back of computer case

[doug91]

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on measurements for the all the slots on the back of the pc case? I.e. the card slots, psu slot, fans, I/o shield. I am making the whole case from plexiglass.

I thought about taking the back off an existing case, but I rather make one myself if possible.

[Xperiment]

This (http://www.formfactors.org/) link should give you that you need

[doug91]

I already looked on formfactors.org.. They aren't very helpful in terms of expansion card slot dimensions. Thanks for the help though.

I know there are people who have made their own back panel. Anyone on these forums have this experience?

[weazel6265]

For a large part it is going to depend on the motherboard, in my experience each board has slightly different placement of usb, ethernet, etc. My suggestion is to just take the measurements off whatever case the board used to be in, if you want to have everything fit perfectly.
Your two other alternatives are to assemble everything, then just cut holes where you need them, or to cut out a single large hole to allow all the onboard connections to stick out.

I used a combination of the second two techniques for my case, I left a large hole for the motherboard connections, and then cut other holes as needed for the expansion cards.

[Xpirate]

I would take measurements from an old computer case. Then build your custom rear panel from those measurements.

[doug91]

yea thanks I will try that. I'll put the motherboard in the new case and then see where I need to place holes.

Also, the motherboard is grounded through the power supply right? My case is all plexi and wood.

[Xpirate]

Also, the motherboard is grounded through the power supply right? My case is all plexi and wood.

It is grounded with the black wires from the power supply. Metal cases use risers to keep the motherboard from being shorted out against the metal frame.

[weazel6265]

I'm sure some of the more experience experts here will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that each of the screws going through the motherboard is an attempt to ground it, via the metal ring around each hole, in addition to the connection via the 20 pin atx connector.

If you have a volt meter handy you could check if the metal rings surrounding the screw holes connect to the third plug on the back of the psu.

If that is the case, and you are concerned about grounding everything, you could run a small wire from each of the screws to the psu ground, just in case. That would look horrible from the back, but as long as it is covered its not a big deal. For the most part I don't think its that big a deal

[chaksq]

I wouldn't worry about grounding the motherboard tray. Cases made completely of acrylic mount the stand off directly to the acrylic with no grounding connections between stand offs. I think the metal plating or whatever around the screw holes is to make them more sturdy so you don't damage the board itself.