Buying a PC Case: 20 Terms You Need to Know

They're just simple boxes, you lot say? On the reverse, PC cases are complicated. And we're just talking virtually buying 1. (We'll leave actually building a working PC up to you.)

There's enough of terminology to know when shopping for a new PC instance, as yous'll see in our listing of specs and jargon beneath. Whether y'all're ownership a case as an upgrade or for a build-a-PC-from-scratch projection, we suspect you're savvy enough to accept your PC to pieces and put it back together again. But when shopping, the terminology effectually cases and motherboards can be confusing, and some of it can stump even experienced builders.

First-time buyers and builders, meanwhile, definitely need to become into a purchase with a flake of background noesis (or a savvy friend) to go a case that makes sense for the components they have.

Let united states of america exist that friend. Hither'due south a primer on the language you'll hear buzzing around PC chassis from sellers and PC enthusiasts.

ATX, MicroATX, and Mini-ITX

PC cases themselves are oft referred to past these iii class factors, but the terms more accurately refer to the size of the motherboards they tin can host. ATX boards measure out 12 by ix.6 inches, MicroATX up to ix.6 by ix.6 inches (they're sometimes smaller), and Mini-ITX half-dozen.seven inches square.

Broadly speaking, a case that supports a larger lath will itself tend to exist larger than i that supports only smaller boards, but this is not universally true. Also, note that a case that supports a given motherboard size likely supports the smaller motherboard class factors, too, although that'due south worth verifying in a example'south specs before buying. Most ATX-compatible cases, for example, will accept a MicroATX or Mini-ITX board. (Of course, a large PC case holding a small motherboard may not be the best use of infinite!)

SFF, Desktop, Mini-Tower, Mid-Tower, and Total Tower

Though not exact terms, these are the five most common ones used to depict the shape and size of a given PC instance. Small-class-factor (SFF) encompasses a multifariousness of compact cases, some apartment, some alpine; most use Mini-ITX or smaller proprietary motherboard designs. A desktop instance, used specifically in the context of PC-case design (since the term encompasses "desktop PCs" as a whole, too), is one with a horizontal design, often intended to have a monitor placed atop it.

Conventional vertical desktop towers are mini-towers, mid-towers, or full towers, but the size distinctions among these are non exact. A full tower equally described typically stands 18 inches alpine or more.

Tool-Costless Design

This is marketing lingo that has become function of PC builders' vernacular. A "tool-costless" design refers to parts of a PC instance that don't require screws or a screwdriver to install. Drive bays might be referred to equally tool-gratuitous, with a hardware design that uses twist-on or snap-on brackets or levers instead of screws to mount drives.

Tool-gratuitous fasteners on five.25-inch bays in a Thermaltake chassis.

In some cases, the installation of expansion cards can be tool-free, as well, with levers or other mounting schemes that eliminate the need for screws to clamp a PCI or PCI Limited menu into the case's expansion slots. "Tool-free" might as well refer to how a instance'southward side panel is fastened to the chassis, using a lever or button every bit a release machinery in place of screws.

5.25-Inch, 3.5-Inch, and 2.v-Inch Drive Trophy

A instance will come up with a banking concern of these, usually more the larger the case. A 5.25-inch bay is meant for utilise with an optical drive (such equally a DVD burner or Blu-ray drive) and volition match upwardly with removable faceplates on the forepart of the instance. (Some belatedly-model cases have begun eliminating these "front-accessible" bays, as optical drives are falling out of favor.) In years by, these bays were also normally used by PC builders and enthusiasts to host front-panel devices such every bit fan controllers or temperature readouts, or to install auxiliary panels that provide extra ports on the front of the PC. An SFF or minitower case may have as few as one of these bays, or none; a full tower usually up to four. The 5.25-inch and three.v-inch bays are the ones likely to apply a tool-free blueprint (run across in a higher place).

Four 5.25-inch and one iii.5-inch bays on a Thermaltake case.

The 3.5-inch bays, meanwhile, are meant for the installation of platter-style difficult drives. The 3.5-inch bays may be designed to accept ii.5-inch drives, as well. The bay may use drive sleds (see below), or y'all may screw the drive directly into the bay.

