# New to Cases need HElP...



## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

So im changing my motherboard, processor, memory, and video card... i currently have a Dell and a Intel processor so im guessing that i have also a Intel Motherboard as well.... now im switching to AMD when im going to upgrade... so my question is will i need to get a new case if my motherboard wont fit in my case that i have right now..... reason for why i am wondering is because i have a Dell case with Intel motherboard and im switching to AMD motherboard with keeping the same Dell case.... a friend said that the motherboard might not fite since im switching from Intel to AMD.... was he right do i need to change my case? and if i do im a total Noob to cases so wat do i need to know about choosing one?


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

Need more information.What form factor are both the boards are they atx, micro atx etc.
If not sure post make and models here and we can help you


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

This is the one im planing on getting ........ http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-161&depa=1

But the one i have right now i have no idea wat it is and dont know hwo to find out


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

Download and run Belarc Adviser from HERE and it will tell you.
That link was for RAM.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

Ok i downloded the program and i think this is the info on the motherboard.. let me know if its not 

Board: Intel Corporation D845EPT2 AAA83422-107
Serial Number: CN04P61548111292022Q
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. A03 07/18/2002

and sorry for the link... here is the correct one

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-487&depa=1


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## Chevy (Jul 25, 2003)

You may have to customize the front panel connections (power, reset, power-led, hdd-led) since most proprietary caes (dell, hp/compaq, etc) have a the various connectors molded into one unit. But, that's not too hard.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

so the motherboard wont fit ?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Your motherboard is microATX so its safe to assume your case is too. This will leave you with 2 problems:

a) your motherboard wont fit
b) even if it did it would be nearly impossible to find a PSU in mATX form factor that would be capable of supporting the components of your new PC.

Either way - you really dont want to upgrade "into" a Dell case. They are cramped and of bad quality. The airflow in them is also horrible - something that needs to be good with the CPUs and gfx cards today putting out up to 200W of heat.

I am sure you plan on spending quite a bit of money on your upgrade (i saw your mobo alone was 180$) - it would really be the wrong place to try and save 50$ on a case. Actually you could probably find one on newegg (if you dont need a window and flashy lights) for around 20-30$ thats of good quality and will let you have a lot more fun with your new PC than the old Dell case.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

ok so other then motherboard, memory, video card, and processor... which im replacing... what else am i going to have to transfer from my old PC in to my new case-- asuming that i will get a new case-- and what ever that hardware is ... will it fit in the new case. I know one of thouse things that im going to have to transfer is the drives... thats all i can think of. Let me know wat else ill have to transfer and any recomidations on a new case? Cuz i dont know if their all the same or different


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

Check out your Power Supply if you are still using the Dell one you will definately need a new one.
If you plan on buying a new one DO NOT buy a Generic one ,get a name brand and you will save money and down time on your computer


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Well you'll need a ATX case. When i shopped around for my current one i was looking for good cooling and well... looks too (i have a window case). My case allows for a front and back 120mm fan and an 80mm in the window. Cooling is excellent. Aslong as its the right formfactor for your board i think all you really need to do is find one that you like - and is in your price range. There are also TONS of case reviews out there - so if you come across one that you are interested in - google a review. There you'll be able to find out about pros and cons you cant see on the page you are shopping for a case on (lets say sharp corners in the case, or the holes dont line up etc). And as mentioned before - dont forget to have at least 50-70$ set aside for a decent brand name PSU.


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## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

most prebuild systems i.e. dell, hp, compaq, eMachines, i think most are mATX. hp and compaq mostly. this is so they can pack more into one small conveient case. if you are lookgin to upgrade a pc. with mobo and psu it is best to go with ATX if you want gaming or highperformance mostly. if sumthin just like word processing stuff like that mATX is fine. also look into case fans when getting a new case too. 

so look into these options... keep in mind for hig performance even just for above average performance a psu with 400 - 450 opr even 500 would be good

the more higher the integrity of components you get the more power they will need.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

im getting confused wat you guys are talking about... i get that i need a new case a ATX.... but wats a PSU???


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

PSU = Power Supply Unit


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

im going to need a lil more discription then that to really understand wat it means lol.... are you guys talking about the plug that connects the computer to the energy sircet thats in the wall???


