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#1
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Case issue
I'm into my computer build (first since 2006!) that I mentioned in a
previous thread. Parts are on their way, and the first to arrive was a case I bought from Newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811352070 I guess I'm behind the times, because I never even consided the possibility: there are no front-accessible bays to accommodate an optical disc reader/writer, which I require. I was looking for a case that was very insulated and quiet and this looked like a good choice, so now I'm very surprised and disappointed. I have to decide whether to return it (probably on my dime) or keep it. So... - I guess I'd be willing to spring for an external USB drive *IF*... [a] they burn reliable (I guess I still remember the days when the computer/OS could barely keep up with a burn and you'd get frequent crap-outs during a write operation). and [b] are the drives within the caddys replaceable? In my experience, optical (CD/DVD) burners have a short lifespan and must be replaced every few years. But internal drives are cheap, so it was no big deal - I consider them to be consumable items. So, if I can replace the drives in the USB caddys for $10 - $15, that's acceptible. If I have to replace the whole caddy for $20 - $40, that's not so acceptible. |
#2
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Case issue
Nil wrote:
I'm into my computer build (first since 2006!) that I mentioned in a previous thread. Parts are on their way, and the first to arrive was a case I bought from Newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811352070 I guess I'm behind the times, because I never even consided the possibility: there are no front-accessible bays to accommodate an optical disc reader/writer, which I require. I was looking for a case that was very insulated and quiet and this looked like a good choice, so now I'm very surprised and disappointed. I have to decide whether to return it (probably on my dime) or keep it. So... - I guess I'd be willing to spring for an external USB drive *IF*... [a] they burn reliable (I guess I still remember the days when the computer/OS could barely keep up with a burn and you'd get frequent crap-outs during a write operation). and [b] are the drives within the caddys replaceable? In my experience, optical (CD/DVD) burners have a short lifespan and must be replaced every few years. But internal drives are cheap, so it was no big deal - I consider them to be consumable items. So, if I can replace the drives in the USB caddys for $10 - $15, that's acceptible. If I have to replace the whole caddy for $20 - $40, that's not so acceptible. I think I'd just return the case, and get a case I really want. You can "make" your own optical drive, by buying a 5.25" enclosure and putting a 5.25" full tray drive in it. That's what my "floater" optical drive is, a full sized one. If the drive failed (none have), I could just replace the mechanism for $20. If you buy pre-packaged "slim" drives, there's a good chance you'll be throwing out the thing if it fails. It has pros and cons. The slim drive will be smaller than the full-sized one, and take up less storage space. You pay a premium for slim. But I'd really rather have the computer case that's right for the job, and "holds all the junk I have planned for it". Even if it costs $20-$30 to send that thing back. That case might be good for an "SSD person" or something. It wouldn't do me much good, as I have one machine with average three drives in it, and the machine I'm typing on has three to five drives depending on the occasion. A case with two drive bays total, would be nuts. Even with SSDs, it's better if you can house them, just for appearances sake. I had two SSDs hanging down in the other case (while doing some cloning thing), and it doesn't look all that good. I don't have any tray adapters to convert from 2.5" to what my case has inside it. The SSDs were an after-thought. (One is for the laptop, the second one is sneakernet.) Paul |
#3
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Case issue
On Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:34:55 -0500, Nil wrote:
| I'm into my computer build (first since 2006!) that I mentioned in a | previous thread. Parts are on their way, and the first to arrive was a | case I bought from Newegg: | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811352070 | | I guess I'm behind the times, because I never even consided the | possibility: there are no front-accessible bays to accommodate an | optical disc reader/writer, which I require. I was looking for a case | that was very insulated and quiet and this looked like a good choice, | so now I'm very surprised and disappointed. I have to decide whether to | return it (probably on my dime) or keep it. So... I got this case and am happy with it. 2 external bays that will accommodate CD/DVD drives. No side window. I did buy an extra fan for the front. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811129199 Larc |
#4
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Case issue
Larc wrote:
On Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:34:55 -0500, Nil wrote: | I'm into my computer build (first since 2006!) that I mentioned in a | previous thread. Parts are on their way, and the first to arrive was a | case I bought from Newegg: | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811352070 | | I guess I'm behind the times, because I never even consided the | possibility: there are no front-accessible bays to accommodate an | optical disc reader/writer, which I require. I was looking for a case | that was very insulated and quiet and this looked like a good choice, | so now I'm very surprised and disappointed. I have to decide whether to | return it (probably on my dime) or keep it. So... I got this case and am happy with it. 2 external bays that will accommodate CD/DVD drives. No side window. I did buy an extra fan for the front. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811129199 Larc I like the side-load trays on mine. