Many readers have asked us to create new guides dedicated to these computer components and parts receive less attention, but are also important when building or upgrading a new computer. We’ve heard you, and today we’re sharing this guide on five important keys to consider before choosing a chassis for your PC build.

The chassis is an essential part when building a PC because such important things will depend on him such as the interior space, compatibility with certain components, its expansion possibilities and the different mounting options we will have available. It will also determine how much space our new equipment will take up and where we can place it. It’s not hard to understand, the mini chassis fits in the living room furniture, but the tower doesn’t.

For all these reasons, we have to be very careful when choosing a chassis to build a PC and it is important to proceed a series of basic guidelines to help us make the right decision without having to spend a lot of money and without being forced to limit ourselves to a series of specific models, because we think that design, aesthetics and functionality cannot go hand in hand.

As always, if you have any questions after reading this guide I invite you to leave it in the comments and we will help you solve it. Without further ado, get comfortable and let’s get started.

1.-The PC build chassis will be the “home” of your components

I wanted to make this analogy because I think it will help you understand from the beginning why it is such an important part of the PC. All components will be located inside the chassis and in fact, some will be mounted directly on it (among other things, the motherboard, fans and power supply), which means that it must meet a number of basic requirements to offer a good user experience:

• Structural strength: It must withstand the weight and load of all the components that we will assemble without any problems.
• Component Protection: the chassis must also offer good internal protection of the components and it is important that it has filters to limit the impact of dust and dirt.
• Easy to clean and maintain: These filters must be easily removable and the chassis must allow us easy access to the interior so that we can easily perform basic cleaning and maintenance.
• Good air flow: A good chassis must allow us to create good airflow, starting from the basic configuration of cold air intake at the front and hot air exhaust at the rear, and it must have the minimum space necessary to avoid serious air conditioning problems. between components. For more advanced chassis we need to be able to add fans on top to help remove the hot air.

Today, most chassis fit the bill on all of these fronts, but it is possible to find inexpensive models that they do not always reach an acceptable level and so we must avoid that. For reference, I confirm that my bad experiences in this regard have been limited to very cheap chassis with prices under 20 euros.

2.-Importance of size and internal space

Before choosing a chassis to mount the PC, we need to be clear about the size the components we will use and the internal space we will need. If we do it the other way around, it’s very likely that we’ll get to the point where we find that the graphics card we’ve chosen won’t fit in the chassis because it’s too long or because we’ve taken up too much. space in front with cooling system. .

Every chassis is differentthere are even models that have them different interior space, even if they fit into a specific category. So there are mid-towers that are larger than others and have more internal space, and we also find others that are more compact and therefore can accommodate larger components.

The same applies to other formats.Like super towers, which are huge cases with room for almost any type of setup you can think of, and ITX-style cases, which split into a mini-ITX version that’s really small and uses motherboards that are only 17 x 17 .cm.

Even if we start from the basis that gives us the classic division into ATX, ITX and HTCP formats, it must be clear to us that in the end each chassis can present important differences at the level of interior space, and therefore it is essential that we make sure that the model we are going to choose really has the internal space to mount the components we have chosen. Don’t blindly trust the format because you risk finding a part that won’t complete the input.

I can give you a recent example that perfectly illustrates this key. An acquaintance asked me for help with the selection of components for a PC and he followed all my recommendations to the letter, but in the end he changed the chassis to a “prettier” one. When the components arrived and he started assembling it, he asked me if I could help him, I went to his house and found out that the graphics card he ordered didn’t fit in the chassis because it collided with a 360mm AIO CPU liquid cooling system radiator at the front. He couldn’t mount it up as only 240mm would fit, so he ended up having to return the chassis and replace it with another one.

3.-Cabling and component management: the chassis makes the difference

We use the chassis not only to mount the PC, but it also allows us to do so manage the location of components and cabling. It will depend on this, for example, that we can mount a 360 mm radiator on the front and top, only in one of these two areas. or maybe none of them if limited to 240 mm.

It may also happen that you are so tight that we have to manage the placement of certain components in a way that we did not anticipate, or we are forced assuming less good cable routing than we assumed. If we do not have much experience and we are starting to assemble a PC, it is better to use a larger chassis, even if they exceed the space we really need, because it will allow us to work more comfortably and, in the end, it will help us to carry out a more careful assembly with less effort.

Cable management is also essential for two reasons. First of all, a team with well-managed cabling It has excellent aesthetics and is more attractive, and secondly, it reduces the impact of the cables on the airflow we need inside the chassis. We must also not forget that by keeping the cables from hanging and being very visible, we also prevent them from hindering the proper functioning of some components.

All chassis to this day have dedicated spaces so we can run the cables through different areas and fastening systems to prevent them from moving. However, not all chassis are equal in this regard, so it is advisable to count on it. If we are going to do a basic assembly with little wiring, a simple chassis will suffice, but if we have in mind a more complex assembly with a lot of wiring, it is advisable to dig a little deeper and look for models that take more care of this aspect.

4.-Compatibility of components and cooling

Not all chassis are compatible with the same components or cooling systems. For example, mini tower chassis are limited to micro-ATX motherboards, while mid-towers can use ATX motherboards. Interesting, isn’t it? But that’s not all, as the former are usually limited to medium-sized graphics cards, while half-towers can accommodate very large graphics cards that exceed 30 cm in length.

But that’s not all, the chassis You can also limit the compatibility of other components, so I want to share with you a complete and clear list that will serve as a reference of all the components that may be incompatible if we choose the wrong chassis to build our PC:

• Cooling systems, liquid and air. The size of the cooler and fans, as well as the height of the air cooling that we are going to use in the CPU, are key in this regard.
• Custom liquid cooling systems. They normally take up a lot of space because we have to assemble the pump and tube frame.
• Oversized motherboards which are not compatible with small chassis. The reverse is not the case, meaning that smaller motherboards can easily be fitted into large chassis.
• Large size, thickness and height of graphics cards. Keep in mind that all these measures can end up determining incompatibility with a smaller chassis and that we need to be clear about them before choosing a chassis.
• storage units which use 2.5 and 3.5 inch formats. Not all chassis have places set aside for mounting them, although it is more common for those that are very small.
• Some plugins that take up a lot of space, such as fan controllers and RGB LED lighting. These may not be suitable in certain cases, especially in small cases where space is often very limited.

5.-Connections and components are part of the delivery

Another important consideration when choosing a chassis is the connectivity it offers and the components it contains. When I say connectivity, I mean it front connectors that integrate, and by components I mean both fans and drivers of these and RGB LED lighting.

Although this is a matter that depends on the actual needs of each user, I recommend choosing a tower that has with at least two USB 3.0 connectors on the front and a 3.5 mm jack, although it would also be ideal to have a USB Type-C connector in this area, because it will make our lives easier if we need to connect peripherals and other devices to the computer (we will not have to go to the back PC).

As for the parts that are included in the delivery, we have enough to create a basic airflow the front fan brings in cold air and the second one in the back exhausts hot air. Choosing a chassis that includes both fans is a good idea, although we can always buy them separately and install them ourselves.

It is recommended in high performance devices that generate a lot of heat boost with at least two fans on the frontand we can improve the airflow inside the device by using fans on top, which must work by removing hot air. A chassis with fans will add value compared to a chassis without fans.

On the topic of fan controllers and LED lighting I have conflicting opinions, because there are chassis in which they are very worthwhile, and others in which they have an almost unofficial role and are more of a filler or even an obstacle due to the space they take up and the wiring we have to connect. The most expensive and highest quality chassis are the ones that usually represent the highest value in this regard, so keep that in mind.