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## toxict3arz (Oct 12, 2004)

i didnt read the whole thing but im guess psu is power supply but not sure


but anyways i see that you want to upgrade ur computer ... 
my suggestion .. get a WHOLE NEW COMPUTER ... especially if your going to use parts tat came from dell or something .. 

trust me its much more fun and ull love it much more
i was going to upgrade my cheap ugly computer .. but i decided on spending 500-600 (not too much) and getting a brand new custom ( i made) computer and im loving it

so lets start first .. find a case you like ..
-now find a mother board that will be compatible with everything you want to buy . for example if u want 3 gigs of ram make sure your mobo is able to hold 3 gigs of ram ... etc etc .. also make sure it fits your case .. 
-and then now find a cpu u want ... make sure the socket fits the mother board ... 
-now choose how much ram you want and find one with good rating .. make sure it is compatible .. 
-now does your mobo have a onboard video card? if not choose a video card .. i suggest you go expensive on this DEPENDING on your monitor .. if ur monitor sux then no use getting a good one unless ur ganna buy a new monitor ... 
-next does your mother board have a onboard sound card? .. buy one if it doesnt ... 
-now hard drive ... i bought a 80 gig and REGRET IT so i bought another hard drive .. 120 gig .. AND I REGRET IT .. well im the type of guy taht saves a lot of stuff onto my comp and downloads stuff .. so the size of the hard drive is up to your idea of what your going to use the computer for .. 
-now after that find a power supply that will be much more enough than what it is being used for .. better to have more than enough so that you wont have to buy a another one if your power supply fries .. 
-and cd rom dvd rom thats all up to you .. 
besides tat ur set .. learn how to put it together .. add in some nice fans .. if your case has arylic glass then throw in some led lights and make it look nice .. your good to go 

all this is very easy all you have to do is actually try it 

trust me .. 600 - 700 dollars spending on ur computer is soo much worth it plus u seem to have a lot of money on ya so u can go top of the line and not have to worry about upgrading


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

Well thats actually exactly what im doing... im basikly building a whole new computer all thats going to stay the same that im going to transfer are my hard drives... now i know wat motherboard i need to get and video card and RAM and processor and they are all compatible... and now i found out that i need a ATX Case so i guess im going to buy a new case since my is a mATX according to you guys... NOW about that power supply... wat dose it do if someone can describe it in details and can someone post a link showing what it is maybe on newegg.com if they sell it


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

Oh ok i found wat you guys were talking about... so would 450 to 500 W would be good enough? and wat are the good brands?


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

Hello Rudso,
I peronally use a *ANTEC 480w* PSU ( power supply ) and I would recommend *Antec* to anyone, You will find with the generic PSU's that usually come with a case that they may say 450w but actually only put out say 350w. That is why lots of people recommend buying a good brand. Also if you go 480w and above you leave your self room for expansion in the future.
Also if you are planning to use your old hard drive and have XP O/S be aware that it will not just plug in and boot as it did before as your system has changed and you will have a different chip set on your new motherboard and differnt hardware so XP will freak out and when you try to boot you will get error messages, I would recommend that you formatt your drive or drives and do a clean install of your O/S as you want your new rig to run at it's best.
hope all goes well


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## toxict3arz (Oct 12, 2004)

but of course antec is quit expensive .. but worth the price .. 

i use a ez media .. which is also good .. quiet and gets the job done 

but antec is always good i just had no money when i was buying it


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

So it would be better that i reinstal my windows xp when everything is put together? and i was looking at some new cases and they have ATX Mid Tower and Full Tower and Mini Tower... now i know i dont need mini Tower cuz its to small but which one do i need the full or the mid and which brand is good? and it would be a good idea to get a case with low Watts to save on some money since im getting a brand name anyways right?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Well do you even have an installation version of windows XP or only what came with the DELL PC ? Because that one wont work ....
I'd say under normal circumstances you should be fine with a ATX Mid tower case. Its what i have and there are 4 bays for optical drives and 6 HDDs so that should be plenty for the average home user.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

well i have the windows xp CD installation that came with the Dell when i bought it so like every 5 years i reinstal and clear my whole computer... is taht what i need... that CD which i have?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

No i dont think that'll work. The CDs from manufacturers like DELL, HP etc are customised for the machines they come with (at least the few i had to deal with in the past) and will refuse to install on a diffrent setup or if they even do then all the necessary drivers are missing so its basically the same result - it wont work.

When building a PC you always have to calculate in the cost for an installation version of an OS - in this case Windows XP Home ~ 90$ depending on where you buy.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

Well the computer did come with a bunch of CD's that were to instal basik drives like audio and video card and stuff like that, and the XP CD... but i dont get why i cant reinstall my windows XP with the same CD that i have used to reinstall windows xp before... im still going to use the same drives in the new build computer.... and wat dose OS mean?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

It depends on what your particular Dell CD is like. But most OS (Operating system) CDs i had to deal with in the past from companys like DELL, HP, Compaq etc. arent actually a real installations - but a drive image. And even if its not - you dont get the same Windows XP you would when buying a real installation version in the store.
The driver databases are modified and the installation is precustomized for your PCs chipset, CPU, graphics adapter etc.
As soon as you try to use it on a new built - with most of the above components missing it just wont work. 
You can try - but i wouldnt plan on getting it to work.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

So then i should just go out and buy a new Windows XP installation CD and thats all i would need as far as for installing drives on my new build? Or will i need something else..... plus is it ok to buy a case with out a power supply if im going to buy a more powerful name brand PSU anyways? Or is it better to buy the case with the PSU and then change it to the name brand PSU?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

Going out and buying a version of Windows XP will defenitely save you a lot of hassle and that way you know for sure it'll work. Windows XP Home is around 90$.

