Hello All,
This is my first post here but I regularly read your forums and have found them very informative. I have owned the Gateway SX2800-01 for about a year now. Most of the games I play are older (BF1942, Age of Empires 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Nascar Racing 2003) but I have started coming back to my PC for some newer games and I noticed my SX2800 having some troubles with The Sims 3 (for my wife) and Sim City 4. I also want to be able to play a few newer games on my PC, mostly Mass Effect 2. So, I came here to TomsHardware.com and researched some decent video cards that would work with my slim profile case. After reading many threads and user experiences, I have purchased the Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 (512mb) and I'm currently waiting to receive it in the mail. Due to the low wattage factory power supply (220w) and the many heat issues with the SX2800 and dedicated video cards, I plan on upgrading my case and PSU soon. Most people here seem to recommend the Antec 300 but I don't like the looks of it too well. It looks kinda cheap from the front to me and it only has 2 front USB ports. I see it gets great reviews and people seem to really like it because of its strong construction and such. Also, I would prefer to buy a case that already has a power supply in it and I really didn't want to spend more than $100 between the psu and case (but I'm learning that's gonna be hard to do). So my questions are:
1. How hard is it to transfer all my pc components from one case to another and add a new psu?
2. There only seems to be 1 very small fan in the back on the bottom of the SX2800s factory case. Is it possible to somehow add a new fan to help the cooling so that I don't have to get rid of this case? (I actually really like this case).
3. If I do get a new case and psu, what tools am I going to need? As in, am I going to be crimping or soldering wires or is must of it just "plug and play" or screwed/bolted in?
4. What other cases and psu's would you recommend?
Thanks for all your help, in this thread and in the many other threads on this site!
This is my first post here but I regularly read your forums and have found them very informative. I have owned the Gateway SX2800-01 for about a year now. Most of the games I play are older (BF1942, Age of Empires 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Nascar Racing 2003) but I have started coming back to my PC for some newer games and I noticed my SX2800 having some troubles with The Sims 3 (for my wife) and Sim City 4. I also want to be able to play a few newer games on my PC, mostly Mass Effect 2. So, I came here to TomsHardware.com and researched some decent video cards that would work with my slim profile case. After reading many threads and user experiences, I have purchased the Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 (512mb) and I'm currently waiting to receive it in the mail. Due to the low wattage factory power supply (220w) and the many heat issues with the SX2800 and dedicated video cards, I plan on upgrading my case and PSU soon. Most people here seem to recommend the Antec 300 but I don't like the looks of it too well. It looks kinda cheap from the front to me and it only has 2 front USB ports. I see it gets great reviews and people seem to really like it because of its strong construction and such. Also, I would prefer to buy a case that already has a power supply in it and I really didn't want to spend more than $100 between the psu and case (but I'm learning that's gonna be hard to do). So my questions are:
1. How hard is it to transfer all my pc components from one case to another and add a new psu?
2. There only seems to be 1 very small fan in the back on the bottom of the SX2800s factory case. Is it possible to somehow add a new fan to help the cooling so that I don't have to get rid of this case? (I actually really like this case).
3. If I do get a new case and psu, what tools am I going to need? As in, am I going to be crimping or soldering wires or is must of it just "plug and play" or screwed/bolted in?
4. What other cases and psu's would you recommend?
Thanks for all your help, in this thread and in the many other threads on this site!
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