On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:30:33 GMT, no@spam.invalid (tluxon)
wrote:

>A computer I'm upgrading has an inexpensive Enlight case with a 250w
>power supply, so I've got to at least upgrade the PS. It's a
>mid-tower case, but I have no idea if it would accommodate a newer
>PS, as it's not as deep and wide as my own Antec Sonata case. Should
>I look for a new ATX case with a decent PS or just put a new PS in the
>Enlight case?

Depends a lot on which Enlight case it is. Yes you need a
larger PSU for a modern "typical" system, and if it's medium
performance P4 / Celeron based, or higher-end Athlon 64,
with gaming type of video card, the Enlight case may have
cooling limitations too. Some older Enlights have an 80mm
rear fan hole (might be stamped-in-metal, needing cut out
for better ventilation), and other even older cases lack
this rear fan mount and (IIRC) had a different ledge-spacing
above the rear IO panel such that it might not even be
easily possible to fit an 80mm fan in that location. Fans
smaller than 80mm have a limited benefit.



>
>I figure a newer case would be better for airflow and front USB ports
>at the very least.

Yes, "often"... still depends on the specific newer case of
course, some newer cases still have marginal airflow, at
least require some cutting or other modifications for best
results.



>
>The PC is going to be running a P4 3.0c 800fsb Northwood on an Abit
>IS7-E motherboard. I'll use its onboard audio for now since we're
>starting out with those little Dell speakers that attach to the
>bottom of their LCD monitors, but I may put the SB Live! to use
>if/when we upgrade to a powered 2.1 or more setup. At first only one
>hard drive will be put in but I'd anticipate up to 3 HDs in the
>future. It'll also have at least a DVD-ROM and DVD-RW drive, a
>Radeon 9800Pro and a wireless NIC. How many watts do I need to power
>that configuration?

At least 350W with a high 12V amperage rating or 16A or more
in a very good PSU, 18A or more in a typical name-brand.
Easier to just overspec a little if there's any question
about the true capacity of the PSU, go for 420W name-brand.
That's not meant to be an actual calculation of what the
parts will consume, as I'm unsure about the Radeon 9800's
draw per rail and the HDDs can be an amp or two either way,
but rather an average amperage at which several of the
typical name-brands go from a low-end case-bundled PSU to a
better model. I would not use an Antec SL350, for example,
but a Truepower 380 would probably suffice, a Truepower 480
even better but probably a little more than you need.


>
>I love the Antec Sonata (380W of quality power) I have for my
>computer, so I'm quite an Antec fan and I'm wondering if I should
>just get another one or if the new 450W Sonata II
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129155
>would be better? The other two I'm thinking of are the 400W Antec
>Solution SLK3800B
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129163
>(says it's a rackmount case (?)) - and the 400W Antec Performance
>TX640B
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129157.
> Any preferences among these cases? Anything I should be looking out
>for?

120mm rear fan is nice, but I"m not a big fan of the
Sonata's sideways drive rack as it does reduce the HDD
cooling some. May not be a problem though with only 3
drives, leaving an empty bay between each... or can it only
accomodate two with a space inbetween?

Either has a little too much restriction on the front bezel
for optimal results, but relatively it's still fairly good,
most cases aren't any better.