I Need Help With My Computer Case

Do I need a case if I'm building a computer?

Besides all the good and negative reasons people already gave here, let me give my 2 cents:Why you want to build a computer without a case?What will be your main use for your computer?Short answer: You can. But should you?Example: I had for several months a computer working 24h/7 with no case, all the stuff was just in a small support table near my desk. The reason was, I was having problems with hardware and I need to find out what was wrong. I do have my computer space in a very private room with no children or people hanging around that could damage it, so I was safe.Who uses computers with no cases? People on youtube that do tests and benchmarking, overclocking and so on. Even those use normally a test bench. That way everything is easy access and its fixed.Reasons for not using a computer with no case (in particular if you going to game or use overclocking:Dust, it gets everywhere no matter how clean your environment is. Dust covers the electronic parts and generates more heat and reducing the life span of the chips and other components of your hardware.Cooling, unless you going to use a water cooling system, you need air to cool it down. Also remember even in a case the air in it, is at the temperature of your room and gets even hotter because a PC can generate about 100 degree Cº.Do yourself a favor: Even if this is your first build, why not learn to build it right? Get a case with at least 2 fans, 1 intake 1 out take. Learn to build a PC inside a case, learn where all the components will have to go.It is easy to let everything laying out with just cables passing, but trust me, a case is a must.If you want to learn more just check these guys on YouTube:JayzTwoCents - Water cooling, testing, reviews overclocking and teaching.LinusTechTips - Tech in general, talks about everything about computers, testing stuff, builds and so on, and they look like jerks but they are funny.My preference is for Jay since he is like me and do builds for over 10 years (I do longer since I am older) but he has a very simple way to explain things where he assumes you do not know nothing about even if you do.

Do I really need a computer case fan?

The newer cases usually comes with few case fans, so if you’re just a regular PC user, you’ll be more than fine. It hugely depends on the tasks you’re planning to perform on your PC.For instance, if you’re a professional who is using a PC to do 3D modeling or extreme graphic design, you must be aware of the fact that your system will heat over time. More heat means less performance which in result, decrease the lifetime of your components.Having a case fan is such small investment of time and money, but it gives your components, and system in general, better performance and longer lifetime. I wouldn’t think a second when it comes to heat control of my system.The thing is that you probably don’t want noisy fans and you’d like to have a control over the speed. My advice is to buy the larger fan that can fit in your PC as it will have lower RPM to produce the same temperature smaller fan will need. Also, the majority of these fans comes with controllers which gives you a complete control when it comes to adjusting the RPM.For instance, if you’re not working on something demanding for your components, you can easily slow down the fan to lower the noise.Here you can read about the features you need to look for when getting a new PC fan.

I've never built a PC before so I need some help. My case has USB 3.0 while my motherboard does not. Am I unable to use the 3.0 ports now?

It depends on whether you are referring to an “on-board” port or not. The terminology is a bit confusing, since of course the regular ports are also attached to the board. The “on-board” ports are what others have referred to as “headers”; they are synonymous terms. Headers, however, have a completely different cable interface that is pin-based. It’s possible your board has headers but no 3.0 ports, but not very likely. Some people have suggested buying an adapter; I would only do that if you have no plans to ever achieve USB 3.0 speeds. While 3.0 is technically backwards compatible, you will still be restricted to the USB 2.0 speeds of the bus. You can also get a PCIe expansion board, as others have mentioned, which are fairly cheap. I have one myself, and it provides 2 external USB 3.0 ports as well as a header. However, I eventually pulled it out because the drivers are honestly garbage. It’s a category of device that unfortunately doesn’t have very reliable manufacturing or firmware.I would try to upgrade your board as others have suggested, if you can swing it. Unfortunately, this might also require you to upgrade CPU and RAM. If you can, I recommend trying to find a board with both USB 2.0 and 3.0 (ports and headers), although those are becoming increasingly harder to find. I’ve found that despite the supposed universal backwards compatibility, there are some devices for which that actually isn’t true. Neither my Vive headset or my Blue Snowball mic for instance, will work on a 3.0 port; they have to have 2.0. I’ve gotten around it on other boards without 2.0 by plugging these devices into an old USB 2.0 hub, and then plugging that into a 3.0 port.

Where can I get customised computer cases?

MM are good, yes. But I like Computer Tower Cases - CaseLabs a bit better.Head on over to Overclock.net - An Overclocking Community it you need help.