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New PC in the making, please have a look and opinion it.

2207 Views 30 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Compiler, Dec 31, 2006

ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · Dec 26, 2006

Hello everyone,

I've saved up some of that well earned money and decided to purchase a new computer.
So I compiled my very own 'supercomputer' list

and I need some feedback on it.
I work a lot with computers, but i'm not very techy about them, so I'd like to know if all part are well suited/compatible/... you know.

Main purpose is some gaming (Guildwars, C&C), coding and general desktop work.
Yea it's some overkill but like I said, I've saved up and like to give myself a treat.

Anyway, here is the list :

1- GRAF. CARD:

Asus nVidia GeForce EN7900GT TOP PCI-E 256Mb HDTV Dual DVI
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=269&model=1074&modelmenu=1
== My preference==

GRAKA alternatives :

Asus nVidia GeForce EN7900GTX PCI-E 512Mb HDTV Dual DVI
Model EN7900GTX/2DHT/512M
Clock Core 650MHz - Mem Core 1.6GHz
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=269&model=1062&modelmenu=1

Asus nVidia GeForce EN7950GT PCI-E 512Mb HDTV Dual DVI
Model EN7950GT/HTDP/512M
Clock Core 550MHz - Mem Core 1.4GHz
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=306&model=1350&modelmenu=1
== My preference==

Asus nVidia GeForce EN7950GX2 PCI-E 1GB HDTV Dual DVI
Model EN7950GX2/2PHT/1G
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=306&model=1187&modelmenu=1

Asus nVidia GeForce EN8800GTS PCI-E 640Mb HDTV Dual DVI
Model EN8800GTS/HTDP/640M
Clock Core 500MHz - Mem Core 1.6GHz
(495,00 loveno) = W VISTA dx10 ready
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=442&model=1455&modelmenu=1

Asus nVidia GeForce EN8800GTX PCI-E 768Mb HDTV Dual DVI
Model EN8800GTX/HTDP/768M
Clock Core 575MHz - Mem Core 1.8GHz
(645,00 loveno) = W VISTA dx10 ready
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=442&model=1454&modelmenu=1

2- CASING:

CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Black Aluminium
(169,00 loveno)
http://www.coolermaster-europe.com/index.php?LT=nederlands&Language_s=11&url_place=product&p_serial=RC-830-KKN1-GP&other_title=RC-830-KKN1-GPCM%20Stacker%20830%20Zwart

-or-

CoolerMaster Mystique 632 Black No PSU
(130,00 loveno)
http://www.coolermaster-europe.com/index.php?LT=nederlands&Language_s=11&url_place=product&p_serial=RC-632&other_title=RC-632Mystique%20632

-or-

Antec NSK6500 Midi Tower 430W ATX
(118,00 loveno)
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=96500#
== My preference==

Alternative cooling:

Antec NeoHE 550 High Efficiency 550W PSU
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=28550

3- CD / DVD players:

Lite On SHM-165P6S DVD±RW Super Allwrite bulk black
(36,00 loveno)
http://www.liteonit.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=67

-and-

Lite On SOHD-16P9S DVD 16/48 bulk black
(niet op loveno)
http://www.liteonit.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=99

4- CPU:

AMD Athlon64 5000+ X2 Dual Core AM2 1Mb Boxed
(niet op loveno)
== My preference==

-or-

AMD Athlon64 4600+ X2 Dual Core S939 Boxed
Dual Core Processor Socket 939 Boxed with cooler
(285,00 loveno)

Alternative cpu cooler:

Zalman CNPS9500 AM2
High end ultra silent cooler AMD AM2/S754/S939/S940
(55,00 loveno)
http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=202&code=005
== My preference==

5- MISC:

Apacer Embedded Card Reader 15-in-1 USB2.0 Black
(22,00 loveno)
http://www.apacer.com/en/products/Internal_Card_Reader_AE161.htm

6- HARD DRIVES:

WD Caviar SE16 WD4000KS SATA 400 GB, 300 MB/s, 16 MB Cache, 7200 RPM
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=131

7- MOUSE:

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
(68,00 loveno)
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/NL/NL,CRID=2142,CONTENTID=10715

8- FLOPPY:

Sony FDD 1.44 Mb black front

9- MAINBORD:

Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe WiFi AM2 nForce 590 SLI MCP PCI-E DDR2 ATX
(niet op loveno)
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=226&model=744&modelmenu=1

10- MEM:

