Beginnger Question Re. Case & PSU

Stever49 · 2 Sep 2013 at 12:48

Edit: Wow, epic fail on the title. No idea where "Beginnger" came from! Obviously I meant beginner!

Ok, so this is almost certainly a very simple/basic question, but does the physical size of PSUs vary? I'm doing my first build and after being extremely disappointed with the case I bought originally (as mentioned in another thread) I'm buying a new one, with a separate PSU (the first one had one supplied). Having never bought a separate case & PSU before I'm not sure if PSU's vary like motherboards, graphics cards, etc. do. It seems fairly "one size fits all" but want to check first!

Linkex · 2 Sep 2013 at 13:00

They vary by form factor. Standard is ATX and will fit most "standard" cases, but there are various mini-atx formats as well.

If you are getting a bog standard tower type case, then pretty much any bog standard PSU will fit. If you are getting something specialised, let us know what.

Bart_Hunt · 2 Sep 2013 at 14:22

It is best to go to case manufacturer's website and check the specifications. They usually write what's max size PSU and GPU you can put in the case, also what's CPU cooler max clearance etc.
I'd check that with all those pieces or you may have an unpleasant surprise like one of my friends had.
He bought a basic case once, without modular HDD cage and there wasn't enough space for his SLI - he had to do some modding (removed the HDD cage and put it back vertically).
So best to check all the details.

Good luck

Stever49 · 2 Sep 2013 at 15:38

Thanks for the replies

I'm looking at micro-atx cases, so I'm assuming I need a smaller psu then

I shall have a wee look around and see what if I can work out what fits

Thanks again for the help, it's always appreciated!

Doomedspeed · 2 Sep 2013 at 15:42

Stever49 said:
Thanks for the replies

I'm looking at micro-atx cases, so I'm assuming I need a smaller psu then I shall have a wee look around and see what if I can work out what fits

Thanks again for the help, it's always appreciated!

a lot (if not all) of mATX cases accept standard ATX PSU's...

It should say on the product page..

The only normal limitation is length, 140mm-160mm seems to be a limit on some cases..