What happened to HORIZONTAL PC cases?

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For a long time, it was common for monitors to sit on top of horizontal desktop computer cases. Why don't we do this much anymore?
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[@rel124c41a]

Horizontal cases make a lot of sense these days. With enormous video cards a horizontal case would mean no sag. Monitors are way lighter now so they could sit on top of the case just fine.

[@jeffrydemeyer5433]

@@Elatenl if you spend a bit more you will find cases are sturdy. the cheap ones are indeed pretty flimsy.

[@InfernosReaper]

@@Elatenl A horizontal case with a monitor on it takes up less space than a vertical case and that same monitor. Moreover, even if the cases aren't as durable(depends on the case), the monitors are also much lighter, so at the very least it evens out.

[@Cocainum60]

But will vapor chambers work on vertical mounted GPUs?

[@kaseyboles30]

I have a system set up like that using the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO case. 27" monitor sitting just fine right on top. This should make a comeback. I'd love to see a horizontal case with a built in monitor arm if done right. My main is the newer style that quite frankly with modern gpu's being 3-4 slots and prone to sag (I have to use an anti sag bracket and still worry) is rapidly loosing viability for higher end systems, especially when you add in air cooler that have to supported to hang out sideways stressing the motherboard and pulling against good contact.

[@kaseyboles30]

@@Elatenl My Cooler Master horizontal case is quite solid and neither the gpu nor the cpu heatsink are adding sideways stress to the motherboard and my 27" monitor that weighs less than 1/6th what my last (15") crt did has zero effect on the mesh top.

[@neandertalac]

I believe that graphics cards would benefit from horizontal box.

[@Durayne]

Graphics Cards but also tower coolers. The shear stress would be much lower.

[@PaladinVII]

That was our first thought as well. Perhaps we shall see a return of horizontal PC cases to support the new heavy and large GPU's.

[@tsartomato]

i layed mine horizontal no need for case i just topled my old one from q6600

[@jeffdoesstuff9134]

I've got the thermaltake cube case. It is horizontal. I find it better for my 4070ti because I don't need the stupid stand to support it.

[@markmulder996]

One issue though. I've rack mounted my server and gaming pc, so they're both horizontal. And they're both in 4u cases, and even in a 4u server case, i had to cherry-pick a 4080 that would actually fit and then still i had to get 90 degree power plugs because the regular ones take too much height. Worked out in the end, but a tower is wider and doesn't have that issue.

[@editorick]

My first job was data entry in 1984 after the company got their first computer. It was a Tandy TRS-80 Model II. They replaced it a year later when the first IBM PC came out. I moved the horizontal case to the side of my desk vertically to make room on my desk. They freaked out and called an early IT company to make sure it was okay to lay it on its side.

[@jordanjj6996]

I like this story, very interesting.

[@LordNementon]

Haha

[@serjef]

Cool story

[@SatyaPrakashGuptaFCA]

Yep, same here! Working on a cramped desk aint much fun.

[@dougdirac]

Was fine on the PC with dual full height floppy drives. I did that with an IBM XT and it crashed the 10 MB hard drive.

[@jamespilcher5287]

When they were actual desktop computers, not under-the-desk computers

[@mysticmarble94]

deskbottom computers

[@ZaHandle]

well some people moved them back up again As for myself it's still down there

[@kirkanos3968]

@@ZaHandle Yea mine is on my desk don't need it sucking up any more dust then it needs too.

[@krazownik3139]

@@kirkanos3968 That's why I made myself a special shelf under the desk

[@furimushi]

I just built a white case with pink accent and light. And put it under the table...

[@dave24-73]

Towers were traditionally introduce to offer more expansion bays, tape drive, floppy drive, cd,expansion cards at rear like video toaster, etc. it’s odd we still use this format when very few computers have bays anymore let alone an optical drive. What’s equally interesting is that most servers are in a 1U or 2U form factor to go into racks, so they are horizontal vs vertical.

[@bgezal]

Exhaust fans on a 1U or 2U are so small they have to whine loudly to do their work. Home users won't allow that. So minimum height of a desktop pc is the size of a quiet fan.

[@dave24-73]

@@bgezal agree, you would think in this day and age, they could come up with silent fans.

[@ZaHandle]

@@bgezalNoctua 40mm fans work fine

[@88porpoise]

But those racks are vertically oriented. And for much the same reason that desktop cases, horizontal real estate is generally more valuable than vertical. A vertical tower is a more efficient use of your desk space and a vertical server rack is a more efficient use of the server room / data centre.

[@pirojfmifhghek566]

@@dave24-73 If we could make perfectly silent fans, then we could make perfectly frictionless engines. Or a guitar string that makes zero sound waves when it vibrates. The physics of it is just not possible. Best we can do is change the character of the fan's noise, muffle the sound that it creates, or shut the thing into a server room where it doesn't matter how loud it is.

[@hammerth1421]

While not optimal with the usual airflow config, you can literally just take a tower PC and tip it on its motherboard side. Tada, horizontal PC!

[@trk1b28varianrhesa4]

Big brain move

[@greggmacdonald9644]

Which is what I do. Works great, and airflow isn't impeded.

[@RNGwhydoihavetoregis]

mines tipped but the motherboard is hanging upside down, on a wire rack that also holds my other AV equipment, side panel off so most dust settles to the floor.

[@zeroturn7091]

Reported.

[@Not_ameco9]

@@zeroturn7091 y?

