LunarG here on Vogons installed an AT board in his ATX case. Worked well for him.

Maybe he can elaborate himself 😀

I'm thinking of building a Socket 3 or SS7 system sometime in the near future. Even though I like the sturdiness of AT cases, I find that they can be a pain to work on, since you often have to take off this gigantic shell. Are there any AT cases out there where you can remove just a side panel rather than the whole cover, like on a typical ATX case? If not, is there any way to take an ATX case and add a turbo button and MHz readout to it?

That's a good point... I hate having to set aside that giant metal shell all the time. A few other complaints I can think of with AT cases:

1. You have live alternating current running all the way to the front panel On/Off switch
2. The metal frame inside is so sturdy that it pierces skin quite easily. I try to use work gloves when I'm working inside them these days
3. The front panel connectors for Power LED, HDD LED, etc. seem to be less standardized than ATX

I haven't seen an AT case myself with a single side-panel opening. Sure would be neat!

Just go with an ATX Super Socket 7 board. Solves all these issues 😀

I haven't seen an AT case myself with a single side-panel opening. Sure would be neat!

I remember there being a few, in the very late days of AT. I imagine they're quite rare, though... they came out after ATX had already gained popularity (we're talking '97-'98 here), so probably not too many people bought them. Even the people still using AT boards at that point would usually just use an ATX case with one of those AT-style IO shield plates.

I also recall seeing mods years ago where people would cut the one-piece shells and install hinges or whatnot.

I haven't seen an AT case myself with a single side-panel opening. Sure would be neat!

I picked one up recently, and yes it does look to be a late model AT. It has no turbo switch for example.

I like the idea of the ATX to AT converter and have a couple myself, but I can't bring myself to use them. AT cases have charm, but ATX cases - particularly the early beige ones - often lack personality IMO.

Here's a couple of others I have which are easy to work on thanks to a 'flip up' lid. The first one has the power switch down the right side, directly on the PSU, so you don't have 240V running through the length of it either:

vetz wrote:

LunarG here on Vogons installed an AT board in his ATX case. Worked well for him.

Maybe he can elaborate himself 😀

As I couldn't get hold of an AT case, I had to settle for an ATX tower for now. It WILL be replaced sooner or later.
Most of the screw holes for Baby-AT motherboards are the same as ATX boards, at least full-size ATX boards.
Depending on the specific ATX case, it might be able to fit your AT motherboard perfectly.
If you can get aa ATX I/O shield plate for your AT keyboard plug, you're good to go. Biggest problem is the fact that ATX has 7 expansion slots and AT has 8.
Evercase sell some cases on eBay that they call "AT Chassis", which are in fact AT compatible ATX cases with an I/O shield included.
They don't have the slide fittings that those plastic standoffs that AT used fit into, nor do they have 8 expansion slots.
Just thought I'd mention it, just those who might wanna buy one are prepared for what they'll be getting.
But I guess anyone can use their eyes and study the pictures 😀

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

I'm thinking of building a Socket 3 or SS7 system sometime in the near future. Even though I like the sturdiness of AT cases, I find that they can be a pain to work on, since you often have to take off this gigantic shell. Are there any AT cases out there where you can remove just a side panel rather than the whole cover, like on a typical ATX case? If not, is there any way to take an ATX case and add a turbo button and MHz readout to it?

I've bought a few 3 digit 7-segment PCB's which I intend to convert to MHz displays for ATX to AT conversion. It's just a matter of finding the time. As far as I know, the turbo display header on older motherboards is just a + - that swaps polarity depending on turbo status, as many 7-segment setups use exactly that setup to change display setup, but please correct me if I'm wrong. As for a turbo switch, all you'd need is a simple "press and stay" (not sure what the technical term is really), which you should be able to find in most shops that sell electronics components and other gadgetry. I'm totally broke at the moment, so I can't really buy and switches and stuff at the moment, but when I get some money again, I'll try to find the time to sort out a 5.25" drive bay cover with MHz display, AT power switch and turbo switch. We'll see how that works out.

I did try experimenting fixing an AT motherboard in an ATX casing before: Re: ATX-case for full-AT mobo

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Just go with an ATX Super Socket 7 board. Solves all these issues 😀

Well upon reading this, you've just inspired me to build a Pentium II / 3Dfx rig...

EDIT: Not because you said Super Socket 7, but because you said ATX. I need to cover more of the ATX-era in my collection.

Although I am stuck having to deal with AT boards with some of my collection, since much of my interest lately has been in 386's and 486's.

I wonder, would it be possible at all to find a case that fits the following criteria?:

- sturdy
- has a turbo button
- has an LED panel
- AT compatible
- reasonably small size
- able to open from the side

I know that most AT cases fit the first four criteria without any problems, and the fifth one can vary massively since I've seen AT cases that went from the size of MicroATX towers all the way to metre-tall server towers, it's just the last one I'm not sure about. Come to think about it though, I wouldn't actually mind modding an AT case to have an opening side panel.

I would have thought one of the concerns would be finding a proper I/O plate to fit the keyboard port. Judging from Mr. Malik's picture, there ought to be a one-size-fits-all solution.

There are some cases that properly mount both AT and ATX boards but they are fairly rare.

I've come across a few ATX cases with AT screw holes, but I've never tried using any of them for AT boards. I might just have to look through some of the ones I have some time and see. Also, I was looking in a thread here the other day and I saw this thing in a 3 1/2 inch bay on someone's 486 that provided an LED panel and a turbo switch. I'm assuming I would be able to install one of these in an ATX case?

You'd have to find one first.

Mine had the AT screw holes. All the holes matched the screw holes on the motherboard that I installed. All the PCI and ISA slots matched the expansion slot bay on it. If I had the I/O panel with just the hole for the keyboard, that system would have been complete. The other issue that remained was the AT switch, but that wouldn't be an issue on newer S7 or SS7 boards, which come with ATX power connecters and Power Pins on the Front Panel Connector group of pins.

Let's refresh it once again. I realised that isn't easy thing in getting AT-style I/O shield plates in an ATX standard. Like this one here:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons … %28smial%29.jpg

Anyone know where to find such as piece of metal?

you can buy blank i/o shields on ebay and cut your own openings..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SuperMicro-MCP-26 … =item54033d1f42

appleiiguy wrote:

you can buy blank i/o shields on ebay and cut your own openings..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SuperMicro-MCP-26 … =item54033d1f42

Hah! It's just what I'm looking for! It helps to solve using AT boards in ATX standard. I think this is very helpful in many hardware configurations! Custom builds etc. For other non-AT style motherboards is easier to find dedicated I/O shield. There is also exception in some ATX cases, backplates have 2 screws, also they are made with thick metal plate. But this just made my day. Thanks to you!

Godlike