Good PC computer case (tower)

[Chrispy]

Hey all. I'm helping a friend of mine build an Athlon X64 dual core system. I have a few questions... and I know this is a Mac site but I also know that mac users have the best taste What is a good, solid and clean looking computer case to use for this type of system. Also, is DDR2 only Intel or are their motherboards for X64 dual cores that use DDR2 as well? It has been awhile since I have done this so I need a little macrumors help haha. I trust everyone's taste here so let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[CanadaRAM]

Antec Sonata or Sonata II, absolutely. It's incredible how much difference a case designed for low noise operation makes.

Head over to the PC review sites like
http://www.anandtech.com
http://www.hardocp.com
http://www.tomshardware.com
and the magazines websites for reviews of motherboards.

 

[robbieduncan]

I personally like the plainer Lian-Li cases.

The motherboard has no effect on the type of memory and Athlon64 uses. These chips have onboard memory controllers so the type of RAM is tied to the CPU (this is one of the reasons the whip Intels chips so badly). AMD are probably going to go DDR2 mid next year. Don't worry about it though: they are plenty fast enough on DDR.

Edit to add: These are good cases

 

[Chrispy]

Thanks for the quick posts I never realized just how much faster the Athlon X2 is than the Pentium D Now I'm tempted to build myself one of these systems after my financial situation calms down a bit haha.

 

[Laser47]

You should check out the Thermaltake Tsunami

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

The Lian-Li's are usually the most expensive, but you get what you pay for. They really are something...

 

[Chrispy]

The Lian-Li's are usually the most expensive, but you get what you pay for. They really are something...

The Lian Li cases have been mentioned twice here so that makes me think they are something to seriously consider. Is there a particular model of the Lian Li case that is viewed as the best for the purpose of a home content creation and gaming machine? Thanks again all. All this computer building talk is really taking me back to the days of the PII and PIII haha.

 

[doucy2]

put it in a apple powermac case lol

surf ebay for one of those huge colored cases they are nice

 

[Chrispy]

Well here is a rough rundown of what I came up with.

Motherboard
Asus A8N-SLI ATX Motherboard - Retail $122.00

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Dual Core - Retail $322.00

Memory
Patriot Signature Series 1GB (2x512) DDR - Retail $76.95

Case
Lian Li PC-7 B Plus Black Aluminum ATX Case - Retail $89.00

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600SD 160GB SATA-150 -OEM $95.00

Graphics Card
XFX PVT43PUDS7 GeForce 6600 256MB PCI Express - Retail $117.00

Optical Drive
LITE-ON Black IDE DVD Burner Model SOHW-1693S Black - Retail $39.88

Floppy Drive
MITSUMI Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive - OEM $8.99

Power Supply
RAIDMAX RX-450KW 450W Power Supply 100-120 - Retail 39.99

TOTAL PRICE $910.81

Not a bad price at all and would be quite the project. It is really tempting for me to do the same thing but after watching my roommate spend 20 mins today trying to get online it made me remember why I use macs haha. I kid you not he was trying to get onto "clean access" (if you read some of my posts from a few months ago you will know what I'm talking about haha) and his Norton would not update... then it said something about needing to be the admin (which he is) and then finally he got frustrated and gave up haha. Sigh.... windows why are you such a pain sometimes. I know if I tried to make the permanent switch back to windows I would just end up frustrated after a few months haha.

 

[Xephian]

I think it'll be best if you just picked your own, but I like the look of Thermaltake's cases.

 

[~Shard~]

Another vote for Antec cases - they're sweet. But, as with everything, it always comes down to personal preference.

Oh, and I'd bump up your RAM in that machine as well...

I assume everything else you need is on the mobo (network, audio, etc.)?

What about a monitor?

 

[plinkoman]

ummm, why you putting a floppy drive in it?

does anyone actually still use those?

 

[~Shard~]

ummm, why you putting a floppy drive in it?

does anyone actually still use those?

What's a floppy drive?

Yeah, I wouldn't put one in if I was you - I haven't needed one in literally years.

 

[Zachariah]

Antec SLK3700-BQE

The 90 degree HDD mounts are so convenient, and it is nice and quiet, plus the power supply is nice, etc etc

 

[iEdd]

I'd say.. Scrap the floppy drive and go for a seagate barracuda HDD instead of a Western digital, Seagate are more reputable for quality
My 2c

 

[~Shard~]

I'd say.. Scrap the floppy drive and go for a seagate barracuda HDD instead of a Western digital, Seagate are more reputable for quality
My 2c

I've always liked WDs, but do indeed like Seagate better myself. And as you say, they are known for better quality, as well as 5-year warranties in most cases.

