Apevia X-QPack2

[Isaiah4110]

Can you guys give me your thoughts on the Apevia X-Qpack2-BL/500? I'm going to be building a new PC for my wife in a month or so from now and I've never used anything but a mid-tower case. She wants something that will take up less space and liked the look of this one. She is not a gamer, though I will be installing a discrete GPU, and I am planning on an Intel Core i5 2400 (or equivalent Ivy Bridge CPU). I'll be posting my full build for advice/recommendations in the systems forum when I get closer to ordering the parts.

So more specifically:

Any ideas on the general quality of this particular case, or Apevia products in general?

Being a smaller case, I know heat could potentially be a problem. This case appears to have a well designed ventilation system with fan included. Should I expect to run into any heat dissipation issues? If so, would better fans alleviate the problem?

500 watts should be plenty of power for her uses, and I am hoping to save money by using the included power supply. I know it won't be have the efficiency or quality of an 80Plus XFX or Seasonic PSU, but will it really be that bad? Her current PC is one I built about 6.5 years ago with a Raidmax Scorpio case and included 430W PSU, and it has been running fine. All of my builds up to this point (before I really knew about PSUs) have actually used cases with manufacturer included PSUs and I haven't had a problem yet... I'd like to avoid having to drop another $50 into a good PSU and take that money away from another component.



I guess I'm just looking to find out if there are any major red flags with this case or included PSU that would say I should avoid it at all costs and have my wife pick out something else. All advice is very much appreciated.

 

[gary1]

Can you guys give me your thoughts on the Apevia X-Qpack2-BL/500? I'm going to be building a new PC for my wife in a month or so from now and I've never used anything but a mid-tower case. She wants something that will take up less space and liked the look of this one. She is not a gamer, though I will be installing a discrete GPU, and I am planning on an Intel Core i5 2400 (or equivalent Ivy Bridge CPU). I'll be posting my full build for advice/recommendations in the systems forum when I get closer to ordering the parts.

So more specifically:

Any ideas on the general quality of this particular case, or Apevia products in general?

Being a smaller case, I know heat could potentially be a problem. This case appears to have a well designed ventilation system with fan included. Should I expect to run into any heat dissipation issues? If so, would better fans alleviate the problem?

500 watts should be plenty of power for her uses, and I am hoping to save money by using the included power supply. I know it won't be have the efficiency or quality of an 80Plus XFX or Seasonic PSU, but will it really be that bad? Her current PC is one I built about 6.5 years ago with a Raidmax Scorpio case and included 430W PSU, and it has been running fine. All of my builds up to this point (before I really knew about PSUs) have actually used cases with manufacturer included PSUs and I haven't had a problem yet... I'd like to avoid having to drop another $50 into a good PSU and take that money away from another component.



I guess I'm just looking to find out if there are any major red flags with this case or included PSU that would say I should avoid it at all costs and have my wife pick out something else. All advice is very much appreciated.

I wouldn't use that PSU. If you want a good, small case. Take a look at the Antec 300. Plenty of cooling.

Then buy a GOOD PSU with the difference in price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

 

[Isaiah4110]

I wouldn't use that PSU. If you want a good, small case. Take a look at the Antec 300. Plenty of cooling.

Then buy a GOOD PSU with the difference in price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

That case is roughly the same size as the Raidmax Scorpio case that her current PC uses. Switching to a different case would require a similar size with nice appearance.

Why specifically wouldn't you use the included PSU? Simply because "all bundled PSUs are junk" or some other specific reason (the actual PSU manufacturer, how many 12V rails it has, etc.)?

Basically I told my wife I wanted her to pick out the case she wanted so that she will be happy with it for the next 5 years. I have no problem using the PSU for a couple years and then replacing it with someone better, but if I can't and won't tell her "this case is off limits just because". I won't change to a different case unless there is a real quality or airflow issue with it.

 

[gary1]

Well Apevia probably makes the PSU. But if you look at the specs. It has a combined rating of 34A on the 2x 12V rails. Thats roughly 400W. But I wouldn't expect it to come ANYWHERE close to that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148038

That's the closet PSU I could find, read a couple reviews on what you're getting with that case.

 

[Isaiah4110]

Well Apevia probably makes the PSU. But if you look at the specs. It has a combined rating of 34A on the 2x 12V rails. Thats roughly 400W. But I wouldn't expect it to come ANYWHERE close to that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148038

That's the closest PSU I could find, read a couple reviews on what you're getting with that case.

Thanks for that link. Here is a shot of the PSU that was included with the case back in August 2007.

