Re: Just Another Computer Build

**Acreo Aeneas** · 12-05-2008, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Blegh... Gateway? Are you serious? They use weird proprietary cases that could prevent you from performing any but the simplest of upgrades. I HIGHLY advise against this.

The same could be said of some of Dell's cases.

What he could do once he has the Gateway is replace the case altogether with something a bit more mainstream and standard (and take the Vista CoA sticker to).

**Zippy-2-War** · 12-05-2008, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by DrBeat

I'm heading out to Micro Center this weekend to checkout cases in person.

While you're there, you may want to check out the Chakra ATX Mid-Tower Case Black/Blue - http://microcenter.com/single_produc...uct_id=0281504

Here are some pics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...omputer%20Case

I bought this for my cousin for his build (which I did most of the actual building). What's really nice about it are the fans: (3) Fan Bays (Front 120mm Fan Bay, Rear 120mm Fan Bay, Side 250mm Fan Bay). The side 250mm fan blows A LOT of air right at the Video cards (he has 2 ) and the CPU. You can even switch the fan direction to either blow air in or blow the air out - neat feature that you can test with to see which work better with your system. His system runs very cool. Other nice features are the top mounted audio/mic, usb (2) esata ports and power button. No bending over to turn it on, plug in a headset or usb wire. A motherboard tray so you can mount most everything first, then simply attach the tray to the case. It's easy to work with when building - for a Mid size case. Plus with the rebate it's only $29.99

If you want a full (tower) size case, which makes it easier if you have larger/longer video cards, Microcenter has a few good ones as well that are similar to the Enermax with large side fans, just see there website and then look up each model on Newegg for more pics and info. The good thing about buying a case locally is the no shipping cost, which for cases can be a lot - unless of course cost is not a factor

. 1 120mm fan or smaller on the side cannot compare to the larger 250mm fans for moving air volume and cooling. Unless you go all liquid cooling... But that's another story.

-Good luck and have fun.

**Hambergler** · 12-08-2008, 05:42 AM

If your area has a poor power grid like mine and suffers from frequent brown outs and drop outs you may want to think about a UPS to protect your investment.

I like your build a lot, over the years I realized I like very quiet comps. So I focus on that when building. I use zalman heatsinks for processors and graphics cards (some graphics cards come with them pre installed), cases with grommets for fans and hard drives. And I use thick shelving material from home depot to line inside of the case to dampen sound and reduce vibration. Here is a very helpful site if your interested.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/

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