![Falcon Northwest Talon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Falcon_Northwest_Talon.png)
In
personal computing
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...
, a tower is a form of
desktop computer whose
case height is much greater than its width, thus having the appearance of an upstanding
tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...
, as opposed to a traditional desktop or "
pizza box
The pizza box or pizza package is a folding packaging box made of cardboard in which hot pizzas are stored for take-out. The "pizza box" also makes home delivery and takeaway substantially easier. The pizza box has to be highly resistant, c ...
" computer whose width is greater than its height and appears lying flat. Although a tower case may be placed on top of the desk alongside the
monitor
Monitor or monitor may refer to:
Places
* Monitor, Alberta
* Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States
* Monitor, Kentucky
* Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States
* Monitor, Washington
* Monitor, Logan County, West ...
and other
peripherals, a far more common configuration is to place the case on the floor below the desk or in an under-desk compartment, in order to save desktop space for other items.
Multiple subclasses of the tower form factor have been established to differentiate their varying heights, including full-tower, mid-tower, midi-tower and mini-tower; these classifications are nebulously defined and inconsistently applied by different manufacturers, however. Computer systems housed in the horizontal form factor—once popularized by the
IBM PC in the 1980s but fallen out of mass use since the 1990s—have been given the term ''desktops'', to contrast them with the usually-floor-situated towers.
Subclasses
Tower cases are often categorized as ''mini-tower'', ''midi-tower'', ''mid-tower'', or ''full-tower''. The terms are subjective and inconsistently defined by different manufacturers.
Full-tower
![Computer case - Full Tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Computer_case_-_Full_Tower.jpg)
Full-tower cases, typically or more in height, are designed for maximum scalability.
For
case-modding enthusiasts and those wanting to play the most technically challenging video games, the full-tower case also makes for an ideal case because of their ability to accommodate extensive
water cooling
Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...
setups and larger case fans.
Traditionally, full-tower systems had between four to six externally accessible half-height
5.25-inch drive bays and up to ten
3.5-inch drive bay
A drive bay is a standard-sized area for adding hardware to a computer. Most drive bays are fixed to the inside of a case, but some can be removed.
Over the years since the introduction of the IBM PC, it and its compatibles have had many form f ...
s.
Some full-tower cases included locking side-doors and other physical security features to prevent theft of the discs inside those bays. However, as computing technology has moved away from physical removable disk drives toward solid-state removable media such as
USB flash drive
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply ( interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A bro ...
s, as well as larger-capacity fixed disks and
cloud storage, such an abundance of drive bays is less common. More recent full-tower cases instead have no external drive bays, or only have one or two, with the internal bays moved elsewhere in the case to improve airflow.
Full-tower cases readily fit full-size
ATX
ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) is a motherboard and power supply configuration specification developed by Intel in 1995 to improve on previous de facto standards like the AT design. It was the first major change in desktop computer enclo ...
motherboards but may also accommodate smaller
microATX
In computer design, microATX (sometimes referred to as μATX, uATX or mATX) is a standard motherboard form factor introduced in December 1997. The maximum size of a microATX motherboard is . However, there are examples of motherboards using micr ...
boards due to the former standard's interoperability in mounting holes. Full-tower cases may also have increased dimensional depth and length over their shorter counterparts, allowing them to accommodate
Extended ATX
ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) is a motherboard and power supply configuration specification developed by Intel in 1995 to improve on previous de facto standards like the AT design. It was the first major change in desktop computer enclo ...
motherboards.
Since the 2010s, full-tower cases are commonly used by enthusiasts as showpiece display cases with custom water cooling,
RGB LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...
lighting, and tempered glass or acrylic. They may also hold two motherboards (as is the case with the
Corsair 1000D) and dual power supplies (Corsair 900D).
Mid-tower
Mid-tower cases, usually between and in height, are the most common form factor of computer towers.
Before the late 2010s, mid-towers contained between three to four 5.25-inch drive bays and an equivalent number of 3.5-inch drive bays while leaving just enough room for an ATX motherboard and standard power supplies.
Since the number of drive bays has become less of a concern to the contemporary computer user, mid-towers now offer adequate room for closed-loop water coolers, dual graphics cards, and numerous solid-state drives, which take up far less space than their spinning hard disk counterparts.
