What is a good MicroATX case?

[Justin]

Is there a decent MicroATX case out there with two internal 3.5" hard
drive bays? I only found one on Newegg but everyone tells me it is a
lousy case.

Model #:727-08-2128FU+p04
Item #:N82E16811164127


Linkworld 727-08-2128FU+p04

 

[Mike Easter]

Is there a decent MicroATX case out there with two internal 3.5" hard
drive bays?

There are gazillions of cases which can accommodate both microATX and 2
internal 3.5 hdd/s.

You haven't expressed any limiting wishes so far, like whether you want
it to be smallish or something.

Posting a modelno or itemno isn't nearly as handy for any readers to see
as would be posting a link to the case you referenced.

 

[Justin]

There are gazillions of cases which can accommodate both microATX and 2
internal 3.5 hdd/s.

You haven't expressed any limiting wishes so far, like whether you want
it to be smallish or something.

Posting a modelno or itemno isn't nearly as handy for any readers to see
as would be posting a link to the case you referenced.

I thought posting a link would flag my post as spam.
Basically I want it to be small, but not Mac Mini size.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811164127
that is the case I was looking at.
The dimensions are 13.75" x 6.75" x 13.75"

 

[Paul]

I thought posting a link would flag my post as spam.
Basically I want it to be small, but not Mac Mini size.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811164127
that is the case I was looking at.
The dimensions are 13.75" x 6.75" x 13.75"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121039

15.4" x 7.1" x 14.8" , no power supply (so you can select a quality supply),
and 0.8mm SECC Steel ( so the case might be a bit sturdier than the Linksworld ).
No door on the front. It looks like you remove the front plate, to install
a DVD writer. Also has a few front ports.

I don't like cases with bundled power supplies, because the power
supply would have to be pretty cheap to make the case as cheap
as it is.

Paul

 

[Justin]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121039

15.4" x 7.1" x 14.8" , no power supply (so you can select a quality
supply),
and 0.8mm SECC Steel ( so the case might be a bit sturdier than the
Linksworld ).
No door on the front. It looks like you remove the front plate, to install
a DVD writer. Also has a few front ports.

I don't like cases with bundled power supplies, because the power
supply would have to be pretty cheap to make the case as cheap
as it is.

Paul

Me too.
Next question... can you recommend a power supply? I'm probably going
to use an AMD based board - something powerful enough to Run Vista
Ultimate and do HDV video editing - but not professional grade.

 

[Paul]

Me too.
Next question... can you recommend a power supply? I'm probably going
to use an AMD based board - something powerful enough to Run Vista
Ultimate and do HDV video editing - but not professional grade.

The main power consumers are the processor and the video card.
The processor can range from 10W to 130W or so.
The video card from 10W to maybe 160W.
I need to know more about your hardware, to decide what to pick.

Do you have any expansion plans ? Do you need any PCI Express power
connectors, for a future gaming video card upgrade ? Or will you
always be using low power/non-gamer type cards ?

The power supply business has always been slimy, for as long as
I've been looking at them. Some companies contract out their
manufacturing, which means a product that was good one year,
could change overnight. So you always have to be on your
toes when buying these, to detect when the quality has gone
to hell.

The cheapest one in this lot is $55, and seems to have a decent
reputation. It seems only Corsair's super-expensive one has
less than stellar ratings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE

So for a relatively low power system, this might be enough, and it
is 80% efficient (so runs cool).

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W
+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 20A, +12V @ 30A, -12V @ 0.8A, +5VSB @ 2.5A

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

That supply barely meets my requirements on 3.3V and 5V. That is
as low as I recommend going for current ratings on those rails
(since you cannot easily calculate good power numbers for them).
Modern supplies have been reducing the current capacity on the
lower voltage rails. For example, that power supply would not be
good enough to run my old A7N8X-E Deluxe with AthlonXP. But on
newer systems, the load is mostly on the 12V rail. And there you
can see plenty of amps for a basic computer.

If you had a high end video card, something a gamer might buy,
then you'd need a bigger power supply. (Not as big as
the video card company recommends, but still a bit bigger.)