[@stevethepocket]

You know what else changed? Computer desks got taller. Once towers became popular, desk designers realized they could raise the main shelf to a height closer to where a monitor ought to ideally sit, instead of optimal wrist height, and add a sliding undershelf for the keyboard and mouse. If you tried stacking your monitor on top of a whole 5-inch PC nowadays, it would be too high.

[@Vatharian]

I see it other way around - monitors got much bigger. It's fine if 15" CRT sits 20 cm off the desk, and it's roughly at the proper height, ergonomically. I have 38" LCD now even with VESA holder I don't have space under it for anything. I could slide in my phone under monitor, perhaps.

[@Wolfstanus]

Desk height didn't really change unless you count standing desks. The thing that changed was monitor size as you could have bigger monitors along with monitor stands getting taller to keep them at optimal eye level. Also, it wouldn't really be too tall if you had a shorter monitor stand.

[@Metal_Maxine]

I just want 5 1/2in bays back so I can have an optical drive inside.

[@InfernosReaper]

I'll go a step further, I also want hotswap hard drive bays as well.

[@jsncrso]

Plenty still have them, my new Fractal Pop Mini has a DVD drive and card reader in its two 5.25" drive bays

[@linksgard2]

​@@jsncrsoits not "plenty", its like a small handful of cases have drive bays and theyre almost always hidden behind a door or flap. i need three external bays minimum and im trapped buying either gigantic cases meant to go on the floor as theyre almost as tall as a desk is, or budget cases from a decade ago that still have stock sitting around in store warehouses.

[@ricknathburn4167]

Used cooler master stuff from like 5 years ago still have them and surprisingly robust front IO options. I got a HAF 932 (I think that's the number) that was perfect for my first build last summer. Honestly the only thing that shows the age of the case is my front IO has firewire

[@DeinonychusCowboy]

Got a USB disc drive VHB taped to the top of my tower! 😅

[@dziltener]

"Pizzabox"/horizontal PCs were common especially in offices well into the 2000s.

[@AaronOfMpls]

Libraries, too. Even going into the 2010s, all the public computers in my local library system were pizza-box Dells with LCD monitors placed on top.

[@partysodown]

We still use horizontal PCs in my office, and none of them are older than about 7 years old

[@acmenipponair]

@@partysodown You don't use NUCs yet? Many Offices I know only have the NUC attached to one of the VESA holders of the screens, because most offices don't need more computer power

[@Americanbadashh]

Still are sometimes

[@andrewschwartz22]

I think of "pizzabox" as a desktop with all drives aligned horizontally in a single row, specifically the Power Mac 6100 and its Performa equivalents. Its height allowed for only one horizontally mounted expansion card, compared to the 7100 with two rows of drives and three vertical expansion card slots. The 6100 never got a successor in the same form factor when Apple switched from NuBus to PCI.

[@Hatecrewdethrol]

Forget the orientation, where is my Turbo Button

[@Umski]

3 digit LED display FTW 😂

[@yeruschmift8422]

In case you're actually wondering, it's completely automated, CPUs nowadays constantly fine-tune their speed by complex alrorythms based on load, cooling capabilities, die quality and other parameters.

[@camarochrislt1]

Turbo button actually used to slow cpi down due older games that used cpu clock for frame gen if I understand correctly

[@Hatecrewdethrol]

@@yeruschmift8422 so you're just pretending this is better than having a big turbo button for that sweet sweet dopamine?

[@Serketry88]

There's a missing dimension in there, though: old horizontal cases aren't nearly as *deep* as current full-sized towers. Most desk setups these days have the monitor pressed up against the back wall, with the rest of the desk's depth devoted to keyboard and mouse space. Dropping a 244-305mm ATX mobo into that space pushes the keyboard forward. Of course, an ITX build would fit better, but the whole point of SFF cases is that they can fit just about anywhere

[@reappermen]

And not only that, but Coolers and GPUs have also gotten wider. If i put my tower on its side it's quite a lot higher than most of those old horizontal pcs because of that.

[@acmenipponair]

@@reappermen And one more thing: At the time of the Desk Desktop PCs, you normally didn't needed to access your connectors. So the backplate was really a backplate. All your Hardware was always connected to the computer, be it the mouse, keyboard, printer etc. You only had your drives at the front. But when USB came along, it became annoying to always have to go to the back of your computer. So a Tower was also good there, as in the beginning you could plug in an USB card into your PCI slot and there was a cable attached so that you could put one USB connector also at the front of your tower - and later they started implementing front panel USBs and audio connectors directly into the cases. In the 1980s at the front you only had your disk drives and the power button.

[@reappermen]

@@acmenipponair well, to be fair that is not much of an issue, there is no reason why the couldn't fit a connector panel to he front, sides or top of a horizontal pc

[@Serketry88]

@@reappermen I could see a blow-through case working, one built around two banks of twin 140mm fans. That sets the height and depth of the case at 140 by 280ish mm. Make it MATX/ITX to trim the width down to a manageable... 300, 325mm. The GPU would need a riser for a 'vertical' mount; some vent holes in the top cover would let it breathe, and an AIO would solve the CPU cooler height problem. Not sure where the PSU would go.

[@magnemoe1]

Excellent point, back in the days fans was the PSU fan and later an small cpu fan. Also as pointed out the screens is much larger so you can not have something thick under it anyway.

