Hardware & Technical Changing PC case from SFF

stocko1111

S
Hi all,

I have a Lenovo Small Form Factor PC which i've put a 750ti graphics card in. I'm considering upgrading for the future and all I really need for now is a better graphics card. Unfortunately, the power supply is only 240w I think so I'll need to upgrade that before anything but there's not enough room in the Small Form Factor case.

Am I able to just transfer the components over to a standard size case? Lenovo make this PC in three sizes and they're designed to be opened up and upgraded easily so is it simply a case of moving them into a larger case or is it a little more complicated than that?

Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks in advance for your replies, I've attached some system info if that helps.


System Information report written at: 12/15/16 13:46:37
System Name: DESKTOP-0RBKOG2
[System Summary]

Item Value
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.14393 Build 14393
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP-0RBKOG2
System Manufacturer LENOVO
System Model 3664C44
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU LENOVO_MT_3664
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3201 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date LENOVO F1KT60AUS, 26/12/2013
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer LENOVO
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.14393.206"
Username DESKTOP-0RBKOG2\Neil
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.96 GB
Available Physical Memory 4.75 GB
Total Virtual Memory 9.21 GB
Available Virtual Memory 5.63 GB
Page File Space 1.25 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualisation Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
 
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Para Handy

Para Handy
I was hoping someone with specific experience of Lenovo systems would have responded to you by now. In the meantime:

Most cases have mounting points for various sizes of motherboards. You need to find out what size (form-factor) your motherboard actually is and then check that your chosen case has mounting points for that size. I use full size cases and these accommodate everything from extended ATX to mini-ATX. I have never worked with the smaller ITX motherboards so if your Lenovo is one of them (probably is if it is a SFF model) then you need to check if your chosen case has mountings for that.

If you post the model number of your Lenovo then I'm sure we can dig out what MOBO is fitted.
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
OK well according to the Lenovo support site that motherboard is a size 3x2 SFF - I have no idea what that means! LOL

So I am sorry, you need to hear from someone who knows what Lenovo actually fits, I was expecting micro-ATX or an ITX or DTX - I suspect it is a micro-ATX since it has one PCIe 16 and two PCI1 slots and 2 dimm slots.

Hopefully someone will come along who actually knows, sorry.

Generally though, yes you can just move everything to a new case, connectors are standard.

(BTW - spec for that model is at https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/documents/pd024595 and manual at http://www.lenovo.com/shop/americas/content/user_guides/m72e_sff_ug_en.pdf )


EDIT - Yes it looks like micro ATX so should have no issues finding a bigger case, a midi-tower upwards will be plenty room.
 
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Tomtom

Tomtom
Yeah, I have no idea what a 3x2 SFF is either! As far as I can tell, SFF refers to the case size and the 3x2 may be something that Lenovo made up...

Lenovo's website isn't very forthcoming with the necessary details, nor can I find any elsewhere. It does look as though it could be either a Micro-ATX or a Mini-ITX. There should be the letters "ATX" or "ITX" printed somewhere on the board to help identify, though you may have to peer under cables or components to find it. Also, all mini-ITX boards are 170x170mm, but the smaller ATX boards actually get down very close to that so it might not be a reliable means of identification.

Fortunately, it doesn't matter: the four mounting holes on ITX boards do line up with ATX mounting holes, and the backplate and PCIe connectors are also located the same so an ITX board can be mounted in a micro-ATX case. I'm not aware of any changes to spec or proprietary designs that would cause incompatibility so you should be good to go, but if you want to be absolutely sure just grab a ruler and do a quick check that the measurements fit the ATX standard. And let me know if they don't so I can update my knowledge :p
 
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Gully Foyle

Gully Foyle
Measure it:

J85BX9Y.jpg


metric
 
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