2x KingMax TinyBGA DDR2 1024MB PC6400 800MHz
(134,00 stuk loveno)
http://www.kingmax.com/product/tinybga/tinybga.htm

-or-

Kingston HyperX Dual Channel DDR2 2x 1Gb PC6400 CL5
(399,00 loveno)
http://www.kingston.com/HyperX/products/khx_ddr2.asp#Dual
== My preference==

11- MONITOR:

BenQ FP202W 20 inch TFT Silver/Black
(408,00 loveno)
http://www.benq.com/products/LCD/?product=594
== My preference==

-or-

Samsung SyncMaster 205BW 20 inch wide TFT 6ms Silver/Black
(355,00 loveno)
http://www.samsung.com/nl/products/monitor/lcdmonitors/widescreen/205bw.asp

12- SOUNDBLASTER

from old PC

13- KEYBOARD:

BenQ X800 keyboard
http://www.benq.com/products/Keyboard/?product=797

14- ASSESCOIRES:

Sennheiser PC140 Headset with Microphone
(45,00 loveno)
http://www.sennheisercommunications.com/eprise/main/SennheiserCommunications/com/Products/CNT05_VBLG?ProductId=PC140

-or-

Logitech Precision Gaming Headset 980231-0914
(32,00 loveno)
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/NL/NL,CRID=103,CONTENTID=9523

MS Windows XP Home Edition NL SP2
(286,00 loveno)

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 26, 2006

TheSeventhArtist said:
ZotteSef,

Nice gaming rig! I also personally like the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+.
I think that ASUS motherboards are quite good.
In regards to your video card, I think that 8800 GTX is good since it is better than SLI multi-GPU setup (correct me on this?). But personally, I think that it costs high.
About the soundblaster, I have heard comments on the forums that the new X-Fi has some issues with the nForce motherboards. I think that onboard soundcard is already sufficient since it can already support Dolby (I think it is Gigabyte)...

I think that's all... and Happy Holidays!

Hi SeventhArtist,

Thanks for the reply.
Yep, gaming should be very sweet with this baby.
I've always had ASUS motherboards in all my computers, never had any problem *crossfingers*, so I'm a real ASUS mobo fan

.
The video card, yes, that's the tricky part. You'll notice I listed a lot of them, cause i can't decided. The 8800 GTX is great, but it sure costs plenty.
The soundblaster is a SB Audigy 4 system so i don't think that poses a problem.

Have a great holiday!

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 26, 2006

Don't know if it's really worth the purchase ... still comparing

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #13 · Dec 27, 2006

Thanks Compiler!

Compiler said:
Since you have the budget, get the GeForce 8800 hands down. The new games coming out like UT2007 is already hurting the geForce7 cards badly.

1 - Video Cards = Any 8800 card (If ya got $600 get the GTX).

I mailed out to some PC stores yesterday evening, going to wait and see the prices they give me.

Compiler said:
2 - You selected an Antec case, which is a cheap version of the Solo($90 no PSU - choose the Solo instead - it a lot better inside and out. (Metal front, not painted plastic)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129018..

Didn't know that. Going to take your suggestion instead then. Thx!

Compiler said:
3 - Buy a Pioneer, SONY or other major brand DVD burner - they are only $50~60..

Lite-On not good?

Compiler said:
4 - CPU : For the money since its in your budget - get the Core2Duo 6600. I prefer AMD over intel for both personal and professional reasons. But I'd build ya a Core2..

I've always had Intel, and am very satisfied with them. But when I compiled my superPC list I always end up at AMD systems

Why would you take the core2 if you prefer AMD?

Compiler said:
7 - Look at the Revolution mouse by Logitec..

Looking now .... I suppose you mean this one
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/NL/NL,CRID=710,CONTENTID=12140
It's wireless, and I'm not a big fan of wireless thingies

Compiler said:
8 - Floppy drive? Buy a USB flash key. ($20 = 1GB).

yea

that's why the apacer card reader is also on the list, but I need the floppy workrelated. You wouldn't believe how many people still work with floppies these days.

Compiler said:
11 - Samsung LCD.

I've had 2 samsung LCD's so far, always happy about them, but I totally like the black design of the benQ screen, it's so pwwetty.

Compiler said:
12 - Soundblaster? Which one? Many Onboard audio setups are better than some soundblasters.

i have a SB Audigy 4 in my old system atm

Thanks bigbear!

bigbear said:
I would consider two 200g hard drives, could use one for backup or Raid,
I have a problem with everything on one large drive, just gives a bit more options
I dont see the need for the Zalman heatsink, the stock one the cpu comes with is works well.
I agree about sound card, the onboard sound is pretty good these days
Apart from that everything should work ok together, good luck .

