Case suggestions

nova64

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Hey all,

I have almost all of the components below, including a HAF 932 case. However, this thing is HUGE!!!. I am looking to possibly go to a smaller chassis and i am looking for some input from you guys. This is a new system build, most are in place, and the rest of my parts are coming in the next couple of days. I can probably still exchange the 932 if need be, and if not, i don't mind holding on to it and trying something else out for 100-150 bucks.

As far as my budget and where to buy I use Micro Center, Newegg, Amazon, and Zipzoomfly.

ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=asus_motherboard-_-13-131-614-_-Product
Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225&cm_re=i7_930-_-19-115-225-_-Product
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...284&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-284-_-Product
SAPPHIRE TOXIC 100282TXSR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102881&Tpk=sapphire toxic
CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=corsair hx 850
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 TR3X6G1600C7D G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3&cm_re=dominator_1600-_-20-145-253-_-Product
COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5&cm_re=v8_cooling_fan-_-35-103-055-_-Product
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=asus_dvd_burner-_-27-135-204-_-Product
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160&cm_re=haf_932-_-11-119-160-_-Product
Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
24" ASUS VK246 LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236048&Tpk=asus vk246h

Regards,

Nova64
 
The HAF 922 is anther great case. It's cheaper than the 932, but might still be too big. Other options would include the Antec 900, Antec 300 Illusion, and Coolermater 690.

Have you actually bought everything? Because there's a few things I would change. I'll go ahead and list the changes, so you can either use them or disregard them.

CPU: I hope you bought that at Microcenter. They're really cheap there...
HDD: WD are slow nowdays. You could have saved $10 and gotten the faster, quieter and cooler Seagate 7200.12 or Samsung Spinpoint F3.
GPU: I would have either gotten the regular 5850 or the 5870. Paying $70 extra for a cooler that doesn't do much doesn't make any sense.
RAM: Corsair is overpriced, especially the Dominators. You could have saved $50 and gotten much faster sticks with the Mushkin Enahnced Redline 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 6.
HSF: The V8 is overpriced as well. I would have gone with the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus. It's better and a lot cheaper.
 
A case that I've recently spotted which I've liked enough to wish I had used it in my current build is the LIAN LI ARMORSUIT PC-P50 @ $160 on newegg with $20 shipping, so you should try and see if you can get it cheaper somewhere else.
It's a mid tower, so nowhere near as big as the HAFs. It has at least an inch of clearance between the motherboard and harddrive bays, so it'll have no problems housing a 5850. It has the simple black exterior that I like. Obviously it doesn't hold a candle to the HAFs in terms of cooling. Here's a review of it http://www.overclockersonline.net/reviews/50002981/ This shows a pretty shoddy job of cable management but I get the impression from the other pics that you could do much better if you put some time and effort into it.
 

nova64

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Thank you for the responses so far. I did think about the 922 case, but still think its a little big as well as i will probably keep the 932 anyway either for another build down the road or if a mid tower just can't cut it.

As far as the other components, everything is already bought, some stuff just hasn't arrived yet. you live you learn, this is my first build from nothing.

i7 930 - paid 229.99 @ Micro Center
Dominator - 227.44 before 20 dollar rebate (probably still spent too much)
Case - 127.99 @ Micro Center
WD Caviar Black - $99.00 - was thinking of changing this to a storage and get a good SSD later on.
PSU - 173.99 @Micro Center before 10 dollar rebate - had to haggle them to price match to best buy and amazon's 169.99 price (they were out of stock).
The Mobo i got for 309.99 from Micro Center they dropped there price 50 bucks to match neweggs price.
The GPU i got for 359.99 @Zip Zoom which is about 30 dollars more than newegg's regular 5850. However, this is pre-OC'ed as well as having the cooler. Yeah, probably wont make much of a difference though.
 

nova64

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Would you guys recommend a intel 80 gig SSD for this rig, or is just overkill? I do a bit of gaming, but not the type to freak out over Frame Rates and over clocking like crazy. I will tweak the cpu a bit, but very lightly. My biggest concern is the longevity i will get out of an SSD. I have read a lot about them, and would basically just put the OS and the games i play on there. My only question is, isn't there a lot of re-writing going on when the game gets patched a lot? Will it really matter?

B/R,

Nova64
 
SSDs don't do anything for FPS or even in game performance. It would help with boot and program load times. I personally wouldn't get a SSD at this point. You pay a huge premium and don't get a whole lot.

As far as rewriting goes, the longevity isn't really an issue until you start rewriting data like every minute. Then you get to a drive "failure" faster. However, another reason SSDs are really good for the OS and programs is that once they "fail", you can still read from them, you just can't write to them.
 

nova64

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Wouldn't they improve load times in games? As far as FPS, I know they won't help anything. But yes, they are very expensive, and i figured i would wait a while. I do like the fact that the windows boot up and load times are extremely fast though. I would probably put my adobe programs (illustrator, photoshop), and office on there as well, just save the files to the storage drive.
 
Load times would improve slightly. We're also not talking huge differences in speeds. With Windows 7 and a 500 GB platter drive (with no special settings), my boot time is about 30 seconds. With a SSD that might approach 20 seconds. Once you've booted, we're talking differences of fractions of seconds.

I would hold off on buying SSDs. The speed increase would be worth it once the 128 GB models are under $200, but not before that.
 

nova64

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Sounds like good advice, i will hold off. also, that 690 case looked pretty good. Next time I'm in MC i will check out the one they have on display. Get an idea of its actual size.