Thinking of building my first PC...Need your tech input......

[Denvers Dawgs]

I want a Micro-Tower Case, that must fit a Intel D945GPMLKR Intel Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard. How do I go about actually finding a case that will fit this specific MOBO? Is a 300 watt power supply enough? Looks are nothing to me because PC just sits under desk. If you know of a better case on the cheap that doesn't require me to open a cover to make dvds/cds please feel free to send links to them...

Here are some components I was thinking of putting in....I have never built a PXC before so let me know if something I choose won't fit/work?

MOBO
Intel D945GPMLKR Intel Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard / Audio / Video / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID

Processor
Intel Pentium D 840 3.2GHz / 2MB Cache / 800 FSB / OEM / Socket 775 / Dual-Core / Processor

Hardrives
80GB Seagate for OS
2nd hardrive Seagate / Barracuda 7200.9 / 250GB / 7200 RPM / 16MB / Ultra ATA-100 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive

CPU Fan
Masscool 8W501B1M3G / Socket 775 / Intel Prescott / Copper Core / CPU Cooling Fan

Memory (is one 1GB stick better then 2-512 sticks?)
1GB of either Ultra brand
or
Crucial Also crucial has 128megx64 or 128x72meg that are $10 difference, what is the differnece and which would I need?

[TBoneit]

you might look for a case with 4 USB ports on the front as well as Audio in/out and if the Mobo supports it Firewire.

450 watt or better power supply is advised.

I'm running a 500 and a 580 watt in my computers. Especially with that power hungry processor you selected. Also look for a case with a front mounted fan that can bring cool air in to cool the drives. A rear mounted fan to exhaust heated air. And if you can find one a case that has a top mounted fan since heat rises. Also larger fans will create less noise. I suugest a case that holds 4 optical drives and 6 3.5" drives for floppy or hard drives. Some of the cases being sold only hold a couple of hdds and they have to stacked tight causing heat issues.

[Wile_E]

You want to get two sticks of memory for dual-channel mode(faster operation). I'm not even sure one stick would work on that board. Usually you have to fill up a memory bank. Are you only using the built-in video or going to put a 3D card? If you put in a card, then 450W minimum. If not, then 350W may be okay, as long as you don't add anything else.

[redwudz]

I wouldn't use a micro-tower case unless you really want to save space. They can be very cramped to work in. Most home built PCs use a mid-tower case. A microATX motherboard will fit in just about any case.

When shopping at Tiger Direct, watch out for cheap cases. Some of the Diablo brands are very flimsy, with lots of sharp edges. You may need a supply of band-aids.

You can do a 'sort' on the Tiger Direct website for 'mid-tower>no power supply>customer rating' or similar to trim down the selections. I would pay about $30-40US for a economy midtower with no power supply. Then get a name brand PS. A cheap PS can destroy your entire system in a few seconds if it fails. It's not worth taking a chance and will be money well spent. Probably for your uses a 450W would be plenty.

In cases, look for two case fans, intake in front, blowing over your hard drives, and exhaust to the rear. 120mm fans are nice, especially if they are fairly low RPM. This keeps down the noise levels. Similar with a CPU cooler, lower RPM with good CFM airflow. Any fan that runs up to around 4000-5000 RPM will tend to be noisy.

I would recommend Newegg over Tiger Direct for a case with no power supply, though, as they have a much better selection than Tiger Direct.

[Denvers Dawgs]

how do I find a case that will fit the back panel connectors from the

Intel D945GPMLKR Intel Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard / Audio / Video / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID


See all I see are these holes mostly on the cases I have seen:


Is there some kind of cover that goes over the first image to fit into that space?

[Denvers Dawgs]

I actually have an older Hp Pavilion 7940 in my basement, do you think I would be able to fit that MOBO and parts in there?

[redwudz]

The motherboard will come with a metal insert that fits in the rectangular hole after you remove that plate on the case. That's probably what those two screws are for to the right of the plate. The insert just pops in and is prepunched for your motherboard connectors.

EDIT: Hard to say if a regular MB will fit in the Pavilion case. HP and other similar manufacturers sometimes use specialized power supplies and other propriatory parts and cases that make it difficult to upgrade to newer parts. I suspect if thet HP has been around a while it may also have a small ~200W PS that would not suit newer MBs.

