Cooling

[Duffman]

well recently coolings been on my mind and i came across a site were for 70$, i get a new case new psu 380watt i believe 3 fans in and i think it'd be better for overall airflow, is that worth it or should i just buy some new fans?

[clocker]

Not enough info D.

[Duffman]

www.xpcases.com they got really cheap fans, pci 80mm fans 4$ 80mm case fans led 4$ really cheap take a look

[clocker]

No, I meant what is the new case you are thinking about and what case do you have now?
It's a little easier to compare things when you know what they are, no?

[Duffman]

true, true, now i a compaw presario 6016us case mid tower i suppose and i was looking at the 68$ ones this one (http://www.xpcases.com/shop/item.asp?CatID=&Sku=629)

[TheFilePirater]

nice case duff, but fans dont mean anything unless u got air flow

[Duffman]

but is it worth it to do that and get a better case with a better possibility for airflow or just put a fan or two in my case

[TheFilePirater]

its a badass looking case, if u got the money, go for it, and if ur case is too small...

[Duffman]

well my temps under load with no oc is 58C and a new hsf and some more 80mm and stuff will run about 30 im thinking and its got a 420 watt psu that something right?

[TheFilePirater]

yes

[Duffman]

so the case that comes with a store bought computer is often cheap and innefective, or am i wrong pluss im running an ati card, 2 hard drives, 2 dvds, all on a 200w psu, and if i add fans will i draw too much power, and is that enough for ocing?

[Mr. Elmo]

most store bought comp. tend to be a little cheesy w/ the case...its really small and everything inside is cramp so there is no air flow....that case is nice, but i rather get the silver one.

and no, 200w isnt enough....at least i dont tink it is....200w for 2 hdd, 2 dvd......and what do you want to oc for? you already got a heating problem b4 ocing.

[Duffman]

well thats why i wanna get a new case for airflow and a new hsf, and if i get the temps under control then ill start to think about ocing, so you thing that case is a good deal?

[clocker]

The case/PSU combo that you're considering look fine to me, but I have questions about compatability with your current hardware.
I don't know what form factor your Compaq motherboard is which could lead to mounting problems and the possibility that the new PSU plug may not match your board.
These are things you'll need to find out before you make your decision.
Worst ( or best, depending on how you look at it) case scenario is that you get the case/PSU and a new motherboard, then strip your Compaq of the drives, chip, RAM, etc.

I should think that with some thought and ingenuity you could significantly improve your existing case's cooling without all the added expense, although upgrading your PSU would be a good move.

[bigdawgfoxx]

Yeah, 200Watts isnt enough I dont think. HPs dont have any fans in them do they? What kind of fans do they have if they have any? I think a new case and all would prob help, and would have lots of slots for fans, but like clocker said the mobo might not fit in the case...

[Duffman]

my current case has a psu fand and hsf and a slot for a n 80mm case fan thats it, how much would a new decent mobo cost?

[Duffman]

bump

[kaiweiler]

i bought mine for about 160 canadian and it is very good
Its an Abit NF7-S mobo
where are you from?

[Duffman]

us, new york, isn't that alot, like 100usd?

[kaiweiler]

its about 125 US, but you can get a decent mobo for a lot less then that im quite sure
m not from the US so im not sure what you have for stores there, but im guessing about 80-100 for a decent one, anyone correct me if i'm wrong

Kai

[Duffman]

how is this one? (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-185-027&catalog=22&depa=1)

[kaiweiler]

not completly familiar with the chipset, but it doesnt look bad for the price, no SATA though
still it doesnt look bad
need a second opinion though

Kai

[Duffman]

i don't know anything about mother boards and if i plan on spending 60% on a new psu and case i want a cheap motherboard

[kaiweiler]

okay, but most people dont really cheap out on the motherboard as it is fairly important and is usually one of the last components to get upgraded again

Kai

EDIT try asking muchspl2, or DWK, as they are the guys that helped me out a lot
they know their stuff more then I do

[Duffman]

well i gotta goto work now so hopefully theyll leave me with some good info be back around midnight

[kaiweiler]

Okay, good luck!
sorry I couldn't help more

[lynx]

Have a close look at the back of your case. If the area around the external connectors (keyboard, mouse, usb, serial, parallel etc) is a removable panel (slightly larger than a front panel insert) then you can insert your existing mobo into a new case. You will have to take this panel across too if the mobo doesn't fit the new case without it.