Paul

 

[Justin]

The main power consumers are the processor and the video card.
The processor can range from 10W to 130W or so.
The video card from 10W to maybe 160W.
I need to know more about your hardware, to decide what to pick.

Do you have any expansion plans ? Do you need any PCI Express power
connectors, for a future gaming video card upgrade ? Or will you
always be using low power/non-gamer type cards ?

The power supply business has always been slimy, for as long as
I've been looking at them. Some companies contract out their
manufacturing, which means a product that was good one year,
could change overnight. So you always have to be on your
toes when buying these, to detect when the quality has gone
to hell.

The cheapest one in this lot is $55, and seems to have a decent
reputation. It seems only Corsair's super-expensive one has
less than stellar ratings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE


So for a relatively low power system, this might be enough, and it
is 80% efficient (so runs cool).

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W
+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 20A, +12V @ 30A, -12V @ 0.8A, +5VSB @ 2.5A

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

That supply barely meets my requirements on 3.3V and 5V. That is
as low as I recommend going for current ratings on those rails
(since you cannot easily calculate good power numbers for them).
Modern supplies have been reducing the current capacity on the
lower voltage rails. For example, that power supply would not be
good enough to run my old A7N8X-E Deluxe with AthlonXP. But on
newer systems, the load is mostly on the 12V rail. And there you
can see plenty of amps for a basic computer.

If you had a high end video card, something a gamer might buy,
then you'd need a bigger power supply. (Not as big as
the video card company recommends, but still a bit bigger.)

Paul

1 GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX
Intel Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX
Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:GA-E7AUM-DS2H
Item #:N82E16813128363
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$129.99 $129.99
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
Processor Model BX80571E7600

Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
Processor Model BX80571E7600 - Retail
Model #:BX80571E7600
Item #:N82E16819115059
Return Policy:CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
In Stock

$144.99 $144.99
2 Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:WD2500AAJS
Item #:N82E16822136113
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$44.99 $89.98

 

[Paul]

1 GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro
ATX Intel Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX
Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:GA-E7AUM-DS2H
Item #:N82E16813128363
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$129.99 $129.99
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
Processor Model BX80571E7600

Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
Processor Model BX80571E7600 - Retail
Model #:BX80571E7600
Item #:N82E16819115059
Return Policy:CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
In Stock

$144.99 $144.99
2 Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:WD2500AAJS
Item #:N82E16822136113
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$44.99 $89.98

Integrated graphics. No video power to speak of. My standard rating
for the motherboard plus RAM, is 50W. This is a "placeholder" number,
because there is too much variation in design style, to work it out
with any precision. The 50W comes from some or both of the 3.3V and 5V
rails. If it all came from 3.3V, then the 20A number would handle it.

GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro

Core2 Duo with Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 65W. The actual processor
can be much better than that. For example, my 65W E4700 draws only 36W max.
We'll call it 65W anyway. The Vcore converter near the processor socket,
is 90% efficient, so 65W/0.90 = 72.2W at the ATX12V 2x2 square power plug
input. Dividing by 12V gives roughly 6 amps. This is the only load on
the 12V2 power supply rail.

Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core

Hard drives have become better in some respects, and worse in others.
At startup, the hard drive can draw 2.5 to 3.0 amps from the 12V rail,
for the first 10 seconds. Power drops to about 0.6 amps once the spindle
is up to speed and the heads load. The 5V rail on the controller draws about
1 amp.

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM

The optical burner draws 12V @ 1.5A and 5V @ 1.5A, according to the
"boiler plate" value on different brands of drives. I've measured my
current optical drive, and it uses 12V @ 1.0A at full speed. I didn't
bother to check the 5V value. Some other kinds of burners, like
Bluray, may draw more current than this.

The first step of the calculation, is working out the 12V1 and 12V2 currents.
We already know the 12V2 is 6 amps, and that is to power the processor.

