Frequent Ask Question

Motherboard Related

1. Can my ATX motherboard fit into your ET series cases?
2. I still want to keep my current motherboard, I am also consider change my motherboard to ATX motherboard in the future (the trend). What do I do?
3. Do your cases support Pentium 4 motherboards? Can I upgrade my case for Pentium 4?

Power Supply Related

1. Are your Power supplies AMD Athlon compatible?
2. How do I know what kind of power supply will fit my motherboard?
3. Is your power supply 2.03 compliant, what's the brand and spec.?
4. How come my power supply doesn’t give me any output? How do I know if it is good or bad?
5. Why should I pay more for a 420W power supply instead of a 300W power? What's the extra I get?
6. Can I install a 2nd independent ATX power supply in ET7890A/ET7896A computer case?
7. Can you explain the "Build-in quad protection" for your dual fan power supply?

Power button and Reset button Related

1. I suspect my power button does not work. What do I do?
2. It is difficult to press the RESET button. What is wrong with it?

Detective switch Related

1. I noticed there is a detective switch on my case. How do I connect the wires?

Speaker Related

1. How do I connect the speaker wire?
2. There is no speaker pins on my motherboard. Why?

LED Related

1. The power LED got one green and one orange wire. My motherboard has 3 pins for power LED. What should I do?
2. There are so many LED wires. How do I make sure I connect them correctly?
3. There is a yellow LED for W8500 and W8600. What is that for?

Fan Related

1. What  is the difference between 3-pin motherboard connector and 4-pin power supply connector?
2. How many fans are included with the case, and how many more can be added, Where are the positioned?

Caster Related

1. There are two different types of casters. What's the difference?

Case

1. Is your 7890a case same case as SUPERMICRO SC750A case?
2. How many drive rails come with my new case?
3. What's the difference between ET3890A and ET3891A?
4. What's the difference between ET7890A and ET7896A?
5. What's the difference between ET6890A and ET6896A?
6. Can I purchase your case without power supply?
7. Do you make black or other color computer cases?
8. What's the case's height (with, without the base and caster)?
9. Where is the parts list?

General

1. Do you take credit card?
2. What is your return policy?
3. Tax

1. How do I know what kind of power supply will fit my motherboard?

Ans: There are two major categories power supplies: ATX power supply and AT power supply. Take a look your motherboard power socket. ATX power socket is different from conventional AT power socket. Most of ATX form factor motherboard needs to use ATX power supply (there are very few exceptions). AT style motherboard will use AT power supply for sure. ATX is the current trend. There are very few AT style motherboard and power supply left (out of date).

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2. Is your power supply 2.03 compliant, what's the brand and spec.?

The power supplies we have are Intel ATX 2.03 compliant, 300W and 420W.
The power supply brands we carry are CWT or Addtronics. Please check our power supply spec.

Our 420W is Intel ATX 2.03 compliant. It is compliant with Pentium 4 standard. 

We guarantee all our power supplies work with AMD Athlon CPUs.

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3. Is your 7890a case same  as SUPERMICRO SC750A case?

Ans: Yes, we manufactured SC750A case for Supermicro, SC750A is same as our model 7896A and similar to ET7890A. But Supermicro had changed the molding to save the cost in their new versions.

There are some differences between our Extra series with Supermicro SC750A new versions:

Please check our OEM section and Maximum PC review.

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4. Can my ATX motherboard fit into your ET series cases?

Answer: We design our computer cases according to Intel ATX 2.03 Spec. (Latest). We keep an eye on the revision of Intel ATX Spec. We commit to support all new standards whenever they are available. We support any  motherboards claim "ATX form factor". We support dual Xeon Slot 2. also support Pentium 4 (Willamette) CPU for ET689X/ET789X/W8X00.

Note: We provide one most popular I/O shield with our case. It should cover 90% of the motherboards on the market. If your motherboard manufacturer designs a special I/O shield, they are responsible to provide the I/O shield and sold with their motherboard. That stainless I/O shield should be able to fit into our case directly.

