Recent content by TransientBen

I just picked up the Coolermaster Cavalier 3 - http://www.svc.com/cav-t03-wwk-19.html (I got it silver) and I'm extremely impressed with the quality of it. As mentioned, make a price range for yourself, read some reviews and look around. Simple, but sucks up a LOT of time.

I've got the full out IPod (4th Gen, 20GB) and I really couldn't be happier. Got it as a perk at work - I swore I'd never purchase one due to price and fanatic users - but I love it. A friend owns a Creative Zen (not the Micro) and the difference in size is considerably more significant than I...

Everything I've read on the Lanparty NF4Ultra-D has said to only use a 24 pin supply. Not a 20 and not a 20 with an adapter. I picked up the Enermax Noisetaker 2.0 425W - we'll see how it goes once all the parts are here.

The Anandtech Recommended (Feb 05 Midrange Buyers Guide) Fortron "Blue Storm" 400W PSU is close to that price.... $57 You might be able to find some people selling their Antec TruePower 380S supplies (from the Sonata case) in your budget.

Don't forget the Antec NeoPower. Of the modular supplies, that's the one I've consistently heard good things about.

Everyone I know who has ordered from ZipZoomFly has been happy. I can't help but think some of the feedback is a little unreasonable. Right now, I have my Mobo (same DFI you're getting) and Processor (3200+ to save me $100 over the 3500+) in the front office of the apartment complex from ZZF...

Read through a lot of the information on the main Anandtech site to find out what the deal is with the A64 chips and other hardware. http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2242 You may want to head to the Video forum to read some overviews of SLI to determine whether or not...

Sniper, I think in any hardware setup, you're going to run into some issues. It just tends to happen. Personally, while I've had great experiences with Asus boards, I was not about to shell out the extra cash for a SLI board when I never ever intend to use SLI. Every NF4 board that I've looked...

Someone in the large topic on that board (I believe it's this board, at least...) mentioned that there's a capacitor near where you plug in one of your power connections and it's easy to knock that out of place or otherwise screw it up if you're not careful...

I ended up going with the DFI simply because that was the big option. Ordered a board from ZZF and they mailed me back two days after the fact to say that it's out of stock. Had to quickly pick a new one, since I was hoping to build my system this weekend... so DFI it is. Their trackrecord...

ZZF just pissed me off on my order. Placed it Sunday. Monday, I receive an e-mail telling me everything is shipped and a Fedex tracking number with a delivery date of Wednesday. Tonight at 6pm, I receive an e-mail noting that the motherboard I'd chosen is now out of stock and wouldn't be back...

My latest order came primarily from ZZF (Mobo/Proc) and ChiefValue (PSU, HD, DVD/RW, RAM) - the latter is apparently a rebranded Newegg. Most of the pricing on ChiefValue was a little less than Newegg, even if only a dollar or two.

Great guide, mechBgon! I've built systems before, but I know better than to trust myself to do everything correctly. Without a step-by-step plan in place, I nearly always forget something important. (Like the out-of-state paintball trip where I left my boots at home and only had my sandals with...

Just ordered my first case mail order. I think your main worries come into play when you're getting a cheaper case (knock on wood). That having been said, friends have ordered cases online without a problem. Retail bought cases have two nasty tendencies: one, not being just what you want and...

The AMD 64s (socket 939, 90nm) are the way to go right now, both for cost and performance reasons. Retail 3200+ will set you back $190 shipped. Boards are a tossup, depending on what you intend to use. nForce4 just game out and several companies have boards out - MSI, DFI, Soltek, Chaintek, ECS...