In article <a26edd8f-eeb5-4558-9bc9-c8b6f3df584d@r66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>, Matt <mattb95@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Jul 24, 9:57=A0am, "Rarius" <rar...@rarius.co.uk> wrote:
>> >>I've bought cheap PSU's before and having put up with noisy fans and a
>> >>life expectancy of around 12 months it's just not worth the hassle and
>> >>potential damage to the rest of my PC. However, I also don't want to
>> >>spend =A3100 on a new case and PSU!
>>
>> > Antec 1200 Case
>>
>> The Antec 1200 comes without a PSU and retails around =A3110 so that is w=
>ell
>> over Matt's budget.
>>
>> I was going to suggest the Antec 900... I have three mates with them and
>> they are very nice cases, but again they come without a PSU, but are
>> available for about =A370. The Antec EarthWatts PSUs are quite good and t=
>he
>> 430W is available for around =A345.
>
>What is it that makes Antec PSU's good. Should they be the only
>manufacturer I focus on?
>
No, you should look around of course. I just suggest the Antec 900 or 1200
cases because there are made out of steel, not cheap like many cases. They
have alot of cooling for anyone relying on air cooling. The 3 front drive
cages come out and you mount the drives to them and then slide them into the
case. Very good design, the air blows directly across the drives and keeps
them very cool.
Heres a video on Antecs web site that shows the Antec 900 case
<http://video.google.
com/videoplay?
docid=7494970967421899506&q=7494970967421899506&ei =0-qISLGEOYmK4ALv09T4Bw>
The way the drives mount in the 900 are the same on the 1200, you just have
more of them in the 1200
>
>>
>> Matt, you are obviously spending a lot of money on the other components o=
>f
>> your system (an X48 mobo and a Q9450 for example), and I think it would b=
>e a
>> great mistake to try to skim and save on the PSU.
>
>I agree. I was hoping it didn't require me to spend =A3100+ though, but
>if I must to get a good case and CPU then I will.
>
>
>Basically, I'm struggling to see the difference between these Antec
>1200, Antec 900 etc. cases you guys are keen on, and a much cheaper
>case (EV Silver Mid Tower Gaming Case with Massive 14cm Front Fan - No
>PSU) for =A315:
>
>http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134797
>
>Clearly I could get a good PSU for around =A340 and be nowhere near
>=A3100. Clearly doing this I would be cutting back somewhere, but where?
>
>Kind Regards,
>
>Matt
>
>> I was going to suggest the Antec 900... I have three mates with them and
>> they are very nice cases, but again they come without a PSU, but are
>> available for about £70. The Antec EarthWatts PSUs are quite good and the
>> 430W is available for around £45.
>
>What is it that makes Antec PSU's good. Should they be the only
>manufacturer I focus on?
I would suggest that you always try to compare multiple manufacturers... I
only suggested Antec as the brand had already been brought up in connection
with the cases.
>I agree. I was hoping it didn't require me to spend £100+ though, but
>if I must to get a good case and CPU then I will.
>
>Basically, I'm struggling to see the difference between these Antec
>1200, Antec 900 etc. cases you guys are keen on, and a much cheaper
>case (EV Silver Mid Tower Gaming Case with Massive 14cm Front Fan - No
>PSU) for £15:
>
>http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134797
>
>Clearly I could get a good PSU for around £40 and be nowhere near
>£100. Clearly doing this I would be cutting back somewhere, but where?
Personally I think that case looks ugly, but I'm not the one who will have
to look at it day after day!
I would comment on the fans though... 140mm is pretty non standard (not
unique but uncommon)... when the bearings start to go (and they will) you
may really struggle to find a replacement. The three 80mm exhaust fans will
be a lot noisier than a pair of decent 120mm fans and not work as well.
IIRC you are putting a chunky quadcore and a chunky graphics card into this
case, so cooling has to be thought through. A case full of 120mm fans is a
good point to start...
In my experience cheap cases tend to be ill thought out (layout wise) and of
poor build quality. There are exceptions to this I am sure, but in general
the rule holds. The one big reason I don't buy cheap cases is that I don't
like having my hands ripped to shreds by the sharp edges you'll find in many
of them.
Rarius
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On Jul 24, 4:08*am, "JR Weiss" <jrweiss98155rem...@remove.comcast.net>
wrote:
> "Matt" <matt...@hotmail.com> wrote...
> > The system I will be building is as follows:
> > CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
> > Motherboard: Gigabyte S775 Intel X48 DDR2 ATX
>
> Which Gigabyte -- DS4, DQ6 or other?
