Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive
Case: Antec NSK 4482B Black
Antec’s gaming enclosures, such as the popular Three Hundred, have frequented many of our System Builder Marathon builds. A couple of years have passed, however, since we’ve chosen a member of the “Solution” series.
Read Customer Reviews of Antec's NSK 4482B Black Chassis
Offering subtle styling and a single tri-cool 120 mm exhaust fan, the NSK 4482 is better suited for general home/office computing, rather than an enthusiast level build. What made the case particularly attractive for our $500 gaming PC is the included 80 PLUS Bronze-certified EarthWatts 380D Green power supply.
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts 380D Green
Quiet and efficient, the EarthWatts 380D Green offers the kind of value and reliability we seek from a PSU. A single six-pin PCIe power connector means we have to use a Molex adapter for today’s build. But a maximum combined +12 V rating of 28 A should be plenty for powering our GeForce GTX 460 graphics card.
Optical Drive: Lite-On 24x DVD Burner SATA iHAS 124-04
Read Customer Reviews of Lite-On's iHAS 124-04
At this budget, we're looking to spend as little as possible on a reliable SATA DVD burner, and chose a 24x OEM Lite-On to fill the system’s optical needs.