I will post on this later (I'm on mobile right now), and I have been down this rabbit hole. About an hour or two from now I'll pull up my list of resources.Does anyone here have experience making their own PC case?
I am about to make my third build this summer. This time I want to make my own case. What materials should I use? any sort of guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks![]()
![]()
re-quoting for new page c;
I just want to make sure I'm getting the best value for my buck if anyone has anything to chime in on.
I will post on this later (I'm on mobile right now), and I have been down this rabbit hole. About an hour or two from now I'll pull up my list of resources.
How fancy are you wanting to go?
Progress so far as I don't have everything and things are still not set in place. I removed the back side 140mm out and put it next to the 2 SP140's so the whole top is out and there is 2 front, 1 bottom, and 1 rear intake. The top outs on the SP140's are for the H110iGT which will be in push/pull.
Haven't taken out the protective film on the side panel as I'm not done yet or else you would be able to see inside better.
![]()
re-quoting for new page c;
I just want to make sure I'm getting the best value for my buck if anyone has anything to chime in on.
There are rubber pads that I moved to accommodate 3 140mm fans. There are 12 on top of the case. They basically absorb any movement vs being on the metal grill itself.Just curious with your build, do you leave the top panel on top of the case? If you do, are you getting any vibration noises?
It's sad because resident evil started as a series with so much atmosphere. Even thinking about 1,2, code Veronica, and 4 I have very vivid recollections. Revelations has about as much atmosphere as the gun savior and dead aim series. 6 is completely forgettable.
So before you go down this route, I just want to make a number of really great case makers known that are a little off the beaten path.hey thanks. I just want it to look badass and something I can show offMoney isn't really an issue here, and I am willing to put time, and work into it.
Alright PC GAF, after a good 7 year stint with my now old iMac, and my tax refund, I'm finally moving back the PC side. PC Gaming has come a long long way, and its long overdue for me to get back into it.
I've been keeping a PCPartpicker build going over the years and I'd update it here and there as new things came out, or I'd heard of something from browsing the PC threads, but I didn't have the funds to make the jump for a while.
All I ask is if someone who is far more familiar than me can take a look at my build and if possible add something better while maintaining price. I'm mostly concerned with video card/processor/RAM/storage/motherboard recs, I want to make sure the core is solid. I'm going Micro ATX for the motherboard. And I want to run the OS via solid state. Any help would be highly appreciated.
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jander/saved/R3HhP6
So before you go down this route, I just want to make a number of really great case makers known that are a little off the beaten path.
First, there's CaseLabs.
While all of the cases have an industrial look to them, it's all super thick aluminum and everything can be modded and chopped together to make exactly the case that you want.
There's also Little Devil which I personally love. Again, a simplistic design, but really it's there to be a quality blank canvas.
And then of course, Lian Li, which is well known. But they do have a number of super enthusiast type chassis. The fit and finish is unrivaled. When you touch that beautiful brushed aluminum, you know where your $ went.
Now with all of that out of the way, there's a few places that will sell bits and pieces of what you need in order to make the case usable.
The aforementioned CaseLabs has a bunch of parts that you can buy which add functionality or even form the core of what you're building, like the motherboard tray.
MountainMods has a ton of different parts as well, though a bit more dated and simplistic.
If you're in the US, FrozenCPU and Performance PCs have a ton of different parts, from fan controllers to motherboard trays, to cables, sleeving, tools, literally everything you would need to piece something together.
MNPC Tech also has a bunch of fun goodies, though their stuff can be a bit ostentacious, the knowledge of the guys there is almost unmatched. They also have a ton of great tools to make the modding/building easier.
Finally, there's MDPC-X which focuses primarily on cable management, sleeves, and tools to make your own cables.For inspiration, check out some of the builds at MDPC. http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/Once you buy something from them, you get a username and password to their forum which is filled with all of the top talent in case modding, as well as some really amazing guides. But I'm not supposed to tell people that.
In terms of designing the thing, I highly suggest Google Sketchup. There's an inventory of tons of parts to choose from so you know that your dimensions are working with the parts as intended. Totally invaluable. That's what I used to draw up my design:
In terms of what materials to use, aluminum, wood, and acrylic seem the most often used for scratch builds because they're fairly easy to work with and shape to get you what you want.
Good luck.
*edit*
I almost forgot Parvum Systems
I built my PC using this thread 2 years ago and finally took long overdue advice and picked up a Crucial MX100 256GB SSD. Going to keep my 2TB HD as storage and want the SSD for the normal operating system and Steam with my current fave games, etc. What's the best/easiest way to move the OS, Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit if it matters.