That being said, an excellent WD to consider from the looks of it would be this one - I have heard that they perform better than some SCSI drives, in some cases.

Buffer Size: 8 MB
Drive Transfer Rate: 150 MBps (external) / 102 MBps (internal)
Seek Time: 0.6 ms
Average Latency : 3 ms
Spindle Speed: 10000 rpm
MTBF: 1,200,000 hour(s)
Start / Stop Cycles 20,000

 

[Chrispy]

I'd say.. Scrap the floppy drive and go for a seagate barracuda HDD instead of a Western digital, Seagate are more reputable for quality
My 2c

Thanks for the tip. The only reason I have the floppy on there is when I was installing XP Media Center 2005 for someone in the past it needed a floppy drive for SATA drivers. I'm afraid I will run into that again so for $8 its best to play it safe haha... oh how I love the simplicity of macs

 

[~Shard~]

Thanks for the tip. The only reason I have the floppy on there is when I was installing XP Media Center 2005 for someone in the past it needed a floppy drive for SATA drivers. I'm afraid I will run into that again so for $8 its best to play it safe haha... oh how I love the simplicity of macs

True, it's cheap, but I've never heard of anything requiring drivers exclusively on a floppy - there should be some alternate method you can use, whether it's a CD, DVD, or physical location on your HD. As you say though, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things... I still say turf it though....

 

[Chrispy]

Another vote for Antec cases - they're sweet. But, as with everything, it always comes down to personal preference.

Oh, and I'd bump up your RAM in that machine as well...

I assume everything else you need is on the mobo (network, audio, etc.)?

What about a monitor?

Hm the Antec and Lian Li cases seem to be tied up for first haha. Yeah the networking and audio (and even video should I use it) are all on the mobo. I don't know what my friend would use for a monitor but I'm considering building one of these for myself and using a 2005FPW. I know it's windows but the price/performance ratio is amazing here!

 

[Macky-Mac]

What's a floppy drive?

Yeah, I wouldn't put one in if I was you - I haven't needed one in literally years.

the last time I used a floppy drive was to copy data off some floppy disks so I could toss them

I stopped using floppies when Zip drives came on the market......ah! Zip disks! great in their time, but I wonder how many people use them anymore?

 

[ITASOR]

the last time I used a floppy drive was to copy data off some floppy disks so I could toss them

I stopped using floppies when Zip drives came on the market......ah! Zip disks! great in their time, but I wonder how many people use them anymore?

I still use Superdisks for a quick backup here and there! At 120MB each, they're not bad!

 

[~Shard~]

the last time I used a floppy drive was to copy data off some floppy disks so I could toss them

I stopped using floppies when Zip drives came on the market......ah! Zip disks! great in their time, but I wonder how many people use them anymore?

Ah yes, ZIP disks - I still have a brand new one kicking around, I think I'll hold onto it in case it's worth something as an antique someday. And don't forget JAZ and CLIK disks as well.

 

[ReanimationLP]

I'm a fan of the Chieftec Dragon case myself.

Lots of room and plenty of air.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Yeah the networking and audio (and even video should I use it) are all on the mobo.

Be very careful that the mobo you order has what you think it has on it. Every motherboard seems to come in three or four different versions, distinguished by only one letter in the part number - or by some meaningless distinction between "Deluxe" "Pro" and "Premium". I chose a mobo based on the reviews, ordered it by name, and inadvertently got the "E" version that DIDN'T have Firewire or the extra USB header on it, even though the pads are all there, they left it off this version to save $10. *#$*&#$.

Make sure you get in writing what comes on it.

 

[~Shard~]

Be very careful that the mobo you order has what you think it has on it. Every motherboard seems to come in three or four different versions, distinguished by only one letter in the part number - or by some meaningless distinction between "Deluxe" "Pro" and "Premium". I chose a mobo based on the reviews, ordered it by name, and inadvertently got the "E" version that DIDN'T have Firewire or the extra USB header on it, even though the pads are all there, they left it off this version to save $10. *#$*&#$.

Make sure you get in writing what comes on it.

Sound words of advice. As you say, there are so many variations and so forth when it comes to mobos, you should definitely make sure that what you want is what you order is what you get - and have it all in writing.