Choosing and Buying Components - Building the Perfect PC - page 38

Depending on the case size and type, expect to pay at least $50 for a good
basic case without a power supply, and $100 or more for that case with a good
power supply. Case and power supply quality is one of the major areas for
cost-cutting in mass-market systems, many of which use a case and power
supply combo that would retail for half the price of decent components, or
less. If you must economize on these components, we strongly recommend
that you buy an inexpensive case without a power supply and install a good
power supply. Using a cheap power supply almost guarantees problems—if
not initially, then certainly as the system ages.
Here are some important considerations when choosing a case:
Build quality and price
Build quality correlates closely to price. Better and more expensive cases
are heavier, stiffer, and have no dangerous sharp edges or burrs. Panels
are heavy-gauge and fit to tight tolerances, often with captive screws, and
supplemental case fans are of good quality. One exception to the heavier-
is-better rule is portable gaming cases, which are often made from alu-
minum or a light alloy but are engineered to provide stiffness and tight
tolerances.
Size and type
Mainstream cases are generally categorized as server, full-tower, mid-
tower, mini-tower, microtower, desktop, or slimline. There are also various
special-purpose cases available that are optimized for specific purposes,
such as media center/home theater cases and gaming cases. For maxi-
mum flexibility and expandability as well as better cooling, choose a large
case. If size is a major consideration, choose the smallest case that will ac-
cept the motherboard that you want to use and has sufficient drive bays
for all of the drives you want to install.
Motherboard form factor compatibility
Motherboards are available in numerous form factors, which differ in
size and (sometimes) mounting hole positions. Fortunately, only three of
those form factors are commonly used for desktop motherboards. From
largest to smallest, these include: ATX (305 mm × 244 mm board size),
microATX or μATX (244 mm × 244 mm) and Mini-ITX (170 mm × 170 mm).
With very few exceptions, cases built to accept these form factors are
backward-compatible. An ATX case can accept an ATX, μATX, or Mini-ITX
motherboard. A μATX case can accept a μATX or Mini-ITX motherboard,
and a Mini-ITX case can accept only a Mini-ITX motherboard.
A few motherboards designed for gaming systems or servers use the Ex-
tended ATX (EATX) form factor, which has a board size of 305 mm × 330 mm.
These motherboards fit only EATX cases, which can also accept mother-
boards in any of the three most common form factors.