Building a PC for ~$600

[Chess]

I haven't had a microATX mini tower case where the standard ATX power supply didn't fit. But apparently some of the cases do not fit the standard ATX PSU.







COUGAR Spike Black Steel / Plastic MicroATX Mini Tower Gaming Case
No statement regarding ATX PSU.

hmm odd... because the screw holes def dont line up at a... with the rosewill and the corsair....

 

[TerryMathews]

I haven't had a microATX mini tower case where the standard ATX power supply didn't fit. But apparently some of the cases do not fit the standard ATX PSU.







COUGAR Spike Black Steel / Plastic MicroATX Mini Tower Gaming Case
No statement regarding ATX PSU.

Only because you've been buying non conforming cases. There is a mATX PSU spec. They're smaller. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817170015

A lot of enthusiast mATX cases went to full size ATX PSU because there are more options and generally mATX PSUs aren't available in high enough wattage to satisfy that kind of build.

 

[Chess]

Terry:

this was my build..
CPU: AMD A8-6600K 3.9GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: SilenX EFZ-80HA3 36.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Storage: Sandisk Solid State Drive 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer

Looks like i screwed up something... question is which would you replace.. the PS or the tower....

 

[chusteczka]

Will the screw holes match if you flip the PSU over, so the fan opening is facing downward? Here are images of the back of the case and the PSU. The ATX PSU should fit in that specific microATX case. I remember checking for this when I recommended the build. However, at that time I had forgotten to check for the case front panel USB3.0 port.

Here is the different hole pattern for a microATX power supply.

 

[mfenn]

Will the screw holes match if you flip the PSU over, so the fan opening is facing downward? Here are images of the back of the case and the PSU. The ATX PSU should fit in that specific microATX case. I remember checking for this when I recommended the build. However, at that time I had forgotten to check for the case front panel USB3.0 port.

:thumbsup: for the pics. The Ranger-M and CX430 use a totally standard ATX mounting pattern. The pattern is asymmetric becasue there's only one correct PSU orientation. In this case (pun intended), that's with the PSU fan facing down.

 

[Chess]

after a nice cut with blood gushing down... got the ps set....

wow this ssd is fast... win7 installed already with m$ suite, and now patching it...

thanks again guys !

 

[chusteczka]

after a nice cut with blood gushing down... got the ps set....

wow this ssd is fast... win7 installed already with m$ suite, and now patching it...

thanks again guys !

Hope your fingers heals clean and quick. Good to hear it is up and running. :thumbsup:

I think I had similar troubles with a PSU not going into proper position once due to a small support ledge inside the case I couldn't see. And then there was the time I tried to install the PSU with the fan intake against the metal top cover of the case.

 

[Chess]

Hope your fingers heals clean and quick. Good to hear it is up and running. :thumbsup:

I think I had similar troubles with a PSU not going into proper position once due to a small support ledge inside the case I couldn't see. And then there was the time I tried to install the PSU with the fan intake against the metal top cover of the case.

Thats basically what happened to be honest with you ! LOL

Now I need to figure out an SSD for my pc at home because that thing was lets say LIGHTNING quick my goodness gracias !!!

Do you suggest the sandisk 1298 gig ssd for anyones machine ?

 

[chusteczka]

The SSD does really help decrease latency and it helps a person realize that not all of a system's slowness is due to the processor. Then throw in a set of 1333MHz memory instead of the typical 1600, 1866, or faster and the speed and response difference allows a person to see the importance of each component in the system.

While I have purchased about two dozen 128GB SSD's for computers I have built, I am not fluent with the SSD controllers. I tend to purchase whatever 120 or 128GB SSD is on sale at the time. Although I have purchased two of those refurbished OCZ PCIe 128GB SSDs when they went on sale and even run my operating system on one now. The PCIe through the northbridge chipset was no faster than the SATAIII controller through the southbridge chipset.

I will let anyone else mention any recommendations but they would typically be based on the brand and version of controller. For standard computer use, they do not matter so much now a few years after introduction, most of the bugs that matter have been fixed from the early versions.

However, what I really like to do when building systems is to pull the drive after a new build is installed and updated, before I have installed any programs. I then connect that drive with a USB3 HDD docking station to my desktop and then image the whole drive, and store the image for later use. Maybe two years later when that system has corrupted through daily use, malware, and possibly even viruses, I just wipe the drive and reinstall the saved image on the drive. Nice and easy.

For computers that end up geographically remote from my location, I provide two imaged SSDs, both identical. When the one system gets corrupted, it is swapped out with the good one and then the SSD is shipped to me ($6 USPS) for re-imaging.

 

[mfenn]

Once you go SSD, you'll never go back. :awe: The Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB is indeed a great value at $60.