Best cheap case with a quality powersupply?

[User5]

Hey, my friend is building a computer and has every part but a power supply. He has a case, but its old and crappy and he wants a cool one.

He is kinda into those cooler looking cases (allthough not the rediculous ones with leds everywhere you look) and one that comes with a power supply that will work well and wont fail within a short period of time. But if there is a good deal on a generic case, it will do as well.

Hes got like 50-60 MAX dollars to spend. Is there any case with a good powersupply that he can get? I know its hard to ask, since a good powersupply alone will cost that, but were just wondering here. We saw some nice Enermax case/psus and they looked pretty nice and are in that price range. How are they? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Anubis]

enermax makes good powersupplies dont now about their cases

look at the Antec cases, they are nice and their power sup0plies are great

 

[User5]

Yeah, I know that Antec makes great cases and PSUs, ive got em both in my rig

But they are a little pricy.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[BW86]

antec 3700amb

enermax cases dont come with enermax psu's they come with PowerUp Psu's

 

[User5]

^oh, are those worth getting? or not?

That Antec looks pretty good, thanks for the suggestion.

Is he better off just buying a case without a PSU and buy a seperate PSU?

ALSO, he has a micro-atx form motherboard. Is this a problem at all?

 

[BW86]

well that would cost more, what kinda case does he have now

EDIT: no

 

[Atodd]

If Antec is too expensive, try Chieftec. Cheaper version of the same stuff...

 

[User5]

Originally posted by: BW86
well that would cost more, what kinda case does he have now

EDIT: no

Hes got a big peice of crap case. I mean, he could live with it if he had to, but if there is a cool looking case with a good powersupply for under $60 he wants to go with that (he likes the enermaxs) Otherwise, he will probably just get the PSU now and live with the case.

And no to which? Micro ATX not being a problem, or Powerup PSUs that come with enermax cases are not good?

thanks

 

[BW86]

no to the micro atx not being a problem

 

[mechBgon]

Be sure to check your facts if buying an Enermax case with an included PSU. You might get an L&C/Power-Up PSU (which is bad, if that wasn't clear). Newegg's "See It" photos are a good resource.

Of the brands I know of, I would give consideration to Antec (always comes with Antec inside), Inwin (comes with good PowerMan units), possibly Enlight if you can stand their appearance...

Here's one I got for my mom's budget rig: black Inwin S-series case with included USB 2.0 card-reader/front-port combo unit thing (very nice too). If your friend's optical and floppy drives are black, this would look nice. The ring around the power button glows blue when it's on, ooOOooo! :Q Nice, distinctive, but not pimpy-flashy.

Mom's riggie has a 1.8GHz Duron, a Shuttle MN31N with onboard everything except a PCI modem, and one each of floppy, optical and hard drives. I'm comfortable with the 300W PSU for that, although it's a shade louder than I'd prefer. If I were building a harder-hitting system with a mid-to-high-end video card, I'd upgrade the PSU, but then again I'm building a computer that I want to still operate 4-5 years from now... Mom doesn't have Upgrade Disease like I do, she's going to keep it for a while (what's wrong with her, anyway?! )

You can get that case without the card-reader unit too. That drops the price down into your pal's price range better.

 

[User5]

Cool, thanks ill let him know.

But so im clear on this, the Powerup PSU's are bad? The case he really likes has that in it. But Enermax PSUs are good, right?

Whats the cheapest powersupply that is any good incase he decides to just get that? Hes only powering an nvidia board with an AMD1800+

thanks!!

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: User5
Cool, thanks ill let him know.

But so im clear on this, the Powerup PSU's are bad? The case he really likes has that in it. But Enermax PSUs are good, right?

Whats the cheapest powersupply that is any good incase he decides to just get that? Hes only powering an nvidia board with an AMD1800+

thanks!!

yes the powerup psu's are crap.

yes enermax psus are great.

heres a cheap but good psu Text

 

[mechBgon]

For a basic AthlonXP 1800+ system with an older video card (or onboard video) and just two or three drives, how about a 300W Sparkle Power, $34 shipped. If you wanted more power for the future, the real 350W Enermax unit at $60 has a high peak 12V amperage, and that's where power is looking to be important going down the road (high-end video cards and CPUs).

 

[BW86]

i forgot about those sparkle psu's

 

[User5]

Hes going to be using either a 9200 pro PCI video card or a nvidia geforce 4MX AGP. We need to test which would be better. But maybe down the line something like a 9600 pro, but nothing with a reqired molex. He actually just needs a new PSU because his old one didnt have that 4-head ATX connector or whatever it is. All these PSUs will have that, right?

Ill take those into consideration, thank you guys. Also, how is this? Thermaltake 420w

Is that any good? Its got good ratings on newegg.

Thanks again

 

[BW86]

yep thats a good psu

 

[FreshFish]

I would think that 420w is overkill for your purposes. I have heard good things about Thermaltake though...

 

[McMadman]

Antec 3700amb is of course a good one $75 at newegg shipped with a smart power 350w
the 2600 and 1600 come with 300w smart powers and 70.98 and 64.49 respectively. The best value is of course the 3700.

EDIT: As of 12:47EST the 3700amb shows as $69 shipped from newegg (I hate how the price can change over the course of a few hours)
Link

 

[Zepper]

Some of the athenatech cases have Fortron's budget line PSUs (Power-Q or some such). And the Evercase 4292 can be had with a decent PSU. Of course there is always one of the best: Compucase 6A19 that should come with the excellent HEC (Heroichi) 300W PSU - but it's not real pretty...
. If it's a microATX mobo and there aren't a lot of drives, take a hard look at the Silverstone SST-GD98-LED (called the mini Berserker) - I ran across a place that had it for $41. shipped (Gameve.com) in the last day or so. Or perhaps the Aopen H420. PM me if you need sources.
And BTW, this topic belongs in Cases & Cooling - normally I would have hit it with an OT and gone on my way.
.bh.