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Hardware

Any Cases With Front-Facing Expansion Slots? 50

Posted by timothy from the facing-forward dept.
owenferguson asks: "I'm sick and bloody tired of futzing around with ports (USB, sound, video, firewire, serial) that come out of the back of my mid-tower case. Does anyone know of a case that allows you to mount the motherboard 'backwards,' that is, with the expansion slots and various ports situated beneath the drive bays, facing foreward? I'm planning to build one myself, but if there's one already on the market, I'll probably just buy it."
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Any Cases With Front-Facing Expansion Slots? More

Any Cases With Front-Facing Expansion Slots?

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  • Yes and no (Score:2, Insightful)

    by itwerx ( 165526 )
    Dunno 'bout cases (rather doubt there's sufficient market), but you could have an expansion chassis facing forward easily enough to get the cards around.
    Or, cheaper but more difficult (due to having to do your own cabling) you could use an external drive chassis the same way.

    • Re:Yes and no (Score:1, Interesting)

      by vax ( 251660 )
      Ive seen some computers with the ports in the front(eg that soundblaster case and i think tigerdirect.com has one too..) but another option would be mounting usb ports in a 5 1/4 drive bay so that usb could go in through the front.. other than that i dont plug much else in and out frequently. also there are various switch boxes if you would rather have all the ps2 and com ports controlled on top of your desk. (it is a box with a switch on the front and in the back everything from ps2 ports to com ports to monitor ports etc.. also useful for multiple boxes with one keyboard and mouse (thats why i use mine for) just a thought.
      VAX
  • I have my computer on a large banquet table; the case sits sideways under the table with the "back" of the case facing out the edge of the table. It works well, and the table is large enough to accommodate my 19" monitor and all of the other papers, books, tea cups and so on.

  • Another solution (Score:3, Funny)

    by tunah ( 530328 ) <sam&krayup,com> on Sunday December 09, 2001 @05:49PM (#2679499) Homepage
    Just put the stupid case backwards!

    BTW, does anyone know of a case that allows you to mount cd drives, floppy drives etc on the back of the machine?

    • does anyone know of a case that allows you to mount cd drives, floppy drives etc on the back of the machine?

      Sure, it's called FireWire, iLink, or IEEE 1394...

    • What about putting the case on a lazy susan, that way you can just spin the case around to mess around with the back and spin it around again to put in a CD etc. You might need longer cables, though, and be careful for the soy sauce. Hm, does anyone make a round case?

  • Patch panels... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Howie ( 4244 ) <howie@thi[ ].com ['ngy' in gap]> on Sunday December 09, 2001 @06:04PM (#2679551) Homepage Journal
    Depending on how many free drive bays you have, there are certainly drive bay mounting panels to present most of the common things you'd want to plug and unplug regularly - audio, USB, 1394 and serial.

    An external one (intended for laptops, but what the heck) is made by Mobility Electronics [mobilityelectronics.com]. There was an internal one featured on Scan's Today Only [scan.co.uk] page the other day, with temperature monitoring and all sorts - I'm pretty sure it was made by ASUS, although I can't find it on their site.

    I've seen several cases with front panels like this, too. Even my gf's cruddy e-machines PC does that. Coolmaster case with front USB [coolermaster.com] (and optional 1394 IIRC).
    • I have one of the external Mobility USB hubs, and they're fairly decent. Driver support is in the generic area, meaning usually stable. The one I have replicates PS2-style mouse and keyboard, a single db9 serial (great for serial PDA cradles), 4 rear facing USB ports, and one forward facing USB port.

      They're excellent for the exact use mentioned above, and you don't have to deal with the extra tangle of cables involved with fully reversing your motherboard (video, etc..).

  • Extension Cables (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HeeG ( 532513 ) on Sunday December 09, 2001 @06:39PM (#2679632)
    Just buy some extension cables approx 50cm you will need high quality cables for Firewire / USB / LAN and Video if running at a high res. This will also releve "wear and tear" on the ports.
    • I agree. I got extension cables, good enough quality for what I do, and then wrapped them around and taped them to the side of my box. Then they are all right there when I need them. As for USB, I have a USB hub that sits on top of the box, so all of those ports are in the front also.
    • There are no such thing as USB extension cables. The USB specification warn against extension cables (use a USB hub instead). Also, monitor cables with extensions start to lose some signal strength or add interferance that can distort the picture.
      • There is such a thing as USB extension cables however the total length may not be over 3 meters .... they are available ..... as I am looking at it .... get the facts right B4 posting!

  • Options... (Score:4, Informative)

    by ArcticChicken ( 172915 ) on Sunday December 09, 2001 @06:41PM (#2679640)
    These guys [frontx.com] were mentioned in a previous AskSlashdot article [slashdot.org]. Looks kinda neat, doesn't it?

    Another simpler option (USB only) can be found at Antec's site [antec-inc.com].

  • Thought of Rack Mount? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    If you're after a rack mount case, then a Spin Server Case [spinserver.com] might be what you're after.
  • there are plenty of cases like this one [yahoo.com] at Colorcase [colorcase.com].

    It has both USB and speaker/mic ports on the front. I have bought some of these cases before and am very satisfied. Just use the supplied cable extensions, and you're ready to go.

  • $20 solution (Score:5, Informative)

    by phillymjs ( 234426 ) <slashdot@stanTWAINgo.org minus author> on Sunday December 09, 2001 @09:49PM (#2680118) Homepage Journal
    CyberGuys [cyberguys.com] carries this [cyberguys.com], which will take up a drive bay and an expansion slot, but gives you front-panel connections for FireWire, game, headphone out, speaker out, microphone, and two USB connectors, plus volume control. Seems kinda like a kludgey solution to me, but it will do what you're looking for.

