[AtomicClucker]

Just a little thread for those of us who build PCs.

"Oh, what wrath did we wrought when we thought we could save weight! Foul thoughts we thought not, for doom comes from the most beautiful of dreams!"

"MicroATX did we cry, and build did we try! Toil and boil, fingers and guts, and loathe to realize we had no zip ties?! Wrath the computer gods did they send!"

"But t'was not the end, but the beginning of a cruel means to end. Abhoring the laws of nature for supposedly good stature? Cthulu did try and escape, but despite his powered tendrils, oh so vainly did the zip ties!"

"Somehow the Eldritch Gods of CPU cooling and PSU spooling were tamed, crammed into a case of cheap plastic and aluminum of yore!"

"But the hurtful truth remains? Why didn't I just get a ATX Middle Tower instead?!"

I built my MicroATX system using a cheap Rosewill MicroATX case. Next time I'm spending the money on Coarsair or Silverstone.

What's your horror story of building a PC?

[TechnoD11]

Just a few (some of these are a bit dated)...

Me: "Sorry, doesn't appear that hard drive will fit in the case."
Friend: "Of course it will! Just duct tape it to the side panel like this!"
(slap)

Me: "I don't think that Graphics card will work with your computer as is..."
Friend: "What? My power supply says 280 so that must mean its compatible with a gtx 280"

Me: "You need thermal compound for that CPU and heatsink"
Friend: "I've got some tooth paste, will that work?"

Me: "Your old CPU cooler is not backwards compatible."
Friend: "Why not just take out the screws and zip tie it to the motherboard?"


These are coming from someone who builds for a living
and there are many more where that came from...

[MP-Ryan]

Ever tried to replace the PSU in an Antec Sonata III case?

Funny story... the wonderful people at Antec apparently think that people should remove the motherboard to do so.  They have a stupid aluminum strut installed at exactly the precise spot to prevent sliding it down in a spot that clears the processor's HSF and memory DIMMs; the case is designed to fit around the back of it, thereby preventing removal from the rear, dropping it straight down isn't an option because of the aforementioned HSF/memory, and forward lies the DVDRW and HDD bays.

So, to replace a PSU, what literally should be a 10 minute job AT MOST took damn near an hour because I had to disconnect everything and remove the entire damned motherboard (ATX, with two cards in PCI slots) from the tower to replace it.  Next case I buy, I am looking at detailed interior pictures of. Good grief.

[jr2]

How about some of the old Dells? They had a custom piece of metal that blocked the standard PSUs AC power slot.

So to replace with a non dell PSU you had to take a dremel tool to the case and cut out the extra metal.

At least they don't change the wiring any more (used to be a non dell PSU would cause fireworks because dell is greedy).


A noteworthy mention to folks who had 256 MB RAM and XP SP3 with Norton 2004 and every instant messenger ever made autostarting bringing that in for a tuneup.

It's running slow!

Well, if you tried to tow an airstream with a VW Beetle it would be slow, Ya?

[Mongoose]

How about some of the old Dells? They had a custom piece of metal that blocked the standard PSUs AC power slot.

So to replace with a non dell PSU you had to take a dremel tool to the case and cut out the extra metal.

Heh, that was/is the case with mine.  A few years back, Stealth very generously sent me a new PSU along with a new video card, but it flat-out didn't fit in my old Dell's clamshell case:  not only did the back metal impede the socket, but the original PSU was a good half-inch shallower than the standard, so the catch holding it into the case flat-out wouldn't work for the new one.  Fortunately I still had it sitting around when my family's much-newer Dell had a PSU fail, so it was put to good use in the end anyway.

[TechnoD11]

If we're talking cases, I've got a few stories...
1. I've got a older HP media center PC, 2005 ish that is long retired. Photo:

See that middle spot, where the HP logo is? Well the main hard drive is mounted on the other side of that. Simple enough, right?

...The other side panel doesn't come off. Yup. Bought a 90 degree angle screw driver to replace the dead hard drive. Real pain in the ass.