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIA6ZP3KT7120 https://images10.newegg.com/producti...129-086-15.jpg By pulling the trays out of two machines, I have a total of eight trays to rotate through there. ******* If you have liquid cooling plans, then other kinds of cases might make more sense. Liquid can help with some of the high power stuff now, if you want them to remain stable. (At least one video card comes with a water block, as proof it uses too much power :-) ) ******* The above case is no good for really long video cards. And again, you have to sacrifice your drive bay setup somewhat, to accommodate a long video card. Even some motherboards have been known to cause problems. (I think there was a ThreadRipper board which was extolled as being good for running a bunch of video cards, but the designer "forgot" to leave room for the long video cards that might be used.) Newegg may have a thousand different computer case models to choose from, but you'll find at least a few in the "what were they thinking category". Products that I wouldn't ship back, and just squash them and put them in my recycling bin. Paul |
#5
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Case issue
On 1/12/2017 9:34 AM, Nil wrote:
I guess I'm behind the times, because I never even consided the possibility: there are no front-accessible bays to accommodate an optical disc reader/writer, which I require. I was looking for a case that was very insulated and quiet and this looked like a good choice, so now I'm very surprised and disappointed. I have to decide whether to return it (probably on my dime) or keep it. So... Buy some quiet fans from Noctua, whether you are using liquid cooler or not. They are expensive though. - I guess I'd be willing to spring for an external USB drive *IF*... [a] they burn reliable (I guess I still remember the days when the computer/OS could barely keep up with a burn and you'd get frequent crap-outs during a write operation). and [b] are the drives within the caddys replaceable? In my experience, optical (CD/DVD) burners have a short lifespan and must be replaced every few years. But internal drives are cheap, so it was no big deal - I consider them to be consumable items. So, if I can replace the drives in the USB caddys for $10 - $15, that's acceptible. If I have to replace the whole caddy for $20 - $40, that's not so acceptible. Internal Blu-ray combo drives are always cheaper. And these days terabytes hard disks and large capacity SD cards are cheap. So don't bother using CD/DVD/Blu-Ray for backup. You might spend some money on a SSD as system drive for fast booting. -- @~@ Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch! Live long and prosper!! / v \ Simplicity is Beauty! /( _ )\ May the Force and farces be with you! ^ ^ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.39.3 不借貸! 不詐騙! 不援交! 不打交! 不打劫! 不自殺! 請考慮綜援 (CSSA): http://www.swd.gov.hk/tc/index/site_...sub_addressesa |
#6
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Case issue
On Fri, 01 Dec 2017 10:45:48 -0500, Paul
wrote: I like the side-load trays on mine. Mine's much older, but loads 3.5" drives sideways, and though Antec still making it, appears they changed that back to the tradition orientation. https://techreport.com/review/4771/antec-lanboy-case Heat. The cooling on a side load, at least on mine, is somewhat obstructed due to the cage design, and drives reflect a few degree higher operation. But Antec evidently loves its Lanboys, anticipates such quirks, and provides a model for everyone these days. https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tec...-air-review/2/ For a $50 case, what mine cost then (discounted sale cost) -- it's the best I've yet owned. Light as a soda can, cheers. |
#7
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Case issue
On Fri, 01 Dec 2017 10:45:48 -0500, Paul wrote:
| Larc wrote: | On Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:34:55 -0500, Nil wrote: | | | I'm into my computer build (first since 2006!) that I mentioned in a | | previous thread. Parts are on their way, and the first to arrive was a | | case I bought from Newegg: | | | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811352070 | | | | I guess I'm behind the times, because I never even consided the | | possibility: there are no front-accessible bays to accommodate an | | optical disc reader/writer, which I require. I was looking for a case | | that was very insulated and quiet and this looked like a good choice, | | so now I'm very surprised and disappointed. I have to decide whether to | | return it (probably on my dime) or keep it. So... | | I got this case and am happy with it. 2 external bays that will accommodate CD/DVD | drives. No side window. I did buy an extra fan for the front. | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811129199 | | Larc | | I like the side-load trays on mine. | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIA6ZP3KT7120 | | https://images10.newegg.com/producti...129-086-15.jpg | | By pulling the trays out of two machines, I have | a total of eight trays to rotate through there. The P100 also has side-load trays that accommodate 3.5" and 2.5" drives. I like the Sonata Proto as well and have it for my bedroom PC. 2 minor shortcomings (IMO) are having to open the door to access the start button and the bottom mount for a 2.5" drive. But there's an excellent cheap option to overcome the latter item. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16817994162 I've tried costlier brackets that weren't nearly as good and easy. Larc |
#8
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Case issue
On 01 Dec 2017, Larc wrote in
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt: I got this case and am happy with it. 2 external bays that will accommodate CD/DVD drives. No side window. I did buy an extra fan for the front. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811129199 That looks pretty good. It's on my list of possibilities. Thank you. The window isn't something I want, either. The case I got is available with or without the window, and I originally had the windowless one in my on-line shopping cart. I really don't need to see blinking lights and whirling fans. But *JUST* as I was checking out, the price suddenly jumped up more than $20! Bad timing! So I went back and bought the one with the window, thinking I could cover it up if the light inside became annoying. |
