PSU for Antec P180 case

I'm planning to buy an Antec P180 case for a computer I'm putting
together. I haven't selected a motherboard yet. I understand that some
people have found that some power supply cables are too short to easily
reach some of the components in the upper compartment.

- Is the problem cable only the motherboard 4-pin power cable, or are
there other ones that are also too short?

- can anyone recommend a specific 450W or greater PSU with nice long
cables that will work well with this case?

"Nil" <rednoise+news@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote in message
news:Xns987376C4898E9nilch1@216.196.97.136...
> I'm planning to buy an Antec P180 case for a computer I'm putting
> together. I haven't selected a motherboard yet. I understand that some
> people have found that some power supply cables are too short to easily
> reach some of the components in the upper compartment.
>
> - Is the problem cable only the motherboard 4-pin power cable, or are
> there other ones that are also too short?
>
> - can anyone recommend a specific 450W or greater PSU with nice long
> cables that will work well with this case?

You are confused. The main problem with power supply cables and
mainboards is not length but ROUTING. But this is totally dependent on the
layout of the mainboard. For example, many mainboards are laid out in such
a manner that the main power connector from the power supply pretty much HAS
to pass over the CPU heatsink/fan (blocking airflow, and looking stupid as
Hell). That doesn't mean that the power supply cable is too short (though
an EXTRA LONG one could in theory be re-routed), it simply means that
someone had their head up their ass when they were designing the
motherboard.

The main problem with cables being too short in a tall ATX style case is
usually the data cables for the various drives (to connect to the
mainboard). This is because mainboard drive connectors tend to be located
"low" on the mainboard (not always, but frustratingly common), as the
mainboard is mounted in the case. So you might need really long data cables
to get from the mainboard to (for example) optical drives mounted near the
top of the case. But this is not a big deal. At worst, you can pick up a
longer cable (or two) for a few bucks a piece. (IDE, SATA, whatever)

You really need to do a lot more research before even thinking about
selecting a power supply. 450W or greater is definitely leaning in the
right direction, but even 550W might not be enough, depending on what you
are building. Choose your CPU and your video card. Then go with the higher
of the two recommendations for system requirements, by amperage of specific
rails. For example, if your video card suggests a "stronger" power supply
than the CPU requires, see what the video card manufacturer recommends for
amperage on the +12V rail (like, 30A or whatever). Then get back to us to
let us know what kind of power supply you need, and maybe we can recommend a
specific model.

In general though, it's hard to go wrong buying a larger wattage Seasonic
brand power supply. -Dave