I see the Steam mover tool in the OP. I've googled and see programs recommended that cost $$ while others say just fresh install or clone the drive with the included software. Can you choose what it clones or do I have to clone my whole current drive which means juggling a bunch of stuff? I do have another large external drive.
Advice greatly appreciated and sorry for nub questions.
How cheap are we talking? I like this Gigabyte wifi adaptor, for $25 you get a lot of features like bluetooth, support for wireless a/b/g/n/ac, and an antenna on a wire that allows for superior signal reception compared to any of those black small plastic covered sticks because you can place it where you can get a signal best, preferably high.Does anyone have any recommendations for a cheapo wifi adapter that would fit the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 motherboard? I can't use the usb wifi thing I currently use, so I need something new.
Swap out that power supply for this.
Besides that, I'd recommend going for something like the 280X because it's close in price to the GPU you've selected (in the $230-$240) range. You can find benchmarks here. The problem is that the hard drive cage and the ODD mounts will probably get in the way of a 280X, but it's your call.
"The BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case supports video cards up to 320mm long, but video cards over 250mm may block drive bays. Since the Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card is 284mm long, some drive bays may not be usable."
How cheap are we talking? I like this Gigabyte wifi adaptor, for $25 you get a lot of features like bluetooth, support for wireless a/b/g/n/ac, and an antenna on a wire that allows for superior signal reception compared to any of those black small plastic covered sticks because you can place it where you can get a signal best, preferably high.
Alright PC GAF, after a good 7 year stint with my now old iMac, and my tax refund, I'm finally moving back the PC side. PC Gaming has come a long long way, and its long overdue for me to get back into it.
I've been keeping a PCPartpicker build going over the years and I'd update it here and there as new things came out, or I'd heard of something from browsing the PC threads, but I didn't have the funds to make the jump for a while.
All I ask is if someone who is far more familiar than me can take a look at my build and if possible add something better while maintaining price. I'm mostly concerned with video card/processor/RAM/storage/motherboard recs, I want to make sure the core is solid. I'm going Micro ATX for the motherboard. And I want to run the OS via solid state. Any help would be highly appreciated.
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jander/saved/R3HhP6
Doing a bit of reading, it looks like it definitely would be worth it to for a little bit more in price for the 280X. Though PCPartpicker kicks me back an incompatibility flag with my chosen case.
Given I'm just doing one 2TB 3.5, and one Solid State, and I have 5 bays with the BitFenix case so I guess I still should be fine? If anyone knows a better Micro ATX case, do tell.
$25 is good. Which Gigabyte wifi adapter in particular are you talking about? Something like this? As long as it does a good enough job getting me to the internets, I'm fine with whatever.
I can see some parts of the build to be optimized, I'll recommend alternative parts.
Changed the memory to faster Patriot low profile 2133MHz RAM for just $5 more..
Can't recommend Seagate at all, their failure rates are just too high now, Toshiba is more reliable and their $72 2TB drives are cheaper.
I agree that Seasonic is a good brand, but there are cheaper models than that $63 Seasonic that are just as good, like this Antec 620 watt modular model for $48 after rebate which is actually manufactured by Seasonic.
The DVD drive can be safely dropped to save the cost, optical drives are seeing a lot less use these days with digital distribution and USB drives having more or less replaced it.
Anyway, with all the money saved, you could pick up a MSI R9 290X for $280 after $30 rebate which is better and newer than the R9 280X.
The Bitfenix Phenom M case is also a cube PC case, but is cheaper and doesn't seem to have issues with long graphics cards.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.00 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($249.95 @ B&H)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($58.80 @ Amazon)
Total: $1431.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-09 23:27 EST-0500
Equal or better parts all around, and much stronger graphics card performance for games. If you want to save money, you could drop down to a MSI R9 290 instead for $240 after rebate which brings the cost of the build down to about $1390, making it cheaper than the original build yet still better.
Disk cloning usually means copying the entire contents of a drive/partition to another drive/partition. This is a decent guide to follow for drive cloning. If your OS drive's used space is larger than the SSD you want to move it on, then that's going to present a challenge. You should try to move as many personal files as you can off to an external drive until the space the OS drive takes up is smaller than the SSD, then you can clone it.
