What do ya'll experts think of this case as a starting point?  $54
www.xpcases.com/shop/item.asp?CatID=14&Sku=31
Specification
* Power Supply Included
   -   350 Watt TurboLink New ATX12V P4/AMD Power Supply
     -   Supports: AMD, Pentium IV, Pentium III and Celeron
     -   Rear I/O Switch
* Main Board
     -   ATX
* Computer Case External Dimensions
     -    Depth: 440mm
     -    Width: 200mm
     -    Height: 430mm
* Drive Space
     -   5.25” Front Accessible Drives: 4
     -   3.5”   Front Accessible Drives: 2
     -   3.5”   Internal Access Drives: 4
* Computer Case rear Expansion Slots: 7
* Computer Case Material: Metal
* Computer Case Fans
     -   80mm Rear Exhaust Fans: 2 (Optional)
     -   80mm Front hidden Fans: 1 (Optional)
* Front Panel Features
     -   USB Access Ports: 2
     -   Microphone Jack: 1
     -   Speaker Jack:       1

* MORE INCLUDED ITEMS AND FEATURES:
* Front Panel Switch: POWER / RESET
* L.E.D. Display: POWER / HDD
* Extension Cables for Front Panel Access Ports
* Acrylic Face Cover for Polished Appearance
* PC Cases side panel with 80mm Cooling Fan
* Power Supply AC Cord
* Thumb Screws for pc cases side panel
* Main Board Mounting screws, Drive screws and stand offs

Looks like a good starting point.

Plenty of extra bays.

What kind of a rig are you building? Gamer?

That is a pretty basic case IMO. You can find less expensive ones at [url]www.newegg.com[/url], some for 25 bucks with power.

I do all my computer hardware shopping at newegg, great service and shipping.

i 2nd that, hit newegg

No, no games, I have an xbox and a 53" TV for that.

No, what I want is a mega-system that I can keep for several years and upgrade as needed.  A few years back I bought a top-of-the-line machine and it's still going strong. Want to do the same again.  Don't want to buy a Dell, just to have to replace it next year.

Incidentally, is 350watts enough?  I want a middle of the road video & sound cards, DVD burner, DVD drive and that's about it.

What are you looking to use the computer for?

I recently built a shuttle SB51GB with a 2.8ghz processor and a gig of ram. I now use the firewire ports to give it 600gb of hard disk storage.

Anyway, here is the SB51G from newegg. All you add is Processor, Memory, Hard Disk, OS, speakers and keyboar/mouse.
[img]http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-412-11.JPG[/img]

[url]http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=sb51[/url]

It comes with firewire, USB, graphics, sound,
etc.
[url]http://secure.newegg.com/app/specification.asp?item=56-101-412[/url]

Why not just buy a new motherboard/processor and upgrade your current machine?

Couple of reasons. One is that I just want to try my hand at this.  Two is that I'm looking to start fresh, with a whole new system.  Three is that I'd like to setup a network with these things for a couple of reasons.

I have thought about doing just what you say though, simply buy a DVD burner to replace my current CD burner, a new motherboard, chip, and RAM, and keep on trucking.  

Basically my old HD is just cluttered with shit, and once I pull out the data that I want onto the new system via the network, I'll reformat it and start fresh.

i've got that case, but in white...i like it

350W is pretty much a good baseline but the 425W range is much better.  More important is to buy a reputable power supply maker.  A cheapo can bring lots of grief, get yourself something along the lines of a Enermax.  Go to Newegg.com and look under the reviews of the power supplies or any other item.  You will get a jist of what is hot and what is not.

Your case looks just like the one I helped a friend build a system.  If its the one I am thinking it has a motherboard tray, very nice!!!

