GameBanshee Forums

Hi All,

I have a case question for all you hardware experts. I want to build a new system and I picked the following components at newegg.com:

Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon/XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail
Socket A AMD Athlon/XP/Duron (support AMD XP3000 "Barton")
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 SPP, nForce2 MCP-T
FSB: 400/333/266MHz
IDE: 2 x ATA133
RAM: 3x 184-pin DIMM Sockets (PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 non-ECC DDR)
Slots: 1x AGP (Pro/8X), 5x PCI
Ports: 6x USB2.0
Onboard Silicon Image Sil 3112A Controller w/ 2 ports
NVIDIA SoundStorm Audio Processor Unit with Dolby
MCP integrated 3Com MAC + Broadcom AC101L PHY LAN
Firewire 1394: 2 Ports MCP-T integrated IEEE 1394a + Realtek PHY 8801B

AMD ATHLON XP 2700 /333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL
Specifications:
CPU: 2.17 GHz
Type: XP 2700
Cache: 256K
Core: Thoroughbred
BUS: 333MHz
Socket: A Retail (Box with Heatsink and Fan

CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series CMX256A-2700C2 C2 256MB PC2700 DDR RAM Single-size FASTER 333MHz - OEM
CMX256A-2700C2. DDR, PC2700 32x64, Non-ECC, 184-Pin, CAS2 -Unbuffered Requires DDR

WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 80 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB

I have all the other parts that I will take from my old comp (CD,Floppy, mouse, keyboard etc.)

My question is what case would be good for this set-up. I am not sure what powersupply I am gonna need. Also any other comments or suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks Slacker

Most new PCs normally use 300 Watt power supply or 350 Watt one.

On the HDD, are you sure it's ATA 100 ? most 7200rpm ones usually ATA133. Be sure to have cooling fan for this HDD

You should probably go with a mid-tower ATX case with a 300-350W power supply. How much other stuff that draws a lot of power are you going to be putting in the box? Probably an ODD (maybe two), a FDD, a video card and a sound card. Everything else (ie-cooling fans, NIC, etc.) really don't draw that much power.

Many people think that because they're getting a Pentium 4 or Athlon XP+ CPU, they need a 400W (or more) power supply when in fact they don't. In most instances, unless you're running a RAID with a lot of HDDs, a 300-350W power supply will be more than adequate. I have one HDD, two ODDs, two FDDs, five cooling fans, a motherboard, CPU, a sound card, a video card and a NIC in my box and have never had any power issues with my 350W power supply.

Check with the retailer to make sure that the HDD you're buying comes with a three year warranty instead of only one year. Also, I'm not much into HDD coolers (I think they're a waste of money) but devote some time and energy into thinking how to manage airflow in and around your case to get an optimal amount of cooling for your computer.

When it comes to power supplies, I don't fool around. I always use high-quality parts. Why? Because one nightmare of a computer had it's power supply burn out on me three times. It wasn't the system itself, since every piece of it besides the floppy drive had been upgraded at one time or another, but it's certainly infuriating losing money on the same thing 3 times.

Case is basically 1)How much money you're willing to spend 2)How you want it to look and 3)check the reviews. Mine's great and all, except for the fact that the faceplate is nearly impossible to take off. The best thing to do is just pick an choose from a good company. Tom's Hardware has some nice case reviews.

I see you're going for the good memory, as the two companies I'd recommend are Corsair and Mushkin.

Oh yeah, http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/index.html
has a review of Power Supplies

A couple of months ago I bought a new Chieftec AX-01SLD and can strongly recommend them. It's also the same chassis that the Thermaltake Xaser series is based on. If you're looking for a good solid case with outstanding airflow and heat dispersion then this one is definitely worth a look.

As for power supplies I try to stick with the higher quality brands, and am currently running an Enermax 431W and it more than does the job. As HLD said, you really don't need anything over 350W unless you're running a huge amount of hardware in the one machine.

by HLD
Check with the retailer to make sure that the HDD you're buying comes with a three year warranty instead of only one year.

Quite often HDD's are only sold with a one year warranty, but you can usually get an extended warranty to either three or five years for only a few more dollars. Maxtor and IBM are two brands I know of that offer this extended support service.