Topic: Making a Case for a..................Case

[Tony]

Well as some of you know, I like the interior design and build quality of the TH-651 computer case manufactured by the German Company Suntek, see their products Here

I especially like their TH-651 because it allows you to build a virtually screw less PC unit. [Two screws and two knurled screws] But not an inexpensive case at £44.50 from Dabs.com. plus it only comes with a 300watt PSU which has a loud fan, and another down side was the USB cables had to be extended because they were too short to reach the USB pin header on the motherboard.

So on my last but one PC build I tried a NovaTech case Here a 350watt PSU  job, and like the TH-651 had 2 front USB ports, it cost £29.38.

The steel used to construct it was paper thin. Indeed I had to solder a PCI blanking plate back in place that had dropped out, no other means of securing it. And if my memory serves me right it had 32 screws to fiddle with to construct the finished PC.
When put together it looked OK and did the job, but it was a bit flash for my taste, and of a lower quality than I had expected for the price I paid.

So for my last PC build I was looking for something like the build quality of the Suntek TH-651 but without the drawbacks as previously mentioned and a smaller price tag.

And you know what I found it at CCL computers, look Here




Like the Suntek TH-651 case, near screw less PC construction, but sporting a 350watt PSU, and along side the two front USB ports, it had Mic and Speaker audio ports as well. The build quality matched the Suntek, but at a cost of only £29.15. Making the lesser spec Suntek over 52. % dearer.



The mobo slotting in on studs that you press into the underside of the mobo with just two screws to retain it in place is also a good idea for quick mobo removal. It is a one screw job with Suntek, but there is not the same solid support for the mobo with the Suntek when pressing in IDE cables or memory modules.




Plastic locking sliders replace screws on all drives apart from the HDD, that?s a let down as it means two screws have to come out to take the other side panel off, if you want to use screws on that side of the HDD.




Though I have had reusable PCI blanking plates before these are really easy, best I've seen, and it has a fairly quite PSU fan, 350watt supply against Suntek 300watt. It even comes with an I/O shield, silly really seeing as you always get one with the Mobo. And I did not use that support bar for the PCI and AGP slot, as it is not needed.

All in all it is easy to work on and what?s more it looks the business all for under £30.

This case has become my first choice for building a reasonably priced but potentially powerful PC on a quality for price ratio. It joins this list of components that act as the nucleus for an AMD powered unit. The motherboard supports AMD XP CPU?s up to and including the XP3000+
 
Motherboard: ASRock K7S8X see spec Here
price £38.50 from Dabs.com [this motherboard supports AMD XP CPU?s up to and including the XP3000+ ]


Memory: Crucial 512MB 333MHz  [lifetime warranty] price £64.54 again at Dabs.com

Heatsink and Fan: Thermaltake Volcano 10 + see spec Here price £9.99 again Dabs.com [this heatsink and fan supports CPU?s up to and including XP3400+]


Add to that CPU, Hard Drive, Graphics Cards and CD Drives to suit the end users requirements.

Prices correct at the date of the posting.