Front Panel (WHY! In 2025 there still is no standard front panel header "plug" !!!!!!!! WHY!!!!!)

Choppie

Choppie

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A search on the Amazon returns a half baked result of dell optiplex front panel adapters and some remote power switches. People are building small f_panel adapters with wires and buttons,LED and I found ONE front panel adapter that allows for someone to make their own remote power switch.

WHY aren't the motherboard standards adapting a "standard" pin out and the case manufactures THEN providing a front panel "PLUG" that fits in that slot----DONE so we can get on to installing the OS!

WHY?
WHY!!!!

Infuriating is a good word here....
RIDICULOUS is another word here....!!!!!
 
They are standard, for the most part.

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Higher end motherboards often come with either a little "plug holder" you load up with each individual wire:
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Or, higher end cases often come with exactly what you want!

1757092004454.png
 
Well my point was, all motherboards should have a standard pin out for the front panel which would permit ALL the cases to be fitted with a plug that fits there. YES i understand some cases don't have a light here or there and still just omit that from the plug.

I guess MORE clarification on my part would be to state; Why can't the f_panel connections be made the same as the FRONT PANEL USB 3 (standard) connection.......

Just saying.
 
All motherboards do conform to this standard, at least anything made in the last 20 years or so. The only exception is proprietary OEM garbage from companies like HP. I don't like cases where they combine all the pins into one plug because it makes it more difficult to connect to OEM motherboards if you need to. Granted that's an unlikely scenario and I haven't seen a normal motherboard that uses a different pin layout since the 90's. Still, who's to say you didn't buy the case to build an old Pentium II system in it? There's very little advantage to combining the plug except for novice users who have never built a computer before. It would save maybe 10-15 seconds on each build for an experienced builder like myself.

No, what I hate is the USB 3.0 header and those tiny pins that connect the WiFi card. Those should have never left the drawing board.
 
sapphirescales said:
No, what I hate is the USB 3.0 header and those tiny pins that connect the WiFi card. Those should have never left the drawing board.
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YES! The front panel USB 3 cable and plug provided by the case is so stiff that it won't work unless you bend and force the cable to conform to where the plug is jacked into the slot at an exact 90 deg, THEN you need to find an area to zip tie down the cable very securely while keeping the plug at that 90 deg to the board--holding it that way!
 
Choppie said:
dell optiplex front panel
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When it comes to proprietary systems like Dell, HP, Lenovo, even their power supplies and plugs aren't standard. The physical designs are different (e.g. micro form factor) so of course they're not compliant with ATX, mATX and miniITX standards and conventions. Case in point NUC mini PCs, even though they're customisable barebones PCs they still don't have standard connectors for power switch/LED on their boards.
 
fincoder said:
Case in point NUC mini PCs, even though they're customisable barebones PCs they still don't have standard connectors for power switch/LED on their boards.
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Exactly the reason for my posing of the question...

Front Panel (WHY! In 2025 there still is no standard front panel header "plug"​


This could be done but not enough complaints about it.
 
Choppie said:
Exactly the reason for my posing of the question...
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And I answered that:
fincoder said:
The physical designs are different
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Restricting connections to a particular standard or convention restricts the design options available to OEMs. We wouldn't have Tiny, NUC or maybe even SFF desktops. And what about laptops? Obviously they can't be restricted to particular internal standards.
 
fincoder said:
And I answered that:

Restricting connections to a particular standard or convention restricts the design options available to OEMs. We wouldn't have Tiny, NUC or maybe even SFF desktops. And what about laptops? Obviously they can't be restricted to particular internal standards.
Click to expand...
Please show me how to install a laptop into a standard ATX computer case.....?
 
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