[@JeremyLeePotocki]

The problem is with GPUs getting bigger & heavier a horizontal case would cure that problem. For me I have a horizontal case (a SilverStone GD08 Grandia) for my main rig I actually prefer it now. No light, no bling, just pure performance without the unwanted power draw. I have a turntable sitting on top of it to (a Audio Technica LP3) for those times when I want to go analog.

[@Ldunk]

Dude, I have the same model. The only bling I have in it is the exhaust fans have RGB but it sits on my desk so people walking by know that it's on.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

I have the same case and love it. I also really appreciate that Silverstone sells port kits to retrofit their older cases with a front-facing USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C port for cheap, and that the case is optionally rackmountable.

[@yousuff1]

I am considering the GD11 for my HTPC

[@Ldunk]

@@yousuff1 nice case. 😁

[@stefanmisch5272]

I'm old enough to remember that the original name for these cases were "Desktops". There were "Towers" and "Desktops". Why does this video not mention this at least once?

[@fairphoneuser9009]

That's exactly what I thought! 😁

[@gorkskoal9315]

Probably what happens when-- ADHD hacks-- LTT tries to do a short format video.

[@InventorZahran]

Home theater PCs are designed to fit on a shelf and be stackable with DVD/VCR players, amplifiers, or other stereo pieces (which almost always come in horizontal cases).

[@TJ-vh2ps]

My brain: 🧠 “Why is he explaining floppy disks?” 🧐 “1984 was only… 40 years ago!” 😱 “We are truly living in the future!” 🤩 “ …when did that happen?” 🤨 “Hope we’re in a Sci-Fi Utopia timeline…” 😇 “…not a Sci-Fi Dystopia one.” 😅 “Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.” 😘

[@Wolfstanus]

Me sitting here with a Silver stone horizontal PC case and its a gaming PC. Vertical cases were popular because of the expand ability. When they started their rise you had 2 differnt graphics cards, one for 2d and one for 3d, you had a sound card, you had a midi card. A card for your printer, a card for the modem. A card for controllers, a CD drive, a 5.25 floppy drive, a diskette drive, DVD drive, CD burner etc etc. Horizontal cases were limited on space. These days horizontal cases make a lot of sense because you don't have a lot of expansion use anymore like we had in the 80s and 90s. They also eliminate the GPU sag issues. The main hampering issue is the RGB vomit crowd.

[@zeryphex]

@Wolfstanus True. Instead of expansion bays, I actually enjoy using plug-and-play with the USB-C ports or Thunderbolt ports. In the future, I would like to see wireless drives that use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi or some other wireless protocol ... to reduce wire/cord organization. A few years ago, I did buy an external Western Digital wi-fi drive. The wi-fi connectivity was not 100% perfect ... probably due to compatibility/driver issues ... but I would say it's a step in the right direction. ... but I know that hard-connecting to the PCIe bus is more preferrable, for speed.

[@Wolfstanus]

@@zeryphex The issue for me with wifi/blutooth is that its unreliable to unusable in my environment. Theres too much interference. Even wireless controllers are questionable and wireless speakers don't work half the time. I just prefer to have my drives connected and inside my PC so It doesn't get lost, I don't have to look for it. I don't need a power brick, another surge protector etc. But in the future they don't want you owning anything so drives of all kinds are going to go away. We are already heading in that direction

[@thomasafine]

Why doesn't anybody build a tower with a VESA mount in the middle of one side for a monitor, and all the front panel ports and power and headphones on a foot that protrudes forward under the monitor from the the bottom edge of the case on the same side as the VESA mount? Uses dead space behind the monitor, simplifies cabling, gets rid of the need for a monitor or desktop hub, clears up the space of the current tower. Because now that I've thought of this, I want this case but it doesn't exist.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

There are small form factor cases that attach directly to VESA mounts behind your monitor of choice. It's not suitable for high-end hardware and it's not *_quite_* what you're describing, but with a decent AMD APU and a USB DAC breakout box you're 90% of the way there and can game if you want.

[@thomasafine]

@@bartolomeothesatyr Yes I know; I'm taking about the reverse. I want the case to hold the monitor, not the other way around.

[@bradhaines3142]

​@@thomasafinethin sheet metal cant handle that, so they'd have to redesign the case to handle that

[@MahaXad]

​@@bradhaines3142 You just said what he said. Why don't they design cases with vesa mounts? Thin metal sheets can be reinforced, just look at the size of vesa wall mounts, not very bulky.

[@danwat1234]

No mention of business SFF PCs such as Dell Optiplex SFF and HP Prodesk SFF computers. Used widely in businesses and schools in which the CRT stand stands on. And weird number crunching farms.

[@InventorZahran]

"Weird number-crunching farms"... do you mean cryptocurrency mining?

[@danwat1234]

@@InventorZahran Distributed Computing BOINC and Folding farm

[@richdobbs6595]

When I worked at Dow Chemical, in the Process Modeling and Advance Control group, I got a Quadra 700 to be shared by the team. Most of us had 286 PCs as our personal machines. My boss had me hire a vendor to make a bespoke rolling desk for the machine.

[@mybsite5697]

That big red toggle on the IBM was the God of Satisfaction switches

[@zeroturn7091]

Had 2 5150XTs in the 90s, that switch always stuck with me. It’s too bad that no one will bring that back unless one were to find a donor then graft it onto a new case.

