Take another look at the Corsair White Carbide series... It is very close to the size of my Antec 900 and is also great looking. I like the black mesh front and top with the white sides. The Graphite is definitely 2 inches wider and about 4 inches longer than mine, but I would love it if mine were wider just for cable management.

If you are concerned with portability, I got a base on wheels for mine as it is really heavy. I can roll it around and dust underneath it.

As I said before, any of these mid-sized cases are going to look huge compared to what you have now. I'll grant you the White Graphite is big, but unless you are cramped for space, it's still an amazing high-end case. You should never put these higher end computers in small enclosed computer desk slots anyway - unless you use water cooling. I like mine out because it just looks great!

Here should be your thought process with the emphasis on the "KISS" method. Going with AMD or Intel or Nvidia is mostly a matter of preference; one is not necessarily better than the other.

Case
AMD or Intel CPU
Pick a CPU
Motherboard
Video Card, Nvidia or AMD
Pick a video card
RAM
Power supply

DONE!

My son pruchased this case a while back when we put together a new rig. It's actually quite nice to work with; you've got a lot of "hand" room on the inside.

Newegg has pictures of the Coolermaster HAF 912
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Nowhere near as pretty as the Corsair (IMO), and no front port for USB 3.0, but it's quite a lot cheaper, 1.3" skinnier, and about 10 pounds lighter.

Both put the power supply on the bottom.

NZXT Phanton

and a review

review

more stuff

Still like the Corsair

I got an incredible system from ecollege 1.5 year ago and can play/do anything and haven't had any issue. And it cost about $800 (about half of what I'd pay from a bigname company). In fact I think I posted it back then.

As for case I got a elite Cooler Master.
caz

Thank you guys very much. I really do love all your opinions and suggestions and take everyone into account.

First, let me say that I love the Corsair White Graphic more than any other and I have gone over and over it figuring out a way to make it work. Its not the weight, the width or the height that is the problem...its the depth. At about 23.5 inches deep that just about puts it against the wall with no room for wires in my Man Cave. It seems like that always happens, after finally finding something you like you can't have it. Most of the cases I have been looking at and the ones suggested are 19.5 to 20.5 in depth which are perfect and 3 to 4 inches shorter than that beautiful Graphite Case. I am bummed.

All my computer towers are on a cart next to my desk out in the open


Thanks Creeping_Doom, InlandAZ and Jenny100 with the info for the Coolermaster HAF 912. It is a very nice case for sure, but....and don't you guys laugh...all those little nooks and crannies on the edges look great but they would just hold the dust and it being black....OH MY am I being anal about dust or what?


Wow, Winfrey, that sure is a beautiful white case, isn't it? Kind of space age like. I don't see it being offered at CyberPower or ECollege though. Thanks for the suggestion


Draclvr
We think alike. I have been checking out the Carbide Series® 500R White Mid-Tower Case It does seem to have enough fans, the size is doable, I wanted a couple more USB Ports on the front but the 2 are 3.0 so beggars can't be chooser. Here is something that concerns me... Is that going to be a problem with the NVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti that you suggested earlier?


Thanks Cazziejoe. The best opinions on a store are those from people that buy from them. Did they send you all the disks manuals, cable and extra parts that would have come with each component and did they send you the Operating System disk like Windows 7 or whatever you got?



Finally, what the heck happened to Best Buy? Went there today to look at their Monitors and to pick up a Display Port cable and check on adapters. Half the store is now Gardner White Furniture. Couple that with the appliance section there isn't much left for the electronics. In fact they don't even have displays anymore of computer monitors. Just a few in boxes. They only had a few PCs for sale. Where once they had all cables they didn't even carry DVI or Display cables. They did have VGA but geesh! Apparently the reason they don't have display monitors are for the exact reason I was there To look at the monitors then go home and but it Online cheaper LOL.

When I look up the 660Ti, it says it is 241.3 mm. The GTX 660 is also 9.5 inches or 241.3 mm. The 660Ti is actually massive overkill for the kind of gaming and computing you do! I was just throwing in higher end components to see how much it all came up to. There are less expensive cards that will do just fine for you.

I tried to find the length of the AMD 7850, but it wasn't listed either on the website or at Newegg. Kind of strange???

You can always do what I did and install a card reader that included some USB ports on the front. Depending on which motherboard you get, there will probably be at least 6 - 8 USB ports on the back plus the two on the front of the case.

Even if you go with your second choice, I guarantee you will love it. That one is also a very nice case and will be great for all your components.

This one is 9.5" long
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

which would be 241.3 mm.
If eCollege or CyberPower is building it for you, you don't have to worry about the size of the card because they'll take care of it for you.

OK...before I come over and squash all your tomato plants, what would you suggest?


Thanks Jenny, thats a relief

If you do that, there'll be no Bloody Mary’s for you

Looking at my WOMAN cave... looks like I can not use the Corsair either....it would stick out of the right side of my built in cabinet desk about 2 1/2 inches.... darn... it sure is pretty.

You should never put these higher end computers in a built in desk anyway, Winfrey! It does not give them enough airflow for cooling. So you will just have to get your new computer built with this case and show it off NEXT to your cabinet desk! (You know that you're next, don't you?!)

Greyfuss, I can only tell you what video card I went for after doing a lot of reading and considering that I play very demanding shooters and RPGs and my budget. Since you do NOT play those kinds of games, you really don't need something like that. New adventure games are getting more demanding for sure, but definitely not to that level. It's all up to you!