    ~Philly
    • Actually, it doesn't even have to take
      up an explansion slot per se. It will take a
      slot from the case, but if there are more slots
      on the case than the mobo, then you plunk it in
      one of those slots, that has nothing behind it.

      I'm looking at two two-year old cases (ATX) and
      neither has an extra slot, but there are several
      cases at work like this (I think they are AT
      style cases). The white box shops tended to stuff
      parallel ports and serial ports in 'em. But, you
      can mount those into knockouts rather easily.

  • I got tired of this, too... (Score:3, Informative)

    by cr0sh ( 43134 ) on Sunday December 09, 2001 @10:44PM (#2680237) Homepage
    My solution?

    I got a six foot folding table (they make larger ones if you need it), put it in the middle of the room, and put my computers underneath it. That way, if I need to change connections, etc - I just go around to the back and fiddle with them. No more dragging machines out, etc.

    To get power to the machines, I ran an extension cord along the ceiling, then down to the desk, and wrapped it with split loom tubing. Same for network connections, etc. You can also run the cords along the floor, and use those rubber floor cover thingies. Ideally, you would have a raised floor - I might do that next time.

    So far, it has worked great for me, much better than the desk I had!
    • Precisely my solution.

      From the early-90's beginnings of DV editing, I realized that I was going behind my workstations/beta decks/etc. at least twice a day... and up against a wall, that just lags.

      My solution was to simply face the desk outward from the wall, or (more usually) set the desk two feet from the wall to allow walking space.

      Helps a bit with heat dispersal from montiors and the like as well, FWIW.

      --dr00g
  • I've got three of these [spinserver.com]. They are rack mount to help keep thing neat but you could put them anywhere including on sliding rails. They have everything put the power out the front. The company also loans equipment to the local Linux Users Group.
  • Cut the case in half right above the motherboard bay and below the drive bays. Flip the bottom half around, and weld/rivet/duct tape it back together. I'm not sure if the side panels would go back on, but it seems like it would work, otherwise.
  • Put the CD-ROM in an external case and turn the unit around so the backs to you.

    Well, I said probably stupid, but what do you expect when I'm only on my second cup of coffee.
  • Just hack your case! It's yours, right? You own it, right? So make it better fit your needs. Fuck a couple LEDs or buttons in the front, or, if you have an extra drive bay, use that. Just wire your shit to the front. I've been doing this for 10 years now, and I've been nothing but happy. It's convenient, *and* then I've got a customized case. Everything's all good.
  • How about a Lazy Susan (you know, a rotating platform like in a chinese restaurant). No that's stupid idea, the cables won't stretch.

    Mind you, there's one I've seen in the Jensen catalogue (it's a UK tool company, an kind of engineering pr0n magazine ;-) for your service workbench, very nice.

    OK, run extension cables from the ports back into the case thru a slot, then up to the drive bays, and make a new drive bay plate that you mount them in.

    Or, ignore all our ranting and just read the posts that answer your question, i.e. who mkaes these sorts of case!
  • I used to use a couple of machines with expansion cards on the top of the case, making them very easy to get to. There was also an additional cover that fitted above the slots and allowed cabling to be ducted to the rear if needed.

    Unfortunatly this was a good number of years ago and I've no idea who produced them.
    • I've got one of these cases and I love it! It's a monster of a server case, made by AT&T (originally for a '386 server!) Of course it's AT and not ATX, so it really limits it's usefulness for modern motherboards. But the access to the cards on the top is great. (and no-one will ever try to steal a 10 year old/100lb. boat anchor!)

  • There are literally piles of boxes with front mounted USB ports. The only problem is that most of them are really cheap. Best advice is to grab a $30 usb hub and velcro it to the side of your box.

  • I want one rear mount drive bay (Score:3, Insightful)

    by hamjudo ( 64140 ) on Monday December 10, 2001 @11:38AM (#2682113) Homepage Journal
    I want the CD Writer facing backwards. I don't use anything else on the front of the system. Uptimes are in the hundreds of days, I don't use the powerswitch or reset button very often. I do want access to all of the connectors and the CD Writer.

    It would be worth $20 to $30 to not need to get out the dremel and make my own rear facing drive bay.

    The other choice is externally mounting the CD-Writer. That makes the whole system more fragile. More of a pain to move and to work on. It's hard to run IDE cables externally, possible, but hard. SCSI CDWriters are either slower, more expensive or both. USB 1.1 is slower. Firewire and USB 2.0 are more expensive. Check pricewatch.com, $71 for 24x10x40x IDE, USB 1.1 is limited to 4X4X6X ($85), firewire starts at $144.

  • All the guy asked is does anyone know of a case designed this way...
    We all know of the drive bay plug answers, and other such stuff and there is always the dremel tool solution, but if would be nice to know if there is a case that already fits the need. which amoung the 30+ answers no one really says...
    • Well, I tried to answer [slashdot.org] the question by pointing out a few existing cases on the market that have that stuff built in to the front, but I got marked "-1, Redundant." A guy, who posted later than I did about adding a drive-bay plug ("$20 Solution" [slashdot.org]) with the same ports as the case I mentioned, got marked "+5, Informative." Go figure.

      ccg

  • My case is a 4ft squared peice of 1/4 inch thick plywood lying down flat on a banquet table. The back of the motherboard is facing my monitor and the front is hanging off the front of the table. very nice setup... makes swapping out cards a flash for testing.
    • You can set a desk fan next to it, to blow on it at full blast to ease your overclocking/cooling needs :)

      I have one side door open, with a desk fan pointed at it :)
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

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