[@mikes989]

I have an PS/2 model 50, and still is

[@Hobbes4ever]

those 90s cases were way better than those flimsy fish tanks with RGB lights

[@lordsam808]

Never mind that, where are my sweet sweet 5.25" bays at nowadays? 😅

[@Mewzyc]

I have 3

[@zeroturn7091]

Blame the gaming influencers. Now fish tank cases are prioritized.

[@GSBarlev]

I'm never getting rid of my HAF932.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

My Silverstone Grandia GD08 HTPC case has two. The latest iteration even has front-facing USB 3.1 Gen 2 type C ports, and you can buy the port kit separately to retrofit older cases. It's even rackmountable with optional hardware.

[@bjorn1583]

@@bartolomeothesatyr my silverstone has 4

[@BobMotster]

Horizontal PC cases are still alive and kicking. Glancing at the one on my desk as I'm watching this video.

[@johngotcash]

what brand & model is it?

[@joshua7551]

Almost all smb computers are horizontal cases

[@saulgoodman2018]

I know. Or just turn the tower sideways. It's like that was a waste of a video.

[@GnL2004]

I have a Cooler Master HAF xB Evo.

[@hubertnnn]

They are rare and expensive, and also scummy. I have a Jonsbo G3 and hate it with my whole existence. I bought it for the huge analog volume wheel and LCD display and both are scams. The LCD can only show the Jonsbo logo and the volume control, well calling it unreliable is an understatement, every time I touch it it randomly changes the volume, it canot even gurantee that turning it right will make the volume go up.

[@crowaust]

And here I am using a 4RU rack mount case because there was no decent horizontal cases available when I last upgraded

[@skipbreakfast]

Easy solution: Put a monitor arm on your desk and have the monitor floating above your horizontal case.

[@JamesTM]

With sit-stand desks, a horizontal case would actually make a lot of sense again. Even with a monitor arm, you could tuck it under the monitor without needing to worry about it tiping over or routing all the cables up a changing distance.

[@moritz3930]

Crazy proposal: Why not simply flip the tower over for a horizontal case?

[@touma-san91]

Glass panels.

[@moritz3930]

@@touma-san91 not every case has those, chief

[@josefmazzeo6628]

Practical, but may look goofy with the front panel controls designed for a vertical tower. My IT guy where I work keeps one of the PCs like that with the side panel off exposing all the guts.

[@DarkNia64]

Mechanical disk drives might not like the sideways mount, and you'll almost certainly need a solution to prevent scratching the desk and/or case.​ Besides that, should work fine.@moritz3930

[@SaHaRaSquad]

Nowadays that would probably work again because DVD drives aren't common anymore. Only problem are the feet, power button etc

[@puzoni]

Yesterday I was looking for horizontal cases, found none in my country. Best suggestions were to find a suitable tower and lay it. Actually not a bad idea.

[@1asdfasdfasdf]

And the hard disc's at the time used stepper motors for head alignment. Over time wear patterns would form. This was not normally an issue until the user changed the cases orientation from horizontal to vertical and vice versa. When a customer would call us because they are suddenly getting CRC errors we'd ask if the computer had changed orientation. Sure enough putting it back fixed the problem.

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

Hard disks have not used stepper motors for head movement since the early 1990's at the very latest. Noting that the IBM PS/2 at launch came in desktop aka the Model 30 and 50, and tower aka the Model 60 and 80.

[@1asdfasdfasdf]

@@jonathanbuzzard1376 It's been a while. Maybe it was a worm gear? Whatever the case changing the cases orientation usually fixed the issue. When did disk platters start being used for the servo tracks?

[@ZedemMonk]

Plenty of workstations still come in a case that's designed to operate horizontally as well as vertically esp. for Point of Sale systems for cashiers and for functions on factory floors.

[@efficiencygaming3494]

The horizontal case configuration was really popular in office and school settings back in the day. I remember the computers I used in my school library in the early 2000s were set up that way. It was also the ideal setup for angry office workers who would take their rage out on the CRT monitor thinking that was the actual computer itself 😂

[@andrewscott7728]

Until those weird iMacs.

[@blturner83]

Don’t let the Quadra 700 steal the spotlight from the Mac II! The 700 case design was based off the IIci/cx which had footpads that could be moved so the case could be horizontal or vertical.

[@gorkskoal9315]

YES YES YES YES YES I had a 2ci for a while, so so computer but what you mentioned? mmm loved it.

[@Jabe_VeX]

Real ones remember the coolermaster HAF XB, it had loads of space which made it super easy to build and was horizontal, it also had loads of room (I think like 300+mm) for GPUs

[@froztkingtv]

fk yeah, I'm still using mine after all these years, thing is a beast. I also never worry about GPU sag as the graphics cards get bigger and bigger.

[@gorkskoal9315]

@@froztkingtv NICE? do both amd and nvidia GPU's fit?

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

I still use mine

[@BlueEyedVibeChecker]

Mine is horizontal; a Viglen Genie case and I love it. I love the console look, but prefer the PC experience and now I can have exactly that.

[@kaseyboles30]

Are these sold for DYI anywhere. I have a Cooler Master HAF XB EVO, but am interested in other Horizontal cases.

[@smiths7317]

School PC.

[@kaseyboles30]

@@smiths7317 Ahh so half a step down from office level. And cases only avail used, and thus likely hard to get specs for. Thanks for answering.

