The Case and Power Supply

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To build a high-performance PC that you plan to keep up-to-date by upgrading components requires careful selection of the right chassis and power supply. The power supply gives life to the components in the PC and overloading a cheap, generic power supply can cause damage to the rest of the system. The case houses everything and can be the most burdensome upgrade you can perform if you don't choose the right one the first time. This is from chapter 1 of the book, Build Your Own High Performance Gamers' Mod PC, by Edward Chen and Joel Durham Jr. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0072229012).

Two of the most overlooked components of a computer system are the case and power supply. If PCs were people, overlooking those vital parts would be like overlooking our skin and our hearts, respectively; but while we may not think about them very often, they’re crucial to our survival.

The case, or chassis, is the conglomeration of metal, plastic, or a combination of both that holds together the computer components. It’s the place where you mount the motherboard, power supply, cooling fans, drives, and other components; its cover shields you from the oft-considerable noise a high-performance PC can make; it gives you something to mod to create a unique and individual statement about yourself. (Mod, short for modify, is covered in the last three chapters of this book.)

Meanwhile, the power supply gives life to the components in the PC. It regulates and distributes the flow of electricity that makes the processor, sound card, video card, hard drive, and other components come alive. Too often it’s considered a secondary component, if it’s considered at all, probably because most cases come with power supplies and we take them for granted. However, overloading a cheap, generic power supply can cause damage to the rest of the system, and some power supplies have greater protective capabilities than others.

Throughout this book, it’s assumed that you’re building a high-performance PC that you plan to keep up-to-date by upgrading components as the originals grow old or as new technologies emerge, and it’s also assumed that you plan to mod your case in one way or another to give it some panache that plain beige just doesn’t convey.

This chapter is from Build Your Own High Performance Gamers' Mod PC, by Chen and Durham (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0072229012). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.

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