Still new to this... I can sometimes see systems I am otherwise interested in, set up in a horizontal case - is there anything wrong with those? Like, are they limited for the type of cards I can put there or otherwise a problem for a retro gamer?
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Vertical vs Horizontal tower cases?
- Thread starter Mustey
- Start date
Al Kossow
Documentation Wizard
They seem to have gone out of fashion because of the amount of horizontal desktop space they took up.
I've been looking for horizontal ATX cases for a while, and it seems like they were never very popular beyond
the modern 'cube' ATX/ITX designs.
I've been looking for horizontal ATX cases for a while, and it seems like they were never very popular beyond
the modern 'cube' ATX/ITX designs.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
My wife uses an old IBM Netvista case for her setup--it has a relatively small footprint--and it gives her somewhere to place her monitor. I use a couple of HTPC cases as well as a couple of old HP Vectra desktop cases. They're not that large. I like the old cases--they're not flimsy.
Now, the original IBM 5170 case, I'll agree, was pretty darned large.
Now, the original IBM 5170 case, I'll agree, was pretty darned large.
Do you reckon that case would fit a Voodoo2 SLI system?
http://www.evercase.co.uk/index.php?...product_id=124
http://www.evercase.co.uk/index.php?...product_id=124
They went out of fashion mainly because CRTs were replaced by flat-panel displays. You no longer needed a big box to put your monitor on - and those flat-panel displays were small and helped saving space, so the big boxes had do go as well. Tower cases on the other hand were designed to be put on the floor under the desk.
GiGaBiTe
Veteran Member
While desk space was a contributing factor, the desktop style case had more drawbacks than that, the two biggest being cooling and expandability.
Most desktop cases had extremely poor cooling, owing to the cramped nature of the internals, and there really being no good way to add cooling fans because of the space premium. You could add small fans right above the rear I/O, but these didn't really move enough air through the case.
Expandability was another big problem. Those of us who used to work on desktop cases know how cramped it can be inside the case with all of the cards and cables going everywhere, and there usually wasn't a great way to route them without interfering with something else. Drives also took up a lot of room, meaning everything had to be carefully planned out to the order the machine was assembled, because often parts would have interference fits with other parts and you had to install some things before others, or you simply weren't going to get them in.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Where they happily pick up dust and other detritus from the floor. One thing that the floor-situated case does do is get the fan noise farther away from the operator. As far as space, small "minitower" cases have about the same room as a standard desktop case.
In general, the airflow in a PC case is poorly designed. I don't blame IBM; the 5150 design was fine for a 62 watt power supply; it's terrible for a 700 watt one. The NEC C-bus system had better cooling.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
The BTX platform attempted to fix the problems with the cooling of standard AT/ATX cases, but then screwed it up by taking all the roasting hot air from a "Preshott" NetBurst CPU and ducting it directly onto your graphics card.
Two things happened. People starting buying 17" and larger heavy monitors and case maker started using cheap thin aluminum for making cases in stead of thick steel. So you had a problem if you wanted to stick a heavy CRT onto a small desktop case so everyone went with a small tower. This happened way before the switch to LCD panels.
A desktop case made sense back when all software came on and ran from a floppy disk you needed to access all the time. Once HDs were plentiful and the rare software installs were done from a CD a tower under the desk made more sense.
As far as cooling goes once gamers started using high power graphics in the 90's cases that had one small 80mm fan pulling air in and one small 80mm sucking air out (inside the power supply) things tended to overheat. With the P4 they started to cut vents over where the CPU would be to duct cool air in for that but that didn't help as much as hope for. Eventually we needed 120mm fans and lots of them in the fron and back plus vents for the PS to suck air from the outside and not from inside the case.
A desktop case made sense back when all software came on and ran from a floppy disk you needed to access all the time. Once HDs were plentiful and the rare software installs were done from a CD a tower under the desk made more sense.
As far as cooling goes once gamers started using high power graphics in the 90's cases that had one small 80mm fan pulling air in and one small 80mm sucking air out (inside the power supply) things tended to overheat. With the P4 they started to cut vents over where the CPU would be to duct cool air in for that but that didn't help as much as hope for. Eventually we needed 120mm fans and lots of them in the fron and back plus vents for the PS to suck air from the outside and not from inside the case.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
And yet, SFF PCs remain popular. My doctor's and my dentist's offices are full of them.
