Help me replace a reliable old case:

[Saga]

I have an extremely old Fong Kai mid tower case that came with a 350w PSU that has served me well for almost five years. Over time I have continually swapped out components and it is now housing an ASUS A7V880 and 3000+ Barton combo with a 128MB 9800Pro.

In all honesty both the case and PSU still to this day perform extremely well, however the case has been through quite a lot so it is now very scratched up and is starting to give off audible bay vibration noise. The external design of these fong kai cases is also not especially visually appealing.

My goal is to locate an upgrade similar to the fong kai in the fact that it is a very sturdy steel build and comes packaged with a reliable 400-500w PSU to keep up with upgrading demands as 350 is really the bare minimum nowadays. I would also prefer to keep the appearance (specifically the shape) very similar to the MGE Quantum which the new case will be sitting next to.

I'm currently spending my hard work time scanning different resellers in an effort to locate a case of similar quality that will last a few more years, however unfortunately I am budgeted for around $100 for this case and cannot spend as much on a good stand alone case and stand alone PSU as I would prefer to, thus any recommendations that match this criteria would be appreciated. =)

Thanks.

 

[Saga]

At the moment am quite possibly going to settle with the Sonata II - the 450w SmartPower PSU with dual 12v rails seems like a pretty good buy, and it matches the shape and form I'm looking for pretty well. What exactly is the difference between SmartPower and TruePower?

 

[imported_rod]

Antec, they're good and reliable.

Smart Power isn't quite as good as True Power, but they're both antec and their both good enough.

What are the +12V rails rated at (amps) on the bundled PSU?

RoD

 

[Saga]

Antec SmartPower 2.0

 

[imported_bum]

I would suggest pretty much anything Antec, too. 350w is plenty for the system in your sig even if you upgrade the video card or something. But to be safe for the future, the Sonata II looks like a great idea.

 

[Saga]

Thanks, I can't tell if the Antec that comes with the case is a 20 or 24 pin ATX connector, or if it comes with an adapter as the A7V880 is 20 pin.

Anyone know?

 

[Zepper]

If the A7V880 has some clearance off both ends of the ATX connector then it can probably take a 24pin plug without adapter - a few pins will just hang off one end. Which is a good thing. I just read a review of a PSU and the factor supplied adapter cable caused one or more of the 3.3V wires to drop from acceptable to below spec. Avoid power adapters wherever possible. I just looked and there is plenty of clearance off the end of the ATX socket.
. I also recommend Antec either the SLK3000-B case with a PSU from the Clearance sale going on at SVC.com or the new SLK3800-B which is the 3000 w/ an Antec PSU.

.bh.

 

[Operandi]

The recommended Antecs are good, I've used them. But I actually prefer this InWin in terms of quality. The PSU is built by Forton it doesn?t get any more reliable then that.

 

[imported_bum]

Originally posted by: Zepper
If the A7V880 has some clearance off both ends of the ATX connector then it can probably take a 24pin plug without adapter - a few pins will just hang off one end. Which is a good thing. I just read a review of a PSU and the factor supplied adapter cable caused one or more of the 3.3V wires to drop from acceptable to below spec. Avoid power adapters wherever possible. I just looked and there is plenty of clearance off the end of the ATX socket.
. I also recommend Antec either the SLK3000-B case with a PSU from the Clearance sale going on at SVC.com or the new SLK3800-B which is the 3000 w/ an Antec PSU.

.bh.

That's interesting... just 5 minutes ago I was behind my Powerstream PSU wondering why the 3.3v rail was putting out such low voltages. To get it up to 3.3v the led indicator goes red, telling me the voltages are high. Sure enough I'm using one of those power adapters. After eating this waffle I'll see if hanging it off the side helps out.

 

[AntecCSR]

Originally posted by: Izusaga
Thanks, I can't tell if the Antec that comes with the case is a 20 or 24 pin ATX connector, or if it comes with an adapter as the A7V880 is 20 pin.

Anyone know?

24-pin connector with detachable 4-pin section to be easily used with 20-pin motherboards.

AntecCSR

 

[Zepper]

As the A7V880 does NOT use a P4-12V connector to power the CPU so a split rail PSU is a total waste. Single rail is the way to go for that mobo. Get the 3000B (has been less than $50. shipped from Provantage or Amazon) and the Thermaltake black Xaser series Purepower 480W aPFC PSU in the SVC clearance for around $53. (same one is $69. right now at Newegg). The Tt PSU is much more suited to the Asus mobo as it needs a sturdy +5V rail rather than +12V plus it has active PFC and 20-pin ATX (most split rail have 24-pin). Don't bother with the 3800-B as that PSU has a split rail too.

.bh.

 

[Saga]

Actually, I had a 500w Enermax powering the ASUS board before and it simply hated the power boost on cold starts. I would always get the infamous "AI Overclock Error" when the bios were still factory if booting from a cold start. I believe it was ASUS technical support that suggested I use a PSU with a lower 12v rating (the Enermax was 26a - it's labeled Rosewill but I think it's a rebranded Enermax). If I'm reading correctly the 12's on this Antec PSU are 15a/18a, correct? If so regardless of the fact that it is dual it will suit my current purposes just fine.

