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Alrighty, here's the system I have settled on:
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/M...spx?ID=8208709
I'm pretty sure it won't blink at running 2 1920x1200 displays with 5 instances (4 on 1, 1 on the other)
I already have the drives (performance raid)
I am, however, unsure about the case and power supply. Any recommendations?
I just built a new rig with the Coolmaster ATCS 840. It was a dream to work with, well thought out design, good cable management features, variety of psu mounting options, and I think it looks great.
Its is kind of pricey, and it is very large, much bigger then I thought it was going to be, but this is a non issue for me since I have the space.
Here is a tomshardware review of some other case I was considering before I settled on the ATCS, there all full tower, but I think there is a mid tower version of the HAF.
As far as the psu goes, any good brand name with enough watts will do, I always go with modular ones for reduced cable clutter.
I really like the Antec 900 Gamer Case.
A ton of airflow, with several 120mm fans on the front/back/side.
And a 240mm fan on the top.
I have been using this for years.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129028
CoolerMaster cases are fine. Do NOT buy their PSUs.
If you're willing to spend a little more and don't care if the case is heavy, I bought one of these
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/...ntec_solo.html
Newegg link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=antec%20solo
for my Mom's multiboxing PC and it worked out extremely well. Isolates fan/drive noise extremely well. Like I said, it is heavy compared to normal light aluminum cases, though. ;)
[edit] And FYI, it was big enough to fit a Thermalright Ultra 120 on the Quad core.
Looks like some good recommendations on cases - how about PSU? I ... erm... had a Coolermaster on my wishlist, so what's wrong with those?
I've had two coolermasters, two Seasonics, an Antec and an OCZ. Of the bunch, I could tell zero difference in how loud they were at idle or normal playing conditions, with the Antec being the overall loudest as it would tend to ramp up to FULL THROTTLE DUCK THE JET IS COMING FOR US wind-tunnel mode during a virus scan. For reliability, BOTH of the Coolermasters died within a year. The Antec died after 2 years and the Seasonics and OCZ are still going strong. Turns out the Coolermasters both had liquid capacitors that burst or leaked and ended up dead. The Seasonic uses mostly solid-state capacitors, as does the OCZ model I had. A few friends have had similar experiences with coolermaster PSUs. I did some reading of reviews on PSUs a while back and the Seasonics were rated up near the top 10% in both quality AND quiet performance.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Seasonic_X650
Cool. I've had 3 Antec Sonata cases. All of them were good cases and easy to work with, but a little on the small side for fitting in the newest graphics/etc. I then moved to the P180 and it's just too big to fit the PSU cables on the inside (PSU on the bottom, and it was nearly impossible to route the wires without making a mess inside because everything barely (and I mean, stress on the cables barely) fit.
I've done builds with about 20 diff cases over the last few years and by far my most favorite case to work with is a recent build I did in a Zalman GS1000. I picked this badboy up at FRY's for a good $50 less than the newegg price as well.
As it stands I will do any future build in the same case unless I move to a rackmount system.
http://www.zalman.com/DataFile/product/GS1000_01_b.jpg
Antec 300 or 900
Corsair PSU
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ughmahedhurtz
My cooler master has been working fine for over 2 years. You can always get a bad unit of anything though. I had a bad Antec recently and decided not to buy Antec again. Guess it's easy to avoid a specific brand with so many choices.
Anyway, did you happen to have those PSUs during that period serveral years back when there were bad capacitors in all sorts of equipment??? Maybe that's why they died?
I like Coolmaster and Antec. I just built a system with the Antec 900 Gamer2. I like the case but I went with an oversized CPU Heatsink and had to cut down the side panel fan clips for it to fit.
I am not sure if I like the front panel fan filters. You to remove both side panels remove 8 turn screws on either side than pull the housing forward (with HDrives in them) to clean the filter out.
If I had to do it over again I might have went with Coolmaster.
I have this case ready for my next build. My question is how is the GPU space? My Lian Lee? is real tight from gpu and 3/4 RAM slots. I use an old 8800 320 GTS.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ualaa
PSUs I like are PP&S, pricey but rock solid. Seasonic also good and they make other brands for them so check out reviews
I went with the Antec 1200 and the CP-850 power supply. The case is very roomy and the power supply is excellent. The PSU is larger than ATX sizes and it's designed to be used with this case. The connectors are all well labeled. The case routes all of the cables behind a panel so the cables aren't in the way of the fan flow.
My CPU tops out at 41 degrees Celsius with the fans on low, which I find excellent. I went with Prolimatech Megahelms heatsink. I may add a 2nd GTX275.