When it comes to the case i'd just buy one that you like. You obviously intend to replace the PSU with a decent one - very good. So if the case you like comes with one just take it out (its what i did) - if it doesnt then just put the good PSU into it.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

But wat about other drivers and utilities? for audio and video and other stuff that im not familier with... will that one XP CD cover all that ?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

It might be possible to use some of these applications again - i remember installing roxio cd creator that came with on a gateway's recovery cd on a diffrent system - but i cannot give you a defenite answer how it is with your CDs.
If you want to find out you'd have to try it on a diffrent PC - see if you can install them. But please delete them right afterwards as i cannot advise you to use these applications on more than 1 PC at a time as this might be against the EULA of those applications or the fineprint in the DELL software agreement (or whatever its called). Dont want to get in trouble. :wink:


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

ok but im worried about.... if i make the new computer and then reinstall everything and say for example the windows XP dosnt have a Audio drive that i need... and then i cant use my old CD's cuz i just rebuild the whole computer... im gana be stuck with no audio drives and have my audio not work at all?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

I dont see how that could happen aslong as at least your operating system is a "real" installation (as mentioned before) and not the one provided by DELL for your current system.
Once you have your new PCs components put together you can boot from your "new" Win XP installation media - install windows and then start using the CDs that came with the motherboard to install audio (if it has onboard audio), lan (same) etc drivers.


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

Ok cool... thanks sarkast you helped alot and everyone else .... its funny how i started out just wanting to change my graphic card and adding a stick of 512 RAM and it one thing lead to another and now its .... graphic card, more RAM, mother board, CPU, case, PSU lol.... hey sarkast where do you live? i live in South California and their is this thing.... like a computer fair and i never went to one but it happens once every month and supposidly they sell parts at whole sale price... really cheap.... was wondering if any of you guys been to one ?


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## Sarkast (Sep 12, 2004)

I live in upstate NY and have only been to the Cebit in germany in the past. Thats a bit diffrent from the computer fairs you are talking about i would assume.


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## toxict3arz (Oct 12, 2004)

i live in southern california as well .. and i never heard of them but i would sure go to one .. let me know if anyone finds an answer to if they have those wholesale computer fairs ... also if u guys didnt kno check out 





http://www.pctoys-reseller.com

they sell everything for wholesale price .... not much items .. but REALLY cheap .. and the set shipping price (standard) is like 7 something ... so buy a LOT of stuff at once and ull save shipping money also ... well good luck


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

Hey toxictears.... its in ponoma fair plex .... here is the link


http://www.fairplex.com/fp/Calendar/ViewEvent.asp?EventId=752

I live in glendale and its like 30-45 min away from me... i never cheked it out but defanatly going to check it out this week end and see what stuff they have. Couple of my friends said its a really good place and really cheap parts.


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

we have computer fairs here in OZZ , I am lucky enough to have access to 2 seperate ones in my area, They are not to bad for some stuff but if you have a problem it can be a hassle as you may have to wait for a month to see that particular vendor at the fair ( if he is there), My personal opinion on fairs is to buy smaller stuff ( fans, cables, speakers, disks,) but leave your main hardware shopping for a local computer shop. If you have a problem you can take it straight back. I found a local shop here in wollongong that has the same if not better prices than the fair and from my continual business they look after me and I recommend them to my friends


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## Rudso (Mar 14, 2005)

Ya i was thinking about that too... about having problems with the products and then waiting a month to go back to the fair and deal with it. Would be better to get it from a shop and go their your self and talk to them. I live in Glendale California, how would i find where the computer shops are? I found out but they just fix computer problems they dont really sell parts. And what about Newegg.com if i get a bad product how do you deal with the web site cuz im planing on getting 80% of my hardware from them when building the new PC


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## JokerFMJ (Dec 26, 2004)

From what I remember both Dell's PSU's and Motherboards were proprietary units because of the way they had their connectors.


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

Rudso said:


> Ya i was thinking about that too... about having problems with the products and then waiting a month to go back to the fair and deal with it. Would be better to get it from a shop and go their your self and talk to them. I live in Glendale California, how would i find where the computer shops are? I found out but they just fix computer problems they dont really sell parts. And what about Newegg.com if i get a bad product how do you deal with the web site cuz im planing on getting 80% of my hardware from them when building the new PC


I have heard of a lot of people shopping at newegg and I think there return policy is ok but before you shop there do a google search for your area and the suburbs that are close to you, Maybe get some prices from newegg and take them with you to a shop. Look at the price the shop will give you and look at the newegg price plus postage plus convenience ( if the shop is $10 more I personally would pay the extra 10 ) , you may even be able to haggle the bloke down in price


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## toxict3arz (Oct 12, 2004)

unless ur really lazy like me and have no car momentarily .. then newegg is always the best .. and also the site i have up there is a bunch of items for wholesale price ...


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