Building a computer.

[error75]

I'm going to attempt to build my first computer. Of course the starting point is going to be the case, but what should I be looking for in a good case? Number of slots/expansion slots? Material? Size? What's a good low-high price?

 

[TRDCorolla1]

There seems to be a lot of new builders as of late. Here's what I suggest for a case. It really depend on how fast you like your PC to be. High performance machines need a good case that have adequate cooling. Most expensive or high end cases range from $70 on up. They provide support for bigger fans including a front fan, side fan, and rear exhaust fans. Some cases offer a top fan too, which is nice to have but not required. Some offer side air duct, again, not required but nice to have. Cheaper cases like the $30-$50ish cases are not too bad. They provide adequate cooling but generally uses smaller fans and don't have front fan support.

Here's the specs I did for another member here in this forum:

ABIT AN8-ULTRA Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813127212

This is a basic dual core CPU, but depending on how much you can afford, you can always bump this up to a 4400+ X2:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retai
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16819103562

OCZ Gold Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retai
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16820227211

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16822144160

LITE-ON Beige 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16827106990

Antec SUPER LANBOY Silver anodized aluminum ATX Mini Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16811129145

or

Thermaltake VB1000SNS Silver Steel/Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133148

Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply 100Vac to 240Vac +/- 10% TUV, UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16817103937

eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Desktop PC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16814130247

 

[error75]

Thanks. Good info indeed.

 

[TRDCorolla1]

Your welcome. Some of those components, I might got carried away just a bit. But good regardless if you can afford them. They are for maximum compatibility, but feel free to alter any part for higher performance if you wish. The 500watt power supply is a nice one so that gives you a lot of headroom, unless if you're going with an SLi system. Than you'll need a 550-600 watts power supply minimum.