[@johngotcash]

@@smiths7317depending on specs, more like sleeper pc

[@smiths7317]

​@@kaseyboles30 Typically, you can obtain the specs via searching google for "RM + Model number + specs" and specs sheet comes right up, and drivers are locked behide a wall that only schools 'n' collages can access. These machines are made in the United kingdom - England, under 'RM PLC'. The 2010's RM computers typically have Intel core 2 Duo with 2 x 1024MB DDR2 755Mhz, sata disc drive and sata hard drive 250GB capacity. Schools 'n' collages lease these RM computers out and during "End Of Life" are replaced then old ones sent back to RM for waste disposal. Gotta be lucky specimen to end up on ebay 'n' saved from having internals scrapped out for precious metals. RM plc stopped making their own branded machines in 2014 and began selling Dell,Acer,Lenovo,HP.Packard Bell, office PC's.

[@melonmelon2848]

Hah, jokes on you, I put my tower horizontally and stack my LCD monitor on top, on my desk!

[@Leeki85]

I've built this year a smaller PC in Chieftec Pro Cube case. It's rather a cube, but it has motherboard in horizontal position. This is probably my favorite case I've ever used to build a PC and my first PC in the early 90's had a horizontal case. Though my main PC uses standard tower, but it is much wider than my previous builds. The best part is to have a lot of space to fit all the cables behind MB.

[@bjorn1583]

horizontal cases are desktop cases, what people mistake as desktop cases these days are called towers, always have been always will be.

[@kieran89uk]

You will only really find workstation PCs in a horizontal format.

[@scanspeak00]

And HTPCs.

[@exvils]

most test benches are in horizontal format.. (open no case around it, but with holders for MB,SSD,PSU, power/reset button)

[@littlemeg137]

My SIlverstone HTPC case begs to differ. Although, tbh, I mostly use it in a workstation role.

[@zeryphex]

I had my new gaming rig built by a builder company in Utah, a few years ago. I specifically wanted a horizontal PC case so that the graphics card could rest with gravity instead of being suspended in a vertical tower. (I know that some companies provide support sticks or support grips for graphics cards in vertical cases.) The builder company had other cases advertised on their website, but they obliged on my custom request. I just had to prove that I had a valid bank account, and I sent them a screenshot of my local bank branch manager's business card. They bought the horizontal case I wanted, and they built my PC, and they shipped it. All the empty spaces inside the case were filled with very firm foam packs ... which helped with keeping wiggling to a minimum.

[@YOEL_44]

I have a kind of horizontal case, more of a cube form factor, it's a AeroCool Xpredator Cube, it's super easy to work in it and has plenty of space for all kinds of hardware and gadgets. I'm still waiting for a more modern looking take on this design (that is not a ThermalFake), but in the mean time, this one is not going anywhere.

[@SimonBauer7]

wouldnt horizontal pcs also eliminate the gpu sag Problem?

[@itsonlycayle]

Came here just to say this

[@FlopFan69]

As would a vertical GPU mount, which many modern cases support. My current case ONLY supports vertical GPUs.

[@drew2626]

Yes, that’s probably why some case manufacturers are starting making desktop towers that are designed to be vertical or horizontal

[@Adam-jw3uz]

I was just thinking this exact thought while mucking around with an old Power Macintosh this morning. You guys are scary mind readers sometimes!

[@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket]

Now to be fair, they likely made this a week or two ago and had to do production stuff, then upload it on their schedule.

[@zombiedearth]

I truly believe there is a subconscious hive mind of thinking or communication that happens amongst all humans. Not just in person or crowds but the world over. Many things have been invented at similar times in history across the world.

[@kaidanalenko5222]

It seems again for nth time apPlE pioneered tower PC cases 🙄

[@theloniuspunk383]

refreshingly chill presentation thanks!

[@JakeDelanois]

Love this type of historical perspective on various aspects of technology. Interest lies in how design of equipment caters to the user needs over time, reflecting shifts in technology advancement.

[@Lemoncit0]

You can still just... flip your tower. I did this so that my GPU remains firm.

[@crash.override]

You can, but the now-bottom gets scuffed due to lack of feet, and the old feet are now visible & look weird. And either you don't get tempered glass, or I'd be worried about the glass breaking from long-term fatigue from the monitor's base.

[@Lemoncit0]

@@crash.override I have my monitors on a dual arm that hangs above it. Although I now remembered, this is not recommended if you have Hard drives. On my case you can remove the feet, thought every modern case had this function

[@MrPir84free]

@@crash.override You do realize you can buy stick on feet to use it that way...

[@greggmacdonald9644]

@@crash.override But a mat fixes that (which is what I use), and bc the mat is smooth on the bottom, it makes it really easy to swivel the entire case to get access to the rear ports for when I need them.

[@greggmacdonald9644]

Yup. Me too. But also it makes the front panel (actually top-panel) USB ports and power switch closer to me and a casual reach to my left, when i sit at my desk.

[@OctavioGaitan]

Hey, I miss these types of cases just as much as you. A horizontal type case saved you so much space on your desk or floor and added extra breathing room for all your internal hardware. IMO, I think computer heads just didn't find these types of cases appealing anymore and they just went out of style. Horizontal PC cases NEED to make a comeback! I want to set my computer on the table instead of on the floor because I keep involuntarily kicking my PC tower and as a result my case is banged up and the front USB ports got ruined. It's time to make horizontal computer cases cool again. Who's with me?

[@greggmacdonald9644]

If you don't have a glass side panel, nothing probably stops you from doing it.. unless your table is too small, ofc.

[@88porpoise]

@@OctavioGaitan Horizontal cases saved space when your monitor was a similar shape and size to the case. With very wide and thin monitors they would waste a ton of space.

