partition, I'm just looking to find the best solution here.

-Has anyone had problems with the ATI All-In-Wonder 8500DV? It looks like it'll do what I want: provide me with a decent video card that has a TV-tuner built-in.

-I was looking at online computer part stores and they had the Pentium 4 with 256 and 512 of Cache, but they were both for the same price. Doesn't it make sense that the more cache, the more expensive?

-Also, I saw some sites that had Northwood and regular Pentium 4 2.0Ghz chips. What are the differences??? If I remember correctly the prices were the same.

-Does anyone have any suggestions on DVD burners? I am looking at buying one down the road, but for now I think I want to keep everything seperate. For example, keep my CD-RW burner and DVD-ROM drive as seperate units so I can burn CD's and watch movies at the same time. I think the 512 of DDR RAM can handle that quite nicely.




Thanks for any replies I receive, I appreciate them all,
Chris

 

[harbinger52]

Welcome to the fourms!

the northwood chips have the 512 cache. You may want to get a 1.6a and then OC the heck out of it. People are getting 2.2ghz with no problems.

 

[baneonrt]

So, am I correct in assuming the case that you like is the Antec Performance Plus 660? I tried to order one at newegg but they were out of stock. emscomputing.com has it in stock though and less including shipping than newegg. For me it was something like $85 for the case and $19 shipping.

Anyways, I have the 880 version and love it. If you want a headphone jack on the front that's what modding is for right?

Steve


Edit: well, after rereading your message I'm most likely not correct in my assumption Still, I highly recommend the Antec PerfPlus cases.

 

[deckmoney]

How easy is it to overclock the processor from 1.6 to 2.2? Also, what does the "a" stand for.

As you can see, I'm new to this but I think I better get with the times!

 

[deckmoney]

Originally posted by: baneonrt
So, am I correct in assuming the case that you like is the Antec Performance Plus 660? I tried to order one at newegg but they were out of stock. emscomputing.com has it in stock though and less including shipping than newegg. For me it was something like $85 for the case and $19 shipping.

Anyways, I have the 880 version and love it. If you want a headphone jack on the front that's what modding is for right?

Steve


Edit: well, after rereading your message I'm most likely not correct in my assumption Still, I highly recommend the Antec PerfPlus cases.

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, the 880 isn't exactly my style. I'm looking for something that looks pretty nice and still is gonna get the job done. Not to insult your taste, I'm just a younger kid and I'm looking for some color in my case (even though it'll probably endup on the floor. ) Do you know of any other brand names that are reliable?

 

[harbinger52]

How easy is it to overclock the processor from 1.6 to 2.2? Also, what does the "a" stand for

Depends on your Motherboard. I am unsure on the Soyo. Some boards use dip switches on the board itself while others it is all done in the BIOS set up. What you are doing is increasing the FSB.

"a" signifies a northwood chip

 

[deckmoney]

FYI, I read more about the motherboard and the OC is in fact done in the BIOS. Thank you for all of your help!!! Hopefully I can spend less money and OC to over 2 Gigs.

 

[baneonrt]

No insult taken When I was shopping for my first upgrade in like 2 years I also wanted a case with color. But I could not find a case that fit my needs for function so it won out over form

Now, if I was prepared to spend about twice as much as I did then the options were a bit better.

Steve

 

[deckmoney]

I think I too must concede and choose function over form for my case. :-(

 

[badboyeee]

im also looking for a nice attractive looking case. so far no success!
i think the antecs and lians look kinda ugly, and its pretty pricey too. I'm sure they function really well tho.

I'm not looking into OCing my system, so cooling wouldnt be that much of an issue for me.

let me know when u find one that suits our taste!

 

[Belegost]

I highly recommend looking through the cases at Directron. I happened across this one while I was there.
http://directron.com/7619.html Add the front USB/audio upgrade and a decent psu and you still get ou for around $100.

There's a few other cases there that fit your requirements, you can also try http://www.colorcases.com/ they have a huge selection of cases.

 

[Underclocked]

Take a look at the AOpen H600A. Not colorful, but a very nice design and well built. Excellent power supply and cooling provisions. You have to buy the front daughter card seperately AFIK but AOpen makes three or four variations for those front connections. USB, audio, firewire, and....? Directron, MyAopen, and Multiwave Direct all have those H600A cases but make sure you find out which case options you are getting as part of the deal (supporting feet, extra drive cage, daughter card).

 

[bunker]

Headphone and usb on front of case
You will need to buy a power supply though.

