Old case

[A human for reelz]

Can i use my old gateway computers case for a "sleeper" build?

[suchamoneypit]

..why couldn't you?

 

Unless it has a proprietary form factor motherboard in it there isn't nothing stopping you.

[Guest]

You can, provided the new components fit. I have an old Gateway case as well, might not be the same as yours, but it fits an older-style power supply, and I couldn't mount a standard ATX one in it. So if it's pre-2000s old, you might have to make some modifications, Linus style.

[A human for reelz]

What about the power button on the case

[Froody129]

1 hour ago, A human for reelz said:

What about the power button on the case

You just plug them into the PWR pins on your motherboard. If it's non standard then all you have to know is that completing that circuit turns on the computer, and you'll have to find a way to do that

[Ginger_]

Assuming it has atx standard standoffs, airflow might be your biggest problem. A lot of those old cases used air ducts and minimal fans and openings 

[King Jackal]

I'm working on the same thing right now. Mine's a 500SE from 2002.

The Good News:

• Case appears to be a standard mATX form factor. No custom stuff like Dell! It's also surprisingly easy to work on. The front and top panels just pop off the case and the side panels slide off once you remove a couple of screws.
• The plastic side panel on the right side actually pops off easily, meaning you could use the space for cable management.
• Judging by the dimensions of the stock unit it appears to take a normal ATX sized power supply
• It looks like the power button and power light will work with a newer mobo. You might have to move the contacts on the header to line up with the requisite pins on your mobo.

The Bad News:

 

• The I.O. Shield is integrated into the back of the case, so you'll have to do some very careful cutting if you want to use the shield included with your mobo. OTOH, you could do it like Gateway did it: 2mm thick foam pad on the inside and a decal of some sort on the outside to cover everything up.
• The stock power supply is mounted with a bracket that screws into the front (case front side) of the supply. That bracket slides into 2 tabs on the top of the case. There's a spring loaded plastic piece that then hinges onto the top of the case and snaps in,keeping the PS from sliding forward. This setup covers up part of the output side of the PSU, meaning you'll be limited to standard and some semi-modular PSUs. So your options for mounting are:
  • A: Forgo the bracket completely. I've experimented with this and the PS appears to be more or less secure. A bit loose, though. 
  • B: Buy a good used PS and Drill holes for the bracket. Leaning toward this option to be honest unless someone can give me a good reason not to.
  • C: Drill holes in the case for some (3 of the 4) screws that a modern PS uses: Probably the smartest thing to do, it would let you use any modular power supply on the market. However locating the holes is a real quandary at least for me. I'd probably have to cut up the stock unit to make a template. I'd rather not do this because I'd like to reuse it as either a bench PSU or as a PSU for a consolized Neo-Geo MVS board in the future.
• Cooling will be an issue. My plan is to ditch the HDD cage and mount my HD in one of the 3.5" floppy bays and mount an SSD to a side panel. This'll free up enough real estate in the front to mount at least a 120mm fan, possibly a 140mm unit on the bottom. There are holes predrilled on the back for a 80mm fan, so I plan to try that as well. I'll also be mounting the PSU fan side down like stock (It looks like this was the only active ventilation stock). Startech makes a vented 5.25" blanking panel with 3 30mm fan mounts ostensibly for HDD cooling. I plan to pull the fans for now and rely on the pull from tthe CPU cooler and the rear fan for additional intake. I might add some PWM units if needed. If that's not sufficient, theres an adaptor on the market that adds a 8mm fan mount to a set of 5.25" drive bays and just convert my optical disc drive into a external USB unit. I'd prefer not to, however, it would ruin the sleeper aesthetic.

 

On the whole,it's more doable than you'd think, it just requires judicious dremel use!

[A human for reelz]

On 4/9/2018 at 11:49 PM, King Jackal said:

I'm working on the same thing right now. Mine's a 500SE from 2002.

The Good News:

• Case appears to be a standard mATX form factor. No custom stuff like Dell! It's also surprisingly easy to work on. The front and top panels just pop off the case and the side panels slide off once you remove a couple of screws.
• The plastic side panel on the right side actually pops off easily, meaning you could use the space for cable management.
• Judging by the dimensions of the stock unit it appears to take a normal ATX sized power supply
• It looks like the power button and power light will work with a newer mobo. You might have to move the contacts on the header to line up with the requisite pins on your mobo.

The Bad News:

 

• The I.O. Shield is integrated into the back of the case, so you'll have to do some very careful cutting if you want to use the shield included with your mobo. OTOH, you could do it like Gateway did it: 2mm thick foam pad on the inside and a decal of some sort on the outside to cover everything up.
• The stock power supply is mounted with a bracket that screws into the front (case front side) of the supply. That bracket slides into 2 tabs on the top of the case. There's a spring loaded plastic piece that then hinges onto the top of the case and snaps in,keeping the PS from sliding forward. This setup covers up part of the output side of the PSU, meaning you'll be limited to standard and some semi-modular PSUs. So your options for mounting are:
  • A: Forgo the bracket completely. I've experimented with this and the PS appears to be more or less secure. A bit loose, though. 
  • B: Buy a good used PS and Drill holes for the bracket. Leaning toward this option to be honest unless someone can give me a good reason not to.
  • C: Drill holes in the case for some (3 of the 4) screws that a modern PS uses: Probably the smartest thing to do, it would let you use any modular power supply on the market. However locating the holes is a real quandary at least for me. I'd probably have to cut up the stock unit to make a template. I'd rather not do this because I'd like to reuse it as either a bench PSU or as a PSU for a consolized Neo-Geo MVS board in the future.
• Cooling will be an issue. My plan is to ditch the HDD cage and mount my HD in one of the 3.5" floppy bays and mount an SSD to a side panel. This'll free up enough real estate in the front to mount at least a 120mm fan, possibly a 140mm unit on the bottom. There are holes predrilled on the back for a 80mm fan, so I plan to try that as well. I'll also be mounting the PSU fan side down like stock (It looks like this was the only active ventilation stock). Startech makes a vented 5.25" blanking panel with 3 30mm fan mounts ostensibly for HDD cooling. I plan to pull the fans for now and rely on the pull from tthe CPU cooler and the rear fan for additional intake. I might add some PWM units if needed. If that's not sufficient, theres an adaptor on the market that adds a 8mm fan mount to a set of 5.25" drive bays and just convert my optical disc drive into a external USB unit. I'd prefer not to, however, it would ruin the sleeper aesthetic.

 

On the whole,it's more doable than you'd think, it just requires judicious dremel use!

I am water cooling my sleeper also to me it is ok for it not to look alot like a sleeper (it will be my first pc build)