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server case - same as full tower? also P4 or AMD

G

garebo

Senior member
First, thanks to nice people at anandech who are happy to give their time to new guys like me. Won't mention names cause there are so many and don't want to leave someone out! Thanks again, guys, or maybe I should say people!

Anyway, I have put a few computers together now and ready to move up pretty soon. While checking out new cases and psu's, I see quite a few server cases listed. So here's the question. If the internal and external 5 1/4 and 3 1/2's were the same, would a tower case and a server case be the same. Could you mount same,mobo, burner, floppy,etc,etc into either full tower or server? Are they basically the same such that you can use a server case as a regular tower pc case or are there differences that make using a full tower the only choice for me? To save time, I do know the difference between at and atx cases.

Second, I have worked with intel pentium 2 and 3 cpu's, intel and via chipsets in the machines that I have built, so I have a pretty basic understanding there. Would there be a big learning curve to move to AMD, say a t-bird 1 gig or larger, or something similar. I know, or think I know, that I need to have a power supply that is rated for the cpu, that whole case and cpu cooling is more important as AMD tends to run hotter. And I know or think I know that the mobo and cpu have to be compatible. But what else do I need to know? Should I be able to handle the switch fairly easily?

Biggest question. Are you sitting down? Would you nice people be willing to give me some advice as I am going along? Better yet, could I be a pet project, starting at the beginning and finishing with the end product, kind of see how well you guys do (yuk, yuk)? I'm fairly capable and have all the tools and equipment. Plus,LOL, you people are basically responsible for me. Why? Because I keep reading about the AMD stuff, how great it is, how it can be lapped, overclocked, etc. Wouldn't necessarily want to go crazy in that department, maybe just some basic training.

Thank you


Gary














 
some full towers are called server cases. such a case would be able to sustain a regular compliment of external drives.

but most server cases are cube like in design and cost several hundred dollars. such cases are pure server cases, where there is a multiplicity of HDD mounts for RAID configurations, and such, while having very few external 5.25 bays for such optical drives.

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due to strict form factor guidelines, whatever case you buy must abide by a set layout in terms of mounting the motherboard and other parts. such formfactors would be, ATX (standard and large), uATX, WTX, etc. ATX is what we commonly use, a wider version (with PCI slots horizontal) is available to allow mobo designers to add extra features. uATX is merely an ATX board that is shorter vertically (pci slots horizontal) yielding fewer slots. thus, a microtower or minitower can accommodate uATX mobos fine. BUT such a small case cannot possibly fit an extended-ATX motherboard. HOWEVER, larger cases such as a server or full tower case which can fit extended-ATX motherboards can also fit uATX motherboards. WTX is a standard for server\workstation motherboards that is dimensionally equivalent to ATX, however, with the ability to have longer boards allowing for an extra slot (non shared). with respect to power supplies, WTX and ATX are not the same, they have different connectors (wtx is longer), but size wise, they are the same (screw mounts that is)

don't think about WTX and ATX though. thing ATX since it's what most of us use.

those terms, server, full, mid, mini, micro, refer to the amount of bays available which is a function of how tall the case is. the problem with cases and motherboards is that, some cases are too small or designed such that motherboard installation is difficult. uATX cases are so small, that their height is about that of the motherboard, resulting in the PS mount to be right on top of the motherboard. this means that if you have the motherboard flat, the PS is blocking much of it.

one important thing to remember is drive rails. some cases make use of drive rails and cages to mount drives. some of these are proprietory, thus resulting you to get them from the manufacturer.

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as for amd, the process is the same. but just make sure you install the correct drivers, refer to the motherboard's instructions. some tend to worry about the power supply. as long as you are getting a good powersupply, such as enermax (to name ONE manufacturer) you are fine. it's that the AMD solution draws more power requiring higher capacity power supplies. the same goes for the p4. don't forget that some p4 and amd motherboards require specific power supplies with a special connector that adds extra power to the motherboard. the p4 has a 4 pin 12v for the motherboard.

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as for the biggest question...

no, you can't ask us for advice.




j/k

we would be glad to help. just don't make us mad (flaming, flooding, etc)

if any members should flame in your threads asking for help (for the love of AMD or intel), tell the mods, and they should take care of the situation. don't get drawn into the debate.

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the most important thing i can tell you is this: don't drop anything.

<------ clutz.

happy puting
 
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