When you’ve decided to build a PC from scratch, you need to decide what components you need and also what case you want to house them in. Your choice of processor and motherboard will impact which computer case you can choose from.
A computer case goes by several other names, including cabinet, tower, and system cabinet, to name a few, and is often constructed of steel, aluminum, or plastic. The components you choose to house in your computer case will determine its size or form factor, which is largely governed by the motherboard itself. The question of whether to have a desktop PC or a tower PC will be determined by personal choice, and the space available is also an important factor.
Most desktop PCs these days come with an ATX form factor motherboard, although there are other smaller form factor motherboards available. These desktop models are designed so that the computer monitor sits on top of the computer case. The downside is that this type of PC can take up quite a lot of space, particularly standard desktop models. A microATX motherboard can be housed in a smaller case and thus reduce the footprint of your desktop.
Tower computer cases have become very popular and come in 3 main sizes: full tower, mid tower, and mini tower. The height ranges of the tower boxes are as follows:
Full-size tower from 22 to 26 inches
16-inch to 18-inch mid-tower
14-16 inch mini tower
The full-size model is designed to stand on the floor and will have the highest capacity for external drive bays, with 6 to 8 being the norm and 10 not uncommon. In contrast, a mini tower model can only have 2 externally accessible drive bays. The choice really depends on what you want from your computer.
The trends for data storage are changing, and the days of storing everything on internally located hard drives are coming to an end, although they are still common. External storage devices connected via USB cables and network methods of data storage are becoming more common and it is always helpful to back up your data using one of these methods. For this reason, it’s important to make sure your computer case has enough externally accessible USB slots, either on the back or front, to accommodate the number of USB storage devices and peripherals you want to use.
The computer case will have several drive bays, an area to house the power supply, a motherboard slot, and expansion slots. Choosing the correct motherboard is important because that will determine the number of input/output ports, such as USB and audio, that will be available to the user. The drive bays will come in two main sizes of 3.5 and 5.25 inches, with the smaller bays being used primarily to accommodate hard drives and floppy drives, while the larger bays are for housing optical drives such as CDs and DVD.
The computer case will typically have, at a minimum, an on/off switch or button, a reset button, and several LEDs to indicate power and network operation. Air vents are typically located near mounting brackets or screw holes used to attach cooling fans.
Gaming cases typically have more capacity than those designed for normal PC use, due to the additional graphics cards and specialized cards required by dedicated gamers. The most common computer case used by gamers is the ATX mid tower model, although for higher capacity a full tower model may be appropriate. Often an important consideration for gamer cases is cooling capacity, as the case is often packed with components that will generate a lot of heat. Most gaming cases will have at least one high quality fan and the ability to add more cooling fans if needed. Some gamer cases come with side panels made of perspex so the internal components can be seen from the outside, this is usually just to make the case look cool, and additional LED lighting can make the case even more eye-catching.
