5 ms·

It is somewhat wild to me that PC towers are still a thing. So many other tech products have had significant form factor reductions in the past ~40 years yet ga

It is somewhat wild to me that PC towers are still a thing. So many other tech products have had significant form factor reductions in the past ~40 years yet gaming PCs have largely remained unchanged. (I understand we've had massive increases in computing capabilities, especially around 3D graphics and the power and cooling required for them.)

kube-system 4y ago
Don’t jinx it! Really, it’s probably PCI slot form factor graphics cards that is keeping it alive.
BeefWellington 4y ago
PCs have had significant form factor reductions though. From smaller form factors like mATX to straight up embedded SBCs like the NUC to even smaller lighter-power systems like the Raspberry Pi. Mid-towers have survived for the same reason cars still leave some open space under the hood in their designs: There are incredibly important practical benefits in being able to easily work in a space.
- walrus01 4y ago
  In addition to being able to work in a space, also being able to deal with a wide array/vendor choice of possible thermal solutions, economically, to deal with up to 200W TDP CPUs and high wattage GPUs in a relatively compact enclosure. I wouldn't want to go smaller than mid-tower ATX case if doing something like a really powerful single socket air cooled CPU and a serious gaming video card.
Latty 4y ago
It's only remained unchanged if you haven't decided to downsize: I've been building all mini-ITX machines for a while now. My main PC is in a DanCase A4-SFX, which is a 7.2L case. Even my NAS is mini-ITX. That's all standard parts. You can go even smaller if you are willing to sacrifice standard parts and go for a NUC or whatever.
ezconnect 4y ago
We don't have much choice, high performance video card just big and they need a good cooling solution. It will probably take another ten years to reduce power consumption and we would get a small reduction is size and cooling requirements.
pram 4y ago
The cases made today are 100x better than even stuff from the late 00s. Better cable management, better air flow, better aesthetics. I think being able to ditch 5.25 drive bays has been a major positive change. Also not ripping your hand open on random sharp metal, always nice.
- hulitu 4y ago
  Worse EMC.
- BirAdam 4y ago
  I’d say it depends upon the era. Some older cases are amazing, and other less so. If we’re talking specifically about mid-90s, super cheap, beige towers… other than my nostalgia; yes, they are complete garbage.
- dTal 4y ago
  I hate that modern cases don't have 5.25 drive bays. Some of us like having optical drives.
pvg 4y ago
yet gaming PCs have largely remained unchanged. I don't think this is really true, lots of smaller form factor devices are now used for gaming. Gaming laptops have been around for a decade+, gaming NUCs started popping up 4-5 years ago, the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming PC came out this year. The tower is still around but 'gaming PC' has diversified a great deal.
prvc 4y ago
A better question is why would they change?
Ekaros 4y ago
I would argue that they are sort of local optima. Box is a nice shape for anything and then you want modularity for space and then the fact it is air cooled. We could pack them more tightly, but that just make life and many things harder.
rejectfinite 4y ago
Smaller case = smaller fans = louder fans Having a mid tower case I can only hear my PC when it really ramps up. My work laptop fan is blasting most of the time. I would rather work on a tower/desktop PC. Usually has better CPU, GPU, RAM, Storage and much quieter.
LegitShady 4y ago
There are a bunch of "experimental" and open case sort of builds for people interested in something not quite standard. I'm not sure they have any advantage over the standard case. When it first came out I was a big fan of the look of the inwin d-frame, but looking at it today I'm not sure its as fit for purpose as a $100 off the shelf box from corsair or whatever.

kube-system 4y ago

Don’t jinx it! Really, it’s probably PCI slot form factor graphics cards that is keeping it alive.

BeefWellington 4y ago

PCs have had significant form factor reductions though. From smaller form factors like mATX to straight up embedded SBCs like the NUC to even smaller lighter-power systems like the Raspberry Pi. Mid-towers have survived for the same reason cars still leave some open space under the hood in their designs: There are incredibly important practical benefits in being able to easily work in a space.

walrus01 4y ago
In addition to being able to work in a space, also being able to deal with a wide array/vendor choice of possible thermal solutions, economically, to deal with up to 200W TDP CPUs and high wattage GPUs in a relatively compact enclosure. I wouldn't want to go smaller than mid-tower ATX case if doing something like a really powerful single socket air cooled CPU and a serious gaming video card.

Latty 4y ago

It's only remained unchanged if you haven't decided to downsize: I've been building all mini-ITX machines for a while now. My main PC is in a DanCase A4-SFX, which is a 7.2L case. Even my NAS is mini-ITX. That's all standard parts. You can go even smaller if you are willing to sacrifice standard parts and go for a NUC or whatever.

ezconnect 4y ago

We don't have much choice, high performance video card just big and they need a good cooling solution. It will probably take another ten years to reduce power consumption and we would get a small reduction is size and cooling requirements.

pram 4y ago

The cases made today are 100x better than even stuff from the late 00s. Better cable management, better air flow, better aesthetics. I think being able to ditch 5.25 drive bays has been a major positive change. Also not ripping your hand open on random sharp metal, always nice.

hulitu 4y ago
Worse EMC.
BirAdam 4y ago
I’d say it depends upon the era. Some older cases are amazing, and other less so. If we’re talking specifically about mid-90s, super cheap, beige towers… other than my nostalgia; yes, they are complete garbage.
dTal 4y ago
I hate that modern cases don't have 5.25 drive bays. Some of us like having optical drives.

pvg 4y ago

yet gaming PCs have largely remained unchanged. I don't think this is really true, lots of smaller form factor devices are now used for gaming. Gaming laptops have been around for a decade+, gaming NUCs started popping up 4-5 years ago, the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming PC came out this year. The tower is still around but 'gaming PC' has diversified a great deal.

prvc 4y ago

A better question is why would they change?

Ekaros 4y ago

I would argue that they are sort of local optima. Box is a nice shape for anything and then you want modularity for space and then the fact it is air cooled. We could pack them more tightly, but that just make life and many things harder.

rejectfinite 4y ago

Smaller case = smaller fans = louder fans Having a mid tower case I can only hear my PC when it really ramps up. My work laptop fan is blasting most of the time. I would rather work on a tower/desktop PC. Usually has better CPU, GPU, RAM, Storage and much quieter.

LegitShady 4y ago

There are a bunch of "experimental" and open case sort of builds for people interested in something not quite standard. I'm not sure they have any advantage over the standard case. When it first came out I was a big fan of the look of the inwin d-frame, but looking at it today I'm not sure its as fit for purpose as a $100 off the shelf box from corsair or whatever.