But I have no idea of what I need, thats why I am here asking for help. Ouch...just when I thought I was nearing completion I feel I am back to the drawing board...

Winfrey: I am designing my own line of computers for women. All the cases are pink and the internet only connects to on-line shoe stores.

I will get you for that Geo!!!! :-)

Yes, Drac I know...I am paying close attention to this thread. :-)
Look at link to a picture of my desk space.. it is an open area underneath .. is this ok it is not closed in.
Second... if I want to play games like Tomb Raider.. Witcher... and be prepared for more demanding games.. would the 670Ti be the way to go?
Please excuse the messy cables in back :-)

built in desk area

No, the knee-hole is fine, Winfrey. I thought you were talking about the narrow built-in spaces they have for computers. I have my XP computer in mine, but it doesn't need much cooling.

One of my goals in life is to do something about all the cables under my desk! Hah!

I was able to play all the Tomb Raider games and Witcher 1 on my old GTX 260. It was Witcher 2 that finally made the GTX 260 cry out for mercy. The upgrade to the 660Ti was the result of a lot of reading at Tom's Hardware comparing video cards and trying to match my budget with my needs. I got Metro Last Light as a freebie with it, a game that is said to be very demanding and it's smoking the game on all the highest settings. Of course, in just a few years the same thing will happen!

Geo, Winfrey and I are both going to get you for that one!

Greyfuss, I'm not real comfortable in actually telling you what to get for a video card - I thought you were asking for suggestions and opinions. There are a lot of choices including AMD cards. You said you preferred Nvidia, so I mentioned the one I just got. It's $300 and is more than you need. But, I don't know if that doesn't matter to you or if you want to go down in price to a less powerful card.

The bottom line is that however you put this computer together or which company you have do it, it's going to be wonderful!

Thanks Draclvr, you know I still love ya (sorry about all the smashed tomato plants)

I thought that your suggestions were for me with the criteria I gave. Forgive me the misunderstanding. Since I had no other suggestions to compare it to it was the only one I could go by. My concern is, and I have seen it here on Glitches a lot, is if I chose a card that I thought was good and I come back here with a problem I am told I have a low end card in that line. I have seen people think they have a high end card and looking at the number I thought so too and they were extremely disappointed when told that they didn't have as much card as they though.

You see all the bandwidth, clock speed, etc, is all to confusing for me to make a choice. Now, I don't really mind Overkill because that is what I would prefer but if its Massive Overkill maybe thats too much.

Let me ask you this. If the GeForce 660Ti 2gb is Massive Overkill what do you all think of going down a notch to the Geforce 650Ti 2gb? How is the ratings on that and is that the best of the 650 line and would that be just Overkill and not Massive Overkill? Would the 650Ti fit with my choice of Montitor previously discussed in Part 2?


Miss Winfrey, where do your legs go under that desk? It is a beautiful unit and I know that we can't see the real, presidents, desk that you must be sitting on to take that picture.

I was wondering where Winfrey's legs went too!

Greyfuss, I'm going to link to some charts that are not meant to confuse, just to show some of the benchmarks on these high end video cards and how they stack up against each other.

The first on ranks them on performance only, but check out some of those prices on the right!

High End Video Cards Performance

This one ranks them as best performance for the price. You can see that the 650 Ti ranks pretty high here.

Performance/Price

This website is a great one to compare video cards. Most of the information is Greek to me, but you can still get a good feeling for how the cards compare to each other. I plugged in the GTX 650 and the GTX 650Ti and there was quite a difference in performance. Of course, plugging in the 660Ti was another huge jump.

GPU Boss

Like I said, it's a matter of balancing your budget with the best card you can afford. Will adventure games require DX11? How much performance do you really need if you're not going to be playing Metro Last Light or Witcher 3 when it comes out? Just don't overthink it...

LOL... my legs can fit under and between the pc and bass..... but I usually sit with them under my chair :-)
Ok, I'm thinking about LittleFuss.... even though he won't be playing the let's kill everyone games.. in a few years he might be playing some like perhaps.. airplanes flying..doing tricks... trucks doing things that might require more video card?? Maybe... I think I would be safe and do overkill Mr. Fuss

Overkill is not a bad thing, Winfrey! Perhaps we should ask Mrs. GreyFuss!

I think you may be right Miss Winfrey. Also I see you have a place to lay down next to your computer when you get tired.

Draclvr
Thank you for the links, most helpful especially the last one. And keeping in mind what InlandAZ said in Part 2 Monitors "Find one with the highest memory bandwidth and a minimum of 2GB of VRAM" there seems to be a lot more with the 660Ti. I leaning on going ahead with Massive as opposed to just plain old ordinary Overkill. And thinking about what LittleFuss and what he may want to try in the coming years I think more is better and I wont have to post in Glitches asking why something won't play. besides its only about $100 difference. Lets see if it where 1970 that would only be about $10.

Now if there aren't any more surprises from Draclvr. I still would be looking for more suggestions and opinions. This is what I have so far...What do you think?

Hit the buy button and don't forget to use that BLACK FRIDAY discount if you're ordering from eCollegePC! Mike is absolutely great to work with there.

Perhaps he should upgrade the heatsink?

He did, Winfrey - to the Cooler Master Hyper 212, a good choice.

So, when are you taking the plunge!?