12V2 = CPU = 6 amps (a 130W processor would double this to 12 amps)

12V1 = HDD + ODD + fans + video_card

= 0.6 + 1.5 + 0.5 + 0 = 2.6 amps

Obviously, if a video card is added later, the current on 12V1 will be
higher.

Next step, is a total power calculation. Total power includes the 5V rails
of the optical drives, which haven't been accounted for yet. 10W is included
for +5VSB loading (to support some USB devices). The motherboard 50W will be
included at this point (50W covers the RAM sticks, which can be a couple watts
each, and perhaps a 30W chipset and assorted goodies).

System_power = ((6 amps + 2.6 amps) * 12V) + (USB) + (motherboard) + hdd_+5 + odd_+5

= 104.4W + (10W) + (50W) + (5W) + (7.5W) = 176.9W

So in principle, a pretty low power supply could handle the build without
a video card. Even if a 72W video card was thrown in, the power is
still pretty reasonable.

*******

So if I select a supply, to satisfy a build without a video card,
I can get something like this. Seasonic is the company that started
the 80% efficiency supply business, as near as I can recollect. They
introduced double forward conversion (whatever that is). One of the
sticking points of some of their first designs, were one of the 3.3V
or 5V rails only delivered about half the rated power before they
began to droop. I don't know if that is still an issue with them or
not.

SeaSonic SS-400ET 400W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 80 PLUS Active PFC Power Supply - OEM $51

+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 20A, +12V1 @ 17A, +12V2 @ 17A, -12V @ 0.8A, +5VSB @ 2.5A
<----- 130W max -----> <------ 360W max ------->
<------------------------------------- 400W max -------------------------->

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151061

Your computer build, without video card but using the built-in 9400,
is not going to be a challenge for that supply.

Seasonic build their own supplies. Corsair, on the other hand, would contract
out, like Antec does. So now let's compare the Corsair.

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W $55
+3.3V @ 20A, +5V @ 20A, +12V @ 30A, -12V @ 0.8A, +5VSB @ 2.5A

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

The Corsair ties the 12V1 and 12V2 together internally. The 30A limit
is 360W, just like the SeaSonic. In a way, they're almost identical.
If you get your rebate, the Corsair might be a bit cheaper.

One difference as well, is the Corsair has more reviews to read. And
if I read enough of them, I can see the Corsair has some DOA reports.
On the SeaSonic, there aren't enough reviews to know for sure. On a
different model of SeaSonic, I can see DOAs as well.

I like supplies with relative clean review records, and I'm not
finding a winner right now. So the two above are good on price.
But I can't find anything which is outstanding on quality.

I saw a Fortron that might have been good, but there were
zero reviews for it. Without reviews, it is hard to tell
if it is a winner or not. Fortron designs precisely to spec,
so if the specs allow a certain level of crossloading, that
is exactly what you'll find. On some of the low end
Fortron supplies, the cables are short, so some builders
have trouble cabling things up. But otherwise, a Fortron/FSP/Sparkle
would be another good bet. Fortron build their own supplies.

Paul

 

[Justin]

The Corsair ties the 12V1 and 12V2 together internally. The 30A limit
is 360W, just like the SeaSonic. In a way, they're almost identical.
If you get your rebate, the Corsair might be a bit cheaper.

One difference as well, is the Corsair has more reviews to read. And
if I read enough of them, I can see the Corsair has some DOA reports.
On the SeaSonic, there aren't enough reviews to know for sure. On a
different model of SeaSonic, I can see DOAs as well.

I like supplies with relative clean review records, and I'm not
finding a winner right now. So the two above are good on price.
But I can't find anything which is outstanding on quality.

I saw a Fortron that might have been good, but there were
zero reviews for it. Without reviews, it is hard to tell
if it is a winner or not. Fortron designs precisely to spec,
so if the specs allow a certain level of crossloading, that
is exactly what you'll find. On some of the low end
Fortron supplies, the cables are short, so some builders
have trouble cabling things up. But otherwise, a Fortron/FSP/Sparkle
would be another good bet. Fortron build their own supplies.

Paul

I didn't realize microATX and ATX power supplies were the same.
I have a Thermaltake TR2 470 sitting here. I'll probably just use that.

