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What ATX Cases Tempt You?

Runamok81

Runner of Moks
Jul 27, 2015
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troywitthoeft.com
Second vote for 386! Now, which style?
 
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hrh_ginsterbusch

King of Cable Management
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Nov 18, 2021
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Heh .. seeing the IBM stuff got me derailed into a completely different direction: A retro-style ThinkPad mod. Thought of this already a few years ago, but with the idea of putting the inside of a P51 inside a T400 case, while reusing the T400 keyboard (cause those are way better than current ones / anything past T530 generation).

Now, the biggest case out there is the ThinkPad W700 with 41 x 31 x 4 cm, so roughly 5.2 L .. oh, hey, and it'd fit ATX, too, so this is kinda still on-topic XD

cu, w0lf.
 

lozza_c

Average Stuffer
Aug 26, 2020
59
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Oh...Can I have the P3 from it. ;)
For sure! Fear the power though



There's also this beast...



Looks like the mobo's a MS6154VA, but some of the caps are looking a bit ropey... No idea if it'll post! And 256MB RAM (one single, one dual rank for some reason)

The HDD's the most important thing to me anyways ;)
Now to find a PATA to USB adapter...
 

lozza_c

Average Stuffer
Aug 26, 2020
59
54
Maybe dig around in the depths of what is the ThinkPad universe? There is a lot of oddities like this out there :D

cu, w0lf.
Interesting - did the old Thinkpads use 3.5" drives? I had an old Toshiba chonker from around the same timeframe, can't recall the drive size now though. Those things were 'Nokia 3310' level bombproof. Managed to find various 40 pin+4 to SATA adapters in the usual places so all good :)

Sorry to hijack your thread OP!
 

hrh_ginsterbusch

King of Cable Management
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Nov 18, 2021
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Interesting - did the old Thinkpads use 3.5" drives? I had an old Toshiba chonker from around the same timeframe, can't recall the drive size now though. Those things were 'Nokia 3310' level bombproof. Managed to find various 40 pin+4 to SATA adapters in the usual places so all good :)

Sorry to hijack your thread OP!
3.5? I dont think so. AFAIK they always went with 2.5" (or none, in the case of the very first pre-sub notebooks). But one certainly could be victorious in a fight with a T61 or T50. Or my trusty T400 with its ultra-extended 9-cell battery pack (aftermarket / clone) :D

cu, w0lf.
 

hrh_ginsterbusch

King of Cable Management
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Nov 18, 2021
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On that topic: MFF PC territory - was originally looking for a cheaper clone of the Jonsbo D30 (the Gamemax Spark is only available on Amazon Germany AND its now 10 - 20 Euro more expensive than the original!), but stumbled upon a cube case called Mars Computing MC-400 (available in black and white), with a dual-chamber design, with optional 240 mm rad fitting in said second chamber. Its roughly 29.87L (30.4 x 27.6 x 35.6), so a bit bigger than the Jonsbo D30, but smaller as eg. the Asus Prime AP201.

My guess is, when using a smaller ATX or just a classic SFX PSU, that even an Artic LF II might fit (depth of the second chamber should be, based on the pictures, approx 90 mm).

There are still the parts of my old computer sitting around, so it might be a good option for my planned "hodgepodge" build, ie. after thoroughly cleaning everything, because its ultra-dusty, despite havin been only seen use for about 2 1/2 years. That build would include at least a GTX 1660 deshroud with replacing thermal pads and paste, but if I got the rest working again (AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, MSI mATX B450 board, 16 GB RAM, etc.), I'd be more than happy to give this case a try :)

cu, w0lf.