Upgrading and old PC or building a new one, need help.

[DarkRiegn]

i understand about cutting the case

[Draco856]

Dispite finding the drive online, I'm still a little wary of it.

 

This is the exact specs of my drive:

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5328187&CatId=2459

 

Now it says Serial ATA, which is SATA, but I'm not sure. Hopefully I don't burn myself.

[Draco856]

Well, all thats left is power supply, I'm thinking like 600 would be a good one to be on the safe side, but I don't know what would be best. I know anything more then 650 is a bit overkill on a budget.

[Draco856]

The motherboard is 24-pin, so I should be looking at one that has that type of connector. Should I also look at either ATX or ATX 12V PSUs?

[Nysba]

Pretty sure every modern PSU has a 24-pin, either by having a removable 4 pins so it's either 20 or 24, or just having a normal 24. I wouldn't worry about that.

Don't know anything about ATX/ATX 12V

[Draco856]

Well, that just seems to be the type of power supply...ATX PSUs are seem to be getting phased out, with ATX 12V getting phased in. Problem with PSUs is that you have to have enough connectors for all components, and I don't really know how many I need.

[Draco856]

Just to recap what I've got so far:

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131402 - ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103727 - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

 

http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.620408 - ASUS EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231424 - G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811146068 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case

 

-----

 

Remaining: Power Supply with enough connectors for all components, as well as a few extra for any future expansion.

 

I have about $75 left for this PSU, so is there a good one within this budget? I'm looking on NewEgg, but I can't tell a good PSU from a bad one.

[evilneko]

You need one "large" 4 pin molex for each drive, a "small" 4 pin for a floppy or similar-sized device if you plan to include one (you probably don't), one "large" for the video card.

 

Unless you're going to be stacking up a bunch of drives, any PSU will have more than enough connectors -- leaving plenty free for case fans, which leads into my next point...

 

If you're worried about cooling, either bite the bullet and go liquid, or make sure your case offers plenty of places to put fans. (though bear in mind, in some cases (pun not intended) fewer larger fans will perform better than more smaller ones) And about your cat... get yourself some filters for those fans, clean or replace regularly.

 

The case you linked doesn't seem to have a place to mount a fan in front, but it may just be hidden by the cosmetic panel. Personally I don't like that, I'd prefer to have a fan in front (for intake). Their idea seems to be side intake, rear and top exhaust.

 

I'm a little ambivalent about top exhaust. It may lead to some discomfort, if you have the computer under your desk/table. Not to mention the fact that if it's under your desk, then you're heating up an area that typically has poor circulation and you'll end up sucking hot air back in. My computer's on top of my table, and I sure wish my case had top exhaust. Instead it exhausts out the back, blasting right against the wall where unfortunately it can easily swirl right back into the side intake. I put a fan pointing upwards right behind the computer to hopefully prevent that from happening. ;) (I've also often toyed with the idea of cutting a hole in the wall and rigging some ducting to direct the heat into wallspace. I don't think I'll actually do that though. :teehee:)

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, if you do go liquid, you'll need somewhere to put that radiator. Preferably with good air circulation and away from you...and the cat. :tongue:

[Draco856]

Well, if the case isn't a good choice, I'll need a different one. The computer sits under the desk, and I often have my leg right on top of it. I also put my USB Hard Drive on top, so an outtake on the top will never work, I'd probably burn my drive. So a comprable case with a compatible power supply needs to be found. The easiest way to go about this is to just get a case with a PSU included, or I may just be ignorant in that part.

 

The computer sits on my left side, right up aganist the desk, the current case I think uses side exhaust, but I'm not sure. I can't go liquid because I can't afford it, the fans will have to be the way to go, so if I get a case like a Cooler Master, I'd get a lot of fans, but not knowning how good CM cases I'd make a mistake and probably get the wrong one.

 

At the moment, I only have the one internal HDD, and the DVD/CD RW device so I'll only need connectors for those plus the other components. In time I'll probably add another internal drive, but not in the near future.

 

 

Edit:

 

Well, I found a PSU with 3 fans that won't break the bank as long as I send in the rebates.

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817148019

 

I'm hoping it's a good one. If it is, all that's left would be to find a better case with front intake and rear exhaust so I don't wind up burning my leg or frying my USB drive.

 

Edit 2:

 

It seems it has a habit of dying, so I'll avoid this one. Maybe there's another out there, but this is the only company I found that had 3 fans.

[evilneko]

Ah, well sounds like top exhaust is definitely not for you then. In the old days you didn't have to think about such things, but with modern computers you really gotta take environment into account.

 

With it sitting on the left, unless you face the computer backwards the side fan will be pretty much useless. Most times, side fans are used for intake (though I have one computer where the side fan is an exhaust, because it's actually laying on its side, so the side fan is on top), so if you can scoot it even an inch or two away from the desk that'd help. Practically all cases have side fan mounts. You could just leave that side fan mount empty though, and look for cases which offer more fan mounts in the front and rear.

 

If that doesn't work out you may want to just consider moving the computer, either to the other side or up onto the desk surface. Moving it up would help a lot with the cat hair problem, probably wouldn't need filters even.

 

Don't worry about whether it's a "good" case because "good" is subjective. The case you picked out is not a "good" case for you, but it's a damn sight better than the one I house my system in (granted, my case is pretty old, way older than the actual computer it houses) and I'd probably love it if I had it. It'd be a "good" case for me. Just look for something that suits your needs.

 

As for the PSU, my Antec has I think only one fan. Judging by the airflow out the back, it does a pretty good job with just the one. You may want to wait and see if you want a fancy multi-fan PSU after you pick your case. If the PSU's in the bottom as in the first case you picked out, the extra fans aren't gonna do much good.