 

[Paul]

I didn't realize microATX and ATX power supplies were the same.
I have a Thermaltake TR2 470 sitting here. I'll probably just use that.

I'm just going by the shape of the case and hole cutout on the back.

I don't think those cases are so small, they're using one of the
smaller form factor power supplies.

Paul

 

[geoff]

I would definitely not buy a case with only two reviews unless you have
already seen it or used it personally and like it.

--g

 

[Justin]

I would definitely not buy a case with only two reviews unless you have
already seen it or used it personally and like it.

--g

Gotcha.
Can you recommend another one?

I might have to go with Intel - since AMD doesn't seem to have the
selection I want.
I need the board to have RAID 1, Firewire, a half decent built in
graphics adapter. The built in part is a pain since I have yet to see a
MicroATX board that doesn't have it built in.
Also, suppose I move to Japan... will the PSU be able to take toe
Japanese 100v rather than the standard North American 110 to 125v? I
know they have switches int he back, but that 100v worries me.

 

[geoff]

Gotcha.

Can you recommend another one?

One thing I did is go down to one of the small computer shops, like Intrex,
and look at their cases to get a feel for them. I'm not sure what your
budget is but Antec always has a good quality feel to it and I've used
cheaper cases for budget builds but they had plenty of reviews.

Here is a case I used for my last budget build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspxItem=N82E16811147112


.. . . the only issue with it is the reset button is small, not a big deal.

--g

 

[Paul]

Gotcha.
Can you recommend another one?

I might have to go with Intel - since AMD doesn't seem to have the
selection I want.
I need the board to have RAID 1, Firewire, a half decent built in
graphics adapter. The built in part is a pain since I have yet to see a
MicroATX board that doesn't have it built in.
Also, suppose I move to Japan... will the PSU be able to take toe
Japanese 100v rather than the standard North American 110 to 125v? I
know they have switches int he back, but that 100v worries me.

Are you saying you want built-in graphics or not ?

This doesn't have built-in graphics And it uses a Core i7 processor
in a microATX form factor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371

This is an Intel board with a Geforce 9400 built-in graphics. $130
The Northbridge gets hot, so you may want to add cooling. This
would take a Core2 processor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128363

This Intel board uses an Intel chipset (G45) and is a more
ordinary one. $130

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128390

*******

This would be an AMD board. The 785 is more or less like the 780.

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

Paul

 

[Justin]

Are you saying you want built-in graphics or not ?

I would rather not, however to keep costs down I may be forced to concede.
I am a purist - I looked and looked back int he early 2000's for boards
without sound. Alas those days are over.

This doesn't have built-in graphics And it uses a Core i7 processor
in a microATX form factor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371

A nice board and it has everything I'm looking for bit at $220 it is a
bit pricey. BUT I like it and will definately add it to the list of
options.

This is an Intel board with a Geforce 9400 built-in graphics. $130
The Northbridge gets hot, so you may want to add cooling. This
would take a Core2 processor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128363

Very nice and more in line with what I'm looking for pricewise.

This Intel board uses an Intel chipset (G45) and is a more
ordinary one. $130

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128390

*******

This would be an AMD board. The 785 is more or less like the 780.

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

Paul

That's actually the board I have specd out for now!
Here is what I had in mind. I intend to run Either Ubuntu or Windows XP
x64. Why? Because I have an unused license for XP64 - none for Vista.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108106
IN WIN BL641.300TBL Black Steel MicroATX Slim Case Computer Case 300W
Power Supply - Retail
$64.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD
Motherboard - Retail
$79.99
*I have dealt with Giga-byte boards before and never had a problem with
them. I also like the bright colors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220334
Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual
Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS24G8500ELKN - Retail
$63.99
*They make their sticks here in the USA... One of the few. I wonder
how well the company is doing overall.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103683
AMD Phenom II X3 705e Heka 2.5GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket
AM3 65W Triple-Core Processor - Retail
$119.00
**AMD cpus come with heat sink and fans right? When I went from a
single core to a dual core the difference was very dramatic. It took
less than 15 minutes to render video as opposed to over an hour on the
previous single core. I'm guessing three coures should be a nice thing
to have.

