Dell to new build - possible?

Reaper 392 · 20 Aug 2011 at 18:41

AndrewNR said:
Thanks Jony,

That Raven 2 looks "classy", but has a price-tag that suggests aesthtics over function?

believe me, theyve got performance to match the price tag. they are pretty much the best cases for air cooling your going to find.

also, in answer to your question that i cant be bothered to copy the quote for, there are only a couple of main changes between the raven 2 and 3 aside from the looks.

as you might have noticed already, the raven's motherboard has been rotated 90 degrees so the graphics cards and motherboards back panels face the top of the case (great for airflow).

the PSU on the raven 2 is at the very back of the case, whereas the PSU for the raven 3 is where the hard drives usually go. this means that the raven 2 is quite a bit longer than the raven 3

the hard drives in the raven 2 are in their normal place, but in the raven 3 they are behind the motherboard with all the cables. this is actually quite a clever place to put them as there is still plenty of room for masses and masses of cable spaghetti back there

the last main difference that comes to mind is that the window on the raven 2 is on the right hand side of the case, whereas on the raven 3 its on the left hand side of the case (the normal side). this is obviously because the motherboard is mounted on different sides of the case on the raven 2 and 3

however, whichever one you go for you'll get a fantastic case

AndrewNR · 20 Aug 2011 at 19:02

the last main difference that comes to mind is that the window on the raven 2 is on the right hand side of the case, whereas on the raven 3 its on the left hand side of the case (the normal side). this is obviously because the motherboard is mounted on different sides of the case on the raven 2 and 3

Unfortunately my PC will almost be up against a wall on it's right side so that does put me off the Raven 2.

bremen1874 · 20 Aug 2011 at 19:25

Watch the size of some of the cases suggested above. They are certainly well regarded, but they are big.

The Raven 2 for example is over 2.5 times the size of a Dell Studio 540 tower.

AndrewNR · 20 Aug 2011 at 19:41

My desk is 60cm deep, with all the wires coming out of the back a 60cm deep case might be a struggle, unless I overhang the desk 5-10cm?

bremen1874 · 20 Aug 2011 at 19:52

Also give some consideration to the fan positions. You want them to have some room to breath.

AndrewNR · 27 Oct 2011 at 20:13

Bit of a thread ressurection.

I think I'm ready for the plunge, is the below OK?

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
£161.99

Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942)
£124.98

My other favourites were basically anything made by Corsair, would you reccommend these above the CM?

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850M High Performance 850W Modular Power Supply (CP-9020004-UK)
£113.99

HIS ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with DIRT3 & Deus Ex PC Games
£107.99

Should I perhaps buy a 69xx?? The MB is crossfire compatible, so my plan was to add another 6850 next month.

Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
£89.99

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9)
£42.98

£650.00 or so. I think I will use the fan out of my Dell (if it will fit, hence the OEM version).
Thought I'd pay the full beans for the case and power as hopefully these will never need replacing (for a while anyway).

Is everything compatible?

Could I use the Hard drive (with Vista) from my Dell with that MB? I dont really fancy paying £150+ for the same size hard drive and just a newer OS. I would prefer to wait until prices fall a bit.
If not then I guess I'll try flog the Dell to try cover the cost of the storage/OS! (in which case i'd get an aftermarket CPU cooler)

Feedback appreciated.

**edit** I already have a mouse, keyboard, 1900 x 1080 monitor and speakers.

AndrewNR · 27 Oct 2011 at 20:25

Just taken the drive out and had a quick look and its a Samsung HD642JJ model which is 7200rpm, 640GB and obviously only 3Gb/s compared to todays 6GB/s.

I notice the MB accepts 4 x 3GB/s SATA so I assume it will fit, is it worth keeping?

olivier renault · 27 Oct 2011 at 21:01

Got an old XPS, and I would never dream of transfering the internals to another case, or vice versa

It's a right OEM nightmare!

AndrewNR · 27 Oct 2011 at 21:22

olivier renault said:
Got an old XPS, and I would never dream of transfering the internals to another case, or vice versa It's a right OEM nightmare!

Would save me a bit of money if I can though!

dannycivic02 · 27 Oct 2011 at 21:29

I did it to mine just as I had a spare case that I was using for a gaming build sat around fitted fine the only thing that didn't was the i/o plate as thats part of the dell case it has since been put back in the dell case as I have finally upgraded which was well worth it overclockings next for me.

AndrewNR · 13 Dec 2012 at 21:51

Hi guys,

I never got round to buying a PC in the end, but I will be soon. I am getting the following for x-mas off my g/f and her parents:

Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced USB3.0 Windowed Dominator Case
LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black)

QUESTION:
I have another 30-40 squid to spend from her parents - what RAM would you guys recommend?
Edit: 8GB will do.

I'll probably get a z77 mb, AMD gfx card, HD drive, PSW and 3xxxk chip early next year.

Thanks.

RJC · 13 Dec 2012 at 21:55

Using 16gb of the Kingston below:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

or on offer today only:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-020-AR

AndrewNR · 13 Dec 2012 at 22:54

RJC,

Cheers for the response - think i'll stick with the Kingston as they appear to be a good solid brand at a reasonable price.