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The form factor determines, first of all, the internal volume of the case (as a result, the motherboard used for it, see "Type of motherboard"), as well as installation features. To date, PC cases are available in the following main form factors:

— Full Tower. The tower case is one of the largest form factors for PCs today: 15-20 cm wide, 50-60 cm high, with up to 10 externally accessible bays. Most often in this form factor running advanced high performance PCs.

— Ultra Tower. Further development and expansion of Full Tower cases (see above), offering even more space for hardware: the width of such a case is about 25 cm, the height can reach 70 cm, which allows you to install powerful configurations inside and provides enough free space for effective cooling .

— Midi Tower. A representative of the tower family (tower cases) of medium size — about 45 cm in height with a width of 15-20 cm, with the number of external bays from 2 to 4. Most popular for middle-class home PCs.

— Mini Tower. The most compact "vertical" case type, with a width of 15-20 cm, has a height of about 35 cm and (usually) less than 2 compartments with external access. It is mainly used for assembling office PCs that do not require high performance.

— Desktop. Enclosures...designed for installation directly on the desktop. They often have the possibility of horizontal installation — in such a way that a monitor can be placed on top of the case — although there are also models that are installed strictly vertically. The size of such cases can be almost anything — from miniature solutions for thin mini ITX motherboards to large-sized cases for E-ATX (see "Motherboard type"). However, most "desktops" are relatively small.

— Cube Case. Cases having a cubic or close to it shape. They can have different sizes and are intended for different types of motherboards, this point in each case should be clarified separately. Anyway, such cases have a rather original appearance, different from traditional "towers" and "desktops".

— Dual Tower. Quite a rare option — cases, in size and proportions resembling two "towers", made up side by side. Dual Tower solutions are large in size and are intended mainly for powerful high-performance PCs (in particular, top gaming stations).

Note that there are models that allow both vertical and horizontal installation and can, in fact, turn from a "tower" to a "desktop" and vice versa. For such cases, the form factor is indicated by the form factor named in the manufacturer's documentation, or by the main installation method described there.

The type of motherboard for which the design is designed. This parameter is indicated by the form factor of the "motherboard", under which the case is designed. The options might be:

— ATX. One of the most common types of motherboards today, the standard ATX size is 30.5x24.4 cm. It is used in both home and middle-class office PCs.

— XL-ATX. The general name for several standards of motherboards, united, as the name implies, by rather large sizes and corresponding equipment. Specific values for these dimensions can vary from 324 to 345 mm long and 244 to 264 mm wide, depending on the manufacturer and model. Accordingly, when choosing such a case, it is worthwhile to separately clarify its compatibility with a specific motherboard.

— E-ATX(Extended ATX). The largest type of motherboards, under which modern cases are made, has dimensions of 30.5x33 cm. It is usually used in high-performance systems that require numerous expansion slots.

— micro-ATX (m-ATX). The compact version of the ATX board has dimensions of 24.4x24.4 cm. The main scope of such boards is office systems that do not require high performance.

— mini-ITX. One of the further reductions in the form factor of motherboards after m-ATX assumes a board size of about 17x17 cm and one...(most often) expansion slot. Also designed for compact systems that do not differ in performance.

— Thin mini-ITX. A modification of the mini-ITX described above, designed to reduce the thickness of the case (up to 25 mm), and the RAM sticks do not protrude upwards and lie on the "motherboard" parallel to the board itself (for more details, see "Form factor"). Like most compact designs, thin mini-ITX boards do not have high processing power.

Note that most cases allow the installation of smaller motherboards — for example, many E-ATX cases can be used with ATX motherboards. However, specific compatibility anyway should be clarified separately.

The maximum length of a graphics card that can be installed in this case.

Modern mid-range and top-end video cards with high performance often differ in considerable length, which is why such a card can not fit into any case. So before collecting components, it is worth evaluating the length of the proposed graphics card and choosing a case in which it is guaranteed to fit. This forethought is useful anyway, but it's especially true if you're building a system that requires a powerful graphics adapter, such as a high-end gaming PC or 3D design workstation.

The highest cooler height allowed for this case.

In this case, we mean a cooler used to cool the processor — such a component is found in the vast majority of modern PCs. Height is measured relative to the motherboard.

The type of illumination provided in the body design.

The backlight plays mainly a decorative role, it gives the computer an original appearance, which is appreciated by fans of external tuning. Lighting can be mounted separately, but it is easier to purchase a case where it was originally provided. The types of illumination can be as follows:

— Illuminated fan. One or more coolers are illuminated, facing the side or top surface of the case.

— Cases with backlight. Separate parts of the body are illuminated, usually from the inside, in such a way that the illumination can be seen through a transparent window / windows or a lattice surface. Sometimes external lighting can be provided.

There are cases in which both types of illumination are provided simultaneously. And for office needs , cases without backlight are suitable.

The location of the power supply (or seat for the power supply) in the case.

The traditional option is the top location of the PSU, this is a familiar and familiar option for many. However, heated air from other system components accumulates in the top of the case, reducing cooling efficiency. Cases with a lower location of the PSU are deprived of this drawback, however, a lot of dust and other contaminants get into them if the system unit is installed on the floor. However, this difference becomes critical only when using high-performance systems with appropriate heat dissipation; for an ordinary household PC, the location of the power supply unit as a whole is not important.

Also note that in miniature cases like mini-Tower (see "Form factor"), the PSU installed on top can overlap part of the motherboard, which further worsens the cooling efficiency and makes it difficult to install large CPU coolers; however, it all depends on the layout of a particular case.

The number of internal 3.5" form factor bays provided in the design of the case. Such bays, in accordance with the name, are intended for internal components, mainly hard drives and some SSD modules; to access them, the case must be disassembled.

Theoretically, the number of bays corresponds to the maximum number of drives that can be installed in the chassis. However, in fact, the best option is to install drives through a single slot to ensure efficient cooling. Accordingly, it is best to select a case in such a way that the number of internal 3.5" bays is twice the expected number of hard drives.

The number of internal 2.5" bays provided in the case design.

Such bays are mainly used for installing internal hard drives and SSD modules; The 2.5" form factor was originally created as "laptop" form factor, but recently it has been increasingly used in components for full-size PCs. At the same time, when evaluating the number of these bays, note that drives are recommended to be installed through a slot; so in Ideally, the number of bays should be twice the planned number of drives.

Also note that some cases use combined bays: initially they have a size of 3.5", but if desired, they can be converted to 2.5". These bays count towards both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch slots. In fact, this means that the total number of available slots is not always equal to the sum of the number of both. For example, a case with 10 3.5" bays and 6 2.5" bays can have 4 combined bays, and the total number of slots in this case will not be 16, but only 12.

The number of slots for expansion cards located on the rear panel of the case.

The expansion card itself (graphics card, sound card, TV tuner, etc.) is installed in a slot on the motherboard, and an external panel of such a card with inputs and outputs is attached to the hole on the back of the case. The more holes are provided in the case, the more expansion cards can be installed in it. Note that some boards can occupy two or even three holes at once; this is especially common in powerful video cards. On the other hand, you have to pay attention to the number of holes mainly if you are building a powerful high-performance system. For an ordinary household PC, in most cases, one opening is enough for a graphics card; and in many configurations, the openings on the rear panel are not used at all.