* Please see Tyan's Web page for all  ATX motherboard size

http://www.tyan.com/support/html/e_formfactor.html

We have 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you find any ATX form factor motherboard does not fit, just let us know the brand and model number. We will refund 100% of the cost including both ways shipping.

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5. I still want to keep my current motherboard, I am also consider change my motherboard to ATX motherboard in the future (the trend). What should I do?

Answer: We believe our ET series is the only cases on the market can fit today's baby AT, full size AT, as well as ATX motherboards.
You can enjoy all our special case features right away and preserve your investments when you move to ATX motherboard in the future.

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6.What  is the difference between 3-pin motherboard connector and 4-pin power supply connector?

Answer: 4-pin power supply connector fan is more universal. You always have power supply connector. You can daisy chain many 4-pin fans together and only use one of your power supply connector.

If you buy 3-pin motherboard connector fan, you need to make sure your motherboard do have the socket for the 3-pin fan. Each socket can only connect to one fan. The reason you want to buy 3-pin fan is you can take the advantage of fan speed control by your motherboard. If you do not know which motherboard you are going to use or your motherboard can not control the fan speed, just buy 4-pin power supply connector fan.

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7. How many drive rails come with my new case?

Answer: All your exposed 5 1/4" drive bays should have their own drive rails. Check the small white toolbox (inserted in white packing Styrofoam). Most of drive rails should be in the toolbox. 

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8. How many fans are included with the case, and how many more can be added, Where are the positioned?

Answer: A picture worth a thousand words! Click the model below and see the details. 

Note: "Fan cage" is just the fan holder. It is not a "Fan".

ET3890A/ET3891A

ET6890A

ET6896A

ET7890A

ET7896A

W8500/W8600

Also see Case fan summary table

Here are accessories an average customer purchased, the red number is that we suggest you order additional.

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9. How many rail sets do the ET6896A and ET7896A come with for?

We install all the rail in the drive bays; 12 for ET7896A, 6 for ET6896A.

12 for ET7890A, 6 rails in ET6890A, and 6 for ET3890A.

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10. Do you make black or other color computer cases?

Answer: We are able to do OEM in any color. The minimum quantity is 1000 pieces at a time. Currently, only one color (beige) is available. 

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11. Are there two different types of casters? What's the difference?

Answer: Yes, we have 2 kinds of casters, they are Caster set which consists of 4 wheels set and Caster-luxury. Caster-luxury includes 2 bars, 2 wheels on each bar which is heavy duty and very stable. Please check the **link to the picture

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12. What's the difference between ET3890A and ET3891A?

Answer: Model ET3890A and ET3891A  have the same internal design but different front bezel.

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13. What's the difference between  ET7890A and ET7896A?

The ET7896A is a modified version of the ET7890A according to customer's feedback on cooling demand. ET7896A got the best cooling system but lose one 5 1/4" drive bay.

The major difference:

• ET7896A got 12 cm bigger fan and bigger air filter and a mesh net on front panel.
• ET7896A got two drive cage hooks (can be used for drive cage or CPU fan bracket). ET7890A only have one.
• ET7896A only have 6 5 1/4" exposed drive bays. ET7890A has 7 5 1/4" exposed drive bays.
• The front panel (looks) is different
  

Please check the following spec

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14. What's the difference between ET6890A and ET6896A?

The ET6896A is a modified version of ET6890A according to customer's feedback on cooling demand. ET6896A got the best cooling system but lose one 5 1/4" drive bay.

The major difference:

• ET6896A got 12 cm bigger fan and bigger air filter and a mesh net on front panel.
• ET6896A got two drive cage hooks (can be used for drive cage or CPU fan bracket). ET6890A only have one.
• ET6896A only have 3 5 1/4" exposed drive bays. ET6890A has 4 5 1/4" exposed drive bays.
• The front panel (looks) is different
  
  Please check the following spec
  

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15. Can I purchase your case without power supply?

Answer: Yes, you can order case or power supply only.

Please find the price list in our Online Order Page

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16. Do you take credit card?

Answer: Yes, we take Visa and MasterCard. You can also pay by PayPal. We don't take Discover or American Express please use PayPal to pay by Discover or American Express card .