Up until now I use ATA hard drives, I really don't know jack about S-ATA and raid configurations ... 2 HD's makes more sence indeed backup-wise, but I figure I'd use my old system for that through a network to make my backups.

Thanks griffinspc!

griffinspc said:
Nice rig. The first thing I noticed other than the vid card was only one HD. In your description you said, "No. 6) HARD DRIVES" but you only list it as one. For that machine I would consider two drives even if due to cost you go with two smaller drives. One for backups and storage and one for the main OS and apps. I run two SATAs and use the first partition on drive 2 for the page/swap file. The rest is storage and some game installations. Just a thought. .

yea I listed a bunch of HD's first to pick from. Always had WD so I figured lets remain a faithfull customer

Thanks Rich-M!

Rich-M said:
One word of caution, you have two cpu's one is a socket 939 and the other is Am2 but one motherboard only Am2...if you use the socket 939 you will need another mobo.
As for ram the Kingston Hyper X is extremely problematic and probably isn't compatible as it is compatible with almost nothing and Kingwin is crap, sorry to say. Look at Crucial, Corsair or Kingston other than Hyper.....

Aha, thanks for the heads up. See that's what I mean by I'm no techy at all about these sort of things

. I'll stick with the AM2 then.
OK thanks for the MEM intel ! I did notice the price difference between kingston and kingwin ... so I had a feeling it was something like that.
What MEM would you suggest then?

Again thanks all for the nice remarks, really usefull!

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #14 · Dec 27, 2006

Alrighty, I browsed for some MEMORY replacement and this is what I found.

Corsair Twinx Pro 2048Mb DDR2 PC6400 CL5 with HSP
TWIN2X2048-6400PRO
(409,00 loveno)

Corsair Twinx 2048Mb DDR2 PC6400 CL5 with HSP
TWIN2X2048-6400
(365,00 loveno)

What's the difference between the regular and the PRO?
And do you think this is well suited for the superPC compilation

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #16 · Dec 27, 2006

Compiler said:
ZotteStef - No Problem...

I'd say go with NewEgg for many purchases... check local, some good deals here and there.

1 - About the CASE: I recommend you check some out at some local stores. Sometimes PICS don't do it justice. Like those 2 Antec cases are a bit hard to tell from first glance - When Antec made the P180 - it was a great design, but for people like me who DON'T like a cover over the front of the system, they soon made the P150/Solo (P150 includes a very good 430watt NEO PSU and its in a white-WHITE case instead of black). - I bought the P150. It'll hold 4 HDs and 3-4 Optical drives... even a floppyjust built a SOlo with a SONY Floppy drive.

Check out THIS old link I keep handy with various caes. Go to the LAST post on this page:
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/518146-need-help-choosing-case.html

Great link. Some prety cases in there. But I'm going with the case you suggested. All metal and a very simple design, I love it.

Compiler said:
2 - LiteOn is fine. Even my current DVD burner is an even less known no-name brand (It was $50 vs $100 Pioneer/Sonys etc) - but prices are down cheap. My Lite-On keyboard is almost 10 years old... better built than most of todays crap..

I have samsung device now, and every now and then, I get a DVD that my player can't read. Philips dvd or some ... really weird. So I tought let's try Lite-On

Compiler said:
3 - CPUs: For avg user, save $50~150 by going with AMD over a Core2 or P4/PentiumD systems. Especially in the sub $1000 pre-built price range where standard low-cost RAM is used. AMD is a bit slower than a Core2 : The AMD X2 5000 is a bit slower than the Core2 6600.

Quake 4 in 1600x1200 with GF 8800GTX
Core2 6600 = 156fps = about 10% faster than AMD.
AMD 5000+ = 140fps (okay not noticable, but get the 90nm size version)
AMD 5000+ = 134fps (The new 65nm version is even slower)
AMD 4600+ = 130fps

Oblivion 1600x1200 (This is about a 25% difference)
Core2 6600 = 107fps
AMD 5000+ = 82fps
AMD 4600+ = 77fps

Core2 6600 CPU = $270~320. AMD 5000 = $250~300 CPU.

I personally would likely still go with AMD, still a bit cheaper with Mobo as well, and I'm not going to make a big deal over 10fps with a game running over 90fps.