[budz]

I'd suggest you get a Antec mid-tower case. Antec has released a few newer models.

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=96500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129015

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=94000#
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129012

you can get the antec nsk4400 model from compusa as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129012

i've used all antec cases for the pc's that i built except for one i micro atx chenming case. antec cases are very good and easy to use. one thing i liked about the older model antec cases is the ease of removing dvd burners from the 5.25 bay. slide the dvd burner out and slide another dvd burner in there by using plastic rails. no screws to remove from the case and dvd burner.

i'm not sure if those 2 antec cases up above use rails or screws for the dvd drives. Antec also has a case called super lanboy (aluminum case)which i have that houses a P4 3.00c Northwood processor. the junk part about that case is to remove the dvd drive i have to remove the screws from the case and the drive itself. it's not difficult to do, it's just cuz i'm in a rush and lazy.

there are a lot of other brands of cases to choose from. you can also get a antec case without a powersupply and just buy a antec power supply separately. Lian Li has nice roomy & good air circulation aluminum computer cases but they are not cheap.

Denvers Dawgs i'm glad to see you've taken the plunge to build your first computer. Once you've built your first computer you'll want to build another one. You'll have good guidance from members of this forum should you need help especially from redwudz cuz he's da bomb when it comes to building/troubleshooting computers. Good luck!

[TBoneit]

That case you showed is a cheapo case. Look for one with decent metal. I'll second that the Motherboard should come with a plate to fit into the case. the two screws do remove the plate so you can put in the one from the motherboard.

Reason I do not like that case is the way cards are held in teh slots. That raised metal piece is held in with two screws and presses on the cards to hold them in place. I prefer cases where each card in a slot has a screw to hold it in place.

Good Luck. Buy a decent full size case & power supply and use them for years and upgrades. I'm still using the Lian Li aluminum case that originally had a AMD Athlon 750Mhz, then a P4 2.4, then a P4 2.66 and now a P4 3.0. It holds 12 drives total, the 3.5" drive bays slide out for easy access, The tray holding the Motherboard slides out and the wires for the Power switch/LED, reset, speaker unplu at a connector for easy removal. To me these are nice features. Tight precision fit. Two 3 speed fans in the front, 1 in the back and of course no sharp edges. I've lost enough skin and blood over the years on cheap cases.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Is a 380Watt power supply enough for a PentiumD 840 3.2Ghz running WinXP Home, 2 harddrives, and 2 dvd writers?

[budz]

http://journeysystems.com/power_supply_calculator.php

use that link to calculate how much power you would need.
i have a P4 2.26ghz pc only uses a 330 watt Antec True Power II power supply. that system has 1 40gb hard drive, 1 60gb hard drive, benq 1620 dvd burner & toshiba 1612 dvdrom.

you could always get a antec case that doesn't come with a power supply then buy a 480 watt antec true II power supply that way if you want to add more components you'll have enough power. you can even go up to a antec 500 watt power supply.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Ok I found this Barebones kit, Ultra Silver Aluminus ATX Full-Tower Case, the only thing I don't like is the size of the case a bit large for my taste, and I'm not a fan of the door that covers the front external drive bays, just seems a pain to have to open it everytime I want to burn a cd or dvd. I was also told that I may need to buy longer cables for drives because of the size of the case, is that true? If so, I'm not sure I want it then...

Update:

Ok what if I were to purchase the deal mentioned above, but also, buy a smaller case, and sell the Aluminus on ebay or something. What are the chances that all the included parts would fit another case...(sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, but I really have no idea which parts can work with which types of cases?)

[budz]

The cables would have to be longer because the case you're looking at is a server type. Most online retailers or your local pc shops have 36 inch rounded ide cables. If you were to purchase that deal the components will fit in another case. You're not going to build a small form factor pc so the components you'll be getting from that barebones deal will indeed fit in another case like a mid tower case.

P.S. The length from the power supply to the components is much longer than a mid tower case which is why redwudz mentioned you would have to get a longer ide cable like a 36 inch.

[Denvers Dawgs]

ok showed that I would need a minimum 361watts for 2 dvd writes, 2 fans, 2 external USB hardrives, 1 firewire, and with 3 internal hardrives, which in all reality I'd only have 2, but checked for 3 just incase of future addtion. They didn't have ant Pentium D on the list so I choose the most power usage one P4 extreme as a gauge.

