High End Buyer's Guide - September 2004

Computer Case

Recommendation: Coolermaster Praetorian (PAC-T01-E1) Silver
Price: $114 shipped

While there are cheaper Coolermaster cases with Aluminum fronts and steel bodies, the Coolermaster All-Aluminum cases are still some of the best for build-quality that you will find anywhere. The Praetorian is a classic Coolermaster Aluminum mid-tower case with 10 drive bays - 4 hidden and 6 front accessible. Coolermaster still includes four additional fans for heat dissipation - 2 front fans, a top fan, and a rear exhaust fan. Due to the popularity of the case, we have also seen a decent $16 price drop in the past month.

There is also a sliding panel on the front protecting a great selection of essential front ports - 2 USB, firewire, headphone and mic. You will also find a handy removable motherboard tray for easier mounting and the case is a tool-less design for easy assembly. The build quality of the Coolermaster is superb, and the reinforced chassis makes the Praetorian stronger than most aluminum cases.

Power Supply

Recommendation: Antec True Power 480W
Price: $89 shipped

The new high-end video cards have even higher power requirements, so we have "upped" our recommendation a bit to Antec's True Power 480W PSU for $85 shipped. The Antec True Power series provides very consistent power to the rails and has performed very well in AnandTech power supply roundups. It provides extremely stable voltages, a good warranty, quiet operation, low operating temperature, and is a tried and true Power supply. The True Power series, in particular, is one of the most trusted power supplies among enthusiasts. While a good quality 350W or 400W power supply might do the job for processors and video cards just below the high-end, you will have the comfort of some reserve for the ever more power hungry processors and video cards. You will also enjoy rock solid stability with the top FX53 Athlon 64 combined with the power-hungry nVidia 6800 Ultra.

Alternative: Antec 480 watt 120mm fan ATX 12V v2.0 Model 'NeoPower'
Price: $124 shipped

The new Socket T boards include a 24-pin ATX power connector instead of the familiar 20-pin ATX on most current boards. While you can use a 20-pin connection in a pinch, the best choice for a new LGA 775 system is a power supply that complies with the ATX V 2.0 that specifies a 24-pin ATX connector. These power supplies are starting to appear in the market, but are still difficult to find. The Antec V2.0 Neopower is an ATX 2.0 480-watt power supply that provides the best of both worlds - a native 24-pin ATX connector plus a 24-to-20 pin adapter for other boards.

The Neopower 480 also provides customizable power leads to reduce case clutter and has quickly developed a reputation for quiet operation. This makes the Antec a good choice for either a top Athlon 64 system or an LGA 775 P4 system.

If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.