It looks to me like the PSU you posted is identical. The model number is different (WIN-500PS vs WIN-500XSPX), but looks like it might just indicate an updated model. I'm not as familiar with PSU reviews and benchmarks as I am other PC Components, but Benchmark Reviews did a one page review of the WIN-500PS in their review of the case. Maybe I am missing something, but it looks like it benchmarked out alright?

Most of the reviews I have found and feedback on Newegg's site give the case good grades for the case overall. The only consistent complaint I'm seeing is that the metal of the motherboard tray is thin and can be bent easily. There were a couple people who complained of static discharge from the front of the case resetting their computer, and Apevia responded to each of those remarks stating there was a ground wire in the case that they should be using to prevent that. (I couldn't find reference of this wire in the case user's manual so I will have to find out about that if/when I get the case).

If I were to replace the PSU right off the bat, what (inexpensive, decent quality PSU) would you recommend for what I'm looking to build?

Likely specs again are:
Core i5 2400 or equivalent Ivy Bridge CPU
2x4GB DDR3 1600 kit
existing nVidia 7600GT (or GT240 or possibly an upgrade if I can find something decent for ~$30)
likely an SSD and HDD, and single DVD burner

Would something like the XFX ProSeries P1-450S-X2B9 be about as low as I could go, or is there something less expensive I could get w/o sacrificing quality? (CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2?)

 

[Isaiah4110]

Well Apevia probably makes the PSU. But if you look at the specs. It has a combined rating of 34A on the 2x 12V rails. Thats roughly 400W. But I wouldn't expect it to come ANYWHERE close to that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148038

That's the closet PSU I could find, read a couple reviews on what you're getting with that case.

I just saw a couple good looking PSU deals on Newegg. So, between these two, which PSU would you get for this case?

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 for $29.99 after MIR

OR

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W for $39.99 after MIR

Each comes with a 3 year Warranty. Most people will say Corsair makes a better PSU, so +1 for that option (and it is $10 cheaper). The OCZ drive has an extra 100W, which would be nice but not necessary at this point, but 2 x 12V rails. On the other hand, it is [semi]modular, which could be handy in such a small case. I had initially thought it was fully modular, so I'm kinda leaning towards the Corsair drive on price and quality. Would it be worth it to get the OCZ drive for added feature of being semi-modular, or should I grab the Corsair drive? Also, is this probably about as good a deal as I'm going to see, or would it be worth it to try to hold out for an equivalent 80Plus Bronze PSU in the same price range?

 

[Rugger]

I just saw a couple good looking PSU deals on Newegg. So, between these two, which PSU would you get for this case?

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 for $29.99 after MIR

OR

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W for $39.99 after MIR

Each comes with a 3 year Warranty. Most people will say Corsair makes a better PSU, so +1 for that option (and it is $10 cheaper). The OCZ drive has an extra 100W, which would be nice but not necessary at this point, but 2 x 12V rails. On the other hand, it is [semi]modular, which could be handy in such a small case. I had initially thought it was fully modular, so I'm kinda leaning towards the Corsair drive on price and quality. Would it be worth it to get the OCZ drive for added feature of being semi-modular, or should I grab the Corsair drive? Also, is this probably about as good a deal as I'm going to see, or would it be worth it to try to hold out for an equivalent 80Plus Bronze PSU in the same price range?

Your planned build will pull around 200W at full load. A good quality 300-350W PSU would be sufficien for your build. Some of the best deals on decent quality PSUs have been the Corsair Builder Series; CX430 and now the CX500. You could go with either of those CX PSUs. Rebates on the CX430 have been driving the prices to $16-20 and that is the route I would go for that build.

 

[Isaiah4110]

Your planned build will pull around 200W at full load. A good quality 300-350W PSU would be sufficien for your build. Some of the best deals on decent quality PSUs have been the Corsair Builder Series; CX430 and now the CX500. You could go with either of those CX PSUs. Rebates on the CX430 have been driving the prices to $16-20 and that is the route I would go for that build.

I want the headroom 500W will provide in case I end up wanting a little gaming power and adding a legitimate GPU down to road. So are you saying definitely take the Corsair CX500 over the OCZ power supply?

 

[Rugger]

They are in a similar quality range and have the same warranty. The CX500 can handle almost any modern single-GPU; the OCZ can handle any single-GPU system. The OCZ is modular. To be honest I recommended the CX500 because you indicated that price was a key factor and it was less expensive and the OCZ is overkill. I think you'd be happy with either of those PSUs; choose the one that has the best balance of price and features that suits your needs.

 

[Isaiah4110]

Best answer selected by Isaiah4110.