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cant really decide wich case i should go with, dont have enough money to buy another power supply so i will have to go with the case power supply wich will be a 420 watt. is this ok, here is my computer setup.


AMD Athlon-64 3500+ CPU
Gigabyte GA-K8NF9 nVidia nForce4 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 PCI-E Motherboard
1024 MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand
200 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache]
16X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive
nVidia GeForce 6600 256 MB w/DVI + TV out Video
MS Windows XP Home Edition w/Service Pack-2
Microsoft Works 8.0 (just until my freind gets me office)
7.1 Channel 3D Surround Sound
600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System (just for now)
Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Cold Cathode Neon Light Green
Mitsumi 1.44 MB Internal Floppy Drive
PS/2 104 Key Windows 98 Keyboard
Microsoft Optical Intelli-Mouse 5-Button


for my second question what case is best with cooling, power supply reliability and just general properties of a case. i read earlier that aspire power supplys tend to break and overheat.

RAIDMAX Ninja ATX-918WSP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...P=OTC-d3alt1me

Coolermaster Ammo-533
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119098


NZXT Apollo SILVER Silver
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146024



so out of those wich do you think would be the best to go with? also i dont know the whole compatibility thing so im either getting one of these 2 motherboards wich ones are compatible with the cases.


eVGA nForce-4 SLI Chipset Dual DDR w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB

Gigabyte GA-K8NF9 nVidia nForce4 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 PCI-E Motherboard

thanks for the help.

anyone????

1. all three cases are all compatible with ATX mobos

2. a good power supply is more important than the case, settling for an "included" PSU is a recipe for disaster. you should not be cheap on the PSU in order to buy a more expensive case.

3. yes, aspire is a known poor-quality PSU brand, but no worse than the garbage PSUs that will come with those cases either.

-coolermaster has some decent PSUs, but that coolermaster case does not come with one.

you should buy a PSU from a reputible brand like Antec, Enermax, Fortron, SeaSonic, PCP&C to name a few. do not rely on a cheap generic unless you are willing to risk frying your entire system.

cheers

hmm thanks for your input.

Alright, those cases IMHO are not the best

I recommend Antec Solo or Antec p180

These are very well built, and are built to be quiet.

Read some reviews, theyre solid cases and my first choice if i were building a system.

As for a PSU, Seasonic would be my first reccomendation they make s-12 430w, however its a bit pricier. However you get what you pay for and that is solid reliability and quality and its the QUIETEST fanned PSU on the market, bar none, (well fanless i guess).

The Antec Neo HE's are also OK psu's.

Let me know if you have any more questions

im not building a comp so those are the choices i have. and now that i need a different power supply it hurts my budget more.

this is the only other psu that i can get and i dont think it is a very good one.

NZXT PF-500 500 Watt

what i could do is use the power supply with the case above for a little while (im probably getting the Nzxt apollo case) and then get a better one down the road. will that work, are all psus universal? plus i have a warranty so if anything does go wrong it will be ok.

1. yes, you will probably be fine with the generic for a little while, but I would strongly suggest replacing it asap.

2. no, PSUs are not all universal. you need to get whatever specification matches your hardware. ATX is the most common specification (and is what your system uses). newer ATX revisions are backwards compatible with older revisions

3. yes, there will be a warranty on the case and PSU, but it will only cover itself, not what is connected to it.

if the PSU itself just dies, its no big deal. but the danger in using a generic PSU is that due to very poor protection circuitry they have a tendency to take other components with them when they go. if your generic PSU starts to blow out smoke and sends a spike of power to your connected hardware, it can fry everything. and I can pretty much assure you that the PSU warranty will not cover that.

aside from the above danger, cheapies will often have very poorly regulated voltage and inconsistent amperage output. this can cause all sorts of stability issues, system lock ups, crashes, BSODs, etc. they also will not put out the power they say they can (more like 50%-70%)

some people get lucky and can use a generic for years with no issues, others are not so lucky. IMHO it is not worth the risk, because the money saved could end up costing far more in the long run should something happen. but that is your decision to make.

what is your budget for a PSU? we can probably help you pick out a decent quality unit that still fits your budget

cheers

i see, im getting that computer through ibuypower.com and my budget is 750.00

ive checked alot of other sites and all of there computers are way more expensive then ibuypowers configurators. ive read good reviews about ibuypower and bad ones, i dont think i could build my own computer. the actual construction part i think id be ok but installing all of the drivers and all of that when i turn it on would be the hard part.

oh and about the warranty ibuypower would cover the whole thing if my psu went out and fried my system so i can keep it for about 6 months and if aynthing happens they will cover it and then i can just get a new one.

I think i might be the only person in history to have actually gotten a PSU that came with a case and it was good. It was a MaxPower 460 watt... and it actually worked really well for three years and it still works i just got a more powerful one because i am planning to upgrade my computer soon and needed an SLI-ready PSU :P

some cases actually come with decent power supplies (like antec cases for example, and there are other good brands as well). but "maxpower"??? that sounds pretty generic to me.. lol

most good PSUs are rated at "usable" or constant power. almost all cheap PSUs are rated at maximim peak power to make them appear more powerful, but their usable power is often much much lower than they are rated for.

for this reason many generics will last simply because they are not being taxed. a typical generic psu with a 500w max rating may only be able to provide 300w of usable power, but that is still enough for many systems (depending on the rail amperages). if the system needed say 350w-400w, then that "500w" PSU would more than likely die.

so no, you are definitely not the only person to have a generic that lasted years. but likely it lasted because your system didn't require anywhere near 460w.

hmm so with these 420 watt they are probably nothing at all around what 250 maybe, what do you think my computer posted above needs?

You decided to build your own computer then? Good decision.

Go for an AM2 based motherboard and DDR2 RAM.

lol no IBN sorry i still am gonna have to go with ibuypower, i loked at alot of other websites and IBP has the better deal, i read the reveiws and it seems all problems were eventually fixed by them and they do refund you if necesary. i cant get an am2 socket motherboard or ddr2 ram i ahve to get the 939 socket and ddr ram.


the whole thing about building one isnt about the actual construction but the turning it on and getting it working, and plus i wouldnt have as good of a warranty as i owuld with IBP.