[@Roxor128]

@@88porpoise Wasting space? The monitor is wider than the case! Just measured mine: 510mm wide, vs 440mm wide for the horizontal cases I do have. The reason I'm not using them for this machine is a lack of drive bays. They get designed for HTPC usage, and thus only have a couple of bays, because that use-case assumes you're going to be getting most content off a network. The few 5.25" bays they do have are usually behind slots for an optical drive tray to poke through, so they're not usable for anything else you might want to put in one, like a hard drive rack.

[@88porpoise]

@@Roxor128 now measure the depth

[@procrastinatingnerd]

My "Vintage" system is in a horizontal case. I found this neat all metal (including the front) horizontal atx case. I put my core2duo system in it dual booting xp and win7 on seperate drives. It works great! I did have to add a blower fan to one of the slots for extra air because it's actually a fairly powerful system, but it worked flawlessly. It is just a standard atx case on it's side...

[@andydufresne8034]

I have such nostalgia for playing Sierra games on 5.25" disks and an EGA monitor. Walking to the edge of the screen and the anticipation of entering the next screen while listening to the drive spin as it loaded. You really felt like you were advancing in the game as it asked for progressively higher disk numbers. Please insert disk 5. I still have all my old floppies and have been thinking about getting a retro pc to replay the old games if they still work.

[@robson668]

Have 2 HTPC cases (Linux game PC and NAS) + audio receiver with a OLED TV on top, it just offers better heat dissipation with components mounted this way and you can put stuff on top, you guys should try it lol.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

Silverstone Grandia GD08C FTW.

[@robson668]

@@bartolomeothesatyr Exactly, i have the Grandia GD07 HTPC since it can hold 8 HDD's and a Zalman HD160XT with a touchscreen mounted in front.

[@LinuxinaBit]

The horizontal HP prebuilt case sitting next to my desk rn: 👀

[@MadMathMike]

"BIG BOI!" 😂

[@pessie83]

The first PC I had was a horizontal one from the bran Compaq and I had it when I lived with my parents, which was 27 years ago. I often used it for high school papers and the games I played on it were the original Rise of The Triad, ROTT for short, and Terminal Velocity.

[@Mother_Mercury]

I recently purchased a batch of 20 'old stock' horizontal PC cases from the Aopen brand. Fantastic cases with very reliable (300 watt) PSUs. I have a customer who wanted some small PCs with a Blu-ray drive in them, cases that can accommodate these are almost extinct.

[@charliesretrocomputing]

Cool, that's awesome! Just an important note - I'm not sure if you're saying those cases are old but if they are, definitely don't use the power supply included with it, old power supplies will be very unsafe. Especially if they were manufactured during the GREAT CAPACITOR PLAGUE (2000s) Also 300w is not much for a modern system.

[@Mother_Mercury]

@@charliesretrocomputing The cases are from 2009 and I have unscrewed each PSU and they look fine and they also work fine. The PCs use 120 watts of power (measured from the wall socket), so 300 watts are more than sufficient. Aopen were one of the only cases that had reliable and 'free' PSUs at that time.

[@JordanJ01]

​@@Mother_Mercurywouldn't trust my data with it. PSUs are cheap, especially low power ones like you'd need. 2010 is 14 years ago....

[@Mother_Mercury]

@@JordanJ01 I still have 10 of these cases in case a power supply breaks. Luckily I could buy them cheaply. I also made it clear to the customer that I cannot guarantee anything if something goes wrong with the PSUs. He insisted on buying the PCs as is because it was cheaper. I also offered to install a Pico PSU, but he thought that was too expensive.

[@linksgard2]

​@@Mother_Mercurythe issue is the capacitors in them will be old and unsafe. sure theyll work but its like popping in a AA battery from a decade ago and just leaving it in your device because "it still holds a charge".

[@lanceevans1689]

The Quadra 700 was used as a mini tower, yes. But it was almost the same form factor as horzonal units, so it was used that way as well.

[@TomBombFR]

The trend needs to come back! 😀

[@Ldunk]

Look for home theater style cases. Silverstone makes them also. I have a GD-08 and I love it.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

Seconded, I also have and love the Silverstone Grandia GD08 HTPC case!

[@Zanthum]

0:28 Home theater PCs or off lease office PCs I've got a stack of 13 of them in my living room

[@iamnotanuggetblackhart5103]

I got my custom built computer made specifically for horizontal orientation and it works wonderfully! Its much easier to access the inside when I need to replace or work on parts and easier to put a CD or DVD in the drive. Small Form Factors especially work well for that kind of case and style.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

I'd love to see these come back. 😅 I'd also love to see optional drives come back into fashion as well.

[@zandane]

Cuz we are all dumb and decided that brackets or risers make sense to deal with a GPU that weighs 500lbs.

[@McNasty43]

Imagine how big the footprint of a horizontal desktop would need to be to fit a 4090... The card itself is an entire FOOT long. It's just not a practical form factor when you take into account the space, airflow, cooling, and power requirements of a fairly powerful desktop. Now if you had some sort of ducting or external cooler, you could drastically shrink the size of the case. But I think the PSU is still going to be your limiting factor. They're still kind of big, even for the compact ones. If you're not using a GPU or are using a small form factor GPU, there are still OEM PC makers (mainly HP, Dell, and Lenovo) that have old-school horizontal PCs, mainly targeted for business/enterprise customers.

