What do I look for?

[Hershel]

I am about to make a new PC purchase. I have chosen thus far these components:

AMD ATHLON XP 2400
GlacialTech Igloo 2510 Pro
ABIT NF7 2.0 Nforce 2 AMD
GEIL 512 PC3200 400MHz DDR SDRAM value w/hs
GIGACUBE Radeon 9200LV 128MB 64BIT

I am still trying to decide on which Western Digital HD. (I was told that 5400RPM will last longer, but my retailer has a good deal on a 7200RPM).

As far as a case and power supply, however, I do not know what to look for. I need this machine for business--I am a programmer. I do nothing else with it--no gaming, no audio/video--I was told that that graphics card there is a simple card that will support two screens. I do not care in the least what the case looks like--I want something with quality and dependability.

Any advice is appreciated. (Mind you I actually know nothing about hardware. )

Thanks,
Hershel

 

[etp777]

A case isn't extremely important, the power supply absolutely is. Get at least a 350 W power supply, I'd actually go for a 400-430W(no such things as too much power), from Fortron Source, Enermax, Antec(Only Trupower or Smartpower series) or SParkle. Get an Enermax Noisetaker if you want things quiet.

One of easiest ways since you need both, and don't care about looks(not that these will necessarily look bad), is to get an Antec or Enermax case with power supply included. Better cases have less sharp edges, are sturdier, and have better airflow. Cheap cases will often have decent airflow,b ut will be flimsy, have sharp edges, and come with crap fans that will be loud as hell. I like Antec and Vantec case fans, personally. But yeah, easiest solution to your problem is to go to www.newegg.com, search by category and choose cases, then search by manufacturer and choose Antec or Enermax, then pick the one that fits what you need(desktop vs. tower, etc) best, making sure it comes with a power supply from that same manufacturer.

 

[Hershel]

Great. Thanks for the answer. newegg.com isn't really such an option, given that I live in Israel. A good retailer here, however, has both those brands on their case page (which is mostly in English):

http://www.pandas.co.il/default.php?cPath=609_280

and this one in particular is 400 Watt and looks appropriate:

http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?products_id=6500

Hershel

 

[etp777]

Look around a bit more, as it looks like that has a PSU from some other manufacturer(PowerUp?) whom I've never heard of. That's the oly problem, is that often places will have a case from a manufacturer of good PSU's, but they'll put some other brand of PSU in there.

 

[Hershel]

Oh. You are a smart guy.

So I guess I could go with this Enermax case:

<A HREF="http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_280_329&products_id=5900 " target="_new">http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_280_329&products_id=5900 </A>

and then a power supply like this:
<A HREF="http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_281_99&products_id=133" target="_new">http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_281_99&products_id=133</A>

or this:

<A HREF="http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_281_98&products_id=6806" target="_new">http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_281_98&products_id=6806</A>

(The numbers on the top line in blue are the prices in NIS, which is about 4.5 to the dollar)

or I could go with this Antec case with PS which only has 380 Watt

<A HREF="http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_280_114&products_id=3665" target="_new">http://www.pandas.co.il/product_info.php?cPath=609_280_114&products_id=3665</A>

but it appears to be Antec PS. The link from that page goes here:

<A HREF="http://www.antec-inc.com/pro_details_enclosure.php?ProdID=15138" target="_new">http://www.antec-inc.com/pro_details_enclosure.php?ProdID=15138</A>

 

[etp777]

All of those are good power supplies, the first Enermax one is either one I have, or louder version of it(I have the Noisetaker 430W, which except for the fans, is probably same power supply, been very happy with it). 380W would be more than enough for you with a brand like that, I ran a lot more power hungry hardware on an Antec 350W for a while, I just changed to the Enermax to get it quiter. But that 380W Antec is one modified for quietness from their standard model, by only having a single fan.

I of course have no idea on prices in Israel, so can't say whether those are good prices or not, but any of those power supplies you gave links to(Enermax 430w, Antec Smart 400 or Antec Trupower 380 with that case) are ones that should do well for you. That Antec case is really nice, I like them. Has really nice automotive style paint job, gloss black with a nice clear coat(or such is my guess, haven't actually sanded one down or examined it really closely). My boss has the desktop version of that, and is ordering the mini cube model for a system for his dad. He's really impressed with the "Piano Black" paint job.

 

[upec]

For graphic card. I would recommand Matrox. Matrox card offers best 2D image quality. Most of their card support Dual monitor.

 

[Hershel]

Thank you for your help.