>
> > RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400
>
> Too slow for that CPU! *May become a chokepoint.
Sorry I meant to ask about this earlier. I was under the impression
that RAm speed is independant of the CPU? So a 1333MHz CPU will not be
affected unless the RAM speed is less than 666MHz (1333 / 2).
Obvilusly system performance would be a bit higher with faster RAM,
but I can spend the extra money better elsewhere (such as on the CPU).
Do all cases have variable speed fans dependant on the temperature?
The Antec 300 appears to have a manual switch on the rear and top fan
rather than being under any automatic control. Fiddling with the fans
would get pretty annoying, if they don't need to run at full speed I
would rather the computer did it for me!
Would I need to replace the fitted fans with new ones to get round
this switching problem?
>> Too slow for that CPU! May become a chokepoint.
> Sorry I meant to ask about this earlier. I was under the impression that RAm
> speed is independant of the CPU? So a 1333MHz CPU will not be affected unless
> the RAM speed is less than 666MHz (1333 / 2).
Obvilusly system performance would be a bit higher with faster RAM, but I can
spend the extra money better elsewhere (such as on the CPU).
To the extent that RAM speed is not tightly tied to CPU speed any more, you are
correct. However, to get advertised performance from a SYSTEM, you still need
the FSB operating at the designed speed for the CPU. You should use DDR2 1066
(PC8500) RAM with that CPU. Anything less is false economy, with a $35 or less
price difference between 800 and 1066 MHz RAM.
"Matt" <mattb95@hotmail.com> wrote...
> Do all cases have variable speed fans dependant on the temperature?
No.
> The Antec 300 appears to have a manual switch on the rear and top fan
> rather than being under any automatic control. Fiddling with the fans
> would get pretty annoying, if they don't need to run at full speed I
> would rather the computer did it for me!
How much does your room temp vary? How close to the max (temp as well as
capacity) do you plan on running the system?
If you have a good system, set the fan on low unless the A/C fails in the
summer. If you have a marginal system, set it on high and forget it.
> Would I need to replace the fitted fans with new ones to get round
> this switching problem?
No. You may be able to use a software control such as SpeedFan if the case
supports it.
"Matt" <mattb95@hotmail.com> wrote...
> Also, is the lack of a fan on top of the case on the Coolermaster
> Elite 330 going to be something I would regret?
No.
Good cases are designed for specific purposes. Those with multiple huge fans
are geared to those who overclock the system and run SLI or Crossfire graphics.
Those with quiet, modest fans are geared to the average builder.
On Jul 23, 9:22*pm, Matt <matt...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hey guys.
>
> Basically I'm looking for a new case to go with my new build. Problem
> is I don't really know where to start and what to look for in modern
> cases (the last one I bought was in 2000!). I'll also need a new PSU
> as well.
>
> The system I will be building is as follows:
>
> CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12M Cache S775 1333MHZ
> Motherboard: Gigabyte S775 Intel X48 DDR2 ATX Audio Lan 1600FSB
> 6xSATAII
> RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL5(5-5-5-18) Heat
> Spreader
> Hard drive: 2 x Western Digital Caviar 500GB S300 16mb 7200rpm in RAID
> setup
> Graphics card: PowerColor HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E
> Graphics Card
>
> I've bought cheap PSU's before and having put up with noisy fans and a
> life expectancy of around 12 months it's just not worth the hassle and
> potential damage to the rest of my PC. However, I also don't want to
> spend £100 on a new case and PSU!
>
> I'm not planning to overclock, so excessive levels of cooling will not
> be required. However, I would like a case that is spacious enough to
> work in, has room for the two hard drives comfortabely and could also
> cope with having a second Radeon card attached in the future.
>
> Two 5.25" and two 3.5" bays would be the minimum I would need.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Matt
On Jul 28, 3:04*am, "JR Weiss" <jrweiss98155rem...@remove.comcast.net>
wrote:
> To the extent that RAM speed is not tightly tied to CPU speed any more, you are
> correct. *However, to get advertised performance from a SYSTEM, you still need
> the FSB operating at the designed speed for the CPU. *You should use DDR2 1066
> (PC8500) RAM with that CPU. *Anything less is false economy, with a $35 or less
> price difference between 800 and 1066 MHz RAM.
I thought FSB speed and RAM speed are independant of each other in
current systems? Clearly if I cannot run the Q9450 at 1333MHz x
(whatever the multiplier is) then I will lose out quite heavily on
performance, so an extra $30 (well ~ £20) would be worthwhile.
Re: Which Case and PSU? 
Linear Mode