#9
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Case issue
Larc wrote:
On Fri, 01 Dec 2017 10:45:48 -0500, Paul wrote: | Larc wrote: | On Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:34:55 -0500, Nil wrote: | | | I'm into my computer build (first since 2006!) that I mentioned in a | | previous thread. Parts are on their way, and the first to arrive was a | | case I bought from Newegg: | | | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811352070 | | | | I guess I'm behind the times, because I never even consided the | | possibility: there are no front-accessible bays to accommodate an | | optical disc reader/writer, which I require. I was looking for a case | | that was very insulated and quiet and this looked like a good choice, | | so now I'm very surprised and disappointed. I have to decide whether to | | return it (probably on my dime) or keep it. So... | | I got this case and am happy with it. 2 external bays that will accommodate CD/DVD | drives. No side window. I did buy an extra fan for the front. | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811129199 | | Larc | | I like the side-load trays on mine. | | https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIA6ZP3KT7120 | | https://images10.newegg.com/producti...129-086-15.jpg | | By pulling the trays out of two machines, I have | a total of eight trays to rotate through there. The P100 also has side-load trays that accommodate 3.5" and 2.5" drives. I like the Sonata Proto as well and have it for my bedroom PC. 2 minor shortcomings (IMO) are having to open the door to access the start button and the bottom mount for a 2.5" drive. But there's an excellent cheap option to overcome the latter item. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16817994162 I've tried costlier brackets that weren't nearly as good and easy. Larc Taking the door off mine, was the very first step :-) Just the hinge sits there flapping in the breeze. On an earlier Sonata, I removed the bottom front bezel for better cooling. I usually mod them a bit when I get them. I removed that stupid dust filter. If I didn't, I'd be cleaning that filter every three months. Still, it's a nice case, compared to some other things I could have bought at the time. Selecting computer cases is really time consuming. I don't wanna cut myself on some "soup tin" case. The reports of cases arriving with the side kicked in because they were too thin, doesn't impress me either. I think some of my earlier cases had 1mm thick sides on them, but the Sonata isn't quite as thick. My very best case, is a piece of junk :-) However, I'm attached to it, mainly because of my "after-the-fact" discoveries about it. One day I was working on it, when it occurred to me "is that a motherboard tray I'm looking at" ? And sure enough, the thing had a removable tray, so you could easily get the motherboard out from the "wrong" side of the case. The second thing that was super-cool about that case, is the drive bays are arranged in such a way, that a really long video card would fit. And when I originally got the thing, I really dumped on it, thinking it was crap. But in fact it had a pretty decent feature set. Since my very first PC was built up at the computer store, I didn't get all the promotional material I might collect when I build them myself. So I don't have the box the computer case came in, and there's no branding stamped on it either. But it's turned out to be pretty sweet to work on, even if it's really old looking. Paul |
#10
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Case issue
Nil wrote:
On 01 Dec 2017, Larc wrote in alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt: I got this case and am happy with it. 2 external bays that will accommodate CD/DVD drives. No side window. I did buy an extra fan for the front. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16811129199 That looks pretty good. It's on my list of possibilities. Thank you. The window isn't something I want, either. The case I got is available with or without the window, and I originally had the windowless one in my on-line shopping cart. I really don't need to see blinking lights and whirling fans. But *JUST* as I was checking out, the price suddenly jumped up more than $20! Bad timing! So I went back and bought the one with the window, thinking I could cover it up if the light inside became annoying. The window would make it more noisy. A couple of things help computer cases: 1) Mass. A heavy case (with maybe some rubber feet on the bottom), can damp out vibration a bit. One of the marks I have against the Lian Li cases I used to look at in the computer store, is the cases were all shaky lightweight aluminum cans. And they'd magnify any noise sources inside. 2) Stiffness. You don't want loose fitting multi-piece-part designs. Rivets or screws, strategically placed crossbars, can give a case more strength. Even the drive bays could be contributing to strength (as the drive bay is a kind of scaffold in the front of the case). The window would be an example of a loose-fitting piece of material. A solid side would be a better purchase. I like computer case sides with the pull-out latch handle, rather than those ones with the knurled screws that are a bitch to unscrew. The latch handle seems to hold securely enough that it doesn't rattle. The screw-based ones fit pretty tight (and sometimes have EMI spring fingers in the gap, that ensures a tight mechanical connection). There is a third thing for reducing noise, which is to add absorbent materials inside the case. But this also has a tendency to drive up the case air temperature inside a bit. So that idea isn't all that popular. If I wanted a silent PC, I'd buy the Intel 2W SDP processor for $17, plus an SSD. Then I'd have a fanless, vibrationless PC. But then, I'd have bought a tablet (as that's what they use). The downside, is the processor is gutless. And once that is realized, then "we're headed to noise city" to cool off a better CPU. Paul |
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