[budz]

Then a power supply like the Antec True Power II 430 or 480 would be ample for your setup.

[Nelson37]

GET MORE POWER. 450 would be a Minimum.

If you were going to tow a 10,000 pound boat would you get a car with a towing limit of 10,000 pounds, or would you go a bit higher?

I gather you have never done this before? Recommend have a pro mount the CPU fan. If done improperly, CPU can fry very, very quickly. It's not that hard, just a little picky and expensive if you do it wrong.

The old HP Pavillion cases are a real bitch to work in, no space, power supply is in the way, also most of them require an oddball size power supply.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Hmmm.....is it that hard to mount the CPU fan....what would that cost about to have a PRO do it?

[Denvers Dawgs]

I'd suggest you get a Antec mid-tower case.
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=94000#
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129012

how would I get this without the power supply from newegg? I can only find the one with PS?

[Denvers Dawgs]

I also for got to mention about this Power supply Ultra/V-Series/500-Watt/ATX/120mm Fan/20/24-Pin/SATA Ready/Power Supply Is Ultra a good brand? Or if not what would be a good 500w PS that isn't expensive....($ doesn't grow on trees people.....!)

The case I am looking at includes (1) 1 Rear 120mm TriCool 3-speed fan (what ever the 3 speed means?) but says 80mm fan (0) does that mean the 80 isn't need or just isn't included? If needed what would be a decent 80mm fan that isn't too loud?

[TBoneit]

Not to be picky but why do you keep going back to Tiger Direct?

I have a computer in the shop right now for repair where the Maxtor drive started to go bad and it can not be that old since it is a AMD 4800. The case is a Aluminum cube with plastic on top and sides. I do not recall the brand but it isn't to big and large fan in the back that does the job in that the CPU was running at 42degrees Cent. Decent Temp for the CPU. Only quibble was they used Maxtor.

Disclaimer! I've never used this vendor

http://www.directron.com/cubecase.html

Size: Dimensions(DxWxH): 13.8" x 11.2" x 9"

Something like one of these cases might be a better fit for you since you like the Intel motherboard that is a Micro ATX and wanted a small case. In fact this looks like the case in the computer for repair. Nice case, easy to work on too. The Mobo fits a removable tray, hard drive tray is removable etc.

Cheers

[JerryB]

I want a Micro-Tower Case, that must fit a Intel D945GPMLKR Intel Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard. How do I go about actually finding a case that will fit this specific MOBO? Is a 300 watt power supply enough? Looks are nothing to me because PC just sits under desk. If you know of a better case on the cheap that doesn't require me to open a cover to make dvds/cds please feel free to send links to them...

Here are some components I was thinking of putting in....I have never built a PXC before so let me know if something I choose won't fit/work?

MOBO
Intel D945GPMLKR Intel Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard / Audio / Video / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID

Processor
Intel Pentium D 840 3.2GHz / 2MB Cache / 800 FSB / OEM / Socket 775 / Dual-Core / Processor

Hardrives
80GB Seagate for OS
2nd hardrive Seagate / Barracuda 7200.9 / 250GB / 7200 RPM / 16MB / Ultra ATA-100 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive

CPU Fan
Masscool 8W501B1M3G / Socket 775 / Intel Prescott / Copper Core / CPU Cooling Fan

Memory (is one 1GB stick better then 2-512 sticks?)
1GB of either Ultra brand
or
Crucial Also crucial has 128megx64 or 128x72meg that are $10 difference, what is the differnece and which would I need?

................................
hi,
You have gotten some excellent suggestions.... already and I am just going to add just a couple of small things...
1. take a look at what programs your going to use and what the computer is going to be used for ... that will alot determine a lot of the componets your going t use...!!!
2. power supply... like some one mentioned,,, a bigger power supply.. 300 watts for a bear bone system maybe sufficient but if you oing to have alot of devices, including those devices that going to draw power on external usb devices..... you want some extra power.... at least 400 and if in your pocket book a 500 watt....!!
3. USB ports!!!! would get case that will have at least one if not usb ports located on the front of the case and set things up to where you may have 5 or 6 ports on the back!! smile... I have found between all of my usb devices... it really works out the best...!!
4. on the case..... metal of course,,,, also, where you have removalable side panels!! makes it real nice that you don't have to take of the entire cover...... access something!!
In general on the case.... now I was able to pick up my case (generic) from my local customize shop at reasonable 55 bucks!! I know it popular nowadays t shop on the net.. smile... but if your in a good locations check some of your local places for deal!!
5. on the sata.... what version??? the sata 1 is just slightly better than the ata 100.. but the sata 2 are much faster!! I don't know if sata 3 been released yet! shouldn't be that much $$$$ difference on the sata 1 or 2.. but the sata 3 maybe a little more expensive...!

