How to choose a Case?

[vikdabrat]

Hello All,

Sorry to bring up that same old question again however I am a complete novice at building PC's even though I have been a power user for years. I am looking to build my PC cause I am sick of spending money on brand names that don't offer quite the performance I am expecting.

So as a first step in building my PC and the first component that I need would be the case and I am at a loss as I don't know much about the technicalities of a case and how to choose one. These are my requirements

1. Cooling - Extremely High priority

I believe most of current PC's suffer since I cannot provide cooling in the small area that they are based so would need internal cooling

2. Silent - Extremely high priority

Looking for something that is very silent

3. Budget - working on a very low budget approx $100 but the lower the better.

4. Compact - Preferably extremely compact.

5. Need to have a case that can support hot swappable HDD. I am looking to get this into a desktop. Is that even possible? I like the idea of being able to remove the HDD without opening the entire case as I have had to do this numerous times and am sick of it. I don't know the technical term for this kind of HDD enclosure or how to look for it in a case? Can someone please provide this info as well. If it was up to me I would even want to have the memory in a similar fashion since I do end up upgrading memory very option however I don't think that is possible.

6. I don't know if this is even a consideration when choosing a case however I want a desktop that I can put 2 * Quad Core 2 Processors. I don't think this would have any effect on the case would it? Maybe cooling wise but as far as the case holding the motherboard I don't think so since the motherboards are all pretty much capable of fitting into the case. Am I right?

Like I mentioned that this would be my first time building a PC from scratch. I am very clumsy and inept at chores. I have replaced memory and hdd and other components a lot however I cannot (well do not know how to is more appropriate) sodder or cut cases to open them up etc. I would prefer a case that comes with its own power supply so I don't have to research it cause I don't know much about power and cooling either. I have seen that cases come with 3 fans which I am guessing is the most out there. please correct me if I am wrong. I would need a lot of cooling since most of PC's suffer from heat. I am mainly looking for a high performance PC to run very high performance memory hungry applications. I am going to be running the 32-bit version of Windows XP on this most probably. Not looking for a great graphics card though I would want to have the option of getting a dual graphics card. Not looking to put a great sound card or a raid array of any kind. Raid would be nice however it would drive my budget for the entire pc way to high. Might do this for the server I plan on building if everything goes ok with the desktop. Mostly looking to do virtualization but I might skip it for the desktop for now.

The total amount I would like to keep my PC to is around $700. I am not sure if that is realistic since I am looking to build with 2 CPUs. Any suggstions on the overall build would also be appreciated since I don't know much about the techincal aspects of the components however will be doing my research a little by little.

Thanks for your help.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I would prob go with this one. People put them on their desks, its not ultra compact but you get better tradeoffs with a bigger size its alot easier to work with. swapping HD's on that case is a breeze.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119137


Here is a post going on about the case with alot of pictures. If you have a store that carries them near you like a Micro Center you can go look at it to see about the size, its not as big as the stacker I use, its a midsize case IMHO.



http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1234744

 

[DSF]

I don't know that $700 is realistic for what you're trying to do. 2 quad-core CPUs eats up more than two thirds of your budget right off the bat.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

For silence, cooling, and space, I think the P180/182 fits your bill. $115 at newegg. Not very hot-swappable though. You would want a case with side-loading hard drives.

The CM 690 looks good.

The Rosewill 56XX series is also pretty nice.

 

[Rike]

Dual socket quad capable system for less than $700? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that's not possible. You'd be doing very well to get both CPUs and a motherboard capable of running them both for $700. Besides, what to you do that could possibly use 8 cores and you have a $700 budget? That seems like a non sequitur to me.

That CoolerMaster case looks nice enough. It has a nice look to it.

 

[Angerisagift]

I work in the IT industry and I just completed the build in my sig, which only has a single quad core processor and 2 of the hard drives were frankensteined from the previous build,

so lets break it down and see if this is doable.

CPU
the q6600 which is intel's starter quad is going to run around $300 just for a single processor

*most software is not yet written to utilize multiple cores, games are just starting to use multithread support, and most of what's out there still only uses 2 threads in some cases just 1, by getting a quad core you're more or less just future proofing at the moment, the only real world advantage right now is that idle tasks can be offloaded to the additional cores while your primary use application still has it's own dedicated core/cores, and as far as I know dual socket LGA775 motherboard don't exist, since the multicore trend shifted from 2 seperate processors on the same motherboard, down to 1 processor with multiple cores on the same die.

you might want to check out the Core 2 DUO e6750 for about $100 less.

and I'll go out on a limb as well and say that I'm pretty sure, there isn't any software currently in existence, at least in the commerical sector that can utilize 8 cores.
MEMORY
2gb of PC2 6400 DDR2, which is generally a standard for memory anymore, is going to run at least $50

VIDEO
you could probably save a bit of money on the graphics card, if you want a taste of high end I recommend the 8800GT for around $250

otherwise you could probably get an 8600GT for about $100 less, which is "adequate" to say the least.
MOTHERBOARD
lga775 motherboard, with support for core 2 quad, at least $50 (this is on the low end, you'd pay around $100 for a decent board)
HOT SWAPPABLE OPTICAL DRIVES
as far as the hot swappable hard drives, I belive what you're referring to is a drive cradle, they tend to be more popular in the private sector for servers for ease of maintenance, but seem to be somewhat rare commercially, this is the closest thing I could find to what you are asking

http://www.addonics.com/produc...ombo_hdd/aechdsa35.asp

keep in mind, this is going to take up additional space inside the case, that a fixed hard drive wouldn't, not terribly expensive about $60
POWER SUPPLY
you'll also need a decent power supply, for single video card, you could get away with as low as an Antec Earthwatts 380w for around 50$

if you plan on going SLI down the road and using multiple video cards, you're going to need to spend a bit more, the corsair 520HX listed in my sig has over 40amps combined on the 12v rails and will run 2 video cards and has the 2x 6pin PCI-E connectors, provided your system isn't already overloaded with other devices, and the video cards aren't power hogs.