With the ascent of solid-state drives (SSDs), 2.5-inch bays are now common. They tend to be implemented in whatsoever spare space the case has, since the drives are physically so small and thin. A few cases do provide defended 2.five-inch bulldoze sleds, only in nearly designs that use drive sleds, you tin screw a 2.5- or a 3.5-inch drive into the sled. But 2.5-inch trophy may be stuck anywhere at that place is available space, sometimes even hidden behind the motherboard tray.

I/O Shield

If you've ever assembled a PC from parts, you've probably cutting your finger on one of these. The I/O shield is a rectangular metallic plate (usually with precipitous edges) that snaps into a rectangular gap on the back of your PC case. (The shield itself comes with your motherboard, not with the case you buy.) The shield will accept cutouts for the specific ports on the motherboard, and installing the shield volition protect the rest of the board when you insert various cables into the ports.

An I/O shield from an EVGA motherboard.

Generally speaking, I/O shields are non interchangeable between different motherboards. The only things standard almost them are their overall dimensions, roughly 1.75 by 6.5 inches, which ensure that they'll fit in any PC case.

CPU-Cooler Cutaway

Many higher-terminate CPU coolers require a backing plate or other mounting hardware (such equally some kind of pass-through commodities) that y'all install from underneath your motherboard. If your PC is already built and yous want to swap CPU coolers (or get at the CPU for an upgrade), you may demand admission to the underside of the motherboard to get the CPU cooler on or off.

Closeup of the CPU cutaway on an NZXT example.

Removing a motherboard, of grade, is usually a major task, given all the wiring and screws. With a CPU-cooler cutaway in the motherboard tray, you tin can swap CPU coolers and access the CPU without removing the motherboard. About modern aftermarket cases, even cheap ones, have such a cutaway these days, but information technology's definitely a characteristic worth looking for.

Motherboard Tray

In many chassis, the motherboard "tray"—the expanse on which a motherboard mounts—is simply the bottom of the chassis. It'south usually patterned with holes for the motherboard standoffs, if the standoffs are not preinstalled.

A removable motherboard tray (with motherboard mounted) from a Lian-Li server chassis.

The term "tray" comes from a fourth dimension when a premium feature in a PC example was actually a removable motherboard tray—a "second bottom," equally it were, in the case that yous could remove from the case altogether to mountain and wire up the motherboard outside the chassis. Such trays aren't quite extinct, only they are far less common these days.

Motherboard Standoffs

These are brass bits with a hexagonal pinnacle that normally come up in a small bag with your PC case. You twist these into pre-drilled holes in the motherboard tray. You then screw your motherboard down on top of the standoffs, which act equally "spacers" and keep the motherboard from touching the bottom of the instance. (Thus, the name.)

The brass bits.

A PC chassis unremarkably has notations next to the holes in the tray, pressed into the metal, that tell you which holes require a standoff for a given form factor of motherboard (ATX, MicroATX, and then on) that you might be installing. Some cases have the standoffs pre-installed, and a few accept them molded or machined into the example bottom, just the norm is a baggie of these that you install yourself. An ordinary 5mm metric socket, if you own a socket set up, can help you install these securely.

PSU Mount, PSU Form Factor

The PSU, or power supply unit of measurement, is the large box within your PC'due south instance that traffics electricity to the various components in your PC—drives, fans, and the motherboard itself—via its hydra-like leads. The PSU mounting area in tower cases will exist at the top or bottom of the case. The supply normally mounts via four screws, through the back of the case. You lot'll encounter a telltale large cutaway at the back of the instance where the ability supply goes. (The cutaway is to allow the exhaust fan to ventilate out the dorsum of the case.)

In terms of fit into a given PC chassis, most tower and moderate-size desktop chassis have full-size, or ATX, power supplies (not to be dislocated with the ATX motherboard grade gene). Some meaty or SFF PC chassis require a smaller PSU form factor, known as SFX. Other modest chassis crave smaller, proprietary PSUs (which, typically, will come with the case). And in some modern cases with glass or acrylic sides, the PSU may be hidden under a "PSU shroud" (more than on that in a moment).

