As the supply of good quality AT cases continues to shrink, lets take a look at fitting an AT system into an ATX case. We'll look at some of the potential problems that might crop up and ways to get around them.
Very thorough explanation. I have switched all of mine to ATX power supplies with the motherboard power converter to utilize the cases existing switch. I’m glad I discovered your channel and look forward to binging your content!!
I know originally desktop cases were intended to have a monitor set atop, but I recall CRTs weighing a ton of bricks and always felt uncomfortable putting a monitor on it. After the original IBM and clones, it seems the cases made were no longer made of such thick, solid metal thus less likely to hold the weight of CRT over time without bowing the PC case. I have an old school Dell 4:3 LCD display I use instead of CRT and it’s good enough for me but still set beside my desktop case instead on top of it. 😂
The AT case in the video is built like a tank and easily takes a 19" CRT on top of it, it's just too high up to use comfortably. :) I have a later IBM desktop case that is so plastic-y that even a modest LCD on top of it feels risky.
I believe you missed something and I was actually looking forward to seeing how you managed it. 😃When it comes to those adapters that let you use ATX power supplies with an AT motherboard, they bring out the green and black wires for the power button - PS-ON and GROUND respectively. The problem is that the power button on the ATX case is momentary, while the PS-ON signal from the power supply needs to be grounded the whole time the computer is running. To sum it up, the way the PC works at the end of the video is - you press the power button on the case, the computer comes on, you take the finger off the power button, the computer shuts off. You'd need to keep your finger on the power button indefinitely, to keep the computer running. The way this needs to be solved is by physically changing the power button on the case from a momentary switch to a toggle switch that keeps the circuit closed after being pushed and that's easier said than done. To keep it pretty, you'd need to find a toggle switch the same size and form factor as the momentary one mounted on the case.
The Voltage Blaster project by Necroware more or less solves the -5v issue (I think mainly just some sound cards which really need it anyway). If you mentioned it, I missed it. Also need to be careful to not overload the 3v & 5v rails of modern PSUs. AT systems tend to put more load on them than modern ones are able to handle.
Yeah, I think there is another adapter too besidies the Necroware one that also gives -5v. I figured I didn't want to go into too much detail on that as if you need it, then you probably already know about how most modern ATX supplied don't have it..
My current project involves getting a Gigabyte 5aa into an AT case with a turbo panel. The 5aa is a hybrid board with both AT and ATX connectors, but it was still a terrible idea; learning pinouts on the fly, figuring out and more importantly finding unused pins to hook the extra LEDs into is a nightmare.
I hear what you are saying but when it comes to new old stock, it is very much a case of beggars can't be choosers. We are lucky there are brand new ~20 year old cases available at all.
Yeah I hear that, NOS beige cases don't appear for sale all the time and I'm happy to have this one, and the looks of it a purely a personal oppinion of course. (But I still gotta do something about the blue plastic on the front :)
I used to think the same thing, but those are bumpers for the motherboard I believe. Not very useful IMO, but extra hardware finds of way of being used for something else lol
@@mesterak I still think they are feet, the box of parts is probably universal, some cases can be laid on there side if preferred and can have the rubber feet attached.