Also, I do not over clock.
What do you think?

 

[Paul]

I would rather not, however to keep costs down I may be forced to concede.
I am a purist - I looked and looked back int he early 2000's for boards
without sound. Alas those days are over.



A nice board and it has everything I'm looking for bit at $220 it is a
bit pricey. BUT I like it and will definately add it to the list of
options.


Very nice and more in line with what I'm looking for pricewise.


That's actually the board I have specd out for now!
Here is what I had in mind. I intend to run Either Ubuntu or Windows XP
x64. Why? Because I have an unused license for XP64 - none for Vista.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108106
IN WIN BL641.300TBL Black Steel MicroATX Slim Case Computer Case 300W
Power Supply - Retail
$64.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD
Motherboard - Retail
$79.99
*I have dealt with Giga-byte boards before and never had a problem with
them. I also like the bright colors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220334
Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual
Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS24G8500ELKN - Retail
$63.99
*They make their sticks here in the USA... One of the few. I wonder
how well the company is doing overall.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103683
AMD Phenom II X3 705e Heka 2.5GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket
AM3 65W Triple-Core Processor - Retail
$119.00
**AMD cpus come with heat sink and fans right? When I went from a
single core to a dual core the difference was very dramatic. It took
less than 15 minutes to render video as opposed to over an hour on the
previous single core. I'm guessing three coures should be a nice thing
to have.

Also, I do not over clock.
What do you think?

You know, with the direction your build is taking, I have to wonder
whether a laptop wouldn't be a better computing solution. You're showing
me a computer case, which will be a colossal pain to upgrade. If
your needs are fixed, a laptop also has a fixed design, and you
can select a laptop with just the interfaces you want.

Check the Newegg adverts, to see if the AMD processor includes a
heatsink/fan. Some of the Black Edition processors with unlocked
multipliers, dispensed with the heatsink/fan. But that situation
may have changed. The Newegg specification details, may mention
whether the heatsink/fan is included. The AMD site itself, is useless
for getting information like that.

Using a picture from the collection for IN WIN BL641.300TBL, these
are your power supply ratings.

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-108-106-11.jpg

3.3V @ 20A, 5V @ 12A, 12V1 @ 16A, 12V2 @ 16A, -12V @ 0.3A, +5VSB @ 2.0A
<---- 110W max ----> <----- 240W max -----> <------ 10W max ------->
<-------------------------------- 300W max -------------------------->

That means the 12V output is actually 20A total, which could be split
16A + 4A for example. The 5V is breaking my rule on current - I don't
have enough motherboards around here, to give you a measurement as
to what typical new designs are using. If the design used linear
regulators, then loading up the 3.3V to power the chipset would be
a possibility, and then the 5V is lightly loaded. If aux power regulation
on the motherboard uses switchers, they could run from 5V or 12V. I
have no way to predict whether your "5V @ 12A" will be a problem or not.

I think that computer case, uses low profile expansion cards. That means,
if you want to add an expansion card later, it has to be "low profile" type.
You should do a market survey, to see what your options are in that
case.

If the 300W supply fails, that could also be a challenge to replace.
Yes, there are products to purchase, but not as many choices as a
regular power supply.

The power supply is not autoswitching. There is a red slider on the back
of the supply, for 115V/230V operation.

Paul

 

[Justin]

You know, with the direction your build is taking, I have to wonder
whether a laptop wouldn't be a better computing solution. You're showing
me a computer case, which will be a colossal pain to upgrade. If
your needs are fixed, a laptop also has a fixed design, and you
can select a laptop with just the interfaces you want.

Check the Newegg adverts, to see if the AMD processor includes a
heatsink/fan. Some of the Black Edition processors with unlocked
multipliers, dispensed with the heatsink/fan. But that situation
may have changed. The Newegg specification details, may mention
whether the heatsink/fan is included. The AMD site itself, is useless
for getting information like that.