Midi-tower
The marketing term ''midi-tower'' sometimes refers to cases smaller than a mid-tower but larger than a mini-tower (see
below), typically with two to three external bays. Other times the term may be synonymous with ''mid-tower''.
Mini-tower
Mini-tower cases, between and in height, slot between the
Mini-ITX
Mini-ITX is a motherboard form-factor, developed by VIA Technologies in 2001. They are commonly used in small-configured computer systems. Originally, they were a niche product, designed for fan-less cooling with a low power consumption archi ...
specification for
small-form-factor PCs and the archetypal mid-tower. Mini-towers typically will only accommodate
microATX
In computer design, microATX (sometimes referred to as μATX, uATX or mATX) is a standard motherboard form factor introduced in December 1997. The maximum size of a microATX motherboard is . However, there are examples of motherboards using micr ...
motherboards and for this reason sell in fewer numbers in the consumer market than the other size classes of computer towers.
Traditionally, mini-towers had only one or two disk drive bays (either 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch).
History
![Ibm pc 5150](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/IBM_PC_5150.jpg)
The tower form factor may be seen as a proportional miniaturization of
mainframe computers and
minicomputers, some of which comprise massive tall enclosures standing almost to the ceiling. In the advent of the
microcomputer era, most systems were configured with the
keyboard built into the same chassis that the main system
circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich struc ...
resides. Such computers were also termed ''
home computers'' and counted such popular systems as the
Apple II,
TRS-80
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...
,
VIC-20
The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ...
, and
Commodore 64, among others. In 1981, IBM introduced the
IBM Personal Computer
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
, a system which was met widespread adoption in both enterprises and home businesses within a couple years and set a new ''de facto'' standard for the physical configuration of microcomputers. The IBM PC and successors housed the system board and
expansion card
In computing, an expansion card (also called an expansion board, adapter card, peripheral card or accessory card) is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical connector, or expansion slot (also referred to as a bus sl ...
s in a separate horizontal unit, with the keyboard usually in front and the prescribed
CRT monitor resting on top of the system unit; the front of the system unit houses one or more disk drives.
In 1982,
NCR introduced the Tower series of
workstation
A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...
computers, named so for their tall, upright configuration, intended to be stowed away under a desk. The first, the Tower 1632, is 29 inches tall and featured a
Motorola 68000 microprocessor. Costing upwards of $12,500, the 1632 is meant to run
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...
and supports up to 16 simultaneous networked users. NCR continued adding to the Tower line into the late 1980s.
In 1983,
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store. By the end of the 1950s, under the tutelage of then-CEO Charles Tandy, ...
offered their
Tandy 2000
The Tandy 2000 is a personal computer introduced by Radio Shack in September 1983 based on the 8 MHz Intel 80186 microprocessor running MS-DOS. By comparison, the IBM PC XT (introduced in March 1983) used the older 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 pr ...
with an optional floor stand, turning the normally horizontal desktop case on its side and allowing it to be stashed under-desk; the square badge on the Tandy 2000 can be removed and rotated upright in turn. IBM followed suit with their
PC/AT
The IBM Personal Computer/AT (model 5170, abbreviated as IBM AT or PC/AT) was released in 1984 as the fourth model in the IBM Personal Computer line, following the IBM PC/XT and its IBM Portable PC variant. It was designed around the Intel 802 ...
in 1984, which included an optional "floor-standing enclosure" for $165. Of the three initial entrants in the company's
RT PC line in 1986, two were tower units, while the other was a traditional horizontal case like the AT and the PCs before it.
