Full tower cases?

[nate93]

Why is it that full tower cases have sometimes 10 expansion slots? most motherboards only have about 6 if they are high end.. is it like for a mini server or something?

 

[BG-0]

What do you mean by MBs having about "6"? SATA connectors?
You can put many other things to the expansion slots that DVD-drives or such.

EDIT: Geeeez, I'm stupid >.<*

 

[JSanguancheu]

Do you mean the slots in the back for add-on cards?

Some MBs come with extra USB/Firewire/etc connectors that take up one of these open slots with cables that plug into headers on the MB.

Some CPU heatsink fans also come with a fan speed controller knob that needs to be installed in one of these slots in the back.

Thats all i can think of at the moment.

 

[BG-0]

Some case fans (e.g. Nanoxia) also have those controllers.

 

[nate93]

lol, ok what im saying is..

look at this case: http://thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1309&ID=1480

it has 10 expansion slots, but if you look at this motherboard: http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=117&l3=0&l4=0&model=2070&modelmenu=1

it only has 6 expansion slots.. so if you put that motherboard into that case, what would the other 4 slots be used for?

 

[BG-0]

Well, propably extended ATX motherboards... Naw, they don't have 10 expansion slots either... Well, you can use the extra slots for these for example. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...10110573 1372526581&name=PCI Slot Case Cooler

 

[nate93]

interesting... do you guys know if those cases with built in watercooling are all they say they are?

 

[BG-0]

Could you specify a little???

 

[Compiler]

Standard ATX is 7 slots... even if a board only has 6, 4 or 3 slots. The board will still fit in the case. And as others have said, those extra slots come in handy for some boards or accessories that USE a back-plane area. Like additional USB ports, Audio, control switches. Most people are not using all the slots anyways and its a non-issue. But if some gamer has a 3-way SLI board + audio card, that alone could eat ALL 7 slots. And then they'd may need 1-2 additional slots for those accessories.

Its possible thare are server/workstation boards that can use upwards of 10 slots... but I doubt that such boards exists. With onboard controllers, and onboard 2~4 NICs, SCSI controllers - there is little need for such huge boards.

Besides... that Thermaltake case is a gamer case. And if you look at the inside view, the bottom drive-bays wouldn't allow a board that actually uses 10 slots anyways.

There is a better and cheapre case I'd recommend: http://thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1274&ID=1415#Tab2 Its about $250 and it rocks...

 

[JSanguancheu]

wow, that mozart tx must be more than twice the size of my antec sx830. lol.

I'm more of a Cosmos fan though. Maybe when my daughter's older and stops climbing on top of the computer.

 

[Compiler]

Its very light-weight, easy to pick up... easy to work on since its ROOMY. But with all those windows on both sides... you have to spend a lot of work making sure the cables, wires, data cables are routed as nicely as possible. But a lot of places to hide things. Wish I could upload my pictures here directly... from the last one I built.

It can be bought without any windows.

I used to own that Antec case... from 2000~2002. Very very heavy case... very loud too. Great case for that time thou.

 

[nate93]

eh, im not diggin it.. its kinda cool but too expensive.. no water cooling either.. =/ and i was thinking about that case because i'm a gamer and im looking to upgrade my computer

 

[JSanguancheu]

I think I prefer the Spedo model. Comes in Air cooled or Integrated Liquid Cooled model. Not sure what the prices are though.
http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/chassis/spedo/

The Armor model looks nice but opening those 'wings' in the front everytime to access the DVD drives can get annoying.

 

[Compiler]

What do you mean "no water cooling"? Only a few cases have built-in water-cooling in which if the unit fails or you want to upgrade, you have to replace the whole case. That thermaltake is a very roomy case. Its designed to hold a water cooling system if wanted. It can hold any ATX PSU. $250 isn't so bad... that other case you listed is a $400.

 

[nate93]

true true.. i kinda want the coolmaster haf case with water cooling, that would be insane.. maybe a little overkill. and are you sure you need to replace the case if your system breaks? i'm pretty sure you can just replace the parts =?