Fortron PSU questions

TheDriver

HI folks,
Been reading all the threads about building and am currently putting together a spec for my own machine.
Thinking of a P4, 3.0Ghz prescott with 800Mhz FSB, Abit IS7 (does anyone know if this comes with a firewire socket to the outside) and Gainward GeForce FX5200 128MB DDR AGP, "PRO/660TV-DVI",Tv-Out, Retail card etc

I see that Qtec and codegen cases are not recommended and fortron is one of the best for us cheaper folks so what about http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=301412&cks=PRL its a fortron 350W OEM for 33 euro or would a 300W for 22 be better?
Where can I pick up a cheap case with no PSU, would a codegen case for 40 bucks and rip the PSU out of it for a fortron be a good idea??

Cheers for any help!
The Driver

grimloch

theres a good fortron on komplett for about 60-70 id get that if i were you, a cheap case and adding the psu is ok but you might want a case with better build quality like tha antecs, on that subject you can get a antec sonata off elara for 120 which is very good,

not about psus but i woulndt get that gfx if youre using that pc for gaming

TheDriver

Are codegen PSUs really bad? Its not for gaming and theres a slightly cheaper ATI card by sapphire.
Its hard to get a cheap case to be honest.

grimloch

codegen, q-tec nonames theyreall to be avoided, they exaggerate their power output greatly. i hear stories of a 550 failing to power an A4 system or something like that

cheap cases are hard to get and they are just that - cheap, IMO youd be better getting a good quality case and a psu(antec sonata from elara)

osmethod

Have you considered an AMD opteron processor? It's 64bit and also supports 32 bit binary not like the Intel equivalent Xeon which is 64bit with 32bit emulation! The P4 is 32bit but the opteron completely out performs both intel processors!

Col_Loki

Have you considered an AMD opteron processor? It's 64bit and also supports 32 bit binary not like the Intel equivalent Xeon which is 64bit with 32bit emulation! The P4 is 32bit but the opteron completely out performs both intel processors!

Not sure why you brought Server chips like Xeons and Opterons into it, but prob the reason for not going for AMD64 would be hes not using it for gaming. Generally AMD64 and intel are pretty good for general apps and pretty close performance wise, the AMD64 excels slightly in gaming while the P4 does it in encoding....... and since hes not a gamer the encoding advantage will prob be more use.


On the PSU side of things Fortron are very good. The problem is they have a good number of models....... which differ quite a bit. The 120mm fan models tend to produce alot more power than there rated for which is a very good thing. The 300w 120mm fan version should power your system, especially if you havent got a big GFX card....... the only small problem with the PSU is it only has 5 molex connectors (that might be fine for you).......

Sonata is a great case, a little expensive but if your in that price range its a great choice.

I would think the 350w twin fan fortron would be fine for powering the rig but i cant say for sure as i havent fully looked into it...... thus the reason im advising the 120mm version (as i have one). You could just get a cheap case and pop that PSU in......

uberpixie

Don't skimp on the case.

First case i ever got was a cheap qtec case.

Got rid of it fairly lively when i realised the bistardo had no air flow or ventilation which gave me nice and high temps.

Bought a chieftech after that and was much happier. Would have been cheaper just to buy the good case in the first place:-)

A good case is worth spending the money on.

The price of a cheap ass case plus a good psu is a bit more than just buying a good quality case off the bat that comes with a good psu i.e. Antec Sonata

TheDriver

Thanks folks. What about the cheaper Antec cases e.g. the 3700 for 81euro on elara? would that be a good quality and stable power job?