![DeuxPS2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/DeuxPS2.jpg)
In 1987, IBM introduced the
PS/2 Model 60, an initial entry in the company's
Personal System/2
The Personal System/2 or PS/2 is IBM's second generation of personal computers. Released in 1987, it officially replaced the IBM PC, XT, AT, and PC Convertible in IBM's lineup. Many of the PS/2's innovations, such as the 16550 UART (serial p ...
line of personal computers. It was IBM's first Intel-based PC built entirely into a tower case. The PS/2 Model 60 was comparable in technical specification to its sibling the PS/2 Model 50, which sported a horizontal desktop form factor. Whereas the Model 50 had only four expansion slots and three drive bays, however, the Model 60 featured eight expansion slots and four drive bays. Because of the latter's increased potential for connectivity and multitasking, technology journalists envisioned the PS/2 Model 60 as a multiuser machine, although multiuser operating systems supporting the
80286
The Intel 80286 (also marketed as the iAPX 286 and often called Intel 286) is a 16-bit microprocessor that was introduced on February 1, 1982. It was the first 8086-based CPU with separate, non- multiplexed address and data buses and also the ...
processor of both the Models 50 and 60 were hard to come by in 1987. IBM followed up with the tower-based
PS/2 Model 80 later that year, their first PC powered by an
i386
The Intel 386, originally released as 80386 and later renamed i386, is a 32-bit microprocessor introduced in 1985. The first versions had 275,000 transistors[The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...]
'' in 1988, the PS/2 Models 60 and 80 started the trend of computer manufacturers offering
PC compatibles in optional tower form factors:
A countertrend is to take PCs off the desk and put them on the floor. IBM started it with the tower configuration for its PS/2 Models 60 and 80, and at least a dozen companies were showing floor-standing PCs at Comdex
COMDEX (an abbreviation of COMputer Dealers' EXhibition) was a computer expo trade show held in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada, United States, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually ...
. Freed from the need to fit on a desk, some of the tower models are actually getting bigger to accommodate large disk drives, a variety of floppy drives and backup devices, and room for up to a dozen slots for plug-in boards.
Aftermarket floor stands, allowing existing horizontal desktop computers to be stored upright on the floor, were sold in the late 1980s by companies such as
Curtis Computer Products.
Recommending such kits in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in 1989, Brit Hume called the tower the best configuration for ergonomics and noted that, "Contrary to popular myth, standing vertically will not hurt the computer or throw off your disk drives."
The transition in dominance from horizontal desktop computers to towers was mostly complete by 1994, according to a period article in ''
PC Week
''eWeek'' (''Enterprise Newsweekly'', stylized as ''eWEEK''), formerly PCWeek, is a technology and business magazine. Previously owned by QuinStreet; Nashville, Tennessee marketing company TechnologyAdvice acquired eWeek in 2020.
The print edi ...
''.
Computer cases or pre-built systems offered in the traditional horizontal form factor have since been separately categorized as ''desktops'', to contrast them with the usually-floor-situated towers.
Brian Benchoff of ''
Hackaday
''Hackaday'' is a hardware hacking website. It was founded in 2004 as a web magazine. Since 2014, Hackaday also hosts a community database of open-source hardware designs.
History
Hackaday was founded in 2004 by Phillip Torrone as a web mag ...
'' argued that the popularity of the
Macintosh Quadra 700
The Macintosh Quadra 700 was a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1991 to March 1993. It was introduced alongside the Quadra 900 as the first computers in the Quadra series using Motorola 68040 pro ...
was the turning point for computer manufacturers to move over to the tower form factor en masse. The tower form factor of the Quadra 700 was by necessity: common peripherals of the Quadra were the relatively extremely heavy color CRT
monitors offered by Apple (those whose screens measured 20 inches and over diagonally could weigh 80 lbs or more) favored by the
desktop publishing
Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online ...
industry during the 1990s. Such monitors threatened to crush the plastic frames of the
Macintosh IIcx
The Macintosh IIcx is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from March 1989 to March 1991. Introduced six months after the Macintosh IIx, the IIcx resembles the IIx and provides the same performance, but is ...
and
Macintosh IIci; customers might have been tempted to fit such heavy monitors atop the IIcx and IIci because of their horizontal form factor.
See also
*
Thin client
In computer networking, a thin client is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are sometimes known as ''network computers'', or in th ...
*
All-in-one PC
An all-in-one computer or all-in-one PC (AIO) is a personal computer that integrates the system's internal components into the same case as the display, thus occupying a smaller footprint (with fewer cables) than desktops that incorporate a tower ...
References
{{reflist
Tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifi ...
Tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifi ...
Personal computers