First "Mod"

[Bajawoojie]

Hello, I am almost 100% new to the whole moding scene, and am hoping to move the internal parts (My hardware) of my computer to the case of one of my old computers, but i'm not sure how to go about it.

First off, how would I go about making sure all of my parts are going to fit into there, such as my motherboard? Or are all motherboards the same size? If so, how do I know there will be a place for it to screw in where I want it to, and for the PCI slots to line up with the corresponding opening in the case?

Second, once I finish moving all of my stuff to the other case, what about more fans? My computer currently only has one fan, in which has some type of doohickey in which allows that fan ONLY to withdraw air from my CPU, so I asked around and I was told that I plug fans into the three prong plugs scattered randomly about my motherboard, but I don't have any. Does that mean I cant get any more fans?

Last question, What about lighting? Everyone wants some kind of fancy lights illuminating your case to show off to friends, but how do you power them? Is there some sort of jig in which plugs into one of the extra cords coming from the power supply, and distributes that power to whatever lighting stuff you plug into it? Or does it plug into the same place(s) as the fan as described above.

I really hope to get further into computer moding, so ANY help/suggestions would be wonderful. Like if there are any tutorials specifically for switching cases.

- Bajawoojie

[Spawn-Inc]

Hello, I am almost 100% new to the whole moding scene, and am hoping to move the internal parts (My hardware) of my computer to the case of one of my old computers, but i'm not sure how to go about it.

so first off, welcome to TBCS and moding too, hope you got lots of time on your hands. your gonna need it when you get the mod bug.

First off, how would I go about making sure all of my parts are going to fit into there, such as my motherboard? Or are all motherboards the same size? If so, how do I know there will be a place for it to screw in where I want it to, and for the PCI slots to line up with the corresponding opening in the case?

yes there are different types of motherboards. the most commom being ATX here is a list i found of types of form factors/sizes.

PC motherboards
Following is a list of motherboard types and form factors that have been used in PCs since the first IBM PC in 1981:


Maximum Size
Year Width-Length
Intr. Type In Inches

BTX (Balanced Technology Extended)
2004 BTX 12.8 - 10.5
2004 microBTX 10.4 - 10.5
2004 picoBTX 8 - 10.5

ATX (Advanced Technology Extended)
1999 FlexATX 9 - 7.5
1997 microATX 9.6 - 9.6
1996 Mini ATX 11.2 - 8.2
1995 ATX 12 - 9.6
1995 EATX 12 - 13 Extended ATX

LOW PROFILE (Expansion cards plug into riser)
2002 EmbATX 9.6 - 9.6 Embedded ATX
1997 NLX 9 - 13.6 NLX=New Low Profile
1987 LPX 9 - 13 Western Digital
1987 Mini LPX 9 - 11 Western Digital

MISCELLANEOUS
2002 Mini ITX 6.7 - 6.7 VIA Technologies
1998 WTX 14 - 16.75 Workstation TX

FIRST PCs
1987 Micro AT 8.5 - 8.5
1987 Baby AT 8.5 - 13
1984 AT 12 - 13
1981 PC/XT 8.5 - 13

now i'm gonna guess that yours is ATX. do you know the model number/company of motherboard you have? i would put more stuff about it but i don't know how to put it into words. but i do know thats the only thing you have to worry about size.

Second, once I finish moving all of my stuff to the other case, what about more fans? My computer currently only has one fan, in which has some type of doohickey in which allows that fan ONLY to withdraw air from my CPU, so I asked around and I was told that I plug fans into the three prong plugs scattered randomly about my motherboard, but I don't have any. Does that mean I cant get any more fans?

fans with 3 pin connectors are for fans that tell you the RPM's. you can add fans that have a molex connecter by adding it to the power supply. this is a molex connecter.

Last question, What about lighting? Everyone wants some kind of fancy lights illuminating your case to show off to friends, but how do you power them? Is there some sort of jig in which plugs into one of the extra cords coming from the power supply, and distributes that power to whatever lighting stuff you plug into it? Or does it plug into the same place(s) as the fan as described above.

lights are added the same as i listed above with a molex connecter. you can get CCFL (cold cathode Fluorescent Lights) lights

LED lights

and Liquid Neon Fluorescent Lamp

[Bajawoojie]

The motherboard is the stock motherboard in a Dell Dimension 8300, but I really don't want to open it to search for any numbers at the moment, because just a while ago I opened it to try and dust out where the graphic card is, but now for some reason there are little lines in random places, such as around the mouse. Or when I open up Counterstrike Source, theres a big checkerboard type pattern, but instead of black and red its regular and fuzzy.. Note that it is a Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb.

Any ideas on what kind of case I should get? The extra one I have laying around turns out to be plastic on the front, top, and side, with a metal frame inside and an aluminum removable side panel for access, so I'm going to assume I wont be able to use that one.

[Bucko]

With a Dell, you might be stuck. Others will know more, but some Dell products use their own motherboard and they won't fit a standard ATX case.

With your video card, what did you use to dust it? If you used a vacuum cleaner, or a brush, you may have damged the card with static electricity. You should only use compressed air (either canned or from a compressor) to get rid of the dust.
You could try removing the card and reseating it and see if that works.

[Spawn-Inc]

yes on my old computer i hit the video card by mistake once and it wouln't boot up. so i looked at it and poped it back in and it was working again.

[Bajawoojie]

I just blew it off, to get the dust bunny out of the heat sink. (I usually just use my vacuum since I can reverse it and have it blow the air out of the tube with just about the same force as a can of air ^_^

It's done this once about 2 years ago, but I cant remember what I did to fix it or if it was just time.

Aside from all of that ^^^^^^, What can I do for a new case? Could someone link me to a decent, but cheap one that would probably suit my needs? I will update this post in a few minutes once I measure my motherboard.

***EDIT*** Alright, my motherboards size is approximately 10 1/2" x 10 1/2"

[Bucko]

Can you take a picture of your motherboard in the case for us? We'll probably be able to tell if it's ATX or not with a half decent picture.

[Bajawoojie]

Sure thing, let me go find a camera that has better quality then my web cam.

On a side note, taking the graphic card out and dusting it a bit and whatnot didnt fix it.. the only places im seeing problems are while its starting up (The windows loading screen). The bottom of the mouse looks like it has lines going through it, and once I log in, it waits a few seconds - turns white with black stripes and then goes back to normal..

Alright, I couldnt get a better camera to work so all I could get is a horrible picture =/

But now after opening it, my graphics are even more screwed up, there are red and blue transparent lines going through the screen horizontally. And blue blocks, I really dont know what to do except hope it goes away with time.

[Bajawoojie]

Alright, I have come to the decision that my card is overheating. I shut down my computer after it running for all of about 5 minutes, with no games or anything being played. I then removed the graphic card, and it was extremely hot. Hot enough to probably burn you if you held it for more then 6 seconds in one spot.. But since I have never done any computer hardware work prior to this I'm not sure what to expect, but I personally think that is pretty hot..

[Bucko]

It does look like an aTX, but it's pretty hard to see the detials to make sure it isn't doing something strange.

as for the video card, that does sound rather hot. Does it have a fan on it, or just a heatsink?