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Besides my show latop I have my back up desk top at home.

I would really like a rack mounted PC - No External Hardrives  - Less Wires to hookup and eventualy break.  NO external USB sound card - etc etc etc.
Laptops are lighter and smaller yet as said before - more fragile, more expensive and harder to repair. -

I DO NOT WANT TO BUILD A RACK MOUNT FROM SCATCH!

Is it possible just to buy a rackmount and swap the guts from my Dell Desktop into the rackmount CASE????

Yes, if the rackmount case is the same form factor of the Dell case.

I know there are 1U&2U rackmount pc case, and thoes would not work for a home PC,  1 or 2 rackmount spaces is not enough to mount a home pc.

The custom made arnt cheap Here is a 2 unit Ive had 3 or 4 mobos in

pic

This is a 2 unit I shortened to 17" to fit in the rack...
Latest is a 3.2 GB cpu I actually hsd to vent the bigger fan thru the top ... A 90 degree pci riser accomodates the audio and dual video board It is very important to secure the pci boards with cable ties...

Using the onboard video this setup has 3 displays.. This has 2 power supplies and the cd drive is external in a 1/3 rack mount...

5 12 and 9 volts are availible on the back with 1/4" jacks for lcd displays rf mods etc....

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I was hoping there was a rackmount computer case that the GUTS of my Dell Desktop (Tower) would be able to just "fit into" without much hassle or expense

Google rack mount computer cases  link

You can sometimes get one on Ebay for about $50 but the server cases are 19" and wont fit in a standard mixer rack... Another consideration is weight I have a brand new one been sitting here a couple of years and never used It weighs 40 tons If you were here Id flat give it to you ...

Its not an easy project Since I started using a laptop.. The rack mount is backup and originally it was the other way around. but its nice to have both...

another option is a custom rack with the tower in the bottom and monitor keyboard on top next to the mixer rack..

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I converted several of my tower/home PC's into these 3U file server chassis.  They hold 9 hot swappable drive bays in the front and room for 2 internal drives.  The drive caddies take any size IDE drive so drive space is not an issue.  I currently have 10 drives in this particular server case with just under 2 terrabytes worth of storage on it.  My home multimedia server has just under 3 terrabytes in it.  Both servers have motherboards, RAM and expansion cards from my previous home and mobile PC's.  Simply take your hardware out of one and throw it in the new case.  It comes with Redundant 300W powersupplies, slim CD-rom and floppy drive.  No worries about airflow or ventilation with this case.  It comes with 3 silent fans in the front, 4 large fans in the middle of the case, 2 in the rear as well as the power supply mounted fans.  These cases retail between $480-800+.  That price is for just the case- no power supply, no motherboard and usually no hard drive caddies for the hot swappable drive bays.  
 Once your hardware is inside one of these cases though, they are very well protected and rugged cases for whatever your needs are.  no more hooking and unhooking external USB drives or trying to stuff one too many drives inside a traditional tower case.  I no longer fear frying one of my drives as I continually was hooking it up, plugging power in etc... I have had zero problems since changing to these cases about 4 months ago.
 I have two multimedia servers using these cases and I have 17 more empty server chassis in the garage- no power supplies or drive caddies - but 17 incredible server cases for whatever your needs are.  If ya are ever in portland, drop me a line and ya can come pick one up.  I might even have a few accessories in boxes for it too.  

you can check out more pics of the case and accessories on my myspace.com page (tigrr27) and read more specs from the link that karyoker linked earlier to: http://www.circotech.com/rm-3250e-3u-ra ... -case.html

Lots of options with one of these cases...

tig

Perhaps, if the Dell case is small enough, you could just buy a rackmount shelf/drawer, and mount the whole thing on the self/drawer.  Just a though.

Or another though, and something I have been thingking of.  Since the rackmount cases that you buy are usualy very heavy, I thought of having my local metal shop guy build me an aluminum case with rackmount "ears", and a removable top/back.  Then just pull the gurs out of the PC, and put them in the rackmount.  IT probably would cost about the same as buying a already made case, but it would be much lighter.  YEah a bit of a hassle to mount all the innards yourself, but it might work.

