» Recommendations for computer cases «

A list of all the computer case makers I've found to date can be found on the Cases Manufacturers page

This page narrows the list down to the handful I consider really worth mention.
Putting it another way, even one off I can buy midi cases for as little as £12 and that includes the PSU. For my own use though I wouldn't and don't bat an eyelid at paying upwards of £135 for a case and another £65+ for a decent PSU. A bit extreme for me, but there's even a refridgered case costing around £450 but thats more for overclockers on steroids...


April 2005

Zalman TNN 500AF - The ultimate choice for a noiseless computer!

Another flies past and with it comes the updated TNN550AF. With the exception of BTX - which I no longer care about as I'm switching allegiance to AMD - all my concerns, wishes and desires have been answered in the new model.

I almost bought one on the spot, but I was looking at a wait of weeks at the least for the X2 dual core AMD's and when I got home went mad on camera lenses instead. The minute the component I am waiting on are available I'm going to build it around that case. April 2004

Zalman TNN 500A - The ultimate choice for a noiseless computer! (See above though)

I saw this at the CTO Show held at the NEC, England and it is to die for. But for a few concerns of my own, I'd have bought one on the spot. I am still tempted too, despite the hefty £675 price tag. That's a pre-order offer, the anticipated retail price will be £765
The thing weights a tonne* and is silent. Not "quiet or "ultraquiet" which, for me is still too darn noisy, but "Are you sure it's on. Well damn me!" quiet.
* OK, not a tonne, but 25kg (55lb) when it's empty.
Here's my concerns...

• P4 (up to 150Watts) and Althon 64's only.
• Unsure about Socket T support for PCI Express boards
• Not all motherboards are suitable
• Needs extra heat pipes for ATI Radeon 9800 (or above) or an NVidia 5800 (or above)
• No details or availability for a BTX form factor version

Basically, I'm loathe to get one with no BTX option, but if it supports the PCI-Express boards I will definitely think about one.

Try about check out the Zalman TNN 500A Installation guide at Zalman USA




(2003)
My current favourites include Antec Sonatac, particularly the new series, Lian-Li, Supermicro and ThermalTake, with the PSU from Antec, or at least Enermax.

Much more on these in a bit, though they are all covered on my Custom PC specification list...

Paul (April 2003)

I might move this to it's own page at some point, but for now here's a little information you need to bear in mind. Some PSU's are as little as 120 watts, though the average is 300W. And this means? Well, everything inside your computer from the smallest fan to the fastest video card needs power, and you can get all sorts of problems in your computer needs more juice than is in the jug. Take that 120W PSU for example. The upcoming Nvidia NV40 will drain that dry on it's own! I know for a fact I need at least 430W for the next machine I'm building and may well buy a 550W to be on the safe side.

Also bear in mind that cheap PSU's and just that, cheap, prone to failure and generally far too noisy for my liking, which is why I'd willingly if not happily pay £100 for a sterling power supply unit...

Generally that computer in the corner is generating as much heat as a 400 watt spotlight and using electricity to match.

Notice I mentioned monitors at the bottom? One to bear in mind as some PSU's have plug sockets for the monitor, and that will add to the total needed...

Strictly speaking I suppose the PSU should have it's own section but most folk settle for whatever comes with the cases. Here's a thought. The idea of them is to supply power, regulated power, to the motherboard, the graphic, everything. 12v, 5v and 3.3v. In the see-saw of drain can you be sure that blue screen of death wasn't caused by one device taking too much for itself?

Cheaper, traditional power supply designs feature circuit sharing for the 3.3v and 5v lines off the output transformer. Thus, as you load up 5 volt devices (like drives and PCI cards), you lessen the ability to power devices that need 3.3 volt output (like your CPU). For example, a DVD-writer and CD-ROM spinning up for a backup can potentially cause a voltage drop to the processor, causing a crash.

One of the reasons I am recommending Antec's TruePower line is they have a dedicated output circuitry for each voltage line, which means that there is no combined output limit other than that of the entire power supply. Each voltage line can perform up to the specification on the label, without regard to or interaction with the loads on the other lines, until the full capacity of the power supply itself is reached. They also regulate themselves and indeed systems fans. Amazing


Since I wrote this I've found a great article over at Firing Squad which goes into detail to the where's and whyfores on the voltages across the rails.