I Need Larger CPU Casing for Old Computer

I need larger desktop CPU casing for my old computer. The purpose is for gaming. I can't use my graphic card because it's not fit to the default casing. The computer is Lenovo ThinkCentre with system model of 0830CTO and E7500 2.93 GHz Core 2 Duo processor . I browsed on the internet and had a difficulty to find the casing. Maybe anyone here can help me finding the casing. Thanks you for your help.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/

Depending on what you're looking for I have a Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX with a tempered glass panel on one side sitting around that will fit almost anything you throw at it. I used it for a little while with all of the card slots filled with various cards / dual GPU's. It has tons of room for cards / 3.5" drives / fans up to 5 of them.

 

Is there available any cheap one? Perhaps under US$30.

 

Go to pcpartpicker and search.... if you want something for $30 your best bet is ebay or craigslist. I'm assuming you're just needing an ATX case to move everything over from your existing to a new one. There's ton of options out there to meet every need.

 

go to PCP and select your video card first and then go into the cases for options that will fit the card. For the most part any ATX case will fit most video cards as they tend to not design them for anything that would require an eATX case. When you go down to a mATX though sizing is more important and an ITX requires a really small card.

 

What is PCP?

 

Are all above-mentioned casings is dedicated and fit for Lenovo ThinkCentre with system model of 0830CTO?

 

Computers like that typically have proprietary motherboards and back plates. It's extremely unlikely that any standard PC case will work with it.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/

 

What is back plates? Please show me an example by an image. This is what I am so afraid of, I don't know if the dimension of the new casing is fit with my motherboard (for example, the distance between the place/position/location of the motherboard's screw).

 

The problem is I don't know what brand and what type/model of the casing. I also don't know the keyword how to search this casing.

 

What kind of video card do you want to use?

 

Went and looked up your specific model - https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/so...5-0828-0830-0833-0837-0843-0845-0847-and-0849

This seems to be the MOBO inside your case and it's listed as being a SFF which is fine. I see several screw mount points on the image and the backplate mentioned is the silver / steel thing to the right siide.




Looking at the back of the case w/ 4 slots your minimum case should be a mATX but, the size of the case is more dependent on the length of the video card if it exceeds xxx mm's then you need to bump up to an ATX case for the card to fit.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/#t=7,6&f=7&E=0,4&e=0,4&sort=price&page=1 -- this is a goof starting point and the brand doesn't matter... you said $30 and that's got a couple of options in a mATX format

If you want more space then stepping up a size you have some options that still stay under $40
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/#t=3&sort=price&page=1

Knowing the make and model of the video card though is most important to make sure it will fit inside the chosen case. If you start with selecting that on the website and then clicking on case it will only show cases that will fit the video card. The rest of it is just pulling the pieces from your lenovo case and placing them into the new one and cabling it up and turning it on.

 

I already bought the graphic card. The graphic card is Asus EN9800GT 1GB.

 

Plenty of options come up when selecting that card and then going into cases....



go here / hit ADD and then go into system builder to select CASE
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gLTmP6/asus-video-card-en9800gthtdp512md3

or scroll down on the left side and click
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/? compatible_with=gLTmP6

Then all you have to decide is how much room for expansion you want and/or whether you want a window in the side.

 

It's possible it's 1GB but, the specs show 512MB.

 

These are the pics of my VGA card.

 

Ok, so it's 1GB.

Did you pick a case from the list?

 

What list?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-for-old-computer.836210/page-2#post-11100246

 

Do you mean I should choose one of CPU casing in that list?

 

They fit the GPU and are in your budget range.

 

Which one? Please tell me.

 

They will ALL fit the GPU.


PICK ONE!

 

It looks like the ThinkCentre M70e motherboard is microATX, so you should be able to get any case that will fit a microATX motherboard. YMMV due to the fact that sometimes OEMs will do some crazy custom stuff, but Intel's docs on that mobo state it's microATX. Based on what I can see of the size of that video card I would imagine any microATX case or full ATX case that supports a microATX mobo made today would be fine. Where you run into problems is extremely high powered desktop GPU that have large heat sinks and tri-axial fan arrangements that are 2-3 slots and 300mm+ in length.

There's some things I would look out for based on what I'm seeing from online pictures of the ThinkCentre M70e.

• That CPU cooler looks like it might be custom for that OEM case, you might need to buy a new proper heatsink and some heat sink paste for it to fit in a normal case.
• Is the PSU a standard ATX or SFF power supply? If not it might not fit in a standard case. I would imagine it might be but I can't tell you might need to research further.
• I might side with getting a microATX case as the ThinkCentre M70e is billed as SFF (whatever that meant way back then) and I would be left wondering if the PSU cables would reach from the PSU mount in a full ATX case.
• Hopefully since it seems like a microATX motherboard the new case leads for power/reset/hdd etc will just work on the existing headers
• Make sure to find a manual for the motherboard that has a diagram of all the pinouts so you can properly install it in the new case, or at least make your own notes about what all the existing headers are for before you unplug them if they are not labeled well/properly.

If you have someone locally that you trust that can transfer it all to a new case and do proper in-person analysis to make sure all the existing hardware can be transferred over with no issue you might want to do that. Especially if it comes down to troubleshooting if something isn't working properly. Can be a pain if you've never built a computer before.

At least it's not a Dell, they like to do some insane custom stuff that is basically not transferrable at all.

 

UPDATE - BAD NEWS

It looks like the power supply in these is TFX form factor, that probably is not going to transfer over to a case unless it supports TFX power supplies. There are TFX cases out there but they are rare compared to standard ATX/Mini Tower ATX cases that support ATX or SFX power supplies.

Here's a complete part list for your Lenovo, highlighting the 240W TFX power supplies as the three parts it is using in it.
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/so...5-0828-0830-0833-0837-0843-0845-0847-and-0849

Also, this looks like the manual for the mobo itself, it seems to be an Intel DG41TX
It looks like it supports 2x12 or 2x10 + 4 pin ATX12v standard if you have to buy a new power supply if you can't find a proper TFX case. You can use this to make sure to hook all the case wire harness stuff up properly and if the case you pick will support everything fine to begin with.
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/s...p-boards/G41/DG41TX/DG41TX_ProductGuide01.pdf