If you find that to be a hassle or cannot move enough stuff off the drive to make it fit, then you should just perform a clean install of Windows to the SSD instead. Open up the PC and disconnect the hard drive containing Windows, if it is still connected and powered, the existing copy of Windows could interfere with the installation of another copy of Windows. Once you finish installing Windows to the SSD, you can connect the hard drive containing the old copy of Windows and all your user files, and move what you need over. I recommend formatting the hard drive and/or deleting all of its partitions - doing that ensures that the old copy of Windows is gone along and will not interfere with the copy of Windows on the SSD. This guide to Windows Disk Management will help you with that.
Is there any hardware or something you can install that will let you remotely power a PC on and off? I mean actual shut down/boot up sequence. Would it be a keyboard thing or a separate remote? They gotta make these things for HTPCs right?
My keyboard has a sleep button but I can never get my PC to stay asleep.
If you're buying a new CPU and motherboard, you should really be looking at Intel instead of AMD.
Edit: I looked at what you posted on the last page, can you go to the thread's OP and fill out the form (i.e. budget, country of purchase, usage, minimum game requirements, etc.)?
That's a pretty good deal. Don't be pulled in by the inflated regular price of $350 though, the PNY XLR8 SSD is $90 by itself and the 16GB of PNY XLR8 RAM is $117, so this deal is more like $57 off instead of $200 off.
Why do you suggest going Intel over AMD?
Budget: $850 (US)
Main Use: (5) Gaming/Streaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Evolve/GTA/Battlefield Hardline
When will you build?: This coming weekend.
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe
Thanks again for the feedback. I do already have a HD/Case. This is the case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ2J25140&cm_re=azza-_-11-517-004-_-Product
Intel's been leading in the enthusiast/performance segment for the last two years or so when it comes to processors for games. In just about nearly every game, an Intel i5 K model processor will beat or at least match any FX processor, including the fastest FX-9xxx models. Also socket AM3+ has already been a dead platform with no foreseeable upgrades since mid 2013, whereas the current socket 1150 for midrange Intel CPUs still has some life in it. For a budget of $850, Intel will fit in there easily.
Now, as for CPU performance considerations, gamegpu.ru has done testing with the most recent betas for Evolve and Battlefield Hardline.
Evolve has fairly low CPU requirements and capped framerate at 60FPS (they recommend an 8.5 year old dual core CPU) so AMD FX will do just fine, although Battlefield Hardline has considerable performance gains with Intel. There is no beta or test of GTA V so we don't have any performance figures, but recommended specs indicate that the older Intel i5 3470 or the FX-8350 will do just fine. However, it's still hard to recommend the FX-8350 knowing that it will not see any upgrades and future replacements will require a new motherboard anyway. I recommend this, based on exmachina64's build but with some changes for stronger graphics card.:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Antec KUHLER H2O 650 Liquid CPU Cooler ($37.49 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($106.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $853.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-10 00:51 EST-0500
I'd normally recommend the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo air cooler, but the Azza Solano 1000 won't fit it. The 230mm fan on the side panel will definitely interfere with the top of the CPU cooler, and I don't know if removing the fan will give enough room.
Sorry mkenyon, I just can't find any CPU comparisons for Battlefield Hardline or Evolve other than the ones from gamegpu.ru, no one really seems to bother with testing AMD and Intel CPUs, most PC game performance articles almost always go with Intel and just test different graphics cards.
Mhmm wow. Thanks so much for all the input. Something to note (because you brought it up) is that heatsinks were indeed a problem when I first put the case together. I actually did remove the fan on the side panel and now I'm rocking this thing:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019
I'm not very comfortable with water cooling as I'm not really up to speed with how it works, but I'll probably be reusing my CPU up there (if that's okay? Is it okay to reuse a heatsink?)
I'll definitely switch my build to Intel though.. thanks for the insight. =)
edit: I did have one question; you suggested a Radeon GPU. Does that not interfere or anything with the Intel gear? I thought it always kinda went Nvidia -> Intel and Radeon -> AMD.
Did you put the side fan back on when you installed that round Zalman cooler?
The Zalman cooler is a bit dated, but if you prefer to keep the Zalman cooler to save money it will be compatible. You will need to have the old mounting parts for it because AMD and Intel use different mounting systems. When you bought it, it came with a bunch of additional parts in the box for mounting onto Intel motherboards. I'm not sure how well it will handle overclocking the i5 4690K, though.
No, it does not make a difference whether you mix and match Intel, AMD, or Nvidia. There is no performance boost or potential hardware conflict to having different manufacturers' parts match up.
