It is the case that opens of a clam shell.
And no, lol I don't live in a dorm and space is not really a concern. I'm actually about to have a 2 bedroom apartment to myself in March-April. .I don't think sheet metal work would be required, but I haven't really torn the thing down yet to find out.
I wouldn't want a small case, actually, as I have several harddrives that I would like accommodated. If I removed the floppy, I think the 8200 case could accommodate 4 drives.
The powerswitch, I gotta be honest, I'm not really advanced enough in my schooling to know if its standard or not.. It looks like a midget IDE cable.
I'll start stripping this thing down and see if I can provide any info. But really the biggest thing is, I'm sentimental to the case. This computer was my sad, pathetic life for years lol.
---------- Post updated 01-28-12 at 12:54 AM ---------- Previous update was 01-27-12 at 12:15 PM ----------
More information:
I have the thing completely stripped. The I/O plate came out in one piece with the motherboard. Shouldnt need any kind of metal working to modify it. Still not too sure about the powerswitch. Looks like theres a cable that runs to a small card that contains the front mount USB and headphone jacks, and that has another cable that runs up the front of the case to the power switch.
I don't mine doing without the 2 front USBs. Worst case scenario, if i need more USB support I'll go with an external hub. The cable that runs from that card to the power switch is a 15 pin IDE ribbon cable. The p4 chip came out right with the heatsink fused to it. I can't even pry it off (not without using more force on it that i'm prepared to use). Shes old. LOL