MooseMan3000

I've been looking for the benchmarks that I've been basing my claims on, but I just can't freaking find them. From what I've seen, the increase in performance using two cards in SLI is minimal, whereas the increase in performance with upgrading the card is fairly significant. This difference was more pronounced, as you mentioned, at higher resolutions.

To me, it still seems more cost-effective to get a better card when you want to upgrade. I'm still open to the possibility of SLI, and whenever somebody asks me I consider that as one of the options, but I always end up deciding that it's better to get a single card. Like I said, in a few years if the support is better and it's possible to integrate two completely different cards, then maybe it will become more feasible. Until then, I'll probably stay away from it. Obviously, you're free to do as you please.


The_wall, I apologize for straying from the topic. As far as the case goes, is there a reason you want one of the "really good" cases? What sort of features are you looking for in the case? Why do you need a high end as opposed to a simpler one?

The main features I look for in cases now are these:

1) Material. My first case was a steel server chassis, because I thought I would need the room, and I liked that it would be sturdy. Big mistake. My case alone weighed about 35 pounds, and that's without any components in it. My girlfriend's new case is all aluminum, and the difference in weight alone makes any extra price you pay for the aluminum worth it. I pulled it out of the box at first, and I literally thought part of it was missing it felt so light. Definitely go aluminum, if you can.

2) Cooling. To answer your question about the fans, quite simply, no. One fan isn't enough to cool a fast gaming rig. Your processor and your graphics card are going to get pretty hot. You want to make sure they stay nice and cool. To that end, you want as much air running over them as possible. Most decent cases will have 3 or more slots for case fans. One intake in the front, one intake in the side, and one exhaust at the back.

You also want to consider, however, that each fan you add also makes the machine noisier. So depending on how important that is to you, you may wany to keep the number of fans lower. Better, however, is to get a case that can handle larger fans. Most cases use 80mm fans. Those suckers have to spin pretty fast to move the air. A single 120 mm fan can move more than twice as much air at the same RPM as an 80mm. More importantly, it can move the same amount of air at less than half the speed. Lower speed fans means less noise, which is very, very nice. I'd go with a case that has 2+ 120 mm fans (preferrably 3).

3) Space. How much room is there for the components you want? You'll probably want some room to upgrade, so get one with 3 or 4 5.25" slots, 1 3.5" external (if you want a floppy, that is), and 3 or 4 3.5" internal, for extra hard drives.

4) Construction. One major thing that most better cases have that lower end ones don't have is a screwless design. That means everything snaps together without you having to use a screwdriver once (except to put the motherboard in, most likely). This makes assembly and changing components much easier. Something to look for.

Also, you probably want something with rounded edges. Chances are pretty good that at some point while you're building the computer, you'll cut yourself on some sharp edge. If all the edges in the case are rounded, however, that probability goes down significantly. Again, this is a feature of many higher end cases that cheap ones lack.

5) Front connections. Most cases have front audio jacks (stereo audio and microphone). Many also have USB 2.0 jacks. A few have Firewire, as well. I like one with all 3, but those cases are few and far between. Decide what you would likely use (front audio and USB are really convenient), and find cases that match.

6) Looks. This case is going to be your baby's home for the next X years, you want it to be something you don't mind looking at. I like side windows so I can see all the 1337 components, even if they're not lit. But you may prefer something else. Just keep it in mind.



And now a few recommendations.

First, this is the case my girlfriend just built her gaming machine in. It's got just about everything I look for in a case: It's all aluminum; it's got 3 120 mm fans; front Firewire, audio, USB; an LCD display that shows lots of information (including case temps); a nice big side window; and a very stable power supply. NZXT is an upstart little company, but so far their products seem to be top notch, even if they look a little funny. I didn't particularly like the looks of the Nemesis when I first saw it, but I've grown to appreciate it.

Next, the Antec P160. This is one of the cases I'm looking at for my next build. All aluminum; front Firewire, USB, audio; space for 3 120 mm fans; lots of space to expand. It doesn't have a power supply, but that's not a big problem. It does have a removable motherboard tray, which makes installing the motherboard, processor, and RAM much easier.

And the Lian Li PC-60APlus. Lian Li is revered as one of the best, if not the best, case manufacturers there is. None of their cases come with power supplies, but that's because they're very high end cases, and they expect the people who buy them will want to get a power supply separately. Again, it has front ports, space for 2 120 mm fans as well as 2 80 mm fans, lots of space, etc. It has the removable motherboard tray (one of Lian Li's hallmarks), and it's very well constructed. A very nice case, though somewhat on the pricy side.


If you get a case sans power supply, just make sure to get a PSU from a reputable company with decent wattage. Antec makes very nice power supplies, as do some others. Basically, you get what you pay for as far as PSUs go. If you're paying $20 for a 600w PSU, it's not actually capable of delivering 600 watts.