Gotta warn some folks who think ALL intel is the same and because Core2 is faster, a typical person may think that ALL Intel = faster than ALL AMDs.

Check out pricing with www.pricewatch.com.

Yea the old intel/AMD debate ...
I've always had Intel, but again when I made the list and browsed many sites/shops, I always ended up with AMS systems. I didn't know that Intel again was on top.
But isn't the Core 2 6600 very expensive then?

Compiler said:
4 - logitech mouse. Wireless is supposed to be a lot better now (for gaming) - but I too bought a wired mouse... (Saved $8) At the time I had a GF with a toddler living with me. But I have a wireless as well that works great too..

yea that's just personal preference I guess. Guess I'm oldschool about that and don't mind wires running across my workstation

Compiler said:
5 - floppy, make sure you tell bios not to boot with it..

Hehe yea ...

Compiler said:
6 - The BenQ looks cool. They have some interesting designs. Check out this one in the store: http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitor/LCD_Digital/LS19MEWSFXAA.asp Otherwise, lately - Samsung is catering a bit more towards the LOWer end market for $$$. BTW, they sell so many types of monitors, they can't keep up with them on their own website! .

Whoa, that's a wicked design as well, and a 2ms response time. very nice.
Going to get a price on that puppy as well.

Compiler said:
7 - Still don't know about an SB Audigy4 vs todays onboard Nforce boards which support 7.1 audio. I haven't had an Audio card since my SB-Live! The Audigy2 I have is defective and CL never got around to properly replacing it. For a Dream PC, I'd get an X-Fi card ($100~300) - Look at the Exteme Gamer or Fatility version....

Every since I bought the Audigy card and the surround system ( 8 speakers and a woofer) gaming & music elevated onto a higher level. Really happy about it and going to try and keep it. (depending on the soundqualities of the mobo)

Compiler said:
8 - That BenQ keyboard... I saw it about 3+ years ago, I was trying to put it with a PC I designed... its very cool looking..

Yep awesome design isn't it

Compiler said:
PS: When looking at mobo, look into Asus, MSI and Gigabyte..

Yea, I always try and get an Asus mobo

Compiler said:
PS2: Go with SATA drives... with Windows SP2, it already knows how to talk to SATA controller without a floppy. RAID, is another matter. And I used external HD for backup.

Ah didn't know that, cool thanks.
Don't know a thing about RAID setups, need to look into that asap

Thanks again.
We posted at the same time apparantly, so here is what I found again about the MEM:

Corsair Twinx Pro 2048Mb DDR2 PC6400 CL5 with HSP
TWIN2X2048-6400PRO
(409,00 loveno)

Corsair Twinx 2048Mb DDR2 PC6400 CL5 with HSP
TWIN2X2048-6400
(365,00 loveno)

What's the difference between the regular and the PRO?
And do you think this is well suited for the superPC compilation ?

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #18 · Dec 27, 2006

Phew, that link actually made my head hurt ...
If you use S-ATA hard drives, do you have to use a raid setup?

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #20 · Dec 27, 2006

bigbear said:
No not at all, there are some gains with Raid especially 1 mirroring, two drives are seen as one therefore speeding up the access times.
Apparently there is an advantage with gaming, as I am not I cant really comment.
BTW I am not sure if anyone has mentioned the WD 10,000 rpm Raptors drives for another speed advantage

Ah yes, setting up a raptor as main drive to boot Windows from. How would this work then? You have WIN XP SP2 with a WD raptorSATA and a WD 400 gig SATA partitionned.
Do you have to perform special tasks in order to install win xp sp2 on the raptor?
I remember in the early days of SATA my brother had a SATA drive he wanted to use in his system (with a normal ata drive) and he had to install special drivers or something during the installation of windows.

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #22 · Dec 27, 2006

Rich-M said:
Well a few quickies here from me...
Not sure of difference between two Corsairs, but any Corsiar is fine in my book too and both seem to be Xms which is the way to go if you can afford it. Googling without the pro seems to bring up the pro anyway.
Kingston is fine also, I would avoid the Hyper is all and Crucial is great but watch out for same problem with finicky "Ballistic" there.
Lite-on was a good brand about 5 years ago, but I would avoid it like the "bubonic" right now...others are fine except Sony is now made by Lite-on as well which must be why they crap out quickly too.

Ok no Hyper for me then :up:
I think I'm going for the Corsair then if no-one sees any problems with it?
It's really weird though. I got the memory spec from an established PC magazine that posted a likewise system, and they took the Kingwin in their system specification.