Fan Mounts

These are surfaces inside a PC case that allow you to install an aftermarket cooling fan for additional interior ventilation. The most typical fan sizes used in PC cases are 80mm, 92mm, 120mm, 140mm, and 200mm, with 120mm and 140mm being the near common. You lot'll want to be certain, if yous'll be adding fans, that the ones you lot buy lucifer the size of the mount. The mount unremarkably has screw holes predrilled in the chassis for the specific fan size, and a different fan size probably will not mount properly there.

Removable filter for a front end fan mount on a Thermaltake chassis.

With some cases, the fan mount might have a removable, cleanable air filter roofing the front end face, if that fan would be used as an intake. Filters are a adept characteristic to take, every bit they volition help minimize the settling of dust inside your PC case.

Drive Sleds

One time the province only of premium/enthusiast PC cases, drive sleds have made their way into cases beyond the price spectrum. Used well-nigh exclusively with the 3.v-inch bays in the instance (and, in a few rare examples, in the 2.5-inch trophy), bulldoze sleds are metal or plastic frames that slide in or out of a bulldoze bay. You screw or otherwise lock a drive into a sled, so slide the whole assembly into identify in the bay.

Sample drive sled with mounting points for both iii.5- and two.5-inch drives.

In some chassis, the drive sleds enable the drive to engage with a "backplane" that's office of the instance. The backplane will have SATA data and power connectors built into it. This helps streamline wiring, and, depending on the implementation, may besides make the drives hot-swappable.

Headers, Header Cables

Y'all'll see this term used in both motherboard and PC-case contexts. A "header" on a motherboard is (in nigh implementations) a filigree of pins that you plug a cablevision into, ordinarily from a case fan, or from a port or button on the case itself. The most common type of motherboard headers are USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Hard disk drive Sound (more on that in a bit), and four-pin fan headers.

From a PC case perspective, all cases will have "header cables" that run from its front end ports, power/reset buttons, and LEDs. Each of these cables terminate in a female header connector of some kind. Each blazon is standard in implementation; for case, a USB 2.0 header cable will terminate in a five- or 10-pin connector (depending on whether it feeds 1 or two USB ports), while USB 3.0 always uses the aforementioned big 19/20-pivot header connection.

Your average modern PC case volition accept header cables for USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and the front audio jacks, plus a small bouquet of header cables for the various front end-panel switches (power, reset) and LEDs (difficult drive activeness, power-on). You'll want to be certain that the motherboard y'all're installing in the case has matching header connectors; in practical fact, though, this is only an upshot with having the correct number and kind of USB headers (or non). The rest are standard, nowadays.

Cable Direction

A general term for various features inside a PC chassis that help yous "make clean up" the interior and amend airflow by making it easier to streamline or hide cables. Cablevision direction encompasses everything from cutaways in the case bottom (which let y'all road cables backside the mainboard) to extra space behind the motherboard tray (for stuffing excess cable out of sight).

The soft-lined cable-management cutouts on an NZXT instance.

Cablevision cutouts lined with prophylactic or other soft material to prevent wire chafing on sharp edges, equally well as mounting points in the instance for cablevision ties, are both skillful cable-management features to wait for.

CPU-Cooler and GPU Clearance

These specs, which some case makers will cite, are important to know if you lot intend to install a large, high-end video bill of fare or a tall, tower-style CPU cooler. They're measurements that volition typically be given in millimeters or, less unremarkably, inches.

Graphics-card clearance, in a few cases, can exist variable cheers to removable pieces of the case; some models that we have tested come up with a removable bank or banks of hard drive trays that, if taken out, extend the space inside the case available to a long video card. A GPU clearance of more than 12 inches should suit almost any modern card, simply await advisedly if y'all happen to ain a long video card that has the power connectors extending from the trailing edge, which can add to the effective length.

PSU Shroud

A contempo development in PC-enthusiast cases is the "PSU shroud." Yous'll simply encounter these in PC cases that have a transparent side-console window. It'due south an enclosure inside the PC example, usually running along the top or bottom, that hides the entire PSU box (and most of its wiring) from view, for a neater internal appearance. Usually, the shroud will have cutaways or pass-throughs to allow some of the PSU cabling to enter the case.