[@zandane]

​@@McNasty43 no one said it had to go on the desk

[@McNasty43]

@@zandane That's still a lot of real estate taken up on the floor. I think in most cases, horizontal spaces are at a premium, whereas vertical space is plentiful Think about how big cities are built. They run out of horizontal space, so they build upwards. Shelving maximizes the potential of a small horizontal space by going vertical. My game console, PC, and even my work laptop fit on the same desk because they sit vertically. Horizontal cases are just not an efficient use of space, however effective they would be for supporting huge components.

[@sharkou7485]

all pc cases are omnidirectional, it doesn't matter what side you lay your case on, as long as you're not snapping cables, you're fine

[@ilenastarbreeze4978]

Was jusy gonna say well dvd drives arnt and then realised im the weord one that i still have my dvd drive in

[@AaronOfMpls]

@@ilenastarbreeze4978 Yah, my own internal drive tray wouldn't work too well on its side. I built my latest PC in 2020, but used a tower case with a front drive bay. I wanted an internal drive for my CDs and old CD-ROM games, and the occasional DVD. Though some optical drive trays (especially older ones) have little snap-out tabs to keep the disc from falling out when used sideways. And laptop-style optical drives have that center hub you snap the disc onto, so they'll work in _any_ orientation.

[@GySgt_USMC_Ret.]

Thermaltake Core X9 case is a horizontal motherboard mount. Huge case. Love mine.

[@geekboy6655]

2:25 This is not so hard to believe if we know that the design of the PS2 case was bought back from Atari. It was originally designed for the non-released Falcon Microbox computer in the early 90s.

[@Gsquarly]

Give me horizontal pc

[@alexsimmons4093]

I’m only 20 and I remember this shit

[@RippahRooJizah]

No surprise. The last time I had a horizontal PC was only like, what, 3-4 years ago I think.

[@Zenkai76]

I was trying to build some small computers with a mini-itx for work stations and I was surprised that cases that were small required a special power supply (sold seperately) and I would see lots of comments of those power supplies failing so I ended up building hybrids, they were cubed shaped cases, not as compact as I wanted but it did the job.

[@silversonic1]

I feel like too many people don't remember the small form factor market exists. Also server rack mount cases for PCs. I have one for my NAS. I don't have a rack, though.

[@HXRDWIREDGaming]

Horizontal cases are making a comeback. I'd love to have one mounted to the underside of the desk.

[@_goon]

13 views fell off give me money

[@DMONEYlNDUSTRY]

😂

[@vladislavkaras491]

Would be awesome to see horizontal cases those days! Also, what happens really in you just put your vertical case horizontally? I guess airflow and possible esthetics. Thanks for the video!

[@MultiMidden]

I was fiddling around with my home office setup in particular getting the monitor height just right and it dawned on me that an old school desktop case (horizontal, vertical was always a tower) would be perfect. Real struggle to find one now.

[@branthopolis]

Still rocking my Coolermaster HAF XB thats had 3 systems in it over the years.. Great cooling. Plenty of drive bays. Plenty of space. Great PC case except for the big footprint. I'll probably go with a smaller horizontal HTPC for my next build.

[@rkadowns]

The Quadra 610 and MAC LC2 were two of my favorite designs.

[@derhard706]

I had a LCII with a whopping 12 MB RAM, from which 10 MB could be used. This thing was a beast, the pizza box of doom!

[@SpinDlsc]

I actually have my tower sitting on its side atop an 18-inch-high table under my desk. Still saves me space on both, the desk and the floor, since my desk is a corner desk, so the table doesn't get in the way. Plus, I can store things under it.

[@scaredyfish]

Just before flat screens totally took over, I had a beast of a CRT TV - 40” (or somewhere around there, I can’t remember). The weight is no joke at those larger sizes. Funny thing is, my first flat screen was plasma, which was also super heavy. Both two-man lifts. LCDs make everything a whole lot easier.

[@sleora]

Since I love sleeper PCs, my main pc is a modern hardware inside an horizontal case (did even needed to modify the case, it was ATX from the get go) and a got ol' CRT monitor on top of it.

[@SantoAtheos]

I had to modify an older Corsair N400 microATX to make it laydown into a space once meant for a old CRT TV. It already was glassless with a mesh spot for a 120mm fan right 'above' my GPU. No media drives needed meant I could ziptie a 92mm fan along with the 2x 120mm fans across the front mesh panel and still get the panel to close no problem.

[@DanielBrotherston]

Another thing is a lot of horizontal PCs in the 90s were business PCs, they were designed to take up less desk space in a row of desks in a computer lab or work room. But now, business PCs that aim take up less space are simply tiny so in some ways I think the tiny HP/Dell/whatever micropcs are the real legacy of horizontal cases.

[@MikeWood]

That Compaq Portable at 1:30 with the the 5 1/4 drives. I had one of those. But I don't recall the bizarre right side num pad keys looking like vertical switches.

[@cutterboard4144]

I have an old CoolerMaster HAF XB case, which i use in my gaming PC build. It has seen Ryzen 1600, 3600, and now 7800X3D alongside with a 4080S (which just so fits, lengthwise). No Graphics Card sagging, and no overly bent 12VHPWR cable, since the case has enough room for a nice wide radius bend. The case is standing nowhere iwant to add. Its a Big box which i dont want on my desk nor on my floor (due to cleaning robots)... Its dangling below my desk, and held where with 3D printed parts.