 

[robo555]

Have you read the article at TomsHardware about selecting the right case?

http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/02q2/020521/index.html

I've got the NeonLight case mentioned in that article:

http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/02q2/020521/case-14.html

It comes w/ two fans, no PSU (so you can pick a decent one yourself), and it's not pricy at all when I got it. It's got covers so your beige drives won't look stupid.

No audio at the front though, but it has front USB and Firewire.

I didn't realize this until I read the article, it's made of Aluminium, which is a plus.

It's probably not as good as Lian-Li or Antec, but I could never afford something like an Lian-Li. It's a pretty decent case, Tom from the article liked it as well.

 

[jna]

I could never found a case I liked.

But for $40, I got a $20 case and a dremel. Already had a 1/2" drill. $15 in hole saws, $15 in paint, maybe $5 in miscellaneous electronics, and some scrap pieces of sheet aluminum.

Now I'm happy.

I know you may groan about the $20 case, but the 300W "Turbolink" power supply hasn't impeding my quest for 150 mhz, so why replace something before it's broke?

 

[deckmoney]

Hello, me again.

I am seriously considering just getting this case:
http://www.directron.com/00301wb.html

It's white (therefore easy to buy components for), yet has alittle bit of color in it. It doesn't have the audio ports I wanted, but I guess I could always just see if I would really use them and buy one of those boxes (that fit in a 5.2 of 3.5 slot) later down the road.

I'm looking at the options before I buy it. I plan on getting a 1.8 or 2.0Ghz processor, MAYBE overclocking but I doubt I really will. Anyways, what kind of fan system do you guys think I should get? You are the experts! I see they have 3 pin and 4 pin, how do I know which to buy? As you can see, I'm not much of a hardware guy. Building this computer is an attempt to get a new computer while learning more! Also, are rounded cables a must, or not? I have read that they help with airflow, but I don't know if I'm that hardcore yet.

I think I recall reading about Enermax power supplies, but I can't remember if it was good or bad things. I think it was good, but I'm still going to do a good bit of research before I decide what brand of PCU to get. Are 300Watts enough for a P4 that will run around 1.8 to 2.4 Ghz, with a ATI All-In-Wonder 8500DV, 2 80 Gig hard drives, etc.??

I'm sure overclocking is going to produce more heat, should I upgrade the PCU? My Pentium processor should come with a fan for it too, right? That, along with a fan in the back should be enough cooling, don't you guys think? I'm open for input, I still need to put some time into reading more about cooling because I don't want to burn up anything because I skimped on a few fans!!!!! If you guys know of any good URL's I'd love to see them!

I put the setup I was looking into getting at the bottom of this posting. Check that out if you could please!



As always thanks for reading, you guys are the best!







Enermax CS-003-01WB Mid-Tower ATX Case w/ Enermax 300W PS & Front USB Ports:


*Add 12cm Front Fan: Quiet Panaflo w/4-pin(+24.00)
*Add 8cm Rear Fan: 1 Cooler Master w/3-pin(+9.99)
*Add Case Badge:
*Add Fan Mate:
*Upgrade Power Supply to : Enermax EG365P-VE-FC(+34.00)

 

[deckmoney]

Originally posted by: jna
I could never found a case I liked.

But for $40, I got a $20 case and a dremel. Already had a 1/2" drill. $15 in hole saws, $15 in paint, maybe $5 in miscellaneous electronics, and some scrap pieces of sheet aluminum.

Now I'm happy.

I know you may groan about the $20 case, but the 300W "Turbolink" power supply hasn't impeding my quest for 150 mhz, so why replace something before it's broke?

I'm not handy enough to build something out of nothing, I'm jealous of you!!!! I'm sticking to something around $100 that I know will be reliable.

 

[DeRusto]

that sure sounds like a great bunch of stuff that you are getting, and the enermax will be a very good power supply for you. if you can at all though, i would reccomend that you upgrade it to at least 350watts because you are going to be using a lot of power hungry components and more never hurts.

you should probably look into buying a couple of decent case fans to go along with it.
you have the room for three extra 80mm fans already, you probably need at least one up front sucking in and one in back blowing out.
these can be of the 3 or 4 pin variety but i would reccomend the 4 pin because they plug into your power supply just like a harddrive or cdrom would and can therefore be more powerful.

a good fan manufacturer to look at would be sunon, panaflo and enermax

hope this helps and have fun with your first experience in building a pc!