Need some opinions

So recently I got a great deal on a Logisys Area51W case for like $30 with some crappy PSU. I tossed the PSU and put in a better Ultra 500watt and 2 x 120mm Coolermaster R4 blue LED, 2 x 80mm Rosewill black case fans. The case itself is pretty awesome looking as far as stock goes, and the cooling is pretty good for my setup. Here's some pictures:

(You can click on them for a bigger view)

Don't worry, I am not keeping the stock cooler, it's just there until my TT SpinQ arrives. The setup is the same as whats in my sig. So I was wondering what people think, I need ideas for some simple case modding, and better airflow. I am thinking about getting some CCFL's from Logisys or whatever. Any ideas?

ahhhhh that mobo is so cute ...lol

what are some temps at now ? with everything closed up ?

Uhm, well stock this CPU runs with 1.21 vCore for some reason btw

Stock (2.7ghz @ 1.21v)
Idle: 35C
Load: 42C

Max OC'd (3.38ghz @ 1.37v)
Idle: 48C
Load: >70C

Current OC (3.2ghz @ 1.25v)
Idle: 43C
Load: 51C

There seems to be some good airflow, and the TT SpinQ should help alot... but do you think that side panel fan will interfere? And I am trying to figure out how to run the cooling paths to optimize the new HSF.

looking good mate..
why dont you cut a hole in the bottom of the case where the hdd could sit.. and have the fan exhaust straight from under the hdd?

last ultra i saw wasn't good no idea what it means for your unit.

Well it's kinda hard to tell where the fans are so here ya go:


The back 120mm and 80mm are exhaust, and the others are intake. I have it on a glass plate when it's on the floor so carpet fiber doesn't enter and it gets plenty of air. And I might actually consider cutting out that 'grill' cut into the case for the bottom 80mm... I can put that chrome fan grill on it for protection.

Any ideas for some simple mods? I really feel like painting the inside black... but it seems like everyone does that, any other colors that might look good? I saw some gold krylon spray paint at the store today, it looks pretty awesome... my mobo tray might look cool with that lol

Edit:

vgta88 said:

last ultra i saw wasn't good no idea what it means for your unit.

Click to expand...

Yeah it seems to get kinda warm... I am not too trusting of it, but my system probably only uses 280 - 330 watts. If it poops out I got a Logisys 480 watt and a Foxconn 300 watt laying around. I used to use the Foxconn 300watt on this system for a while, and it was fine. My next upgrade will include a >600 watt modular PSU anyways since I don't trust any of mine. Any ideas for a good 550w - 650w PSU under $80?

Edit2:

Well I just cut away all the factory fan openings and put on some chrome grills on both the 120mm fans, and the 80mm bottom intake. Now the case went from around 45dba to around 28dba lol, even my temps have gone down 1C - 2C. Post some comments or ideas for modding please =)

what? i thought all corsairs were reasonable, its become cliche, top brands are pc power and cooling. silverstones, seasonic, corsair, (i'm missing a few)

i think some of the members have good antecs earth watts.

these are all corsairs cuz the price is right and they are generally very good. (I did not include the $10 mir)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003 the 450vx @ $68 I wouldn't go lower than this model for longer product life (for 3 dollars over the 400cx you get better capacitors that might double the life). this model should provide 396 watts on the 12v (33amps) so that just suits your current needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004&Tpk=corsair 550 this is the 550vx at 89 dollars which will run you a quad core and a high end single gpu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
I think they are all on sale, 89 for the 650tx ($70 off)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 this is the 750tx on sale with 70 dollars off so its 109. which is quite good value.

i went over your sig it seems the 7750 stock does 95 tdp, the 4650 does 48 tdp from wiki (i also remember the 4670 was something like 59-69) 4 gb ram might need an estimate of 80 (ram and motherboard) add 20 watts for the harddrives and I think we are as low as 243. your system will probably run great on the 450 watt or if your current is decent. I suggest you read up on a good review for your hardware before you take any steps.

i guess i'm in an ok mood so to the forums.

Well I've only been building PC's for about a year now (I've built about 10 or 11 now), so I am finally starting to understand alot of the details in hardware. The only piece of hardware I don't know very much about is the PSU... I only know approximately what watts are good, obviously connector types, and thats it lol. I got this Ultra for free, so I went with it. I've been meaning to upgrade my motherboard, psu, and gfx card soon.

My current wishlist includes:

XFX 1gb 5770 with full HSF Cover (I don't like the open fan design) - $185
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X - $120
AMD PhenomII x2 550BE (or the x3 720BE) - $105
Some DDR3-1600mhz 2x2gb
Some PSU (not sure...)