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PCs for dummies


Strangelove
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Pfft, I like my case. I might remove the product stickers I received with my components eventually because they're losing their "neat" factor. I was excited about my first build and wanted to display them, but my friend who helped me thinks they're distracting and a clean case is better. I'm beginning to agree.

 

Still, there was no way I was going to pay past $100 for a case. All I needed was a mid-tower, but even then a lot of the cases I was finding were either cheap material or had some design gimmick. I like how the USB ports are lined up in front and not mixed around like with other cases. I have my Mic and Headphone ports there as well. Not to mention, if I'm going to be stuck with LEDs, I'd like red and the CM Storm Enforcer is one of two cases (under $100) that pulls off red LEDs.

 

Otherwise, the inside has a great design for storage and cable management. My friend said he'd like it better if it had handles on top, but I've never thought handles would be a key requirement. If I want to take off the front cover, I can and doing so allows more airflow as the tray covers are a metal mesh design.

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Pfft, I like my case. I might remove the product stickers I received with my components eventually because they're losing their "neat" factor. I was excited about my first build and wanted to display them, but my friend who helped me thinks they're distracting and a clean case is better. I'm beginning to agree.

 

Still, there was no way I was going to pay past $100 for a case. All I needed was a mid-tower, but even then a lot of the cases I was finding were either cheap material or had some design gimmick. I like how the USB ports are lined up in front and not mixed around like with other cases. I have my Mic and Headphone ports there as well. Not to mention, if I'm going to be stuck with LEDs, I'd like red and the CM Storm Enforcer is one of two cases (under $100) that pulls off red LEDs.

 

Otherwise, the inside has a great design for storage and cable management. My friend said he'd like it better if it had handles on top, but I've never thought handles would be a key requirement. If I want to take off the front cover, I can and doing so allows more airflow as the tray covers are a metal mesh design.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352020

 

Good looking cases aren't expensive. Fractal Design has a lot of good looking, well priced, non-ricer/'gamer" cases.

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$120 ($110 Sale) for a black box.

 

I paid $80 for my case, and usually when it goes on sale you can grab one for $70.

 

But I do agree, that power supply... don't get it, Revan. If you want LEDs in your case, you could add them in better ways. Usually case fans with LEDs is enough, but I've seen LED strips you can place inside your case. It's all a matter of how much you want the inside of your case to resemble a Chuck E. Cheese's.

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I have some LEDs, but not enough to light up the room yet.  And how did you know I like CEC's?

 

And, since this is "PCs for dummies", for which I fall into the category of rookie/n00b/beginner, what is bad about that power supply, aside from the rainbow theme? I checked out the capabilities and everything looked okay.  The manufacturer is Super Flower.  Is there anything missing?  I want to add more power to my tower eventually, so this seemed to be a viable option.

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I think the $20-30 premium is worth it for not having something like that looks like a toy and is made of plastic.

Good thing it's actually metal (SECC) with only a ABS plastic front cover, so I'm okay with not shelling out $40 more for a square black box.

 

@Revan

When it comes to power supplies, function heavily outweighs aesthetics. You're essentially looking at the heart of your computer, so you don't need it to be an indoor laser show.

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I dislike the black box look.  It's so bland.  Reminds me of modular furniture or bad art-deco.  You are going to put together a machine, make it look like an 80's movie special effect as best you can, like you'd see at QuakeCon.  Way more of a conversation piece

 

DSCF1489.JPG

 

.

 

Yeah, I've heard horror stories of power supplies giving way and frying every component in your computer in the process.  Better to be safe and stick to quality brands.

 

And those brands would be {              }?

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I think both Atom's case and the black box are ugly.  Though with slightly more detailing I'd probably like the black box.

 

*Edit* - For example, judging by nothing other than styling, I like this case (except for the silver wings thing on the front):

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811345005

Edited by TheMightyEthan
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BitFenix is great, just I don't need a full tower and that's where I think the brand excels.

 

And I can always take off my "plate armor" tray cover. I admit it does looks out of place, but the inside layout and price make it good in my eyes. All the other simple designs I found were either entirely plastic or had some gimmick to it. Like, I don't think I'll be needing two eSATA ports on my case. :|

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Been some what looking at replacement gfx cards lately and happened upon this.  Works out to $170 with the discount, $20 MIR and a $10 giftcard I've been trying to use.  It also comes with AMD's new Game Bundle thing so I get 2 games to go with it.  Thoughts?

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Shit man, I need to check all threads someday... but yeah, that would be a solid card and the discount and games does help with the value.

 

Anyways, the smell is in the air. The smell of precautionary HDDs replacements. I know a few years ago 2TB drives were not that great but have they improved? Doesn't matter either way, since even with only 1TB drives I'll increase my storage capacity by about 630GB. I'm mainly just concerned for my oldest drive which used to be either the OS drive or the storage for my older computer.

 

Maybe I should replace my PSU for a modular as well since cable management is hell.

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