Case And Power Supply...

The case is the most visible part of your computer (well, besides your monitor, but there really aren't that many unique selections in that department). I bought my case considering mainly the price factor, but it did not prevent me from buying an attractive silver and black case. There are many good casemakers out there, including Chieftec and Antech; however, no stigma will be placed on you if you buy an "off-brand" case. There are many other factors that are involved in deciding what case is for you, such as the amount of slots, height, air flow, visual appeal, front input ports (like USB and Firewire plugs), and many other things. Having an included power supply doesn't really need to be considered (more on that in a a bit) as it can easily be replaced with a different one.

Motherboards today follow the ATX form factor (and have been doing so for quite some time, since roughly 2000). Thus, any motherboard that you end up selecting will fit fine in practically all cases out there. Cases come with internal "cages" ready to slide your components right in to. These "cages" come in two sizes -- with 3.5" bays and 5.25" bays. Not all of these bays will open up to the outside, as there are several components (like hard drives) in which external access is not necessary. Floppy disk drives and hard drives tend to go in the 3.5" bays and CD/DVD-ROM drives tend to go in the 5.25" bays (however, 'antique' computer parts did not follow these rules). Below is a depiction of what a standard case looks like:

It is always essential to make sure that you have enough drive bays, as, while it is possible to go out and purchase "external" drives, they usually cost 150% as much as the regular, internal components would. The bare minimum for me is a 7 bay case, which usually has four 5.25" bays and three 3.5" bays.

As you may notice, this case has built-in fan ports, which are designed to actually be put to use. If you purchase these fans (which typically can cost as little as $5 apiece), they will drastically drop the system case temperature, which helps to prolong the computer's life (and prolong your investment). The fans are typically set up so one is an intake fan and one is an exhaust fan, providing a constant cycle of cool air. It is possible, though, to have just one exhaust fan, along with a good power supply, and still get satisfactory system cooling.

My Current case recommendations  
ATX Case Comparison
Attributes
Full tower
Mid tower
Height 20-24 inches 17-18 inches
Width 6-8 inches 6-8 inches
5.25" bays 4-9 3-6
3.5" bays 6-12 2-6
Card slots 7 7

Full towers and Mid towers are nearly identical, except that full towers are generally taller, with more space on the upper portion of the case.

This extra space allows more external drives like DVD drives to be accessed. I would consider a choice between the two to be personal taste, as most people will never use the additional space provided. Both will allow a regular, full-sized motherboard to be used.

Another thing to possibly consider is that the taller Full tower allows easier access if you plan to put it on the floor.

I suggest buying your computer case based on visual appeal and price, although there actually may be some hidden costs when buying your case. For instance, the case might not come with a power supply, which would add another $15 or so onto the overall price of the case. When buying a power supply, I'd suggest a 350 Watt power supply for a basic system, a 450 Watt supply for a performance PC, and a 550-600 Watt for PCs focused on high-end taskes with multiple video cards.

You don't need to worry necessairily about getting too much of a power supply. A computer uses only the power that the components require. As you add more components to your PC, its power supply requirements will increase. Having the extra capacity could also help because it's not always easy to identify the power supply (if you're computer is acting slow or odd) as the main culprit. Remember, USB devices also draw power from your computer, so that needs to be taken into account as well.

Speaking of USB ports, most new cases offer front USB and front Firewire (a faster, yet less common method to connect devices to the the computer; it tends to be used by digital videocameras and some external hard drives). I generally will look for a case that has 1-2 front USB connections. But Firewire can be an iffy proposition, as there is no universal standard for the Firewire connector inside of the computer case. USB is much more standardized, so there's less to worry about that (and, most likely, you'll have little use for Firewire unless you are a very advanced computer user).

It is also possible in a crunch to convert 5.25" bays into 3.5" bays if needed (basically, if you want to put more than 2 hard drives in your case, this might apply to you).

 

Here again are my complete recommendations for building a computer with a great Case and Power Supply at a low price!

 

Next - Choosing a Reliable Processor »

 

Shopping Guide: As you look for your case and power supply, if you can get along with a mid-tower case, you should consider it. When I had to move my case back and forth from school, having a mid-tower case would have made it a tad easier.