By John A. Burek
(February 16, 2006)

If your PC is a beige-box bore, it doesn't have to humiliate itself on television to get an extreme makeover. Moving to a new case is an inexpensive yet radical face-lift, and with our help, you can perform the plastic surgery.

Dozens of handsome chassis sell for well under $200--worthy investments if you're looking for improved eye appeal, better interior airflow, and upgrade space to spare. And if simple ooohs and ahhhs are what you're after, side-panel windows and interior lighting can convert your PC into a true conversation piece. So break out your screwdriver and clear some table space--let's upgrade.

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

Most new cases support the ATX motherboard standard, while some also support one or more variants, notably MicroATX (for compact PCs) or BTX (designed for better cooling). Your PC's motherboard must adhere to one of these to be eligible for migration. Not all do.

Major-maker PCs--from Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, and especially Dell--often use proprietary motherboards or power supply units (PSUs) incompatible with ATX cases. Before shopping, determine the standard your motherboard and PSU support by checking manuals, contacting the maker, or Googling for specs.

To house our ATX mainboard and PSU, we chose Lian Li's $159 PC-6070A, an aluminum minitower built like a 1980s Volvo--a minimalist box with tanklike construction and intelligent design. Its interior padding muffles the drone of fans.

Before you begin, gather pliers, Post-it Notes, Scotch tape, bubble wrap, and Phillips and regular screwdrivers.

Be advised that a case change will likely void your PC's warranty.

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

Detach your old PC from its power and peripheral cables, and if it's a tower-style model, lay it flat. Remove the side panel, touching the chassis to discharge any static electricity.

First, label all interior cables (barring those connected to the case) to make reattachment easy. Our preferred method: Post-its. Everywhere a data or power cable plugs into a component, record on a Post-it which component the cable plugs into. Wrap it around the cable beside the connector, taping to secure. Flag both cable ends and any connections in between.

Replace IDE and floppy ribbon cables with rounded cables ($5 to $10 from ATX enclosure (such as the Vantec and others). They are easier to route, look better, and improve airflow.

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

Remove the side of your new case. If the enclosure has a removable motherboard tray (the PC-6070A does), detach it. We unfastened four thumbscrews and slid ours out.

First, screw the standoffs, or motherboard mounts, into holes in the tray (or, lacking one, the case itself). These hexagonal bits match holes in your motherboard. Use your fingers first, then tighten with pliers. Some cases accept multiple motherboard types; put standoffs only in the holes that match your motherboard.

Next, remove the covers from the appropriate drive bays for your optical and floppy drives. You may have to remove the front panel to do so. The covers will be held by clips or screws. (Ours popped out with gentle pressure.) Some cases also have metal plates that you must punch out before using the bay. Wiggle them until they break free.

Keep an eye on cable length: your cables may be too short to position drives farther apart than in your old case.

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

Spread a sheet of bubble wrap for staging the parts you'll pull from your old case.

First, remove the PCI cards and your graphics card. If necessary, unscrew any screws securing those cards. A graphics card may be additionally restrained by a slot-mounted lever. Also, detach any internal cables connected to the cards, such as power connectors or audio cords. Note which motherboard slot you pull each card from; you'll reinsert them into the same slots later.

Next, detach all cables running between the drives and motherboard, as well as all PSU connectors. (PSU plugs in your drives often require a firm yank; those running to your motherboard have a clip to squeeze before pulling.) Remove the hard drives and optical drives next. If they're mounted to the frame with screws, you may have to remove the old case's other side panel to access them all.

Now, it's time for the motherboard. Look for fine wires marrying it to the case. You'll find a forest of them leading from the power switch, speaker, and power/activity LEDs on your old case to a rectangular cluster (or header) of pins on the motherboard. Most will be wire pairs joined by plastic connectors. Gently remove these, one by one. Imperative: Sketch the pin arrangement and the wires as you unplug them, noting which pins correspond to which wires (a name is usually on the connector) and the connector's orientation (by wire color). This could save you a heap of trouble later.

You also may need to detach cables running from USB, audio, or FireWire ports on the case to headers on the motherboard. Unless these connectors are a single solid block, sketch the pin arrangement on these, too.

Once the motherboard is untethered, remove the screws holding it down. Lift it out and place it on your bubble-wrap mat. Finally, if your new case lacks a PSU (ours did), remove the rear screws holding yours in place and carefully slide it out. Stick on a Post-it to indicate which side is up.

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

Start by migrating the primary parts. First, mount the PSU in the new case. The simplest method is to slide it in from the inside; if that's impossible, unscrew the rear plate bracketing the PSU area and insert the PSU through the back of the case. Refasten the plate and screw in the PSU.

Now, insert the motherboard and screw it into place. When aligned correctly, your motherboard's external ports will protrude from the back of the case through a rectangular aluminum panel with cutaways (called the I/O shield). An I/O shield should come with the new enclosure. Compare it to the one on your old case. If they differ, use your previous I/O shield.

Next, reinstall any PCI and graphics cards in the slots they occupied before. In our case, the I/O shield, the motherboard, and the PCI cards all sat on the enclosure's handy removable tray; we reinstalled the tray in the case at this time. Some cases require that the tray be installed in the case before the cards can be repatriated.

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

Hooking up front-panel ports, LEDs, and switches can be tricky. The wiring and its labels often vary from case to case, so consult your pin-header sketches and the new case's manual (in addition to diagrams in your motherboard manual). The idea is to match the new case's connectors for the power switch, activity LEDs, speaker, audio ports, and data ports to headers on your motherboard in their correct orientation.

Never confuse USB and FireWire port connectors. Crossed wires can result in motherboard damage.

Put your PC into a slick ATX case

With our Lian Li chassis, hard drives and optical drives screw directly to the frame. Whether your case uses this method or drive rails, the drive should slip easily into the case from the front and align with the face (except your hard drive, of course, which slides in from within the case itself). With the drives mounted, reconnect all data cabling and power connectors, following your paper tags. Don't forget to reattach the case and CPU fans.

Next, bundle unused PSU connectors and unruly cables with twist ties. This will keep things tidy and aid proper cooling. Now, button up the case; reattach your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and power cord; and boot up your computer. Everything should work as before. If all's well, power down, open the case, tear off your paper flags, and start bragging to your friends.