[AJP69]

I know this is a htpc forum but there are tons of peeps with tons of knowledge. Trying to build a gaming rig less than $1000, everything has to come from newegg. Should be able to play any game out and should be able to overclock the cpu. This is where I am at, am I missing anything or should I change anything?

[case] Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX $54.99 ($10 MIR)
[mobo] MSI P67A-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 $119.99
[cpu] Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz $224.99
[mem] G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 $109.98
[gpu] EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SE (Fermi) 1GB $159.99 ($30 MIR)
[psu] CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 $69.99 ($10 MIR)
[ssd] Kingston SSDNow 30GB $75.99 ($20 MIR)
[hdd] HITACHI Deskstar 1TB 7200 RPM $54.99

Total with shipping $879.74 after MIR's $804.74

[numb7rs]

After building a number of rigs, gaming included, I can say that spending a bit of extra money on a nice case makes the whole build process much nicer. I have had great successes with the CoolerMaster cases, such as the CM690 (which was so popular they released a second version). It's little design features, like side loading HDD bays, that make building a new rig a lot more enjoyable.

Looking at reviews for the Three Hundred, it seems it is good value for money, but falls short on ventilation and noise (Noise depends more on your case than most people think). If you've got some wiggle room in your budget, spend a few more bucks and get a nicer case.

[joethefox]

Wise words by numb7rs. I'm with him.

[AJP69]

If I spend more on this it will go into a video card not the case. But thanks for the recommendations.

[sender_name]

I built a great Gaming PC in a Micro ATX case 2 years ago...The thing still kicks butt...It was a lanbox lite case...Sits on a table next to the HDTV

The Lanbox lite case is small form factor so i had to plan plan plan....
First i mock assembled the mobo, heatsink and gfx card to see what kind of room everything had...to decide where to route cables and what not


I was already aware that technically the gtx 285 didn't fit in the case,

but i have a dremmel so i had to do some cutting to the front cage.

The entire front drive cage slides back and out. It has 2 5.25" bays and a vertical 3.25" bay. My plan was a Scythe fan controller in top bay and a DVD drive in the bottom. I also decided to mount the 10,000rpn raptor drive in the veritcal 3.25" bay, that way you could see it through the case window. I had to slide the raptor drive forward in order to fit it w/ the card

here are all the drives mounted

[sender_name]

This is a shot i took to show the clearance between the ram/cooler and gfx card. I like the reflections off the ram.



this is what the diningroom table looked like in the midst of working on it...i had to clean this up every night b/c my 3 y.o. really likes to fix things with daddy's tools



The cables that come with the case are a little bit longer than they need to be so i had to do some grouping to secure the cables...I also wanted to keep the front fan blowing on the mobo unobstructed...
here are the cables out of control...

and here are some shots of the cables secured...

[sender_name]

here is the little 60mm fan i installed between the 5.25 bay and the vertically mounted Raptor HD...I was concerned with it overheating wedged in the corner like that, with very little air flow. I also used a cross wire 5volt mod to keep the fan quiet.



here is a Pic of the Mobo installed prior to putting the fan in..

and here is the fan mounted


It was actually easier to remove the power supply and flip it over on top of the front drive bays than it was to get the front drive cage out with all the wires...


here is the lil' fan all tucked away


This is how i routed the power cables...I would connect them to the ps, and then run them back and forth on top of the drive cage and then connect the ends to the devices..

This keeps all the cables up high and out of the way of the airflow down low....You slide the top on and everything is secured...

[sender_name]

Sorry for the multi post, but there is a 6 picture limit on posts...

With the lid on you just hope you don't have a Tea pot man shot


here is a side view of the case from the GFX card and Raptor side


here is the illuminated interior (taken before i installed the 285)...you can see the nice room for airflow front to back..it is fed by a 92mm Blue led fan.

and another angle



here is the 7 port powered usb hub i slid under the couch...this lets me run a 15ft usb cable under the couch around to the back of the room and i can plug everything neatly in there...