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17. What is your return policy?
Answer: We have thirty days "no question ask" return policy. If you tell us the reason you return, we will appreciate it and try to improve our
product and service. Customer is always right. Customer satisfaction is always our goal and key to success. We rely on customer recommend
our products to their friends. Please open the package carefully and preserve all parts and packing stuff just in case you need to return our
product.

Note: Refund normally does not include shipping charges unless you have reasons you could not use it. If there are shipping damages, if possible please obtain a signature from UPS driver. We can claim the damage from UPS.

RMA Form / RMA pdf file

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18. Tax:

Answer:

1. All resellers in the state of California should have a valid resale number before products are shipped out. Otherwise sale tax will be applied.
2. No tax will be charged for orders that ship F.O.B. from Addtronics to any states other than California.

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19. How come my power supply doesn’t give me any output? How do I know if it is good or bad  ? 

Answer: ATX power supply usually do not have a physical power ON/OFF switch. The power ON or OFF is controlled by signals from motherboard. If the motherboard fail to supply correct signals, the power supply will not function correctly.

There is one way to test your power supply without connect to motherboard:
I: Get a piece of wire and connect it to the 14^th pin (GREEN),  Let it grounded (connect to computer case body).  If the fan in the power supply is turning, that means the power supply is OK. You may want to connect to one or two cooling fans. These fans should be turned on when you ground pin 14.

See the picture show you how to do the test.

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20. What's the case's height with and without the base and caster?

Answer:   Please see the table for our chassis height for without the base, with base, with caster and with Luxury caster
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21. Where is the parts list?

Answer:   Please see our Parts list.

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22. Why should I pay more for a 420W power supply instead of a 300W power? What's the extra I get?

Answer: Our 420W power supply is Pentium 4 compliant and certified. 

You get 100W extra power. This 100W is critical in certain situations. If your system only need more than 300W in very special situation (peak time), your system will not work without a 420W power supply. Even your system never need more than 300W, to keep a power supply full load all the time will decrease the lifetime of the power supply. A 420W power supply will not let your power supply full load all the time.

Our 420W power supply complies with Intel ATX 2.03 Specification.

Most 300W power supplies on the market only comply with Intel ATX 2.01 Specification.

ATX 12V is a new feature only supported in our 420W power supply. Certain advanced motherboard needs this special feature. You got an extra 12V 4-pin power connector.

Minimum 20A at 3.3V connector is a requirement for next generation CPU (Pentium® 4 Processor (Willamette)). Our 420W power supply is capable to support it. You do not need to change power supply when you upgrade your system in the future.

Of course, the overall quality of the power supply is better. 

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23. Are your Power supplies AMD Athlon compatible?

Answer: Yes, we guarantee all our power supplies work with all AMD Athlon CPUs.

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24. The power LED got one green and one orange wire. My motherboard have 3 pins for power LED. What should I do ?

Answer: Our Power LED is a special dual color LED. It can display either GREEN or ORANGE. Some motherboard has two pins for power LED. Some motherboard has 3 pins for power LED. That is why we have two separate single pins. The green wire should connect to positive (+). The orange wire connect to negative (-). If you have three pins, just ignore the Ground pin.

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25. There are so many LED wires. How do I make sure I connect them correctly?

Answer: LEDs show your system status visually. The good news is "It will not damage your system even you connect to the wrong pins". This means you can use "try and error" approach to find out correct pins and polarity. If it does not work as you expected, reverse it and try again.

POWER LED  ===> green to (+) positive; orange to (-) negative

Hard drive LED ===> red to (+) positive; white to (-) negative

Spare hard drive LED ===> connect directly to your hard drive or use for something else.

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26. There is a yellow LED for W8500 and W8600. What is that for?

Answer: The yellow LED is for temperature alarm (very few motherboard support this). If this yellow LED is ON, this means the temperature inside your case is too high. If your motherboard do not support this feature, you can use this yellow LED for other purpose.

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27. I suspect my power button does not work. What do I do?

Answer: The first thing you need to check is the blue/white wire from the POWER button. It should be connected to the two power ON/OFF pins on your motherboard. Make sure the pins are correct. Polarity does not matter. Note: RESET button also got blue/white wire. Do not mix them together. 

