Utilizing mother board headers with a limited case

[cainy393]

So I bought a pretty cheap case with my build and as such it's a little bit limited. It only has 2 USB 2.0 ports and couple 3.5 mm jacks in terms of I/O. I was wondering, is there a way I could utilize other things that my motherboard supports without buying a new case?

For example I have a usb 3 header on my mother board and it would be nice to have a port round the front to make them easily accessible. Are there any products available that make this easy? I was thinking along the lines of, I have a bunch of empty drive bays etc with pop out panels on the front that could be used. If there aren't any products to suit my needs available, are there any DIY solutions I might be able to do? I'm relatively good with a soldering iron and such and can probably whip something up.

Another feature my mother board supports is optical audio output(S/PDIF) but I believe it requires an additional little bracket which I've seen on eBay for around £10 to make it accessible.

FYI I have a GA-Z77-DS3H motherboard and a Cooler Master elite 372 midi tower case.

 

[Eximo]

All kinds of things here. There are rear I/O bracket headers you can buy. Then you can unscrew them from the brackets and make your own ports however you see fit.

Also plenty of different 5 1/4 bay options out there. Just need to start shopping around.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186177&cm_re=usb_3_0_header-_-12-186-177-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186176&cm_re=usb_3_0_header-_-12-186-176-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423076&cm_re=usb_3_0_header-_-12-423-076-_-Product

I once used a spare COM/DB9 punchout for a firewire header as an example.

 

[cainy393]

All kinds of things here. There are rear I/O bracket headers you can buy. Then you can unscrew them from the brackets and make your own ports however you see fit.

Also plenty of different 5 1/4 bay options out there. Just need to start shopping around.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186177&cm_re=usb_3_0_header-_-12-186-177-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186176&cm_re=usb_3_0_header-_-12-186-176-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423076&cm_re=usb_3_0_header-_-12-423-076-_-Product

I once used a spare COM/DB9 punchout for a firewire header as an example.

This was a great place to start for me, thanks very much! A 5.25" drive solution was what i was thinking of but i was struggling to find anything. That second link looks promising, could fit that into the smaller drive bay. To build upon this, do you know of anyway to do similar with S/PDIF out? Or even somehow incorporate them into the same drive bay...? I'm probably just making stuff up now but it'd be a nice idea.

 

[Eximo]

All of these things pretty much exist, just a matter of finding them. 3.5 inch bays are usually OEM from the case manufacturer, but I imagine they are also available separately. If there is even a hint of a market for it, someone will contract China to manufacture it.

Not sure on the S/PDIF You can look up audio bays for sound cards, but those are usually a pricey investment, since you usually need a sound card to run them. Not sure if any company makes bays for integrated audio, but maybe.

Even if you can't locate one, get the bracket, take it off. Drill new holes into that practically empty USB 3.0 5 1/4 bay, or simply make your own using one of your case panels.