roughly $120

*AS A PIECE OF ADVICE, DON"T CHEAP OUT ON THE POWER SUPPLY, IF YOU SEE A 500W PSU for $20-40 chances are it doesn't actually perform at 500w and may have amperage issues.

(the corsair HX and VX line is also rated as being very silent)
CASE
Compact: good luck with that: unfortunately some of your other requests negate that ability, you could get yourself an HTPC case, or one of the shuttle mini ATX cases, but all of those cases are only going to accomodate MicroATX motherboards, which only accomodate 1x PCI-E x16 slot, which negates the ability of SLI, because you would need a standard ATX motherboard which you'll need at least a mid-tower to accomodate, if you wan't to have the option for SLI

I haven't even factored in a case and you're already looking at $660 on the low end.

the CM stacker 690 goes for $80 on new egg which brings you up to $740 minus shipping and tax

however if you're going to go SLI, you'll need to factor in about another $150ish dollars to account for an SLI capable motherboard, and SLI capable power supply.
TOTAL
total build cost would be around $900 plus shipping and tax

and you'll still need to get a hard drive and probably a DVD/R drive, so closer to $1000, which isn't a bad build, considering you'd pay 2 to 3 times that if you bought the PC already assembled from one of the custom PC shops.

as a previous poster said, what you're asking for just isn't feasible, especially for your budget, that computer just doesn't exist, if you find one though, let me know. though if you feel you're a novice, you're definitely in the right place, a lot of good advice around this forum, just cruise the different forums and you'll learn a lot in a short amount of time

good luck with the build, I probably spent about $1000 after all was said and done on the build in my sig.

 

[Zepper]

The Cooler Master RC-690 is surprisingly quiet for as porous as it is. And the Rosewill R5600 series is a high value case too. See my review here: http://www.techIMO.com/reviews/ under Cases/YeongYang (Rosewill's OEM on the 5600s).

.bh.

 

[Zepper]

I have a five point Casitude (tm) scale that I judge cases on - anything beyond that should be added features on top of these:
1- 120mm fans f/r (or at least 92f/120r) with relatively unobstructed grills for efficient airflow.
2- Rubber shock absorbers for the HDDs and I like them in the front-to-rear orientation for better cooling but sidesaddle can be OK if thought was given to cooling.
3- Some modern ease of use features e.g toolless that works and thought given to ease of build out.
4- Indirect ventilation at the front to help keep noise down.
5- Doesn't look like a steaming pile.

There ya go.

 

[NaeKuh]

Another thing that may be worth considering is using products like dynamat to insulate the case then you can really control where any noise that is created be at least directed away from you.

http://www.dynamat.com/product...more_introduction.html

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: vikdabrat

6. I don't know if this is even a consideration when choosing a case however I want a desktop that I can put 2 * Quad Core 2 Processors. I don't think this would have any effect on the case would it? Maybe cooling wise but as far as the case holding the motherboard I don't think so since the motherboards are all pretty much capable of fitting into the case. Am I right?

The total amount I would like to keep my PC to is around $700.
Thanks for your help.

There is. But it doesnt take LGA775. The 2 x QX9775 can fit on skulltrail execpt heres the price on it.

Skulltrail 600-800 Dollars.
QX9775 1500 EACH. or you can go with E5440 ~ 500 dollars each. These are yorkies.


So yeah your budget.. no... possible... yes..



Now if your talking about putting 2 systems in 1 case, the Mountain Mods Dualy can do it. Has 2 mobo trays which have inverted, and fits them side by side. Only problem is the case alone is 2/3rd your budget after options are included.

So no, you want nicer stuff, you need to pay for it. :T


OP 2 CPU's... you mean dual core? or 2 physical CPU's? If CPU's is what your looking at. Can we say Celeron? Almost impossible to get 2 C2D systems up with 700. You would need to hope you have a lot of recyclable hardware to pull this off.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: NaeKuh
Another thing that may be worth considering is using products like dynamat to insulate the case then you can really control where any noise that is created be at least directed away from you.

http://www.dynamat.com/product...more_introduction.html

Sorry for the double post...

But why are you coping my XS name now? Do you even know what NaeKuh means? What language its in? And to spark even more curiosity, Why did you SPELL it EXACTLY how i spell it with caps on N and K?

If your aigomoria, i think your being real childish, and the mods can trace IP.


To anyone wondering THAT IS NOT NAEKUH (ME) on XS. *sigh* i got another stalker.


Edit: Hi Aigomoria. We know who you are now, gotta love IP traces.

 

[Team42]

Do you really need a quad core cpu? If the applications you intend to run are memory hungry, you might be better off with a C2D, Windows XP 64 edition an 4 Gb of RAM. What's the PC for?

 

[Zepper]

And welcome to the AT forums since I forgot to earlier.

Yup, a dualie mobo will surely bust the budget...

.bh.