 

[Zepper]

Yes, but what are the amps on the +5 - that's what the Asus needs - the +12 is largely irrelevant for that mobo as long as it isn't too high (apparently). FYI: None of the Rosewills are Enermax, they are mostly ATNG/Coolmax. As I said, the ThermalTake PSU is better for that mobo.

..bh.

 

[Saga]

Rosewill RP500 <- Hopefully this is helpful. (Don't ask, I got it free and so far it's been a pretty badass unit) This PSU has performed outstanding so far, would it be better if I simply purchased the Sonata II and took the 450w Antec from the Sonata and swapped it with the 5P500 Rosewil in the MGE Quantum housing a NF7-S V2? The only problem is that the ASUS board does not like the RP500 but the ABIT board loves it.

Don't know, based on what you've said I really might have to get another case and get the case/psu individually - I was trying to avoid this and honestly do love the way the Sonata II looks visually, it matches the MGE Quantum quite nicely while still making it obvious the Quantum is top dog.

 

[Zepper]

Yup, I looked up the UL file on that Rosewill and it is ATNG (aka Coolmax) - but it does have very nice +5 and +12 rails - just need to put a few more hard drives in there to soak up some of that excess +12 on startup... . Or you could just use some dummy load resistors.

.bh.

 

[Saga]

We may be getting slightly off the original topic here, but since there isn't a spot specifically for PSU's I suppose this is as good a spot as any. I appreciate the input so far, especially from Zepper.

Do you agree with my opinion that the fat 12v on the Rosewill is whats causing the ASUS overclock to fire up on each startup? If so will using load resistors actually possibly resolve that? That problem is something I have been looking to fix for two months and that is the primary reason I got fed up and just purchased the NF7-S.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Izusaga
Rosewill RP500 <- Hopefully this is helpful. (Don't ask, I got it free and so far it's been a pretty badass unit) This PSU has performed outstanding so far, would it be better if I simply purchased the Sonata II and took the 450w Antec from the Sonata and swapped it with the 5P500 Rosewil in the MGE Quantum housing a NF7-S V2? The only problem is that the ASUS board does not like the RP500 but the ABIT board loves it.

Don't know, based on what you've said I really might have to get another case and get the case/psu individually - I was trying to avoid this and honestly do love the way the Sonata II looks visually, it matches the MGE Quantum quite nicely while still making it obvious the Quantum is top dog.

Did you look at the PSU in the InWin? It's should suit your needs and it's built by Forton, here is it's spec sheet.

 

[Saga]

Thats the S523T.I430BFU2D, correct? With a 430w Forton in it and a very nice steel build for only $77 that seems a little more economical. I actually sort of prefer this over the front panel of the Sonata II. Good suggestion, and I appreciate it. Anyone find anything similar?

Also, is that Forton 20 or 24 pin?

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Izusaga
Thats the S523T.I430BFU2D, correct? With a 430w Forton in it and a very nice steel build for only $77 that seems a little more economical. I actually sort of prefer this over the front panel of the Sonata II. Good suggestion, and I appreciate it. Anyone find anything similar?

Here is a link to the case, must have missed it my first post.

I've used both the InWin and Sonata, the Sonata has some nice features but I think the InWin is built a bit better.

 

[Saga]

Is the ATX Connector 20 or 24 pin?

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Izusaga
Is the ATX Connector 20 or 24 pin?

I haven't used that exact PSU so I'm not sure. It's ATX 1.3, I think that means 20 pin. If I'm wrong I'm sure Zepper or somebody else will have the right answer.

 

[Zepper]

If it's ATX 1.3, it should be 20-pin. ATX 2.x started including 24-pin. But I'd still pay the extra to go with the Antec 3000-B: 120mm fan mounts F/R, 5xHD mounts with vibe dampers (if you don't have that many HDs, you can space the ones you have out nicely for good airflow). You don't need to get the TT Purepower, that was just a suggesion - any good old-style PSU of 450W or so should do. But that TT is the best I've seen for $53.+shipping in a while.

.bh.

 

[Saga]

The 3000-B isn't too bad, really. It's basically everything I would need casewise minus the PSU. Is the face door plastic or steel? Looks plastic.

If I did go with the 3000-B, what brands should I be looking for primarily for a 430w-450w-ish PSU with a single rail to suit the ASUS A7V880?

 

[Zepper]

At svc on clearance they also have the ThermalTake 420 for ~$44 ($47 shipped at newegg). or the Vantec 400 for $45.
Good brands are: Seasonic, Enermax, Fortron/Sparkle and rebadges, Seasonic, Sirtec (makes ThermalTake, Enlight, HighPower, etc.), Silverstone (made by Enhance), XClio (made by Channel Well), Antec (also made by CW), TTGI/Superflower, ATNG/aka Coolmax/Rosewill, Athena Power, and I've heard some good things about the CoolerMaster PSUs made by Real Power.

.bh.

 

[Saga]

I'm assuming the door on the Sonata II is steel because it has the lock on it, but the door on the 3000-B looks rather flimsy, like plastic. What is it?