The second thing you can do is "use your RESET button as your POWER button". POWER button and RESET button are both momentary switches. They have exactly same functionality. You can use RESET button as your POWER button until you get the POWER button fixed.

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28. It is difficult to press the RESET button. What is wrong with it?

Answer: Nothing wrong here. Most of computer case manufacturer design RESET button in a way "not easy to press". You need to use a pen to pin press it on purpose. You do not want people touch it accidentally and reset your computer. This will causes data loss (very serious problem for certain application). You are not supposed to use RESET button unless keyboard and mouse are locked or hang.

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29. How do I connect the speaker wire ?

Answer: Red wire to (+) positive. Black wire to (-) negative. 

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30. There is no speaker pins on my motherboard. Why?

Answer: Some motherboard got a small micro speaker on the motherboard. They do not need an internal speaker.

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31. I noticed there is a detective switch on my case. How do I connect the wires?

Answer: Your motherboard has to support this feature in order to use this switch. Only few motherboard support it right now. The motherboard has two pins for you to connect the wire. If people open your computer case, your BIOS will record this event. Next time you turn on your computer, BIOS will give you a warning that the case has been opened by someone. This is a security feature.

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32. Do your case support Pentium 4 motherboard? Can I upgrade my case for Pentium 4?

Answer: Our W8500, W8600, ET7896A, ET6896A are certified for Pentium 4. Pentium 4 CPU needs special mounting on motherboard to support the CPU. Also the temperature inside the case has to be under 40 degree C. Cooling is more important to protect your CPU investment.

We support Intel D850GB motherboard.

Our 420W power supply is also certified for Pentium 4. We are going to have 330W power supply for Pentium 4 very soon. The prototype already passes Intel tests. Takes two months to get the product for sell.

If you already own one of our cases, you can just buy a new Pentium 4 motherboard tray to upgrade your computer case. It will be Pentium 4 compatible after the upgrade.

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33. Can I install a 2nd independent ATX power supply in ET7890A/ET7896A computer case?

Answer: Yes, but you need to buy an optional 2nd power supply mounting kit. The part number is PSKIT78. Two independent ATX power supplies in the same computer case are different from Redundant power supply. The redundant power supply is for mission critical applications. One power supply goes down, the other power supply will take over automatically and the system can keep running without interrupt.

Normally, two independent ATX power supplies system is for non-mission critical application. You use the first power supply as normal (You choose a better quality power supply among the two for this). It will directly connect to your motherboard, primary hard disks (may be more than one), and some other important devices. The 2nd power supply would connect to cooling devices, floppy drives, CD-ROMs (not used often ones), etc. Since ATX power supply ON/OFF is controlled by pin 14 of the 20-pin connector from motherboard. For the second power supply, you have to put a wire in pin 14 and pin 16 (Ground). Keep it always ON. Then uses the physical switch on the back of the power supply to turn ON/OFF the power. (Note: you need to make sure your ATX power supply do have this physical power switch, it is not required for ATX power supply). Otherwise, you have to unplug the power cord from wall power outlet. It is not convenient.

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34. Can you explain the "Build-in quad protection" for your dual fan power supply?

Answer:

• OVER VOLTAGE PROTECTION
  The +5V/+12V/+3.3V DC output are protected against the over voltage condition. Maximum value can't be over 6.8V at 5V terminal, 15.6V at 12V and 4.5V at 3.3V.
• OVER POWER PROTECTION
  The power supply can be used electronic circuit to limit the output current against exceeding 60% of surge output or protected against excessive delivery since short circuit of any output or over total power at nominal line.
• SHORT CIRCUIT PROTECTION
  Short ciecuit placed on any DC output will shut down all DC outputs and latch Standby power will be auto recovery.
• OVERTEMPERATURE PROTECTION
  The power supply may include an overtemperature protection sensor, which can trip and shut down the power supply at a preset temperature point, Such an overheated condition is typically the result of internal current overloading or a cooling fan failure. If the protection circuit is nonlatching, then it should have hysteresis built in to avoid intermittent tripping.

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