I plan on building a computer this summer, but I have one worry. That I will have all of the right parts, but the will not fit in the case. Is this a reasonable worry? Should I even be worried about it at all?

Yes. Picking out the right motherboard and case will be the foundation of your entire build.

There is an easy solution for this. There are three things that you should pay attention to most.
1) Your motherboard
2) your Powersupply
3) your Case

All of these Have what is called a form factor. It's basically the size they are. So the larger the form factor the more compatible with parts it is. Say you get a case that is ATX extended. It can fit ATX extended all the way down to mini-ITX. But you should keep in mind you cant have a mini- ATX case and expect to be able to fit a ATX motherboard/powersupply. Also, small motherboards have less room for expansion. So if you plan to be using more than one expansion car(grapics card, ect) then you'll want a larger form factor on all levels. (i.e. Powersupply, case, and motherboard)

This sounds very interesting. If it's no trouble, I'd like to see what the computer looks like when you are finished. I've never seen one built from scratch.

I am currently building a PC too. I should have the last couple of parts soon. :3

I keep building clunkers out of spare parts from PCs on their way to the trash. Then I dedicate them to the WCG mission. It's been a really good learning experience.

We do that for the veteran's program that we have here.

Another thing to keep in mind is the cooling solution(s) you plan on using. Smaller cases tend to not have much headroom for fans, or custom water cooling.

Otherwise >>3 stated the main limitations for cases.

It all depends what you want out of a computer and I know NZXT had a compatibility checker for parts, like CPU coolers, motherboards, etc. with their cases.

Here , You can custom make your pc, with your budget in mind, if you're confused on overall board size, you can google, or wiki the various types; E-ATX, ATX , M-ATX, etc. Your overall computer reguires a power module that will support the component power draw, but the site handles that for you, besides that, if you dont think something will work, look into the component or connector via google or preferred search engine. hope this helps

sorry here ; pc part picker


[https://pcpartpicker.com <if link doesnt work]

Thanks, man

Another thing, do I REALLY need an optical drive?

>>12
Optical drive as in a CD/DVD drive?

I don't think you need a CD/DVD drive, but it makes things a lot easier. Installing software is a lot easier, since you don't have to rely solely on a downloadable version. You could probably get away with an external CD/DVD drive if you don't want an internal.

If you don't have a USB key with the OS instillation package a DVD is likely the other alternative for doing so with a fresh install. That is due to needing a drive, or partition, for the bios to boot from.