Because they are the cheapest machines you can buy from DELL/HP/Lenovo etc and take up little desk space. Some of my doctors use laptops/netbooks but anything else is a SFF type PC.
I don’t think it’s just because they are cheap. Back around 2005 I was still doing desktop support and my employer was buying tower cases, mostly from Dell. I asked why they were not getting smaller systems and they said that they wanted to be able to upgrade. I convinced them that they were never going to upgrade with anything that needed a full size tower case and that they could order hundreds of SFF systems and maybe 5 towers and if someone really needed an upgrade that needed a full height PCI card or something that we could swap them out for one of those towers.
The users were happy to have more space at their desk and I was happy to not be lugging around full size computer cases for no reason.
The users were happy to have more space at their desk and I was happy to not be lugging around full size computer cases for no reason.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
The SFF PCs that I've seen in doctor's offices are usually stashed on a shelf under the desk somewhere. In a sense, they're just an extension of the thin client. My digital dental X-rays for example, show up on a screen driven by a SFF PC. Plenty powerful enough for the purpose. My physician likes to use a laptop, but the fellow I had before him used an iPad for notes and patient history.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
The IBM PC-AT started the trend toward tower cases. It was simply too large for many people to fit on their desk, so IBM sold a "Floor Standing Enclosure" for it:
http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/5170/cards/5170_cards.htm#floor
http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/5170/cards/5170_cards.htm#floor
Chuck(G)
25k Member
There were third-party fixtures for the 5160 as well.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
Yes, and the Tandy 2000 and DEC Rainbow both had tower stands available before the IBM AT was released.
People were starting to realize that just because computers were now small enough (compared to mainframes) to fit on your desk, doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to go on your desk.
That, and the fact that many desks were simply not designed to fit a computer. Even in the late '90s when I was living in a college dorm, the desks there were not still big enough to fit a desktop PC, and there was no keyboard tray. If you couldn't afford a laptop, a tower on the floor was the only way to go.
People were starting to realize that just because computers were now small enough (compared to mainframes) to fit on your desk, doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to go on your desk.
That, and the fact that many desks were simply not designed to fit a computer. Even in the late '90s when I was living in a college dorm, the desks there were not still big enough to fit a desktop PC, and there was no keyboard tray. If you couldn't afford a laptop, a tower on the floor was the only way to go.
The ATX form factor appeared in 1996, which by then, the mid-tower chassis was the most popular form factor. OEMs still making desktops kept with proprietary designs like LPX to allow for slim cases. Some business lines later went with NLX.
The smaller builders wishing to use standard Micro-ATX motherboards sometimes went with Micro-ATX desktop cases, but with low profile PCI slots. The builder we used at the computer store I worked at in the late-90s went this route. Desktops were rarely purchased though. An added complication was that low-profile PCI cards were not common yet and the ones that did exist, rarely came with the low-profile bracket in the box.
Since BTX was mentioned, Dell made some desktop cases with it in the mid-00s. They used a special riser card with a Micro-BTX motherboard.
The smaller builders wishing to use standard Micro-ATX motherboards sometimes went with Micro-ATX desktop cases, but with low profile PCI slots. The builder we used at the computer store I worked at in the late-90s went this route. Desktops were rarely purchased though. An added complication was that low-profile PCI cards were not common yet and the ones that did exist, rarely came with the low-profile bracket in the box.
Since BTX was mentioned, Dell made some desktop cases with it in the mid-00s. They used a special riser card with a Micro-BTX motherboard.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Anyone still use WTX form-factor cases? I've got a PSU from a Compaq Evo that's one of those. Resembles an oversized ATX supply, right down to the 24-pin power connector--but it isn't the same pinout and signal levels. For example, power on is 3.3V, not 0V like an ATX. Nice PSU, just can't find a case to fit it, even if I could rework the connector issues.
Ethan Connor
Banned
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2021
- Messages
- 3
There is a lot of space available in Tower PC's like you can install second harddisk but desktop have certain limitation like you can install certain GPU and use one hard and one DVD Rom but in some cases if you have SATA DVD Rom you can install second Hard but today people prefer desktop PC's according to me i also prefer desktop PC's, i do not have to play game but Gamer prefer tower PC's.