2. Take a good look at this case:

Congrats, you just looked at the biggest pile of **** of a PC case ever made. Cheapest piece of junk ever. Stay away. Words cannot describe how bad this case is.
Look at is this way: This case is the reason I have a first aid kit at my workstation now.

[BirdofPrey]

How bad is that case, because I though MINE was the worst.
They changed the 3.5 drive bay without changing the screws, the USB ports don't retain cables, it had a fan controller in the front panel that burnt out after a few weeks, and most of the fans it shipped with have a crappy lifetime, plus the front panel snapped right off when a cat ran into it ONCE.

I honestly prefer my old metal cases I occasionally cut myself on.
Well except for that one time I had a minitower case for an AT motherboard.

[TechnoD11]

Pretty bad. the side fan smoked when plugged in. Metal is flimsier than cardboard. Cut myself at least 10 times on that case. No cut out for CPU on back. 3.5 drive bays didn't fit right, and the entire rack was bent. 3.5 rack prevented the installation of any decent graphics card, had to be cut. 120mm Fan output on back wasn't even designed to fit right, they had to add a plastic bracket to make one fit, and it is loose and rattles in the case. Included fans were crap. front panel connections were all on one PCB, PCB is only glued to the front of the case, any decent pressure pushes the connections out. Front fan mesh constantly gets bent inward, only way to correct is to remove the front. Half of the stand off points on the mainboard were stripped, as in the standoff did not grip the metal and lead to poor mainboard support.

And there's a lot more.

[BirdofPrey]

YIKES.

Almost makes you pine for the old beige box.  They were plain, but they were solid. Next case I get I want to get a CASE Labs, kind of expensive but sturdy and modular is worth it for me.

[Mongoose]

Yeah, the ancient beige Gateway 2000 our family had probably could have survived a few-story fall with only a minor dent or two.  Those things were built like tanks.

[pecenipicek]

i'm personally a fan of chieftec full-towers. similar construction as that antec sonata 3 case, but with a lot more space between the front and back and more space than you can shake a stick at.

about the only problem with it is if you have a psu with sata power connectors which are not the 90° connectors...

that and the fact that each is around 10 kilograms empty...


and the odd resonance that gets set up sometimes between the plastic bits and the metal bits, but eh, all 3 cases are at the very least 5 years old.

[zookeeper]

I just recently intended to replace my PSU, but ended up not to because the replacement PSU was bigger and physically impossible to install without removing the motherboard or CPU cooler first which I really didn't fancy doing.

And to install the one I had (and now, still have) before, I already had had to cut away a piece of the side of the top of the case.

I think in the future I'll always opt for cases with the PSU at the bottom, anyway, it's just so much more convenient that way, it seems.

[TechnoD11]

1. I know the Gateway case you're talking about. I still have mine and after some modifications it is holding my 6 core workstation PC. You're right, its a tank. Dropped it down the stairs before I built anything in it and there was no denting, well at least on the case 

2. If you need a good case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146190

Its a beautiful case to build in. Great construction and wire management. Clean design

[deathspeed]

I had similar issues replacing a PSU in an old Compaq Presario case.  I ended up taking the dead PSU apart and using the endcap to fashion an adapter for the new Antec PSU.  I don't remember all the details, but a Dremel was definitely involved.

I like my Thermaltake Tsunami Dream so well that I have used it for the last 10 years.  I had to trim a notch in the hard drive cage for a GTX 260 to clear, and luckily the GTX 480 I have now did not require further mods.  I had to replace the 90mm side fan, so I put in a nexus 120mm, but the front and rear 120mm fans are original.  I used the cover of an old CD drive and a blank front panel cover to fashion a drawer to hold flash drives, connectors, screws, etc.  There really isn't any cable management to speak of.

I have a new CoolerMaster Elite 341 MicroATX case that was given to me; I might use that for my next build.  Anyone have any experience with it?

[LHN91]

The 341 is a decent case - just bear in mind it fits a Micro ATX motherboard and no more. Also, it won't handle the height of a Cooler Master 212+.

The hard drive cases (save 1 or 2) are on a removable cage that you can pull out to allow for long graphics cards.

Edit: also wanted to note that the cable management options are a bit limited.