If there is no removable panel, you need to make sure that the layout of your existing boards's backpanel connectors is standard, and I suspect this is unlikely. You can always run without this panel of course, I've done that in the past without any problems, and it isn't too hard to make one out of thin aluminium plate.

From experience, I can assure you that Compaq use standard psu connectors on their mobo's, so that won't be a problem.

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by Duffman3@9 January 2004 - 16:45
i don't know anything about mother boards and if i plan on spending 60% on a new psu and case i want a cheap motherboard
Small thing here.

No wait, big thing here

You do NOT want a cheap motherboard. IN both the quality, and price aspect. Because most of the time, you get what you pay for.

If you want to we could help you pick out a case, PSU, and Motherboard, and use the entire pot of money to flex around with.

If you want a budget board, this is pretty much the one I hear to get.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....y=BROWSE&depa=1 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-216&catalog=22&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1)

Go read some of the MANY reviews it has, which shows it does get its fair share of customers, and mostly happy ones at that.

And btw, YOU DO NOT NEED ONBOARD SATA, IF YOU BUY A RETAIL HARD DRIVE, MOST OF THEM COME WITH A FREE SATA CONTROLLER CARD.

How many freaking times do I have to say that.

[Duffman]

well lets start here, i just got home from work, telling myself if i racked in 50$ big ones id buy the case, i usually make more, i set low cause i wanted to buy a case, but anyways i made 51$, i think it was a sign so im gonna choose a case now

this one? (http://www.xpcases.com/shop/item.asp?CatID=&Sku=237)
or
this one (http://www.xpcases.com/shop/item.asp?CatID=&Sku=629),
well now im gonna take a shower and ill be back in 15 - 30 mins

[clocker]

IMO,this one. (http://www.xpcases.com/shop/item.asp?CatID=&Sku=629)
Better PSU.
All of the included case fans ( both cases) are "thermal controlled", i.e.crap.
Plan on replacing them at the earliest opportunity ( in the meantime you can disable the thermal control function and perhaps they might actually move some air).

[Duffman]

ok cool i kinda liked that one better

[Duffman]

well i just checked my mobo and it does have a little thin peice of metal in the back showing it would be removable so i think that would mean its standard atx which means i don't havee to worry about a new mobo right now?

[GCNaddict]

if u need a new mobo, my experiences may help:

the SOYO Dragon models are good (plan some research into which 1 u want tho)

the DFI LanParty boards are good (p4 needs the pro875-b, AthlonXP could use nforce2[not sure. any1 here athlon proficient?])

I personally find DFI to be very well made, but soyo has some features that DFI does not have (some boards have AGP-Pro, which is semi-useless rite now). However, the DFI Boards come with the Genie BIOS Overclocking system (a p4-2.4A can run at 24 x 132 = 3168 mhz MAX (which is awesome). a p4b can go even higher (18*199= 3582mhz MAX NOT RECOMMENDED!!!)

and they all come with a full complement of SATA, RAID, and colorful (or white) PCB

Id say, go with DFI Lanparty (cuz they also come with an addin front panel and rounded UV-Reactive cables and UV-Reactive plastics on the board and it just looks plain cool and it supports 400mhz-533mhz-800mhz fsb meaning that u can still use ur old 1.8ghz p4 400fsb chip (must be 478 pincount lol!)

gogle it, and when u find the DFI Main Site, look for model # pro875-b for the P4s

[lynx]

Originally posted by Duffman3@10 January 2004 - 05:25
well i just checked my mobo and it does have a little thin peice of metal in the back showing it would be removable so i think that would mean its standard atx which means i don't havee to worry about a new mobo right now?
It may or may not be "standard" atx layout, but as long as you can transfer that backplate with the motherboard you should be ok.

[_John_Lennon_]

Also, on the DFI, they are great, great overclockers, high quality, lots of extras, but, their expensive as a result.