Get yourself some round ATA cables, they are so much nicer than the crappy ribbon cables.  Allows air to flow better, which is a must with todays popcorn popping processors.

try [url]www.cyberpowerpc.com[/url] their pre-configured systems are geared toward gaming, but you can customize one any way you like

CompUSA is having a Pre-Thanksgiving Day sale tomorrow from 6pm-midnight. Look in the flyers for the deals. Some deals:

[b]4x DVD+-R/RW : $90 after $20MIR [/b]
160GB 8MB Cache HD : $80 after $80MIR
Compaq 2.4GHz Celeron 15" Laptop : $600 after $300MIR  

[url]http://www.compusa.com/adproducts/thanksgiving03/wednesday/wed_pg1.pdf[/url]

I don't work off of mail in rebates.  I have NEVER gotten one back.  I have probably sent in about 20 in the last 5 years, and have never gotten the money on a single one.  Because of that I just work off of the actual price.

I can tell you that I have gotten all of the rebates I have sent in for Maxtor hard drives from Staples and Office Depot. I have sent 9 in this year and gotten them all back.

I have had less success with CompUSA. However, the DVD drive is sill a good price without the rebate.

I don't like them, but I've probably sent twice that many in in the past 5 years, and I've gotten every single one back...  They always take the maximum amount of time possible.  Heck, I think I got my day-after-Thanksgiving rebates from last year back this April.

Than try [url]www.hot-deals.org[/url]

i HAVE NEVER HAD A PROPLEM WITH rebates..

..

speaking of rebates ....I saw a rebate offer on motor oil at Auto-zone last nite...

40¢ mail in rebate.. wow.. after the 32¢ stamp your up 8 cents... oh wait I didnt factor in the cost of the envoploe [:)] now your out 20 ¢  ya-hoo!!!!!

Uh.. Stamps cost $.37.

Also try:

[url]www.computerlandcentral.com[/url]
and
[url]www.slickdeals.net[/url]

Sure, but [b]my WIFE[/b] pays for those!

WOW.. Freaking stamp!

damn guess I've been doing online bill pay longer then I taught...

triing to think... is there anybill you cant pay over the net or over the phone..?

37¢  ... wow..

ok, anyway, this isn't about rebates.  It's about computer building and/or towers.  I choose not to deal with rebates, but I'm glad to hear all of you have had great experiences with them.  

Now, if someone has a specific tower to recomend, I'd appreciate it.  Preferably one with a respectable power supply that I don't have to jump-down-turn-around-and-pick-a-bale-of-cotton to get a good price on.

no, but i like to get bills that fluctuate (cell, electric) in the mail in case they try to screw me.

whoa, this thread is getting off track.  those shuttle pc's are actually a kickass deal.  2.8GHz celeron, 256 ram, and dvd+r for ~400 bucks.  if they didn't look so goofy, i'd get one strictly for burning dvd's.

edited: bad spellah

nice

your original case will get you by just fine.  decent price, decent power supply (if you're not gonna run a radeon 9800xt on 8x agp), good form factor, aesthetically pleasing.  sounds great.

Nice looking case.  Dual fans with an additional video card fan on the cover is the way to go.

I like [url]http://www.ocsystem.com/[/url].  If I was you I'd go crazy on the P4 ready power supply.  Get the highest wattage brand name power supply you can get.  The advances in power supplies are slow compared to CPUs, MOBO, RAM, Video, etc..  Get a big one right off the bat and your set for life.  I had to upgrade my 200w Dell power supply when I upgraded the video card.  I can't believe it ran on only 200w.  I got a triple fan 465w (continuous) P4 ready power supply.

Dell is fine for upgrading unless your new the hobby.  When I got my new power supply I noticed that Dell had a different pinout. Nearly smoked my whole PC.  I had to rewire the ATX and AUX power connectors.

Shok

I have the SB51GB the last B is for black. I put it in with my stereo components. I run the sound through my stereo and get Dolby digital from the SPDIF out.

I also run the DVD and External Hard Drives through the firewire. That way, if I ever upgrade the PC or move to another one, I just unplug the drives and plug them into the other PC. In addition, this lets me turn them on only when I want to use them.

