Building a Computer

It seems I make one of these threads a month, but I really think I need a better computer. It's sad when I can only play Medieval II on the lowest settings without monstrous lag.

I still want that Springfield 1911 pistol I mentioned in my other thread, but I'm just starting to feel that a computer would be more beneficial. If I make the computer a longer term project, I may be able to get both.

Case price is usually jacked up for gimmicks like extra ports, digital displays, and fancy lights. If you are thinking of overclocking you may want to get a more expensive case but imo with out overclocking, interior case temp is pretty easy to keep low even in crappy cases.

You mostly only need to care about brands with cases and power supplies. Motherboards are also fairly brand-dependent, but what you are looking for above all else is the chipset. Good options there include Gigabyte and DFI. Video cards only matter with brand when you are looking for warrenties and box art. I usually take EVGA where possible, for the lifetime warrenty, but most brands matched that. RAM can be a little brand-dependent, but unless you are overclocking it wont matter much. The good stuff is usually from OCZ, Corsair, Kingston or G.skill, under their botique labels. Hard drives can be a little dependent. Good bet is always Seagate, but Western Digital is good now too.

As for your current request.

Cases: Cooler Master makes a number of cases which are very good. Other good brands  are Thermaltake, Silverstone and Lian Li.  The latter two are considered more high end. Keep in mind every brand has some bad eggs.  Focus a little more on the individual model or line of cases then the brand where possible.  There are a lot of sites dedicated to case modding so search around.

Power supplies: PC Power and Cooling is still the best line of PSUs out there, but OCZ (the new owner of PCP&P) and Silverstone both make excellent PSUs. Johnny has the best reviews on the topic.

Post if you need help!

My other PC has a aluminum/plastic case that is "toolless" and I love it, sounds weird, but I can take out drives and cards really fast with no tools, and it holds them really steady. But I would watch out for this gimmick i am sure there is some really bad versions of it.

Well, the thing is, I like all that flashy LED's and stuff.

Edited by DeTrevni - 07 July 2009 at 1:54am

I saw that. In the few minutes I've been searching, I've heard good things about it. Seems like a good sign. I also saw Antec's 902. Does anyone know if it's worth the extra green? I do like the way it looks better.

Well, that's true too. I'm just drawn to shiney things. :) Though you may be right. The less I spend on a case, the more I'll have for components. Not really too big on LAN, but haven't done a big LAN party yet. Might give it a try when I build up a respectable computer.

Edited by DeTrevni - 07 July 2009 at 2:32am

DeTrevni wrote: I saw that. In the few minutes I've been searching, I've heard good things about it. Seems like a good sign. I also saw Antec's 902. Does anyone know if it's worth the extra green? I do like the way it looks better.

the 902 has some cool improvements, whether its worth the exra money is purely a matter of opinion.

the highlights are that each fan in the case can be individually adjusted from 6-12 volts from the outside of the case.

its also heavier duty that the last one - to the point of being rediculous, newegg lists the cases weight at 25 pounds. one review i read said it topped the orriginal 900 by 3 kilos - or 6.6 pounds.

the 902 has a drive bay dust filter system built in that i've heard good things about.



Edited by adrenalinejunky - 07 July 2009 at 2:52am

DeTrevni wrote: Well, the thing is, I like all that flashy LED's and stuff.   This is the case I was looking at. I like the way it looks, seems to have some nice features, but is kinda spendy. Also, apparently it's kinda loud.   Edit: I also kinda like this one. It's a bit cheaper, and it may be fun to design a cool window to cut into the side.   Edit v. 2.0: Eh, in looking, I'd prefer to steer clear of tooless. Seems to overly complicate things. So that second one is out.

I've actually done builds in both of those cases, the HAF is an awesome case and I've considered getting one for myself. I currently have a Centurion 5 that was mentioned earlier and I'm pretty happy with it, but I've got it so full of crap I'd like to get a bigger case. The Mystique though, the door thing doesn't work for crap. It feels cheap as hell, it looks like crap, so on.

I'd go with the HAF 932 over an Antec 900, mostly because the 900 doesn't have slots in the motherboard to run PSU cable threw, so everything is hagging out in the middle of the case, or the bottom, or whatever. With the HAF though, you can hid the wires pretty easy, and it's got 2 220mm fans, one on top, one in front, and one on the side. You also have to option of replacing the one on the side with 4 120mm fans, and the one on the top with 2 120mm fans. Makes it a great case if you plan on ever doing water cooling, becase you can easily mount a dual radiator on top. I belive the Antec 902 does have a revised motherboard plate that you can hid wires behind though, and it looks slight cheaper than the HAF 932, so that's somthing to consider as well.

I've also done a few builds in Silverstone cases and worked on a few older Lian-Li cases, and honestly I prefer Cooler Master and Antec to just about everything else. Another good case to look into is the Antec P182, another great case. The toolless things generally work out pretty good too, unless you get a really cheap case.

I ended up spending about $120 for my Lian Li case and I love it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112040