All About Computer Cases!

You can customize or modify your own, or you can buy some really cool ones that are available on the web.

Here is a general description of what your case should look for if you are buying a computer case...

The computer-case is like a metal box, in which all the parts of your computer are kept. This box has a front and a back panel.

On the front panel you can see the CD ROM drive (some cases have more than one place for the CD ROM drives, because some people prefer to have more than one drive on their PCs), the floppy drive, the reset switch and the power switch. If you have seen a few older cases, you have surely seen a small display, showing the speed of the CPU (or the processor), measured in MHz.

On the back panel of (almost) all computer cases are ports and connectors needed for the peripheral devices.

you can also see the fan and slots for cards, such as the sound card, the video card, and the network card. The ports, that are placed there are printer port and the serial ports.

The connectors are the keyboard and the mouse connectors and the power connectors. The exact locations of many of these items vary somewhat from computer to computer, but the overall layout is generally the same.

Types of computer cases fit AT and ATX sizes. If you want a modern computer, you will want, or should have an ATX case. The AT or ATX version refers to the type of motherboard the case is designed to fit. The AT case is for the old type of motherboards such as for the 80486 microprocessor based computers.

There are two basic styles of computer cases the computer may come assembled in. They are basically tower and desktop style computer cases. Desktop style is in the shape of a rectangular box which is sits flat on the desk. Usually the computer monitor is placed on top of it.

A tower computer case looks similar to a tower as the name implies. These computers will be placed off to the side of the keyboard and monitor. The tower case is the most popular style of desktop computer today. It is also recommended by some microprocessor manufacturers since it can be designed for better heat dissipation.

There are three different sizes of the tower computer cases. These are the Mini-tower, which is the smallest computer case. Next comes the Mid-tower, or the standard size. It's recommended for most applications including standard desktop systems and some servers.

The next tower computer case is the Full-tower. It is the largest of all towers. Usually this is a very tall computer case and you may have a difficult time fitting it where overhead is limited. This case is usually used for high powered servers.

Let's get back to ports and the connectors on the back panel of computer cases. There are a few important things to say about them. As it was said before, the back panel of computer cases have power connectors. There are two of them.

One is to connect your computer to the wall outlet, and the other can be used to connect the monitor power to operate from the socket on the back of the case. Usually the power connector for the monitor is not used since many use a power strip or a surge protector to control the power to all devices.

Now, let's say a few more things about the keyboard and mouse connecters. On new computers, there are both normal connectors –PS2.

There are two sizes of PS2 connectors. Normally with today's equipment you will want the smaller PS2 connector on your keyboard. Mice don't come with the larger PS2 connector. There are adapters made to allow smaller connectors to adjust to a larger sockets and vice-versa. A PS2 connector is a round connector with 6 pins and a plastic key.

The keyboard always uses the PS2 connector; however the mouse may be a serial mouse and may plug into the serial cable on your computer. With modern computers, normally a PS2 mouse will be used.

Near the keyboard and mouse connectors is normally a connector for a parallel printer. This is what is called a parallel device, meaning that more than one line carries data in one direction at a time. This is the connector you will plug your parallel printer into. See your computers motherboard or owner's manual if you want to know the exact placement of these connectors.

A little below, you can see the two serial connectors. There are two types of serial connectors, which are called DB9 and DB25. One type, DB9 contains 9 pins or sockets and the other contains 25 pins or sockets. You may have any combination of the 9 or 25 pin connectors. Also some are female style connectors, and others are male. You will need to make sure your connectors match for their given types. The serial cables are normally used to connect a serial mouse, an external modem, or some other device to your computer.

And now, let's finish our article with a few final words about the slots for the cards. Card slots are covered by a metal plate on the back panel of comper cases. This is where the additional cards are plugged into your system. These cards are usually a video card, a sound card, internal modem, and one or more network cards. Your monitor connector would plug into a connector on your video card, and your speakers will plug into a connector on your sound card. See your sound card and video card manual for exact placement of these connectors on the card. These cards are plugged into the motherboard and you must open your case up to remove or add one of these cards.

Finally, we have reached the end of this article, which has only one purpose -to give you useful and interesting information about computer cases.

You surely know that computer cases vary not only in manufacturers, but in the outer appearance and design. There are some really strange and attractive cases, such as lighted PC cases; cases, which are made of plexiglass (in order to be seen the insides of the computer), and many, many other variations.

All you have to do is choose the PC case that suits you most and to buy it! Good luck!