Mid tower cases are the best choice for most PC builds. They fit standard parts, don't take up too much room, and cost less than full towers. A full tower is only worth it if you need a very large motherboard, lots of storage drives, or custom water cooling. For a typical gaming PC or home office computer, a mid tower has everything you need.
| Feature | Mid Tower | Full Tower |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 17-20 inches (43-51 cm) | 22-27 inches (56-69 cm) |
| Motherboard Support | ATX and smaller | E-ATX and XL-ATX |
| Drive Bays | 2-4 bays | 4-12 bays |
| Best For | Gaming and everyday builds | Workstations and servers |
Size and Space Needs
The biggest difference between mid tower and full tower cases is their size. A mid tower stands about 17-20 inches (43-51 cm) tall with a footprint of around 8 by 18 inches (20 by 46 cm). This size fits nicely on or under most desks.
Full towers are much larger. They stand 22-27 inches (56-69 cm) tall and are about 10 by 22 inches (25 by 56 cm) in footprint. That's close to the size of a small refrigerator. Before buying a full tower, measure your space to make sure it will fit.
It seems strange, but modern computer parts are tiny compared to old ones, yet cases are bigger. The reason is heat. In the 1990s, a CPU used about 30-60 watts of power. Today's CPUs can use 125-250 watts, and graphics cards use 200-450 watts. All that power turns into heat. Even though the chips are smaller, they pack way more power into a tiny space. This makes them very hot and hard to cool. Bigger cases give room for large fans, water cooling radiators, and better airflow to carry that heat away.
Weight matters too. An empty mid tower weighs about 15-25 pounds (7-11 kg). You can move it for cleaning or take it to a friend's house without too much trouble. Full towers weigh 25-40 pounds (11-18 kg) empty. Once you add parts, they become very heavy and hard to move.
Motherboard Compatibility
Your motherboard choice often decides which case size you need. Motherboards come in different sizes called form factors. The most common ones are Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX, and E-ATX.
What Mid Towers Support
- Mini-ITX boards at 6.7 by 6.7 inches (17 by 17 cm)
- Micro-ATX boards at 9.6 by 9.6 inches (24 by 24 cm)
- Standard ATX boards at 12 by 9.6 inches (30 by 24 cm)
Most gaming and home office builds use ATX motherboards, which fit perfectly in mid towers.
What Full Towers Support
- All sizes that mid towers support
- E-ATX boards at 12 by 13 inches (30 by 33 cm)
- XL-ATX boards at 13.5 by 10.3 inches (34 by 26 cm)
- Server boards for professional workstations
E-ATX and larger boards are used for high end workstations with lots of RAM slots and expansion cards.
If you're building a standard gaming PC or home computer, you'll likely use an ATX motherboard. A mid tower handles this size with room to spare. You only need a full tower if your build requires an E-ATX or larger board, which is rare for most home users.
Graphics Card Clearance
Modern graphics cards can be quite long. Before buying a case, check how much space it has for a GPU. This measurement is called GPU clearance.
Mid towers usually offer 12-14 inches (300-350 mm) of GPU clearance. This fits most graphics cards, including the biggest gaming cards on the market. Full towers provide 16 inches (400 mm) or more of clearance, which is more than any current consumer graphics card needs.
Quick Tip
Before buying a case, look up the length of your graphics card. Then check the case specifications to make sure the GPU clearance is larger than your card's length. Add an extra inch for safety.
Storage Options
How many hard drives and SSDs can your case hold? This is an important question for some builders, but not all.
Mid towers come with 2-4 bays for 3.5 inch hard drives and 2-6 spots for 2.5 inch SSDs. For most people, this is plenty. A typical build might have one or two SSDs and maybe one hard drive for extra storage.
Full towers offer much more storage space. They can hold 4-12 hard drives and 6-12 SSDs. Some models even have hot swap bays, which let you remove and add drives without opening the case. This makes full towers popular for file servers or video editors who work with huge amounts of data.
Cooling Ability
Bigger cases can hold more fans and larger cooling equipment. But for most builds, the cooling in a mid tower works just fine.
Mid Tower Cooling
- Front: 2-3 fans, usually 120 mm or 140 mm
- Top: 2 fans for exhaust
- Rear: 1 exhaust fan
- Supports 240 mm or 280 mm water cooling radiators
Full Tower Cooling
- Front: 3-4 fans
- Top: 3-4 fans
- Rear: 1-2 fans
- Bottom: 2-3 fans
- Supports multiple large radiators up to 480 mm
Bigger Is Not Always Better
A mid tower with good airflow and smart fan placement can keep your parts just as cool as a poorly set up full tower. What matters most is having a clear path for air to flow from front to back, not just having more space. If you're not running extreme hardware that produces a lot of heat, a mid tower will cool your system just fine.
Custom water cooling loops with multiple radiators need the extra space in a full tower. These builds have pumps, reservoirs, and tubing that take up room. If you're planning a basic build with air cooling or a simple all in one liquid cooler, a mid tower has all the cooling support you need.
Building and Working Inside
The amount of space inside a case affects how easy it is to build in and maintain.
Mid towers require a bit more planning. You need to think about cable routing, the order you install parts, and sometimes remove one part to reach another. Cable management space behind the motherboard tray is about 0.6-1 inch (15-25 mm), which works but can get tight with lots of cables.
Full towers give you luxury working room. You can install parts in almost any order, and cables have plenty of space to hide. The area behind the motherboard offers 1-1.4 inches (25-35 mm) of clearance. Cleaning dust and swapping parts takes less time because everything is easier to reach.
Cost Considerations
The case price is just the start. Full tower builds often cost more overall.
- Full tower cases cost more than similar quality mid towers
- Shipping costs more due to size and weight
- You may need more fans to fill all the mounting spots
- Longer cables or cable extensions might be needed
- Your desk may need to be stronger to support the weight
If you put a full tower on the floor instead of a desk, you'll also deal with more dust getting into the case and need longer cables for your monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose a Mid Tower If You:
- Are building a gaming PC with one graphics card
- Have limited desk or room space
- Might move your PC sometimes
- Want to spend less money overall
- Plan to use air cooling or a basic liquid cooler
- Will use an ATX or smaller motherboard
Choose a Full Tower If You:
- Need an E-ATX or larger motherboard
- Want to use multiple graphics cards
- Plan to build a custom water cooling loop
- Need lots of storage drive space
- Are building a home server or workstation
- Have plenty of room and don't need to move the PC
Most PC builders will be happy with a mid tower. It handles standard parts well, costs less, and doesn't take over your room. A full tower makes sense only when you have a specific reason to need the extra space. Don't buy a full tower just in case you might need it someday. Choose based on what you're actually building.