I also have a removable hard drive swapping kit in the 5 1/2" drive bay. This lets me swap hard drives like disks.

My monitor is my Sony HS10 Front Projector. I have a full 1x1 pixel mapped 90" screen. The computer has full internet access and a Gyration Keyboard/Mouse for wireless use.

The case you discribed sounds okay,but I would want more than two USB ports!

Bob

That's just on the front panel.  The motherboards I've been looking at are coming with as many as 5 (4 external and 1 internal to run the two front ones to) and you can find them that come with as many as 8.  I'm actually trying to find one that comes with 4 external for the rear, and two internal, one from the fronts to tie into, and one to tie a memorycard reader into.

My 17 yr old son & 14yr old daughter built a system unit using the same box & power supply. We are currently running a 40GB & 160GB Western Digital harddisks with 3 vent fans, an AMD Athlon 2100 processor, and a MSI Ti4200 graphics board. System runs like a champ.

Is this a case of build it and they will come? What are you going to use it for? Surfing this board? Listening to music? Hosting a porn website? Cracking NSA codes? Designing the replacement for the Shuttle? Doing your taxes? Checking the ballistics on your latest hand-load? I think a poll is needed to determine what the appropriate use of this new beast will be.

BTW, I built a Dell 530 workstation a year ago and it still kicks butt (twin 1.8Ghz processors, 4GB RAM, Quadro 900 graphics card with 2 20in LCD screens, DVD burner, two 30 GB 15k RPM Ultra 320 hard drives for the OS, software and CAD scratch files, one 120 GB drive for data). Use it to do high end CAD work / FEM analysis and of course interact with all of the fine ladies and gentlemen of this forum. The real point was that I built it for a purpose and it doesn't fade in worth over time when considered for that purpose.

CW

a couple months old but

[url]http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/hotrod.html[/url]


that website also has a good forum, you might want to post questions there


another good forum is

[url]www.anandtech.com[/url]

It's a decent tower, and it's definitely a decent price for the tower...  You're going to kick yourself if you don't buy the optional cooling fans.  Also, cut some more holes in that tower, and ADD MORE FANS!

In fact, I'LL KICK you if you don't buy some 80mm fans to put in those slots!  You're going to need them.  I built my custom system over 4 years ago using all top-of-the-line components.  It lasted a long time, but in the past year, it was seriously lagging in performance, and couldn't keep up with my needs.  As a result, I bought all new components to fulfill my needs.  The faster processors, video/graphics cards, and other devices generate A LOT more heat than older computers do...  There are some things you simply SHOULD NOT skimp on:

Graphics Cards:  It fits your needs now, but will it meet your needs of future software titles?  Take my advice, and check online reviews (the most up-to-date ones you can find), and buy either the best one listed, or buy the "Best Bang For The Buck" model they choose.  I bought the BBFTB model last year, and am glad to say that it meets all my needs.  My family bought a low-cost monitor, and it can't run some of the software they now need to use, and will likely be upgrading soon.

CPU Heatsinks & Fans:  DO NOT SKIMP ON THESE!!!  Buy the best one you can afford, or a reputable liquid cooling system if you can afford it!  Buy one in a good copper heatsink, and with a big & high RPM fan.

Case Fans:  I bought a large tower for my computer system that was designed for older components, and wasn't designed with the most effective cooling options.  I had modded my tower with a window, the usual geek stuff.  Then when upgrading my system, it required MUCH more cooling, as the processor was running up around 118 Deg F (at all times), and this is NOT GOOD.  I cut multiple holes in the case at strategic locations, and now have a total of 8 cooling fans on the system, bought an expensive copper heatsink/fan combo for the CPU, and another one to replace the one on my graphics card.  This setup currently keeps it cool for most operations, but when doing some graphically intensive gaming, the processor can STILL spike up to about 114 deg F as opposed to its normal temp of ~90 deg F...

Lesson to be learned:  YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY COOLING FANS!!!