[Denvers Dawgs]

Not to be picky but why do you keep going back to Tiger Direct?

the only reason I am using tiger direct is to show the parts I want to use, because that's where I first saw a bareboes kite with all those parts included. i haven't shopped around yet still trying to figure out what i need....

[Denvers Dawgs]

What's the differnece between the Pent D 840 and the 940? newegg has the 940 listed as $191, and TigerDirect 840 for $300 After $100 rebate? My thinking is the 940 is newer so why wouldn't it be more expensive

[redwudz]

For a first time build, I would stick with a mid-tower/mini-tower case. You will find those micro-tower cases cramped and sometimes difficult to work in. And you may run into clearance problems with removing drives without taking half the computer apart.

If you want a case with included PS with enough power for your setup, here's a review of one from Antec at a reasonable price and with a good PS: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/207/1/

You can get it from Provantage for about $82US: http://www.provantage.com/antec-tx640b~7ANTG039.htm or do a Froggle search for other vendors. I've used Provantage before with no problems.

Watch out for shipping charges on cases as they are relatively heavy and bulky and some vendors charge too much for shipping and handling.

Directron is a good vendor, never any problems with them.
I also use Computergate a lot: http://www.computergate.com/index.cfm
And of course, Newegg is a good vendor.
Tiger Direct is good for some things, but they do also sell some cheaply made merchandise, just stick to name brands and they are fine.

As far as attaching the CPU cooler, it depends how it mounts to the motherboard on how difficult it is to install. Most of the newer CPUs have a large surface area and the cooler uses a lever to tighten it to the mount and CPU. Not really complicated. The cooler and the motherboard manual will give you plenty of instructions on that. If you don't feel you are up to it, just take the CPU, the motherboard and the cooler to a shop and have them do it. I would purchase a CPU with an included cooler as it can extend the CPU warranty out to 3 years, depending on the CPU.

[Denvers Dawgs]

All the cases I have seen Antec somw with PS, were can I find a antec without PS included? I like this case Antec NSK 4400 Black/Silver, but don't need the PS as I'm going to buy a more powerful one

Also any idea why a pentium D 840 is more expensive than a D 940?

[budz]

All the cases I have seen Antec somw with PS, were can I find a antec without PS included? I like this case Antec NSK 4400 Black/Silver, but don't need the PS as I'm going to buy a more powerful one

Also any idea why a pentium D 840 is more expensive than a D 940?

The ANTEC SUPER LANBOY computer case does not come with a power supply. If you have a COMPUSA store in your town then you could buy it there. I have this case as I mentioned and it's a good case to use. The only drawback is you'll have to screw the dvd burners into the case. Other older cases and perhaps the newer one have rails that could be easily installed on the drive then you just slide it into the case. I run a ANTEC TRUE POWER II 480 watt power supply in that ANTEC SUPER LANBOY case. COMPUSA has a 500 watt power supply on sale for $59.99 after $60.00 instant and mail in rebate which isn't a bad price at all.

I'm not sure about the pentium D 840 being more expensive than the 940 since I'm a AMD fan now. Although those intel conroe benchmarks I've seen has sparked my eyes. Have you ever thought of purchasing a AMD processor? Supposedly tomorrow the AMD processors prices will be lowered.

[Denvers Dawgs]

never thought about AMD, because I have only ever used intel, and somewhat understand intels specs. When I look at AMD's I try to figure out which is comparable to which intel chip, but I have been able to figure that out

[jagabo]

Also any idea why a pentium D 840 is more expensive than a D 940?

Because the 840 is out of production. Internally it contains two separate Pentium 4 dice with a little glue logic. The 940 has two cores on a single dice and uses smaller lithography.

[Denvers Dawgs]

They both have the same specs, so the only difference is one is not made any more? So would it be better to just go with the newer D940 since its like $200 cheaper?

[jagabo]

They both have the same specs

The 940 has twice as much L2 cache as the 840.