On 19 Feb 98 at 8:20, John Chin wrote:

> The ATX on-board ports need cutouts in the back of your AT tower
> case (you should look on the INTEL.COM website to get the ATX
> form factor info and CHECK). The panel with the backet openings,
> keyboard cutout, etc. , might be replaceable (though, I don't see any
> reason why Gateway would sell you one), or reconfigurable
> (look for punchouts) as later model cases seem to have.
>
> There also may be wiring kits to allow you to run the ATX port
> connectors to the actual punchouts in your case. Probably depends
> on the ATX board you buy.
>
> If you cannot get a new panel, rewire or reconfigure the back panel,
> you will have to (if you are really serious about keeping the
> case) take a DREMEL high-speed motorized rotary cutting tool
> and cut out your new port openings with a metal cutting wheel.
> Alternatively, you can find another backing panel with the
> openings in it (from another case manufacturer) and adapt
> it to your case (you'll have to make cuts, anyway, and bolt it in).

  ATX offers some very nice features, but unfortunately calling it a
"standard" is a bit misleading.  There are at least three "major"
variant port layouts, and a dozen or more sub-varieties.  Some ATX
cases come with a couple of interchangable inserts (often the big
three); others come with a catalog from which you order the one that
fits your motherboard.
  So I would buy ATX if you go the "buy a bare-bones system and
transfer peripherals from the old" route, but since the power
connector is different, too, installing an ATX board in an AT case is
likely to be challenging -- and buying ATX case and motherboard
separately can be, too.  [Odds are pretty good that a name-brand ATX
motherboard will fit one of the "big three" cutout panels.]

David G