Using a picture from the collection for IN WIN BL641.300TBL, these
are your power supply ratings.

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-108-106-11.jpg

3.3V @ 20A, 5V @ 12A, 12V1 @ 16A, 12V2 @ 16A, -12V @ 0.3A, +5VSB @ 2.0A
<---- 110W max ----> <----- 240W max -----> <------ 10W max ------->
<-------------------------------- 300W max -------------------------->

That means the 12V output is actually 20A total, which could be split
16A + 4A for example. The 5V is breaking my rule on current - I don't
have enough motherboards around here, to give you a measurement as
to what typical new designs are using. If the design used linear
regulators, then loading up the 3.3V to power the chipset would be
a possibility, and then the 5V is lightly loaded. If aux power regulation
on the motherboard uses switchers, they could run from 5V or 12V. I
have no way to predict whether your "5V @ 12A" will be a problem or not.

I think that computer case, uses low profile expansion cards. That means,
if you want to add an expansion card later, it has to be "low profile"
type.
You should do a market survey, to see what your options are in that
case.

If the 300W supply fails, that could also be a challenge to replace.
Yes, there are products to purchase, but not as many choices as a
regular power supply.

The power supply is not autoswitching. There is a red slider on the back
of the supply, for 115V/230V operation.

Paul

Ahh... **** it.
MicroATX sucks. I need something powerful and a laptop is too expensive
for the computing power I need.

Know any decent compact normal ATX cases?

 

[Paul]

Ahh... **** it.
MicroATX sucks. I need something powerful and a laptop is too expensive
for the computing power I need.

Know any decent compact normal ATX cases?

You can keep the microATX. That is still a viable concept. Use a case
the same shape as the Linksworld, but something which is a bit stronger.
The expansion slots would be regular height. The power supply would be
an ATX one. If you need to change out components, the components should
be easy to replace.

If you're doing video editing, the built-in graphics should be
fine.

Are you going to be transporting this system around ?

What kind of budget do you have for the build ? Do you
already have the monitor purchased ? If this is an
upgrade build, and you already have the bits and pieces
sitting around, then that will help on the price.

I think my last (incremental) upgrade cost about $300 CDN.
We don't get quite the same bargains as the USA. To save
money, I recycled a nine year old case I did have to buy
a new power supply, because my Antec failed just before I
started the build (leaking caps). At least it didn't damage
anything.

Paul

 

[Justin]

You can keep the microATX. That is still a viable concept. Use a case
the same shape as the Linksworld, but something which is a bit stronger.
The expansion slots would be regular height. The power supply would be
an ATX one. If you need to change out components, the components should
be easy to replace.

Gotcha. But I can't seem to find a decent one with good reviews.
How about this, instead of having two internal 3.5" bays for two RAID 1
drives, how about just one internal 3.5" and an external 3.5" and just
but a SATA drive in there. Would that work?

If you're doing video editing, the built-in graphics should be
fine.

Are you going to be transporting this system around ?

Yes. I will eventually have a hard foam case for it.
At my last job we did something similar, we had a Dell PC that was small
and we used it at trade shows. There was a hard case we sent through
the airport and everything.

What kind of budget do you have for the build ? Do you
already have the monitor purchased ? If this is an
upgrade build, and you already have the bits and pieces
sitting around, then that will help on the price.

I have two SATA hard drives, a PATA DVD-RW drive and an ATX power supply.

 

[Justin]

<snip>
What's wrong with these?

<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
&Tpk=N82E16813128394>

<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371>

<http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?
Submit=Property&Subcategory=280&Description=&Type=&N=2010200280
&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=1256%
3A42936&PropertyCodeValue=1256%3A46230&PropertyCodeValue=749%3A7612
&PropertyCodeValue=749%3A20786&PropertyCodeValue=757%3A7619>



These?

<http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?
Submit=Property&Subcategory=7&Description=&Type=&N=2010090007
&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=548%
3A8478>

The links don't want to work, it seems they wrapped them and for some
reason C&Ping isn't working.
Have any item numbers?