[Wireless]

I am currently using a tower pc that was put together by a local company and was wondering if there is anything special to look out for if I were to transplant the entire inner works to a new low profile desktop case.


I'm not sure of the MOB but it is a PII based machine.

 

[Morbius]

John,


Should be a straight forward job.


Just make sure you are grounded to the case when you are handling the electronics.


I use a variant of the old sailor's maxim - "...one hand for the boat..." - it's "...one hand for the case...".


Dr. Gregory Greenman

Physicist

 

[Namlemez]

If it was locally built, you have better chances, but there is one thing you need to be aware of. For instance, some big manufacturer machines like Dell and Compaq will occasionally use non-standard layout, case or power supply formats that do not comply to ATX.


On these machines, it basically means you can not simply switch the motherboard, case or power supply. Do you happen to know what kind of motherboard you have? If you do, you probably don't have something proprietary. Otherwise, I would suggest asking the company that put it together if it is ATX to make sure...

 

[Wireless]

I'll open it up tonight and take a look to see if there are any identifying marks on the motherboard. If not, I'll call tommorrow. Thanks!

 

[Wireless]

Looks like the board is an ASUS P2BL, which I think is an ATX form factor.

Approximate dimensions are 7"x12"

 

[Namlemez]

You should be fine then, obviously just make sure the new case is ATX as well (Not micro or u or Flex or i ...just ATX)

 

[Wireless]

Sorry that was P2XBL instead, which now I cannot find if it is ATX or not. I ordered the slim line case from Digital Connection and hopefully it will work.

 

[Selden Ball]

One thing to be careful of is not to lay the motherboard down on a conductive metal surface (like the inside of the chassis cover) if you set it aside while you're unplugging things. The current BIOS settings are maintained by a battery on the motherboard. Shorting the connections on the underside of the board can have, shall we say, unfortunate results.

 

[Wireless]

Thanks for that tip, I wouldn't have thought about it and probably ended up with a nonworking pc!