[@swiftrealm]

Fractal Ridge is a great example of a horizontal case, but you can also place it vertically to save space as it's thin. It also looks pretty nice.

[@Spiz103]

My current rig is in a giant Silverstone HTPC case, it just looks nice. I don't bother with RGB or any of that, it just sits there in the corner and does its thing.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

I'm a big fan of the Silverstone Grandia cases, I've got a GD08 myself.

[@ALurkingGrue]

I remember dealing with horizontal sun workstations where the monitor I swear was so heavy they seemed lined with lead. The computer was as just as heavy and crazy reinforced and a pain to move.

[@powerupminion]

I use a "Cooler Master HAF EVO ATX Desktop Case" because it's very easy to keep components cool in it and it offers a lot of space. I like my choice and it serves me well.

[@samhobday1274]

tons of business PCs are still horizontal, though usually only in smaller cases. The Small Form Factor and the Micro PC formats both lie horizontal by default (though you can usually mount them vertically as well). Those generally won't have discrete graphics cards, and in some of the Micro PCs, you actually have laptop chipsets and CPUs to make it fit in such a small form factor.

[@daydream605]

My pc is mounted horizontally under my desk, ports are still accessible and cables run under desk into monitor. Fairly clean setup. Edit: originally I done it because my AMD 5900x was hitting 92c vertically, but when the pc was horizontal temps dropped dramatically. I'm assuming due to the weight of my air cooler.

[@sods2731]

The funny thing is, tower computer cases could just be turned on their side and be made "horizontal" cases. As long as you're not turning it while it's powered on there shouldn't be any issues, plus the side panel where all the wires are routed is usually completely closed off with no ventilation and could even improve airflow if placed horizontally as the bottom of the case could get air more easily, assuming the bottom is vented as well.

[@bgezal]

I did the opposite and turned my horizontal case into a tower, when that became trendy.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It depends on the model, I had a DEC Multia that would not tolerate that at all. But, it was a relatively small unit running a 64bit processor and had very little room for circulation.

[@hubertnnn]

Me having 2 horizontal PCs (one for gaming and one for work) with monitors standing on both.

[@sm5574]

My experience was that towers did not become ubiquitous until floppy drives became truly obsolete -- so, very late '90s to early 2000s.

[@dubious6718]

I wondered that too when I was looking for a new PC case and couldn't find anything big enough, so I bought a big tower and put it in the adjacent room as there is no place on the floor for a tower case in this room.

[@rachelrainbowphoenix]

My college computer labs used horizontal cases. I imagine bc having a the monitor on top of the case reduces the overall footprint per station and allows for more stations in a given space.

[@ShukenFlash]

My Silverstone case is both, it can flip between horizontal and vertical. And yes, I have used it as a monitor stand once, haha. Before I got a taller stand for the new desk.

[@fattomandeibu]

Talking of the monitor weight, the last CRT I used as my main living room TV was a 32" widescreen and weighed in at around 17 stone. That's well in excess of 200lbs(14lbw = 1st) or 100kgs. Taking it to recycling when it finally broke down in 2017 was a job and a half. My first computers were the old "wedge" style with built-in keyboard. The second one(a Commodore A1200) also had built in 3.5" floppy and an IDE adaptor, though no HD at stock. Fitting the HD was a proper pain, first you had to take all the screws out the bottom, turn it back over and take off the top cover, then unscrew the keyboard(12 tiny bloody screws!) and finally you'd get access to the single 2.5" hard disk bay and IDE socket.

[@finkelmana]

Unless you were around back in the day, you wouldnt know. Many old computers were built like tanks. The entire case was steel and often reinforced with more steel. Only trim pieces were plastic, if there were any at all. You could pick up a computer and drop it - you would be more concerned about the the floor than the computer. Also, many people dont realize many modern vertical cases are actually horizontal as well. The have rubberized feet on the side, which people dont even realize are there.

[@LabCat]

As an example, the Apple /// computer was known for its ICs working their way out of their sockets, supposedly because the computer ran too hot. (Jobs strikes again!) Apple is rumored to have told users to "pick the computer up off the desk and drop it" to reseat the chips.

[@greggmacdonald9644]

@@LabCat Yep. Mind you, that was a pretty small case by today's standards.

[@cardsfanbj]

When I was in school (within the last decade), the computer lab had Dell Optiplexes and they were put in that config, with the PC on the desk and the LCD monitor on top of it.

[@offspringfan89]

I place a tall box under my monitor to raise it and improve ergonomics, reducing neck strain, and now I'm seriously considering a compact horizontal case to place the monitor on top and also free up space on my desk.

[@folgore1]

My first PC, a 1991 Gateway 2000 386SX, had a horizontal case and I, of course, mounted the monitor on top of it. I upgraded it numerous times before getting my first tower in 1996. Towers or laptops ever since....

[@phoenixr6811]

The Horizontal case took up a lot space on the desk. I welcomed the tower cases when they first came out 😊

[@superslash7254]

The point of towers was offering large numbers of vertically stacked (but horizontally operating) storage media drives while using the least space in your house. Now that optical drives have also all but disappeared the main reason is still overall use of floor and desk space.

[@9684yami]

I use a SGPC K66 Air case for the PC at my office. Horizontal on the desk, chuck a monitor on top of it. Saves a lot of space

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

I still use horizontal cases for my builds. Desktop - Cooler Master HAF XB Living room - Silverstone Grandia Workstation - 19"