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Baby AT cases or alternatives

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First post, by valnar

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I just bought an ASUS TX97-L motherboard off eBay. I'm building a Pentium era PC. I was pleasantly surprised to see how small this motherboard is - about a 9" square.

It's a Baby-AT board, albeit a slightly smaller one. I haven't bought anything but ATX cases for awhile. Are there still Baby-AT cases for sale? Or will a micro-ATX case work? I know I should know this answer, but I'm certain you guys will.

Any case recommendations? I'm looking for something small. Since it needs no modern backplate, I'll need a case to accommodate the absence of that.

Last edited by valnar on 2008-11-27, 17:22. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 28, by GL1zdA

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I was looking today also for AT cases 😀 I am looking for old Highscreen cases (sold by Vobis). They had nice Big Towers, (you could pull out a cage with the MB, also you could open one side of the case without using screwdriver.). They also had this Colani designed cases. There were also some MiniTowers with a serial port on the front, so you could easily connect devices to it. I try to post some images when I find them. They appear from time to time here in Poland, often in mint condition, usually whole computers are sold - i bought a 386SX in desktop case with a working DOS installation for around 20$ + 10$ shipping.

Last edited by GL1zdA on 2008-10-17, 21:15. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 2 of 28, by Anonymous Coward

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That board already has an ATX power connector on it, so putting it into a full size ATX case will be a no brainer. However, it's just not going to fit into a micro-ATX case because it simply isn't wide enough...even if you could force it in, you'll end up losing access to most of the expansion slots on your motherboard.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 3 of 28, by Malik

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It's sort of hard to get a non-AT case to recommend to you unless you are able to examine the case in-person. Some ATX casing have multiple pin-holes with etched markings denoting the respective motherboards' specification. Like my P4's 1.7 GHz system's casing, it has the said markings. But these kinds are hard to find. And still, some AT mobos, and especially full size AT mobos will be a headche to align the slots.

And then, there is the problem of the AT power supply with the hard-switch.

The good news is, you can still get the AT casing online, most with AT power supply. Some sellers also sell the stand-alone AT power supply.

You can also get a already filled AT based cpu unit desktop or tower and replace your own mobo in it. It'll happily fit in.

Reply 4 of 28, by valnar

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I have the ASUS P2B-B at home as well, but I've had it for years. It's a very small Baby AT minitower and a converted AT power supply to ATX. I was hoping to find something similar.

I don't want a full sized ATX case since the motherboard is so small, but if you are saying that a micro-ATX case won't work, then I will keep looking for a baby AT case and just convert or swap out the PSU for ATX.

Reply 5 of 28, by valnar

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Just checking back.. Anybody know of a place to buy Baby AT cases?

Reply 6 of 28, by 2Mourty

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The only place I have ever found them is at thrift stores...

Reply 7 of 28, by valnar

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The Baby AT case I had in mind is something like this.... if anyone finds one.

babyatcasejz3.jpg

Reply 8 of 28, by Moogle!

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What self respecting AT case doesn't have a turbo button and LED?

Reply 9 of 28, by Harekiet

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This one is looking way to white, should have a good quality aged yellow look....

Reply 10 of 28, by GL1zdA

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Harekiet wrote:

This one is looking way to white, should have a good quality aged yellow look....

No, just not yellow. Grey, but not yellow. The yellow where usually used by smokers, thats why the color changed. And yes, turbo and LED MHz display are a must 😀.

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Reply 11 of 28, by valnar

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Geez... I come here asking for help, and my case gets critiqued instead. 😒 😀

The case above I've had for awhile. It houses my P2B-B board, which is another AT motherboard with an ATX power supply connector. It's nice and small. I remember it being a fairly common mini-tower, but that was over 10 years ago.

'No need to have a bunch of big classic AT towers cluttering up my home, even in the name of retro-gaming!

Reply 12 of 28, by h-a-l-9000

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> The yellow where usually used by smokers

Or exposed to sunlight for a long time.

1+1=10

Reply 13 of 28, by Harekiet

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Indeed even with non smoking these get bad.

Reply 14 of 28, by valnar

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Those bottom two are exactly what I had in mind.

Once so common, now hard to find.

Reply 15 of 28, by Harekiet

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We have a whole bunch of them left but those smell like the sea after being aboard fishing ships, smells bad 😀

Reply 16 of 28, by Moogle!

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Argh me hearties, what be wrong with the scent o the sea?

Reply 17 of 28, by valnar

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I finally found one. Wheh...

I located an online vendor that has those tiny AT cases in stock, and NEW. (Well, probably not new off the assembly line, but new and unused in the original box.)

I should have it in a few days.

Reply 18 of 28, by Amigaz

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valnar wrote:

I finally found one. Wheh...

I located an online vendor that has those tiny AT cases in stock, and NEW. (Well, probably not new off the assembly line, but new and unused in the original box.)

I should have it in a few days.

With MHZ display and turbo button? 😉

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 19 of 28, by valnar

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Amigaz wrote:

With MHZ display and turbo button? 😉

Wow... you guys are brutal. 😜

Actually I don't know. I bought it sight unseen, but he described it to me and it's very similar to my other one. I'll find out soon enough. I'm just happy to find one at all!