Well, it doesn't seem to be a bad cooler, I just meant that it was listed as being released in 2006 so it was a bit hard to find info about how well it'd work for current motherboards and processors. If you don't have the other mounting parts then you can't really reuse it anyway.I did not put the fan back on :c (it didn't fit)
If you think it's outdated I suppose I can spend a few bucks on a new one. I don't know if I have the old mounting brackets that it came with.
More than enough. You could do it on 4GB of RAM and a Pentium G3220 or similar.Would 8gb and an i5 processor be enough of I want to build a small computer which only purpose is to play 1080p movies with surround sound?
And which case is recommended for a small computer?
I would think I would put aside maximum $800.
Heh, "never left the stone age".OK guys, I'm about to the plunge on a R9 280x, any particular brand I should stick with? I've had good times with XFX back in my GeForce days, they still good?
I'm gonna couple it with a FX-6300 CPU and as far as I can tell there shouldn't be too much bottlenecking going on and it seems DX12 might mitigate the issue as well before it becomes a big deal.
Edit: Currently on a 9600 GT ;p. Gotta love dat 35-66 FPS @ 720p on medium to low settings gaming.
my real GPU died a horrible death
Heh, "never left the stone age".
Sapphire generally have great coolers as well, look around for their Dual-X, Triple-X, or Vapor models. Gigabyte's Windforce model also keeps very cool. Asus DirectCUII and XFX Double Dissipation are fine.
I think I'll go with the XFX DD one, it's in stock and ships within 1-2 days. Found a TriX one for the same price, but shipping is more expensive, longer and they ship from France and that sounds like a logistical nightmare waiting to happen.
Is it worth it to go with the factory OC'd Black Edition or can I just up the clocks on the regular model?
And I assure you my tag has nothing to do with PC hardware :lol
Edit: Seems the Black Edition OC is pretty miniscule, I'ma go with a XFX Radeon R9 280X DD, a mere 20 euros over my budget. Just read that a good one keeps 28-32 C while idle..computer's gonna be really cool and quiet then, the 9600 is so horrible it sits at 50 degrees C while idle :lol
I wouldn't go with the black edition either, if you're willing to manually overclock, you could do it yourself and save a little money. Aside from the clock speed they ship at, they're the exact same card and cooler as far as I can tell.
Would 8gb and an i5 processor be enough of I want to build a small computer which only purpose is to play 1080p movies with surround sound?
And which case is recommended for a small computer?
I would think I would put aside maximum $800.
So before you go down this route, I just want to make a number of really great case makers known that are a little off the beaten path.
First, there's CaseLabs.
While all of the cases have an industrial look to them, it's all super thick aluminum and everything can be modded and chopped together to make exactly the case that you want.
There's also Little Devil which I personally love. Again, a simplistic design, but really it's there to be a quality blank canvas.
And then of course, Lian Li, which is well known. But they do have a number of super enthusiast type chassis. The fit and finish is unrivaled. When you touch that beautiful brushed aluminum, you know where your $ went.
Now with all of that out of the way, there's a few places that will sell bits and pieces of what you need in order to make the case usable.
The aforementioned CaseLabs has a bunch of parts that you can buy which add functionality or even form the core of what you're building, like the motherboard tray.
MountainMods has a ton of different parts as well, though a bit more dated and simplistic.
If you're in the US, FrozenCPU and Performance PCs have a ton of different parts, from fan controllers to motherboard trays, to cables, sleeving, tools, literally everything you would need to piece something together.
MNPC Tech also has a bunch of fun goodies, though their stuff can be a bit ostentacious, the knowledge of the guys there is almost unmatched. They also have a ton of great tools to make the modding/building easier.
Finally, there's MDPC-X which focuses primarily on cable management, sleeves, and tools to make your own cables.For inspiration, check out some of the builds at MDPC. http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/Once you buy something from them, you get a username and password to their forum which is filled with all of the top talent in case modding, as well as some really amazing guides. But I'm not supposed to tell people that.
In terms of designing the thing, I highly suggest Google Sketchup. There's an inventory of tons of parts to choose from so you know that your dimensions are working with the parts as intended. Totally invaluable. That's what I used to draw up my design:
In terms of what materials to use, aluminum, wood, and acrylic seem the most often used for scratch builds because they're fairly easy to work with and shape to get you what you want.
Good luck.
*edit*
I almost forgot Parvum Systems
Been messing around with the original F.E.A.R.. Going by Steam's FPS counter I'm not getting the perfect 60 FPS I expected with the game completely maxed out. Maybe my expectations were too high. Though it does say that the game isn't optimized for higher resolutions. (My monitor is 1360 x 768.)