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #25 · Dec 27, 2006

ke200 said:
Great setup, although for extra bucks you could get the superior Intel core 2 series or an 8800gts/x graphics card!

I think I'm going for the 8800x card

Rich-M said:
No special taks with Raptor....and the special drivers for sata are a thing of the past with most chipsets these days, especially the ones you are looking at.!

Great news!

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #26 · Dec 28, 2006

Still haven't got any prices from stores I mailed, will post an update when I get any, and specify what system I then think about

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #28 · Dec 29, 2006

Yea but I just read that DX10 is windows vista only, and I have no intention to switch over to vista soon at release ... bummer.

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ZotteStef

Discussion Starter · #29 · Dec 29, 2006

OK, after lots of browsing and comparing I decided to re-arrange it a bit and set up an Intel system to. Check it out. Do you think this system is better than the AMD system?

Mainboard:

ASUS P5B Deluxe P965 Intel S775 PCI-E DDR2 ATX
(199,00 loveno)
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1295&modelmenu=1

CPU:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz LGA775 4Mb FSB1066 Boxed
(344,00 loveno)
http://www.loveno.be/product/11410/Intel-Core-2-Duo-E6600-2.40GHz-LGA775-4Mb-FSB1066-Boxed.html

CPU Cooler:

Zalman CNPS9500-AT S775
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=193&code=009

RAM:

This is the part I'm stuck at a bit.
What's the difference between TwinX and XMS2 memory?
Is twinx for dual channel?
And what's the difference between 5400 (cl4) and 6400 (cl5) memory?
The lower the better?

Corsair Twinx 1024Mb DDR2 PC5400 CL4 with HSP TWIN2X1024-5400C4
(179,00 loveno)
http://www.loveno.be/product/7333/Corsair-Twinx-1024Mb-DDR2-PC5400-CL4-with-HSP.html

or

Corsair Twinx 2048Mb DDR2 PC5400 CL4 with HSP TWIN2X2048-5400C4
(315,00 loveno)
http://www.loveno.be/product/11036/Corsair-Twinx-2048Mb-DDR2-PC5400-CL4-with-HSP.html

XMS2?
Corsair XMS2 1024Mb DDR2 PC5400 CL4 with HSP CM2X1024-5400C4
http://www.loveno.be/product/11040/Corsair-XMS2-1024Mb-DDR2-PC5400-CL4-with-HSP.html

Videocard:

Asus nVidia GeForce EN7950GT PCI-E 512Mb HDTV Dual DVI
Model EN7950GT/HTDP/512M
Clock Core 550MHz - Mem Core 1.4GHz (315,00 loveno)
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=306&model=1350&modelmenu=1

Sapphire ATi Radeon X1900XT PCI-E 512Mb Dual DVI VIVO (359,00 loveno)
LOVENO http://www.loveno.be/product/10593/Sapphire-ATi-Radeon-X1900XT-PCI-E-512Mb-Dual-DVI-VIVO.html

HDD:

Western Digital 36GB Raptor 10.000 rpm SATA (OS)

Western Digital 150GB 7200 rpm SATA (DATA/MEDIA)

Western Digital 150GB Raptor 10000 rpm SATA (GAMES)

FDD:

Sony black 1,44MB

DVD-ROM& RW:

Lite On SHM-165P6S DVD±RW Super Allwrite bulk black
(36,00 loveno)
http://www.liteonit.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=67

Lite On SOHD-16P9S DVD 16/48 bulk black
(niet op loveno)
http://www.liteonit.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=99

Soundcard:

Creative Labs Audigy 4 van oude pC

Networkcard: Is this really needed btw?

Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Mouse:

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
(68,00 loveno)
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/NL/NL,CRID=2142,CONTENTID=10715

Screen:

BenQ FP202W 20 inch TFT Silver/Black
(408,00 loveno)
http://www.benq.com/products/LCD/?product=594

931BW Widescreen 19" Analog/Digital LCD display (nog prijs vragen aan willy)
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitor/LCD_Digital/LS19MEWSFXAA.asp

Keyboard:

BenQ X800 keyboard
http://www.benq.com/products/Keyboard/?product=797

Tower:

Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Retail (nog prijs vragen aan willy)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129018
(metalen behuizing geen plastiek geen PSU)

PSU:

Antec NeoHE 550 High Efficiency 550W PSU
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=28550

Antec TruePower Trio 650 EC 650 Watt PSU
http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetails.php?ProdID=07665

Zalman ZM600-HP
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=223&code=015

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