# Need Case Transfer Advice



## Camaron (Feb 26, 2008)

Hey folks, need a bit of advice. I am going to buy a new case that has more fans/better cooling + airflow, but I need a bit of advice, or rather, clarification on a few compatibility issues that are keeping me from pressing that "Checkout" button. Please see my sig for my system specs...

The case it's in now is basically a big ugly metal box (of course, it's not meant for show, it's originally a server rig). There's two little dinky 80mm fans in the front, and a 120mm in the back, but this setup simply isn't enough to cool the system efficiently, especially when I play games.

Now, this is the case I was looking at getting: 

Newegg.com - Thermaltake Element G VL10001W2Z Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Clearly it has plenty of fans/airflow, but I still have a few issues as far as compatibility. I think the biggest thing is the bottom mounted PSU, and how this would affect the length of the power cables as far as reaching the motherboard and all the connections. The second issue is the form factor and/or placement of the screws. Pretty sure my mobo is standard ATX, and the case supports mini and full ATX. So I guess the question is what guarantee do I have that the screws will line up and everything will work properly? Would I need to buy extra cables to reach everything? Perhaps some sort of converter? That's the kind of thing I need to know before I buy it so I can buy everything at once and not have to worry.

If that particular case wouldn't be the best fit, please be so kind as to suggest something that would be better. Obviously I need lots of airflow, and I prefer the top fan/bottom mounted PSU configuration, but that's not mandatory.

Also, if there are any other things I need to know as far as transferring the parts from one case to another that perhaps I have overlooked, please feel free to educate me  Thanks in advance.


----------



## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

Is this for the IBM Intellistation Z Pro 6223 in your sig?


----------



## Camaron (Feb 26, 2008)

Yes indeed.


----------



## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

Well then you should be ok. The only problem you may run into is you might have to splice the front panel connections.

But note , a board with dual cpu's is just naturally going to run hot all the time. Considering that case is 120$ , you would be better off saving for a decent single socket motherboard that supported cpu's that are faster and run cooler over trying to keep this older machine running cool.


----------



## Camaron (Feb 26, 2008)

Emosun, I appreciate the advice, but I simply don't have the money for a new system, nor would it be a viable option in the future (long story). Until I can get a completely new system, I want to keep this one cool as much as possible.

And, what do you mean be splicing connections? What would that entail exactly?


----------



## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Many OEMs use proprietary connections inside the computer. If it is the case with yours, you may need to splice the front panel (buttons and LED's) into the OEM harness for it to connect properly.


----------



## Camaron (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok...a) how would I find out if it uses proprietary connections, and b) if I did need to splice them, how exactly would I do that? Does that mean tying all the wires together or something?


----------



## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

The best way is to just look at the board. Most standard ATX boards use a group of pins for front panel connections. Some manufacturers, like Dell, use special connectors. I attached a pic of a standard ATX f_panel header. The pinouts will differ.


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

IBM also uses their own design for case connectors, the power sw and leds are easy, however the USB and front panel Audio(if the server board has FP audio) can be an issue figuring out.

Do you have a ohm meter?


----------



## Camaron (Feb 26, 2008)

My dad has one, and between me and him he is the only one that knows how to use it. I'm clueless when it comes to electricity stuff.

So basically I have to figure out if this new case has the right connectors that fit into the motherboard for the front panel stuff? Is that the gist of what I'm seeing?


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

A retail case will not have the correct "plugs", the OEM's like IBM, Lenovo, Dell use connectors tailored to their manufacturing processes and sometimes just because that's the design they used on previous models and they carry it forward to newer model motherboards to continue using the same older case design.

I just did a Motherboard swap in an old Lenovo case the USB has extra grounds and shield wiring, not a big deal it plugged in to the connector leaving 2 grounds unhooked and worked, the front audio has extra wires and no detect ability to sense when something is plugged in.


----------



## agentRed (Nov 7, 2006)

It depends upon what power supply you have whether the cables will reach or not. As far as that is concerned, however, you can purchase extensions for just about every connector on the PSU. Even the 24-pin main power connection.

On the subject of splicing wires and such, it's not a huge deal. The only one that would be problematic would be the front audio and/or USB. Other than that, the Power, Reset, HDD LED, and Power LED wires are simple. Both the Power and Reset switches do not require a specific polarity as they merely serve as a momentary "jumper" between two pins to activate their respective functions. As far as the HDD LED and Power LED, those are somewhat tricky but not a huge deal. They'll either work or they won't - it won't hurt anything if you accidentally hook them up backwards - i.e., the wrong polarity. Don't sweat it, really.


----------

