best case (300W) and fan/heatsink for Duron/KT7A-Raind?

[eli_c]

I am building a system for a friend, my first with an AMD. I wanted to know what the best case w/ 300W is. And also wanted some good advice on a fan/heatsink to use with a Duron 700 that will also be capable of handling faster CPUs in the future for upgrades. Low prices are important.

[ablang]

According to my research, about the best you can do is about $65-$70 for a Mid Tower ATX Case w/ 300W PS (Enlight/Inwin) before S&H.

I did find a generic one locally for $55.

[Target]

I'd put my vote in for an InWin case as well. Top notch stuff. High quality, well thought out design, good power supply.

As ablang pointed out, they are a little more expensive than generics, but well worth the additional cost.

[eli*]

I forgot to mention that an AMD approved case is important.

Any more input on the fan would be very usefull as many fans apparently do not fit the KT7A-Raid board.

[drizzle]

eli_c, if I'm not mistaken it's the power supply that should be AMD approved -the case doesn't matter as long as the form factor will work for the motherboard you buy (ATX), and as long as it has proper cooling. With an AMD approved power supply, I'd have to recommend the Enlight Endura EN-7237 case for sure. It's well built, great quality and has plenty of room inside.

http://enlightcorp.com/pc_cases/7230.shtml

[PassnThru]

As an alternative, check out the A-Top cases here: http://www.pccase.com/products/cassup.html
I have two of the AT900s and have been very happy with them. One is running an Athlon 700 and the other is waiting for a Duron 800. They have plenty of room, a slide out MB tray, a fan hole in the side cover that lines up with the CPU, and a fan hole both above and below the CPU along with the normal hole at the bottom front. I know another guy with 2 running AMDs with no problem.
The manufacturers web site is: http://www.a-top.com/main.html
My buddy is a reseller and he called them and bargained with them on the premise that he builds systems and needs cases often. We ended up getting the AT900s for about $85 with a 300W power supply and 3 fans. We just ordered two more and got the same price so they appear to be flexible.

[bhess]

I'm building a system now. I got in on the onvia deal for tha antec case. I like it and my enlight both. I think it is a toss up. As far as a heatsink I love the Taisol CGK742092 under full cpu benchmarking I haven't seen above 101 F. KT7A with t-bird 850 at 10 x 100.
http://store.yahoo.com/inflowdirect/taiscgforhea.html

[eli_c]

I am still having trouble finding anyone offering cases with PS approved up to 1.2 GHZ by AMD. How much of a factor is this really?

Here (http://www1.amd.com/athlon/npower) is AMDs approved PSs.

1.2Ghz and ATX form factor



[This message has been edited by eli_c (edited 01-28-2001).]

[wyvrn]

I purchased an Enlight 7237 with 300W PS at Axiontech (http://www.axiontech.com) for about 58 bucks last month. Enlight makes SOLID cases. Otherwise, I would say try the Fong Kai 302 or 604, they have excellent cooling.

[gyoung]

You can find the Antec KS282 cases at CompUSA and Best Buy for around $79. These include a 300W AMD approved power supply. You can also get the power supply for $49.99 at best buy.

[eli_c]

I think I have pretty much settled on the Enlight 7237 Mid ATX Case w/ 400 Watt Sparkle FSP 400-60GN UL Power supply ($130) and the CoolerMaster DP5-6H-51 heatsink/fan.($10) This should be more than enough power for any future CPU and GPU upgrades though it is a bit pricy.

Does anyone know if the CoolerMaster DP5-6H-51 works with the Abit KT7A-Raid board? And how loud is it?

[bhess]

I wouldn't spent the extra $ for a 400W PS. 300W is more than enough. Put the money to use somewhere else.
I have a 250w in my old system with 2 harddrives two cd's and every PCI slot full. Also overclocked with two case fans.

PS it is an enlight case

[This message has been edited by bhess (edited 01-29-2001).]

[eli_c]

You don't think that an AMD T-Bird 1.5ghz, a geforce3, 2 HDs, a cd-wr, dvd, SBlive, ethernet, and 384MB PC133 could use the power? Will 300 Be more than enough for future upgrades?

[Turnip12]

I think 300 would be plenty. Depends on what you're stuffing in it though, I suppose.
I have a 250w ps in mine. Asus A7M266, AMD Duron 800, Voodoo 5 5500, Sony Spressa 8x4x32 rw cd, panasonic 32x cdrom, 128M 2100 DDR RAM, SB 128 PCI, Lucent 56K V.90 modem, WD 40G 7200 RPM HD, Coolermaster cpu heatsink w/ 2 fans, and 2 case fans. No problems here. Everything runs smooth. Can't imagine a DVD or extra hard drive pulling that much more power, plus how often are you going to be maxing everything out? If watching a DVD on your comp sure the Vid card and DVD drive will be squealing, but I doubt you'd be ripping a cd with your RW and ROM and the same time. If it's just a home comp and not a server I can't see a need for anything over 300w.

[This message has been edited by Turnip12 (edited 07-04-2001).]

[Imperion1]

I'd get a different HS/fan, CoolerMaster's aren't that good on cooling.
And a 300w PS is plenty for what you have.
Here's my setup using a 300w Antec PS

Epox EP8k7a DDR board
T-Bird 1G (266) @ 1.33G
Global Win WBK32 w/Black Delta Fan (7200rpm)
visiontek GeForce3 w/ BlueOrb fan
2 HD - a 30G and 40G Maxtor 7200rpm ATA100
256mb DDR PC2100 - Crucial
SB Live X-Gamer 5.1
Linksys 10/100 Net
Hauppauge Video Capture Card (Stereo)
SIIG Ultra 100 PCI Card
52x Cdrom
Creative PC-DVD Dxr2 using software decoder
Buslink (Lite-on Drive) 12x10x32 CDRW
floppy drive