how much would it take to fit a full ATX board into a mATX tower case? i'm thinking if i moved the PSU up to the cd drive cage, i could fit one in. i'm looking at this one (asus tm211). if anybody knows what the interior layout is, that would be a huge help.
Found some internal pics in this review. I'd say that it'd be more trouble than it's worth. Besides having to fabricate an entirely new backpanel, fitting the power supply into the CD bays might not be possible unless you use a non ATX PSU. Even then, you'd probably have to ruin the aesthetic of the front panel in order to provide cooling for the power supply, because computers that turn off every 5 minutes due to overheating suck.
I would say go for it, sure it's a lot off trouble but it would be very cool if you pull it off. Indead the psu doesnt fit a standard bay but that's nothing a can't help.
Well, if you moved the powersupply to where the HDDs are, and put it sideways, it might fit. Then the problem would be, could you get an HDD there, but it would seem there is enough space. But if you can go somewhere to see if they would fit at all, then I think with little dremel action, imagination and metal/plexi work you could get it to work.
You would need to completely remake the rear panel, you may be able to pull one for a standard atx case and mod it to fit. If you fit the PSU on its side in the bottom 3.5" bays you could still fit 1 hard drive in the 5.25" bays at the top. Not sure about an optical drive by the looks its it an optical drive will be too long to fit along side the motherboard. Cooling for the psu is a hard one, you may need to make some sort of custom ducted to pull cool air from the top or the base unless you wanna butcher the front panel.
i measured my power supply, it will perfectly fit into two 5.25 bays. i can cut a hole in the top of the case and use the 120mm fan on my psu to exhaust directly out the top. the computer will not have an optical drive. i'm not too worried about my psu's temps, it is currently the coolest part of my computer, and that's after i pulled the fans out of it. back panel's gonna be a pain, but i think i'm gonna try it. i guess that means my big summer project is officially cancelled.
if you put the fan pointing out the top, you need a filter on the hole, not just a grill. if anything gets dropped in there that is remotely conductive, it will fry. i love the clean look of that case, though!
