I have really, finally, and for no-fooling this time decided to build a new computer. After the motherboard went last year I looked at what I had and decided it was worth spending a decent amount of money to buy all-new everything instead of continuing to recycle parts, some of which are up to 10 years old. So, this is what I’ve got picked out:
In addition, I’m looking at this monitor: Asus VE228H 21.5" Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers and plan on installing either Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate. Throw in a couple other little things like a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter for the SSD and the total price so far is about $1430. I plan on installing Windows 7 on the solid-state drive and adding three optical drives, probably three more hard drives besides the new 1 TB one, and probably a floppy drive and a card reader. So my count is that I need at least three external 5.25" bays, either two external 3.5" bays or two more external 5.25" bays with adapters, and at least four and preferably five 3.5" internal bays and/or a 2.5" bay. That’s a total of 9 to 10 bays. I’ve got a brand-new power supply (bought while trying to fix my old computer) which should have enough power for everything.
Anyway, based on the build and what I’d like to put in it, I was looking at this case: Athena Power Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case. It has at least three external 5.25" bays and can be expanded to a mixture of others, though I think I might be stuck having to do a 6 and 6 mixture. It also has 5 120 mm fans, three in front and two in the back and a 200 mm top fan, and mounting points for two more 120 mm fans. The problem I have with it is that it’s a “gamer case.” All those fans are blue LED, meaning I’ll either need to replace all the fans or try to just cut the power to the LEDs. I don’t really want all those perforations either or a viewing window. It’s got features to easily install a water-cooling system, but I don’t plan on doing that.
Anyway, the reason I keep looking at this case is because of the flexibility of the drive system and the sheer number of fans. I am hoping that using a number of case fans will keep the system cooler and that the graphics card fan won’t have to kick onto high and sound like a jet taking off (my current card did just that). But it’s an expensive case with features I either don’t like or don’t need. My current case is one of the earlier Antec Sonata IIs which I really liked. So I looked at what Antec has out now and thought about the Antec Sonata Proto Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case which will have enough bays but only has one 120 mm rear fan and may have one mounting point for a second 120 mm fan for the hard drives. So I’m worried it will run really hot.
So, the questions:
How does the build look overall?
Can I actually run Windows 7 on a solid-state drive with good results?
What should I do about the case? Are there other good cases out there that will meet my needs from a different manufacturer?
I would think long and hard about spending those kinds of bucks on AM3, which will be obsolete when AMD Bulldozer is released this year. Also, Intel Sandy Bridge is shipping in two days. I would also opt for a mobo with USB 3.0 if you’re going to be keeping this machine for a while.
Sure, why not?
Possibly not. If this is about quieting the video card fan, your best bet is to start there, by looking at the fan profile and seeing if it’s too aggressive or re-applying the VGA cooler with better TIM. Honestly, a lot of video cards would ramp up to rocketship levels even with the side of the case off.
2nd this. I am also planning to retool the whole PC but after seeing the reviews on Sandy Bridge I think it is worth the wait for Bulldozer in April. I think Sandy Bridge CPUs and MBs will be available late January.
Purchase of a new graphics card will not be affected by these CPU changes. You can control your fan speed from AMD’s Catalyst interface. After opening Catalyst just go to Graphics –> ATI overdrive and enable manual fan speed control. Your card did not need to rev up to its highest speed for any particular reason. It just did because it is designed to do that.
I do not think you need all those fans. I have an Antec 900 and really like it but I could understand how the looks of this line of cases is off-putting. I have read some good reviews on the Corsair 600T and it is the same price as the case you are looking at. It is not as flexible as the 1200 in some ways but is above the minimum you specified. The fans are plenty for basic cooling. For a full tower, check out the Coolermaster Cosmos in silver and black. They have the LEDs but they are good cases.
So, the consensus is that since I don’t need to get it anytime soon, to wait until the new 32 nm CPUs come out. As for the mobo, it’s currently part of a bundle, where I just picked the CPU I wanted and thought that the board looked good enough. Is getting a board with USB 3.0 really needed? What is out there that currently uses or will use the interface?
I asked about running an OS off an SSD because I still have a picture of a technology that needs to be babied and can’t take the write cycles needed for an OS.
External hard drives are already using it, but it will become widespread soon enough - you can plug legacy USB devices into 3.0 ports, so there’s really nothing to lose.
Well…you’re right, it’s not without its warts. New technology like wear leveling will make the SSDs last much longer, but it’s not going to have the longevity of a hard drive. I wouldn’t suggest it if you replace your system every ten years, but otherwise you should be okay. And additionally, W7 is designed to work with SSDs, disabling defrag and prefetching to save wear on the drive.
Actually, the big problem now is with the SSD controllers. Crucial outsources theirs to Marvell, and I’ve heard that it stinks. Ditto Sandforce. An Intel SSD seems to be most reliable.
I’d love to have that Antec case available here. First great looking case I have seen in years, without all the ricer frills (matte even!), inexpensive, silent, seems great. The only issue is that a very long graphics card probably won’t fit with the middle fan installed. And for someone like me who’s always swapping components around it’s not the most practical case ever but I could live with that.
If you want a quiet system you should start by picking a quiet graphics card IMO, with a sane fan profile (not saying that Sapphire is or isn’t so).
I wouldn’t recommend that case at all for the components you’re planning to buy.
I was stupid and severely underestimated the heat and noise generated by modern gaming PC’s so when I built a new PC I got an Antec Sonata III (which seems almost identical to that case) and it was a huge disappointment. Buying a new case is rather annoying for me because I don’t have a car and they won’t deliver to where I live, so I had to buy a cpu cooler, a new psu and switch video cards to get the noise to acceptable levels. It’s quiet now, but it still runs hotter than it should though.
It’s also quite small, I doubt that 6950 is gonna fit inside the case.
One more stupid question. Would one of the new motherboards needed to use a Sandy Bridge be CrossFireX compatible or do I need to look at switching to a nVidia for SLI?
I’m still torn between getting a new Intel tomorrow when the Sandy Bridges are supposed to release and waiting a few more months to look at getting an AMD. The comparisons I saw this morning make me think you guys are right about not getting an AM3. I don’t really need the computer at all, I just want to play some games again that my MacBook can’t handle.
Sorry about that release date above. I don’t know where I got that from.
All the motherboards I’ve looked at so far support crossfire. I never really paid much attention to the support for SLI vs. Crossfire, but that can be an issue. For the most part, I think it is a thing of the past. My preferred manufacturer, Gigabyte, has support for crossfire on all their relevant lga1155 p67 and h67 motherboards.
Just looking over newegg, the prices on Sandy Bridge are just great. Between the value of the 6000 series cards and these new cpu/mbs, things are just great for upgrading right now. I don’t know how AMD could really improve on this unless all their sub$200 processors have unlocked multipliers and can be overclocked as well as these SB processors.
I personally do not think you are going to miss very much or be really upset later if you buy now. I am only waiting until April because I always root for the underdog.