VOGONS


First post, by snorg

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Are there any ATX/Micro ATX mini towers that best match the dimensions of the old baby AT mini towers? I found some Silverstone and Inwin cases that looked promising but unfortunately they don't have a power supply.

Basically what I am looking for is a mini tower case with 2 5.25" and 2 3.5" externally accessible bays, and maybe 200-300w power supply. Extra points for matte black basic finish with no extra bits and no odd designs.

This Inwin is probably the closest thing I have found on my own:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … =9SIA24G2HZ2967

I remember the old mini towers as being not much higher than 14"? I'm also concerned that a baby AT motherboard may not fit in a micro atx case. There are also some motherboards, usually toward the end-of-life of a processor cycle, that seem much smaller than baby AT and closer to micro atx in size.

And yes, the case has to be black. I never much cared for beige.

Reply 1 of 6, by TheMobRules

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My 2 Baby AT mini towers are about 12.5" tall.

It's kind of difficult with modern ATX cases... while you may find cases of the same height you will have some problems:

- Many (most?) newer cases have at most 1 3.5" external bay
- The mounting holes in the motherboard tray may not match with Baby AT motherboards
- You need a special I/O shield backplate that only has an AT keyboard hole if you don't want to leave the connector "exposed"

So, unless you're up for some drilling I would suggest getting a used/NOS Baby AT case or maybe an older ATX mini tower since those early ones had backwards support for AT form factor. Although finding one in black may be kind of hard...

Reply 2 of 6, by Robin4

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Micro ATX cases wont work.. An AT style case has 8 pci slot brackets on the back, where this mATX has only 4 slots..

It wont fit because the DIN keyboard connector is higher positioned on the back..

I know that only early ATX style cases where mostly AT style backward compatible..

~ At least it can do black and white~

Reply 4 of 6, by konc

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I'm lately searching for exactly the same thing, to find a modern uATX/micro ATX case that can accommodate a baby-AT motherboard. My personal search results didn't turn out to be effective at all, so I can't really contribute anything to this thread apart from my sympathy. But I'm closely monitoring it, it seems like there's more than just me hoping for a magic case to come up.

Reply 5 of 6, by snorg

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If I thought there was a big enough market, I'd try to start a small business making AT compatible cases for the retro market. I don't think I'd sell more than 100 a year, if that. I'd have to charge $200 to make any kind of profit. I started out pricing what it would cost me to build a case out of angle aluminum and sheet metal you can pick up at Home Depot, it is $60-$80 for just the raw parts. I would then either have to weld or pop-rivet everything together.

I started searching for server cases, 4U rackmount cases may be the way to go because they look like they would be compatible with AT motherboards with the least amount of after-purchase surgery. It wouldn't have the same look as a mini tower but you can't have everything I guess.

Reply 6 of 6, by gdjacobs

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Rather than making full AT cases, I suspect the easiest approach would be making AT knockout plates for ATX cases.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder