Old case, new mobo

[MadMax08]

hey guys, i have a pretty old tower i wanted to gut and rebuild with new parts, minus the case itself. is there any reason i can't do this?

the only difference i've seen is some of the connections with the power on/off button and some LED's.

[jlreich]

Maybe, maybe not.

Is it a standard ATX case? If it is an OEM case the front panel connectors are likely proprietary. Like the power button you mentioned.

How is the cooling in the case?

Will it fit a standard motherboard?

If you post a brand and model number of the case so we can look it up it would help us to give you a more definitive answer.

[MadMax08]

The only tag i found on the case is "IC Computer Case: Pentium Pro ATX". my dad bought it as a bundle with monitor, etc, probably 10 years ago. thats how old it is. yes, its just a standard ATX case.

edit: cooling would probably be rated "poor" with the standard stuff in there, and i'll, hopefully, be running a P4 2.8ghz, which i understand needs sufficient amounts of cooling. and the motherboard i have fits fine in the case, everything lines up great. i was hoping by using the old case it would save me a little money....

edit2: would there be any reason i coudln't use an old dell optiplex gx150 case, with new inards? since its a little newer than what i have now?

[MadMax08]

the motherboard i have is an Intel D846bg (http://www.activewin.com/reviews/hardware/processors/intel/p422ghz/d845bg.shtml). The smallest tower i can put that in is a Mid-ATX right?

[jlreich]

10 years old... no, get another case.

Dell almost always has a proprietary front panel connector. Not to mention poor cooling. You can double check the connector, but I doubt it will anything resembling standard. At least with HP cases you can usually carefully cut up the front panel block into usable single parts.

You would better off getting a cheap case. Just don't use any bundled power supplies that often come bundled with cheap cases. Get a good PSU, take the bundled PSU and set it aside for testing and backup.

And yes look for a mid-tower case. They can fit micro up to ATX. Usually a max of 12"x12".

Any particular reason you are using that mobo? It's ancient... 400MHz FSB is going way back into the jurassic period of computers. :p

EDIT - If everything fits, you could use the 10 year old case. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's up to you. Cooling would be my biggest concern. P4's do run hot.

[MadMax08]

Thanks for all your help jlreich! i just needed a push in the right direction.

haha, the reason i'm using the older-than-dirt motherboard is because my neighbor, who moved away a few years back, was a computer guy and gave me a bunch of stuff, figured i would try and make it work and save a few bucks; being the cheap bastard i am:)

looks like i may get a whole new case, different mobo and a dual core processor. thats what tax refunds are for!

Thanks again!

[jlreich]

Hey nothing wrong with throwing together some old free parts to make a system. Systems like that are great for experimenting and learning on, installing Linux, or just a second machine for browsing the net. :)

I have several old machines like that down in the basement. I really need to go through them and give them to people that don't have any. Besides they are really starting to pile up... :p

[MadMax08]

One last question for you: what do i need to know to buy the proper Power Supply? i know there are some motherboard specs, etc, i need to know....

also, is there any harm in buying a PSU that has MORE than i need?

[jlreich]

As I said before, stay away from bundled PSU's, with the exception of maybe Antec, they have decent PSU's with their cases.

Stick with known good brands like Antec, Thermaltake, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, Enermax.

For a modern system make sure it has either a 24 pin or 20+4 pin main connector.

For most systems I would recommend between 450W-600W depending on configuration. If you get into the area of dual video cards or tons of hard drives you will want to go higher.

For modern systems you want the PSU to have two or three +12v rails, unless you fork out the extra cash for a high end brand like PC P&C which only has one large +12v rail.

Generally speaking it never hurts to have extra power. You don't want to get a 1000W PSU if you only need 500W, but say if you figure you need 450 it's a good idea to go ahead and get a 550 or 600 so you have some head room for future upgrades and you are not pushing the PSU at full rating all the time.