How to Build Your Own PC - Save A Buck And Learn A Lot  9  Chapter 2: Component Overview       9  Case and Power Supply

AT and ATX Cases and Power Supplies 1 Matching Standoffs and Screws to Mainboard Holes

If you disassemble an existing system, you might want to make yourself a drawing showing how things were connected, so you’ll be able to reconnect them exactly the same way.

Many builders purchase a new notebook and they keep a diary of their build, recording the steps they take, the components used, and the settings. This helps knowing what was done to the PC and the components and how things were connected. For example, how is the jumper set on your hard drive?

One side of your case will contain an inner panel to which you’ll attach the mainboard with standoffs and a couple of screws (see Figure 12). The panel is predrilled and the drilling patterns for an ATX and an AT mainboard differ.

The standoffs and screws will come with the case. The drilling patterns for an ATX case are designed to match up with any ATX mainboard. That’s the theory, anyway.

AT and ATX Cases and Power Supplies 1 Matching Standoffs and Screws to Mainboard Holes