Front I/O

This is a generic term for the ports that are part of a PC instance, usually constitute on the forepart face of the chassis but, in some designs, on the meridian front or fifty-fifty downward one of the sides, well-nigh the forepart. On virtually PC cases, y'all'll get headphone and mic jacks as role of this array, too equally some USB 3.0 or 2.0 ports (or both). Other ports you may see every bit parts of the front end I/O panel in an older chassis are eSATA and FireWire; no new chassis released in recent years includes these, simply bear these in mind if yous're shopping eBay or used gear. Yous're looking at a classic chassis if it has one of these.

The headphone and mic jacks adhere to a PC'southward motherboard via an Hard disk Audio connector that comes equally part of the case, while the USB ports will have different header cables depending on which kind they are (USB 3.0 versus 2.0). Almost all modern motherboards will include one (or less oft, two) USB 3.0 headers and 2 or more USB 2.0 headers.

A few of the latest cases include a USB three.one Type-C port, which uses a new kind of USB iii.i header connectedness to the motherboard that you'll come across only on some 2022 or 2022 mainboards. You'll want to make sure that your PC motherboard has matching headers for the kinds of ports that your case has; otherwise, you'll accept to tolerate expressionless "ports to nowhere" or buy esoteric adapters to get them to work.

Expansion Slots

In the context of PC cases, vendors often cite a number of "expansion slots" supported. They are really just referring to the spacers in the back of the case, usually covered past removable strips of metallic, onto which you mount the subclass of a PCI or PCI Express card.

The number of actual usable slots in a case, however, is contingent upon there existence enough such slots on your motherboard. In practice, a chassis that supports a given form factor of motherboard will provide enough slot "positions" for the slots actually implemented on the motherboard.

Hose Passthroughs

These ports, which tended to show upwardly on enthusiast-course cases in years past, are institute on the back of the instance. They're actually holes, ordinarily with a rubber or silicone rim, that let you install custom water-cooling hardware inside the case but mountain the water-cooling system's radiator on the outside of the chassis. Yous'd route the inflow and outflow hoses out the back of the example through these ports.

To the correct of the expansion slots on this Raidmax case are 3 water-cooling hose passthroughs.

Why would you want to do this? Most likely, information technology's because the case doesn't have enough room for a radiator inside on its fan-mounting points. Increasingly, though, makers of enthusiast PC cases blueprint their cases to accommodate 120mm, 240mm, or 360mm radiators within their chassis. Enthusiast cases might have these ports, but the increasing popularity of all-in-one (AIO) water-cooling solutions has meant that these ports are of marginal interest present, and that merely to the hardest of hard-core PC builders and tweakers, who might exist constructing elaborate liquid-cooling arrangements that involve some external component.

Thumbscrews

No, not the medieval kind: These are the chunky screws used in many PC cases that hold in place case side panels, expansion cards, or other hardware.

A finger-friendly packet of thumbscrews.

In theory, you tin can add and remove them without a screwdriver. In practice, despite the proper name, some of these require a screwdriver to actually dislodge, because they're pre-installed tightly; to that stop, they're usually grooved on summit.

Air-conditioning '97 vs. Hard disk drive Sound (Front Audio Header)

Most PC cases have a headphone and microphone jack that terminates within the example in a cable with a 10-pin header connector. This plugs into a pin grid on the motherboard, which, nowadays, is called an "HD Audio" header. In a nutshell, Hard disk Sound brings auto-detection functionality to the ports, allowing the system to sense the presence of devices plugged into the ports then that it responds accordingly.

In earlier times, this connector on the lath was known equally an "AC '97" header, and during the transition time between the two, some motherboards provided a selector in the BIOS to let yous switch the operation of the board's audio silicon between the Air conditioning '97 and HD Audio modes. (The pin connector is physically the same.) Older PC cases frequently take a forked audio-header cable with connectors for both HD Audio and Air-conditioning '97. With a new motherboard and chassis, you'll definitely be using (and only seeing) the erstwhile connector--HD Audio is the current standard. Just be aware of these terms if you're recycling an older PC example; there, y'all may run beyond the venerable AC '97.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/feature/20947/buying-a-pc-case-20-terms-you-need-to-know

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