suggest me a case

i guess before hand, im not that great with computers so bear with me.

im not nearly creative enough to do a case mod, but i think id like something different than the regular black and greyish case that dell hands out. so i figured this might be a place to ask. also i noticed theres always a large amount of dust inside even though the two fans work fine. i end up having to do a pretty thorough cleaning up every other week or so with a can of compressed air. so im guessing im gonna need multiple large fans.

anyways, what sort of specifics should i be looking for. i dont know if you need them, but i have a P4 2.8, forgot what motherboard i have (im at work), 1gb of pc3200 ram, an 80gb harddrive but looking for a second internal 120+gb, radeon 9800pro, a 52x cd reader, a dvd burner, a generic 3.5inch diskdrive, creative labs audigy gamer, plus a network card, and a USB 2.0 card. thats all i can think of in there right now.

but looking on new egg, i get a little confused. is http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=11-133-125&DEPA=1 really worth it? although that checkboard front scheme looks horrible IMO. i guess i dont really know what i should be looking for. help the semi n00b out a little please?

 

If your just needing a case, you do not really need to spend too much money on it. Check out XOXIDE.COM or Jabtech.com Dust will collect in your case no matter how hard you try to prevent it. Just keep a couple cans of compressed air nearby to blowout every once in awhile.

 

Also check out pccorner4u.com and www.magicmicro.com those are where I have bought my stuff from.

 

If your going to spend that kind of money on a thermaltake case, why not go for one of these:
http://www.thermaltake.com/xaserCase/tsunami/tsunamimenu.htm

They have two 120mm fans that move a lot of air while keeping things quite, and a built in air filter in the front! Not to mention the cool mirror finish!



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iv heard that with enough fans and them being placed in the right locations, you can create positive pressure inside the case so that dust will naturally want to leave?


edit// and i didnt mean that i was gonna buy the one i linked to earlier, i was just seeing if buying a case for more than $100 was smart

 

oops, maybe i should have given a price range, im thinking less than $100. i dont really NEED a new case per se, i just think a nice different looking one would be cool

 

aaaand another question, really wish i could go back and edit my posts but i guess its past the 3 minute mark


looking around, sites mention a system board style, they list them as ATX, micro ATX (mATX), and extended ATX. what do those mean?

 

Think about this. If you have alot of fans, then your computer is going to be loud. Sometimes, so loud it is annoying. Therefore, make sure you get a fan controller to turn the fan rpm's down. Obviously, your not going to move as much air but if your not overclocking I wouldnt worry about it. Think about the fact that heat rises. Look for a case with a top fan. That way you can have the other fans drawing air in and the top fan blowing air out. If you pull more air out than in, you are creating negative pressure which will in theory recycle your air better ( new cooler air vs older warmer air trapped inside your case.) The downside to moving alot of air through your case is dust. Computers electrify particles around it and it gets drawn inside your computer by magnetic energy or your air moving through your computer.
I have after a couple of years switched to water-kooled cases. It moves minimal air and is very, very quiet. I have only 2 x 80mm fans blowing air out of my case to keep case temps down. Hope this helped a little.

 

Those would be the types of motherboards the case can hold. ATX is the most common, and micro ATX is a smaller version. Most cases support a variety of forms so you should be ok.

If noise is a problem, i would go watercooling, or a case with 120mm fans. The 120s are bigger and can push more air at a lower speed. So they dont have to run as fast as a 80mm fan but can move just as much air!

If you are just board of your case, there are a lot of easy mods you can do your self. A fan controller would take care of the sound, and add a cool look to your case too! You can paint your current case, add a side window, and some neon lights, and then you would have a cool looking case! This would be a less expensive route and is farely easy to do!



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I have a problem with loud fans, two 90mm running at like 5500 rpm. Sounds pretty loud.

 

wow 5500rpm....if there case fans i dont think you need them at that speed. Mine run at 1450rpm, and keep the case cool!



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yeah but how do i adjust that?

 

Well a fan controller would be best. I have a super flower fan master. Look here

http://www.xoxide.com/5fanco1.html



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i'll look into it. doesn't seem to be that expensive, but rite now im down to the wire for money. god i need a job...

 

Any fan controller would take care of that for ya man. You just run the fans threw the buss & you can then adjust the speed of each fan. I use a Digital Doc 5, it allows me to control up to 8 fan speeds & 8 temp readings. Fairly simple to set up & maintain.

 

The only problem i had was, my fans where 4pin connecters, so i had to buy adapters, and because of that, the fan speeds dont show up on the lcd.



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