Topic: PC-Build (Read 4161 times)

The Alchemist · « **Reply #10 on:** January 25, 2014, 04:29:49 PM »

I am a sucker for cases too, I have the Thermaltake BMW (yes the car company) case. It was $800 but they have newer versions now that are cheaper.

Skyline · « **Reply #11 on:** January 25, 2014, 04:31:26 PM »

Haha okay, I'm not THAT much of a sucker

Looks pretty sweet, though. No way I could afford something like that even if I wanted to.

Kirosia · « **Reply #12 on:** January 25, 2014, 04:44:23 PM »

I have a Define R4.

Pros

-$80
-Pretty silent for $80

Cons

-Holes used for mounting the motherboard don't line up properly, a friend used the same case for his build and came across the same issues. You'll have to brute force the install and hope for the best
-Case USB 2.0 ports became faulty after six months. Any cheap case will be prone to this, so just be careful
-Installation of parts in general is a fuckin' pain, this is not a case you want to rebuild in again
-Giant pulsing circular LED when in standby mode, but it can be disconnected with no collateral damage

Skyline · « **Reply #13 on:** January 25, 2014, 08:41:30 PM »

Quote from: Kirosia on January 25, 2014, 04:44:23 PM

I have a Define R4.

Pros

-$80
-Pretty silent for $80

Cons

-Holes used for mounting the motherboard don't line up properly, a friend used the same case for his build and came across the same issues. You'll have to brute force the install and hope for the best
-Case USB 2.0 ports became faulty after six months. Any cheap case will be prone to this, so just be careful
-Installation of parts in general is a fuckin' pain, this is not a case you want to rebuild in again
-Giant pulsing circular LED when in standby mode, but it can be disconnected with no collateral damage

Thanks for the input!

DaveBSC · « **Reply #14 on:** January 25, 2014, 09:48:13 PM »

You also should give Antec a look. They have some very decent, very low cost cases like the One Hundred for around $60 and the Three Hundred for around $70. Or you could think outside the box a bit:

anetode · « **Reply #15 on:** January 25, 2014, 10:59:57 PM »

Quote from: DaveBSC on January 25, 2014, 09:48:13 PM

You also should give Antec a look. They have some very decent, very low cost cases like the One Hundred for around $60 and the Three Hundred for around $70. Or you could think outside the box a bit:

I've got the Solo II right now - very quiet and easy to work with. With each build I'm going for smaller and smaller cases, next one will be a mini-itx.

Also, if you're concerned about noise you could consider a fanless power supply, or one of the newer models which only spin the fan under load.

DaveBSC · « **Reply #16 on:** January 25, 2014, 11:32:00 PM »

Quote from: anetode on January 25, 2014, 10:59:57 PM

I'm going for smaller and smaller cases, next one will be a mini-itx.

Yeah, unless you need a dual CPU workstation, going any bigger than ATX just doesn't make sense anymore. The only thing those full size towers give you is a bucket of 5.25" external bays you don't need, and loads of internal 3.5" bays which would be better put to use inside a NAS. They are also terribly inefficient in terms of cooling because the fans are nowhere near the hardware.

I am looking very closely at Silverstone's new FT-05 for an upcoming gaming rig build. The FT-02 I always thought was too big and way too heavy, but the idea behind it in terms of airflow is sound. The FT-05 takes the same idea, but in a much more modern type of design - nobody needs all those 5.25" bays so why have them?

Anathallo · « **Reply #17 on:** January 26, 2014, 01:54:19 AM »

Quote from: DaveBSC on January 25, 2014, 09:48:13 PM

You also should give Antec a look. They have some very decent, very low cost cases like the One Hundred for around $60 and the Three Hundred for around $70. Or you could think outside the box a bit:

Absolutely love both of those cases - excellent taste! Although I find the cooling in both can be tricky if you want to put performance parts in it.

zerodeefex · « **Reply #18 on:** January 26, 2014, 05:36:19 AM »

Taking a step back, I have a few questions to ask before making suggestions. For fun I do a lot of builds and assessments of potential builds for coworkers and have found that the best way to avoid small regrets/compromises that crop up 6 months post-build is to ask a lot of questions before the process starts:

What programming needs does your wife have? Is she SSHing/remoting into another machine? Is she doing something ridiculously RAM intensive like building custom Android images locally? Does she have multiple 1TB files in her codebase or anything else like that?
Do you have space concerns?
Do you have noise concerns? If so, are you open to modding?
What size/resolution monitor are you using?
Is there a particular space the computer needs to integrated well into? Are there furniture or decorations you want it to match/blend well with?
Is the case going to be wedged in a corner, up against a wall, or have any other ventilation restrictions?
Music/movies only? You certain you'll never game outside of RTSes? Which RTSes do you play? Do you play them competitively? Will you ever want to max them out graphically?
For movies, are you doing anything intensive? Are you a stickler for the best scaling and need madVR Jinc 3+AR / Lanczos3+AR?
Do you have a separate NAS solution? Do you need redundancy for data stored on the machine?
Are you planning on suspending the mechanical drives or considering other options to eliminate drive vibration?
I'm assuming you're not going to tinker like crazy to try to get the best overclocks, etc down the line?
How long are you planning on using the system before upgrading?

I don't think it's odd that you're looking at cases you consider to be on the nicer end of things. Once thing I've found consistent for most of the folks I've built for is that solid choices for case and PSU last through many many upgrades (if you choose to go down that rabbit hole), even after the rest of your system is out of date.

A bit of caution: I've done 2 builds in the 350D and one thing I've noticed about the case is the 3.5" drive mounting mechanism is not ideal. Even using the rubber grommets for the drives, fast spinning mechanical drives can cause the drive trays to vibrate against the case. It's possible to suppress but it requires some light modding.

Hands · « **Reply #19 on:** January 26, 2014, 05:45:10 AM »

Quote from: Kirosia on January 25, 2014, 04:44:23 PM

I have a Define R4.

Pros

-$80
-Pretty silent for $80

Cons

-Holes used for mounting the motherboard don't line up properly, a friend used the same case for his build and came across the same issues. You'll have to brute force the install and hope for the best
-Case USB 2.0 ports became faulty after six months. Any cheap case will be prone to this, so just be careful
-Installation of parts in general is a fuckin' pain, this is not a case you want to rebuild in again
-Giant pulsing circular LED when in standby mode, but it can be disconnected with no collateral damage

I also have a Define R4, and I can't say I've had these issues after almost a year. It is by far the most pleasing case I've worked with yet. Definitely didn't have issues with motherboard mounting holes. As for the blinking light, that's pretty standard on a lot of cases I've used. Sometimes you can disable this in the BIOS depending on the mobo.

Mine is also build extremely well. It feels like a tank. I instantly recommended it to several friends after building with it because I was so impressed in nearly all aspects. And all that for $80-90? I'm wondering what was up with the two cases you had a chance to use...

Author Topic: PC-Build (Read 4161 times)

The Alchemist

Re: PC-Build

Skyline

Re: PC-Build

Kirosia

Re: PC-Build

Skyline

Re: PC-Build

DaveBSC

Re: PC-Build

anetode

Re: PC-Build

DaveBSC

Re: PC-Build

Anathallo

Re: PC-Build

zerodeefex

Re: PC-Build

Hands

Re: PC-Build

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Author Topic: PC-Build (Read 4161 times)