Yes, you can take the MB out of your Dell and convert it in to rackmount. One thing I would worry about is the connector shield (thing that fits in the back where all your connection is, the aluminum piece that connects to the case). You can always leave it open however. Almost all of the motherboards today are ATX form factor so make sure your Dell supplied motherboard is ATX and the case you purchase is ATX.

One thing to be cautious about rackmount. Typical IT rackmount can support long devices, up to 26" deep. Most of the rackmount computer cases are at least 20" long. This WILL NOT fit in to the typical portable music rackmount. Typical rackmount depth is 18". So make sure you get at most 17" long computer case. Also, avoid 1U or 2U, you will be limited on the PCI/PCI-X slots because you have to install them side ways. I would suggest 3U unit. If you can afford the space, go with 4U. They are more available and the extra headroom means more space for hot air inside to spread out, thus cooler running system. Make sure you have plenty of fans to cool the system down. Fans can get noisy so get a good quality fans with low noise.

Second, as Twan stated, the case can be heavy. I chose aluminum case for both lighter weight and better heat tranfer. Aluminum conducts heat much better than steel so the inside runs cooler. However, aluminum cases are a bit more expensive than steel.

Make sure you get a ample power supply. Higher the rating, the cooler it will run and better for your computer. I would suggest at least 450 watt supply for most application. Heat is very important when using a rackmount because the cramped space in the rack.

Last thought. you said you do not want to build rackmount from scratch. If you are talking abouty labor involved, you will spend more time taking the gut out of your old computer and installing it in to the new case. If you are talking about financially, then you can save some money but with the current prices of the peripherals, you may be better off buying new components and build a new system, then use your desktop as your emergency back up, specially if you don't have a laptop back up. Most of your dollars will be spent on the case and the MB/processor. Just a thought.

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How about using the XPC Shuttle, the mini PC from AOpen, or any of the small PCs out there?  Has anyone tried them?

I have put together PCs myself and have spent a lot of money on upgrades.  It was fun then but now, looking back... it was a waste of time and money.  I used to frequent the Computer Show in Pomona, CA, and spent countless hours checking out the latest cool stuff along with geeks and compuholics.  My obsession with PC upgrades ended the day that I found out that we were running out of space in the house with all of the PC components that I have accummulated over the years.  Besides, my wife gave me an ultimatum...

I'll stick to my laptop.  It's light, simple to use, quiet, cheap ($400), fast enough for what I use it for, and quick to set up.  I used to use a minitower, a keyboard, a mouse, and a flat screen monitor.  That was a pain to carry and all those cables were a nightmare to hook up and store away.  Now, I use a laptop stored in a cheap, albeit fashionable, bag.  

I have used them for miscellaneous applications, and I know a KJ who uses one successfully. It isn't really rack mountable, but it could sit on a 4U high shelf.

Ollie,  Have any 19W"  8+ space heavier duty SKB type racks sitting in your shop you want to unload ?

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One of my systems is a Shuttle PC but I have not tried to Rackmount the unit as it would be difficult to do it.

If I had it to do over again I would go rackmount case.

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Scott

If ya want one of these server cases like I posted above, you are more than welcome to make the trip out to hillsboro and take your choice... I would even help ya move your hardware into the case or you can look at the main multimedia server I use to get an idea how it works and then take your time and build your own ... these are heavy duty industrial server chassis... if they had wheels you would need a license to operate them lemme know... I got 17 of em stacked in my garage... I have enough hardware accessories (drive caddies etc) that I should have no problem swapping your hardware into it... lemme know if ya wanna make the trip out westside... laters- tig

 Nope... But I got a bunch of old computer junk Im going to toss...

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Ebay has a lot of rackmount stuff available.
Just saw a 2u Buy it now price of $99
http://cgi.ebay.com/2U-Rackmount-Server ... dZViewItem
even has dual cpu.