Alright I'm looking into buying a barebones system, I've built PC's before but not for a few years. Now I'm in the market for a better PC and I'm more inclined to get the right case for it, cases being something I dont know as much about and I'm thinking maybe the need for cooling has changed.

I'm looking at this barebones system http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-N43251
They have it for sale (I think it's the same motherboard and everything) with a case here http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?BB-NF432

I dont know much about the case but it looks fairly basic to me and probably not worth the extra £50 so I want to get my own case and I'm looking for suggestions of what case the system might need. I'm not really bothered about the look of the case since all my parts are mismatched anyway (cd-writer is silver) so it's only gonna look daft.

I suppose an equivelent of the case in the pic would be fine but I can't find out the manufacturer or anything. I notice it has some kind of extractor fan/exhaust under the PSU which I dont really know anything about. Do those things come with cases or do you have to attatch them on your own?
Thanks

"Barebones" has a case included...you're looking at a motherboard "bundle"...they're 2 different things.

The PSUs that come with cases are usually low end. A decent PSU sells for about $50 (US) or more, so if you see a case w/PSU for $50, they're cutting corners somewhere. I'm not saying all PSUs that come with the case are garbage, but to get a good one, you'll have to pay. You'd probably be better off buying a case w/o PSU & buying the PSU separately. I suppose you could buy one with a PSU & then immediately upgrade...whatever works for ya....

Choosing a case is kinda "personal". Obviously you want one that's well made, fit's your board, has room for all your drives, cooling fans, etc...& of course, it has to fit your budget. But everyone has their own taste in what looks good

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro

I think what you mean Jam is most PSU's that come with inexpensive csaes are garbage and I agree...on the otherhand Enermax, Antec and good case makers, usually put decent PSU's inside but you will spend $100 or so for one of those...

yea, what Rich said...

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro

In what respects are PSU's that come with the case usually no good, are they too low a wattage or just unreliable? Also is 400 watt necessary?

If anyone could give me a pointer to a good budget case I'd be really graitful, I'm looking at these 2 sites mainly
http://www.a2zcomputerproducts.com/ProductList.asp?cmdByProductcode=CAS/
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/products/a485x1y0z1p0s0n0m0
I'd rather not spend more than £50 unless really nessesary, I was hoping to pay about £30...

jam, you say its important that my board will fit, is there anyway I can tell? Should i just go with the barebones with the case included since I know it fits maybe?

Boards come in different sizes. A microATX board will fit in either a microATX or standard ATX case, but a standard ATX board will not fit in a microATX case. I recently ran into a problem with a Shuttle AN35N Ultra motherboard...it fit in my case, but because of the ATX main plug location on the board, I couldn't install an optical drive in either of the 2 lower 5.25" bays. I measured the depth of the case I was using, then checked another I had & I found the one I was using was at least 1" shorter, & that 1" would have made all the difference.

As for the case/power supply issue...the PSU is probably THE most important piece of hardware in a PC. It's basically a transformer than converts AC to DC. The voltage is them broken down into different rails (+3.3v, +5v, +12v are the "big 3") with different amperages. The amperage on the +12v rail is critical because it powers the CPU (among other things). A cheap/weak PSU will have too little amperage on the +12v rail & can cause all sorts of "unexplainable" problems (random reboots for example)...& if it overheats & blows, it make take other components along with it.

I'm running 2 systems with 350W PSUs that have 22A on the +12v rail...they're sold under the MadDog brand name, but they're actually rebadged Super-Flower units. 16A is the minimum you should accept on the +12v, with 18A or better being recommended. A good quality PSU will be quite heavy when compared to a cheap one...that's because the better quality components & heatsinks that are used weigh more.

There are also different ATX versions of power supplies. ATX 1.0 has a main plug with 20-pins & one +12v rail...the newer ATX 2.0 has a plug with 24-pins & two +12v rails. One +12v rail is a dedicated power source for the CPU, the other is for the HDDs, optical drives, fans, etc. I believe ATX 2.0 is the same as ATX 12V...I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. You'll have to check what type ATX plug your motherboard has (20-pin or 24-pin) & get a PSU that matches up.

It didn't use to be so complicated...lol

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro

I grabbed this from a review for the board

"The area around the ram is more or less clear of anything. The ATX24 pin connector is seen here which is on the upper right hand side of the motherboard. The ATX24 pin connector also supports a 20 pin connector."

So looks like its 24 pin but supports 20 pin?

This one looks ok for me if i do choose to have a seperate PSU http://www.a2zcomputerproducts.com/product.asp?Products=PSU/QTC/13024

I couldn't find any info on whether its 24 pin or not or anything nabout rails, you lost me a bit on that but probably would be ok for me I hope...

I emailed novatech to ask about the PSU and case but they never got back to me on it....I just wanna know what case might be compatible it be compatible really and have enough coooling and power for it. I might just get the bare bones system with the case to save on hassle but I dont even know what manufacturer the case is or what PSU it has so maybe its nto good enough....but then it has a case fan in and stuff so its must be half decent?

Go to ebay and look at the computer cases and barebone systems