Computer Cases Guide

Build A Computer: Step 1 - Computer Cases & Power Supply Guide

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What Is A Case?

A case (also known as the computer chassis, box or housing) is the enclosure that contains the main components of a computer. Cases are usually contructed from steel, aluminum or plastic although other materials (such as wood and perspex) have also been used in case designs.

When choosing a computer case you have to go with your own unique style. Cases come in many different sizes, styles and shapes also known as computer form factors. Common case form factors include towers (such as mini tower, mid-sized tower, and full-sized tower); desktops or pizza boxes (also called flatbed or horizontal); and slim desktops, which integrate the display into the housing.

Tower cases are taller and typically have more room while desktop cases are more compact and are more popular in business environments. Small form factor cases are a variety of cases that are coming more and more common. Cases usually come with room for a power supply unit, several expansion slots and expansion bays, wires for powering up a computer and some with built in I/O ports that must be connected to a motherboard.

What Is A Power Supply?

A power supply unit (sometimes abbreviated power supply or PSU) is a device that supplies electrical power to a device or group of devices. The term is most commonly applied to units that are integrated with the devices they supply, such as computers and household electronics, and never to devices supplying, conditioning or otherwise supporting an electric utility grid. (For large-scale power supplies, see electricity generation.)

The range of different types of power supply is very broad, since widely differing design criteria affect each application.

As well as the usual requirements of cost, reliability, weight and size, constraints that commonly affect power supplies are the amount of power they can supply, how long they can supply it for without needing some kind of refueling or recharging, how stable their output voltage or current is under varying load conditions, and whether they provide continuous power or pulses.