Coolermaster Wavemaster

[matt_hobson]

Hi,

I am finalising the parts for a new PC, i have selected the above case from reccomendations from lots of people. Firstly what do people think of the case. Secondly i know this is a bit of a newbie question, but..

The case has a panel on the top for 2*USB 1*Firewire 1*mic and 1*speakers.

How are these connected to the motherboard? I am almost sure that the wires come with the case, but where will they link to? The normal USB sockets on the motherboard are all on the back (would come out the back of the case. Does this mean that the case is not right for that motherboard?

Please see motherboard here (click on the picture to enlarge and see the ports on the back):
Abit IC7- Max3

Please see case here:
Wavemaster

Thanks in advance guys,

[Lord Kordir]

The leads will be supplied with the case. They connect to your motherboard's USB and firewire header ports.

Your motherboard should be fine

[matt_hobson]

Thanks,

Sorry but i want to try and make sure i know exactly what i am doing before i purchase all the bits.

Taking the example of the headphone port - there is one port on the back of the motherboard, so as it is, it would come out of the back of the PC. As there is one at the top of the case, will the one on the back not work if i connect the one on the top of the case up? If not then am i right in assuming that the case is actually adding functionality to the mother board i.e. they both work?

Is the answer the same for the USB, firewire etc.

If so then is the case adding 2 more USB ports to my system?

Thanks again

Matt

[Alan]

The cables which are connected to these sockets are connected directly to connectors on the motherboard. They do not go outside the case, they do not connect to the external connectors. There are internal connectors in addition to the external connectors on the motherboard.

For example, the Abit has four external USB sockets as standard. An additional two external USB connectors come on a pci slot plate which gives you six round the back. But the additional two are connected to a motherboard "header" which is a collection of pins on the motherboard. There are four "headers" for USB on the motherboard. If you use the add-on external ones discussed, that leaves two remaining which can be connected to the USB sockets at the top of the case using the cable provided.

You can download the Abit motherboard manual from their site and read it to get the picture.

[Lord Kordir]

Alan said it much better than I could, lol

[matt_hobson]

heh,

thanks for the help guys. I have just about finalised all my bits. SHould be quite a sweet system:

Case - Coolermaster ATCS-TAC-T01 WaveMaster
http://www.coolermaster.com/index.ph...+Wave%20Master
Price: £107.45 from MicroDirect

Power Supply - 480W Thermaltake Silver Special Edition Butterfly Silent PSU W0020 Exclusive
http://www.thermaltake.com/purepower/menu.htm#specialty
Price: £52.88 from MicroDirect

Processor - Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHZ
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...365&GroupID=31
Price: £197.4 from MicroDirect

Memory - Corsair® TwinX 1024Mb C2 3200 (2 x 512MB PC3200 Matched Pair DDR) with Activity LEDs (TWINX1024-3200C2PRO) *2 - 2GB RAM
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...632&GroupID=56
Price: £357.2 from MicroDirect

Motherboard - Abit IC7 MAX 3 Intel 875P Chipset Pentium 4 Dual SATA RAID, Dual DDR 400, AGP Pro 8X, OTES
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/...es=1&model=130
Price: £140.41 from Scan

Graphics Card - Abit 256M ATI A9800XT-VTD Tv/DVI
http://www.ati.com/products/radeon98...o/compare.html
Price: £313.73 from Scan

Sound Card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 71 THX Retail
http://www.creative.com/products/pro...sp?prodid=4915
Price: £81.66from Scan

Hard Drive - SpinPoint P80 160GB SATA150 - Samsung
http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/comp...quicklinx=2ZDT
Price: £84.00from Dabs

Optical 1 - Sony 52x32x52 IDE Beige BURN proof oem with Software
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...124&GroupID=41
Price: £22.91from MicroDirect

Optical 2 - Sony DWU18A 8X DVD +/-R/RW Ivory oem
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...752&GroupID=42
Price: £89.89from MicroDirect

Floppy - Any Silver floppy drive
Price: £10.00

Speakers - Creative I-Trigue 2.1 3300
http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/hard...quicklinx=2DBR
Price: £59.99from Dabs

Monitor - 19" Iiyama CRT Vision Master 1451 (LS902UT) FST 0.26dp 30-96KHz
http://web6.scan.co.uk/Products/Info.asp?WPID=16379
Price: £112.80from Scan

OS - Microsoft Windows XP Pro
http://web6.scan.co.uk/Products/Info.asp?WPID=13086
Price: £93.99from Scan(Only this price with motherboard or HDD)

Other Wires - Rounded IDE Cables for CD & DVD Drive - Only need one as 1 comes with motherboard
Price: £5.00

Keyboard & Mouse - Some Optical combo - Probably not wireless as i will probably forget to charge the batteries
Price: £40 - £60.00

TOTAL ESTIMATED PRICE: £ 1780

[Alan]

Once you've placed your orders with these companies, will you let us know your experience with them - both pre and after sales service?

Incidentally, the RAM price sounds a bit high - don't know for sure.

[DeludedGuy]

Thats a pretty powerful system you got there.

One thing, why are you getting Win XP Pro?

[matt_hobson]

why........ why not?


what would you rather go for?

and yea sure i will post all experiences up, thats the best thing about forums like these, seeing others' experiences..

Matt