Computer Towers and How to Pick Them
Posted by: Brad
Tags: cheap computer, cheap computer tower, cheap pc case, cheap pc tower, computer, Computers, pc case, pc tower case
Computer towers have been around for more than 15 years. They started to gain market in the 90′s and for good reasons. A typical desktop computer started to contain more and more parts and it was more convenient way of keeping them in a confined space than the baby cases as they used to call the ones laying on their largest side. The job of a tower is to hold all your computer parts together, most importantly the motherboard, the power supply and hard disks, optical drives.
There are a few materials used in computer cases, most often used is stainless steel, aluminum and some tin can like wobbly metal alloy I really can’t stand. People make custom cases as well, some of the fancier materials they pick are glass, plexiglas and wood.
Aluminum is rather easy to cut and carve, manufacturers choose this to make designer cases. Downside of this material is the relatively high price and that it’s not strong enough if not used in the right thickness. Stainless steel makes robust and durable cases, servers are usually put in these, but I wouldn’t carry a tower made of 1mm thick stainless steel as it would probably weight 40 pounds without the computer inside.
External size is probably not always the most important thing, you have to make sure it can take the right form factor motherboards. Most often used size is called ATX or mATX, short for micro ATX. Micro ATX almost always fits a computer tower that matches ATX standards as mounting holes are backwards compatible. Once you know what type your motherboard is, how many hard drives and optical drives do you have and if you need power supply or not, it’s time to hunt down the perfect computer case.
Try to look after the quality products, as saving a few bucks on it can come back and haunt you later. There are cases that have sharp edges inside because the manufacturer skipped the step of removing them, and this is only one thing you would meet by saving up on the case. It can cause you inconvenience by having the holes put slightly further away from each other and consequently not meeting ATX standards making installation of a motherboard hard if not impossible.
Cheap computer cases, even if the have a power supply tend to incorporate low quality of it. A bad supply unit can kill your parts by sending an over voltage through them so make yourself a favour and before purchasing a case, take a look around the net and read reviews, articles about everything you pay money for. It may save you money later.