Building a Computer

[LegoFan560]

A few questions for anyone who can answer them:
Are cases pretty universal? Or should I wait to get one until I know exactly what I want to put inside?
Should I get one with a built-in power supply or not?
What are features to look for (material, size, etc)?
Is there a really dominant brand I should go for or will any case with a good rating work?
Finally, can I get a nice, cool-looking one for under $70?

Thanks!

[delve]

They're largely universal unless you start looking for small form factor items. then you have to be careful to get a board that'll fit and that any expansion cards (graphics typically) fit. If you're just looking at mini- or full tower, or full size desktop cases you'll be fine.

For materials I like good solid steel. Aluminum is probably preferred if you're a 'tote my rig to a LAN party' type but that's not me. The thermal qualities of a given shell material are really moot; any perceived insulation from the shell is quickly mitigated by a decent cooling system.

For the PSU (Power Supply Unit) I'd be careful with builtins. Sometimes the units are pretty shoddy and a bad PSU can damage your more expensive components. That said it depends on how much you're spending and what your energy requirements are. If you can look up the built-in unit as a separate item for purchase and it's got good ratings then go for it (just make sure what ships matches what was advertised). I'd personally go for one with a good energy efficiency rating.

I like Antec cases (my last two were these, which I see is now out of stock) because they always seem to come with more than enough extra bits (mounting screws and the like that you can't really order separately) and are well built. But you're right to go with your gut based on ratings and specs. Depending on your definition of cool-looking you could pay a very large fortune for a case. But you should be able to find one that's aesthetically acceptable for $70-$100.

When you get the case in do make sure it's well constructed. All the angles should be true and above all inflexible. Any seams should be immobile. Even if you're not moving it around a lot a flimsy case is going to generate more noise than a well constructed one. If you don't like the way it feels or it feels like the joints might become loose then try to return it for a different case. A noisy computer is the bane of any room in the house.

And don't bother trying to bang out any dents. Just take a picture and RMA the bugger.

[ArchAngel]

For the case, you get a little more room for personal appeal. Keep in mind the area you'd keep it, and if you'd want to move it somewhat frequently or not. I'd recommend looking for a case that looks like it'd get good ventliation, and also spacey enough inside so it'd be easy to do work on it.

Delve makes a great point about case construction. If you go to a store where you can feel out the cases, like Fry's Electronics, see which one feels solid to you.

[LegoFan560]

It sounds like case-shopping isn't something you guys recommend doing online... Is that true? Would Microcenter be a good place to check out cases?

What's the difference between a full-size tower and a full-size desktop case? Or are they the same thing and I just read Delve's post wrong.

Thanks!

@Delve: RMA?

[delve]

Online has been mostly fine for me. Read a representative summary of reviews (some from the 5s and some from the 1s), never buy anything with less than 100 reviews (anything less and you could be seeing a lot of ballot stuffing), and pay attention to the specific defects mentioned in the reviews. That is, after you filter out the options to just cases with the specs you want. I've found the customers that place reviews on Newegg to be quite picky about their products and willing to tear into something if it isn't 'just so.' So it's been a good way to weed out the lower quality cases for me. As an additional suggestion you can google for 'build a pc' or 'pc blueprint' or similar searches to get step-by-steps and parts lists from reputable sources that may also give you some good ideas even if you already have specific parts picked out.

Towers:
https://www.google.com/search?q=full+to ... 24&bih=692
Desktops:
https://www.google.com/search?q=full+si ... 24&bih=692
The desktops query yields a lot of tower pictures too, but I mean the cases designed to sit horizontally on top of your desk. Minitowers are just shorter tower cases. You probably won't need a full size tower unless you plan to slam it full of drives for a RAID array or something.

And... Return Merchandise Authorization

[LegoFan560]

Ok, thanks.

Another term question: RAID array?

[delve]

http://bit.ly/16Nw62G

[ArchAngel]

Don't worry about RAID, if you don't know what it is, it's probably not for you.
Do google it, though, because it's very interesting and good to know.
For a little background, it's a system of chaining hard drives together (so multiple drives look like one hard drive) for boost in speed and/or safety.

[LegoFan560]

I'm thinking I really like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 11-144-197
$55 with shipping, plus it looks really cool imo.
It seems to be pretty sturdy and good quality. A few people said the LCD/Logo lights broke, but it seemed to be a pretty infrequent issue?
Will there be any compatibility issues with it? It's a mid-size tower with ATX, Micro-ATX, and Baby-ATX compatibility (that's a motherboard size measurement, right?).

Thanks!

[delve]

Looks like pretty much anything should fit into it.

[ArchAngel]

Looks pretty nice. I'd be careful with the opening front panel, I've seen a number of people who have that and it ends up breaking off. Now, we don't use cd's that much these day, but it's just something to be careful of.

[LegoFan560]

Yeah, I saw that in some of the reviews. As long as it's not broken via shipping it should be fine - it'll be in an out of the way corner of the basement in a room we rarely use, and the computer will be used almost exclusively for gaming (less than once a week, probably). I'll definitely be careful with it.
Thanks!

[Blue]

I just installed this GPU http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6814161404.

The only major concern I have is that it's touching the corner of the HDD slots on my case. It took a while for me to fit it in there, and that's the best I could do.

Should I be worried? it doesn't seem like there are any issues. But I do think I need a new case. Any recommendations for a cheap but spacey case? I currently have this one http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6811147153.

Please remember that I'm Canadian so it has to be on Newegg.ca

I also don't think I need a full case... Though, I'm not sure.

Thanks!

[delve]

... The fan on that card. Just... wow.

You could conceivably have problems in any case with a card like that. If it's just the fan housing that's in contact though I think you should be fine.

[Blue]

The temps are ridiculous to me. My old card would go up to 74 degrees Celsius when running a game at max settings.

This card has yet to break 60 degrees Celsius

I can run GW2 on highest settings. I love it so much.

To compare, my old card was a 5770 HD