4+ GHz

[Amazin Caucasian]

But then again, its only a dvd burner. How often do you burn dvd's. Personally I will on average burn once a week. I can listen to a buzzing sound or blast music for that time period rather than spend the extra money for a few moments of silence.

[thefultonhow]

It wouldn't really be extra money as the Lite-Ons and NECs are comparable in price -- but yeah, I hardly ever burn CDs (I don't need them to transfer files, because that's what the Internet and my USB key are for), so I hardly ever hear my Lite-On drive spin up.

[Hi Ho]

Drives spin up not only when burning but every time you insert a disc. It annoys me a lot.

[Amazin Caucasian]

Well, are the NEC and LITE On of the same quality? Is noise the only issue?

Also, is it really necesary for waterblocks on the vidcards and CPU? It was suggested by David M.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian Well, are the NEC and LITE On of the same quality? Is noise the only issue?

Pretty much, but be careful as some NEC models do not come with software.

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian Also, is it really necesary for waterblocks on the vidcards and CPU? It was suggested by David M.

No, it's not necessary and that will necessitate a larger water cooling setup, which you said you don't want. Basically you would only need that if you were trying for very high overclocks and didn't want much noise. I think there are much easier and more cost-effective silencing options if your computer makes too much noise for you.

[glc]

Originally Posted by thefultonhow Pretty much, but be careful as some NEC models do not come with software.

The NEC's that do come with software come with Roxio Basic and (I think) no DVD player software - Liteons come with Nero Express and PowerDVD.

[Amazin Caucasian]

ok, liteons sound good to me then. Now I need ot decid on a friggin case. I am so perplexed! I want a sweet black case with a window that isnt too expensive and install white cold cathode tubes.

[thefultonhow]

Does this case look good to you? (Only $110 with free shipping, too!)

[Amazin Caucasian]

Yes it does like pretty sweet, two questions, is it capable of having a LCD temp display? those look pretty tight. Also, how come there are blue lights in the first pic but not the second?

Other suggestions are quite welcome.

[Amazin Caucasian]

turns out I did post on the case Fulton. I like the looks but just had some questions, on the post above.

[thefultonhow]

Sorry, vBulletin didn't send out a notification about your post to me. I'm sure you can put in an LCD temprature display, but it will be hidden behind the front door. And the lights aren't in the second picture because the case isn't on in that picture, and the lights only work when they're getting power.

[Amazin Caucasian]

Do you think it would be possible to switch those lights with white lights? Would this case look sweet with white cold cathodes? I have never seen white cathodes but I imagine it would be sweet, or would look dumb.

[thefultonhow]

You could switch the LEDs, but it wouldn't be worth the effort. You'd basically have to take that front panel apart and solder/splice wires for the new LEDs. I would personally just put in a blue cold cathode, because the case would still look cool that way. I did a build way back when for someone with a black case and blue cold cathode, and it's not my style, but I still think it looks cool.

[Amazin Caucasian]

Is it fairly easy to install cathodes? Has anyone ever done a black case with white cathodes? Does it look cool?

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian Is it fairly easy to install cathodes?

All you have to do is mount them to the case (they usually come with zipties for this purpose) and plug them into a molex connector (same thing as you use for drives). You'll probably also want to install the switch, though, which may require some modding.

[Amazin Caucasian]

does it come with a switch? If it does how could I mod it to appear on the outside?

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian does it come with a switch?

The one I put in this guy's case did, but I'm not sure if they all do.

[Amazin Caucasian]

can you mod the case to have them appear outside of the case and flip it on and off when you desire?

[thefultonhow]

Yeah, but on this kid's case I didn't feel like cutting a hole so I passed it out one of the port holes in the back. It doesn't look great, but it's in the back so not many people will see it. On my case I have really bright LEDs in the front that were bothering me at night, so I put in switches to turn them off -- I actually put them under the cover for the top-mounted ports.

BTW, if you do want to go the white-cold-cathode route, you can just keep the blue lights in the front unplugged so that they won't interfere with your color scheme.

[Amazin Caucasian]

good call, so for the switches is it possible to have them under the door?

[Alaron]

Yup sure is. Your best bet would be to mount the switchs in one of the plates on the 3.5" bays. My cathodes came with switches and a pattern for the hole to drill. Very easy and convenient.

[thefultonhow]

Yeah, that might actually be the easiest way. Just take out a drive bay and cut a hole in it. That way you won't have to Dremel the actual case, and if you mess up, there's another drive bay cover for a second try.

[Amazin Caucasian]

Originally Posted by Alaron56 My cathodes came with switches and a pattern for the hole to drill. Very easy and convenient.

What cathodes did you get?

By the way, just found out about folding. Anybody here fold?

[Alaron]

Pretty much all cathodes are the same. One of mine is a 12" from Newegg and the other is a 4" from FrozenCPU. Both came with switches.

Lots of PCMECH members fold. Our team number is 13761. Check out the Distributed Computing forum for information.

[Amazin Caucasian]

o ok, jw if it was a certain brand that came with switch.
I had already checked the forum out, I'm thinking of doing it. I got two comps, a p4 2.8 ghz and a p4 3.4ghz so I shuold be able to get stuff done fairly quickly.

[Amazin Caucasian]

for the videocards you said it is unnecessary and extreme to use waterblocks. Should I look into other devices? or should I wait a while after I finish the build?

[thefultonhow]

Just wait. You may find that the amount of noise that your computer puts out is fine for you, in which case there's no need to do anything to any of the fans. I only have one Radeon 9700 and the stock CPU cooler, but the sound they make really doesn't bother me.

[Amazin Caucasian]

I wasn't so worried about the sound, more so about the temperature. I have been told that SLI runs very hot and so do the 6800 gt's. also, a device for the cpu would help with overclocking correct?

Also, I was thinking of taking some drives from an old comp with maybe the hard drive also. Will those drives have to be OEM?

For LCD temp displays, can they measure the temp of the case itself? or do they have to be hooked up to a vidcard, CPU, or mobo?

[Amazin Caucasian]

I never realized how much newegg prices fluctuate. Any answers to questions above?

[thefultonhow]

Temperature should not be an issue for the video cards if your case is properly ventilated, which the Thermaltake case is if you hook up all the fans. A waterblock on the CPU would help you get higher OCs, but the Venice core should be able to go pretty high even on air because it's an inherenetly cool-running design. You can definitely use the drives as long as you have enough ports for them. And yes, LCD temperature displays can measure the temperature of the case itself... but frankly, the motherboard has built-in temperature sensors for the overall case temperature and the CPU temperature, so I would just instll software that can use those and not worry about an external display.