OK, interesting, your system is a NC440BX then, which is the N440BX in a Columbus II case
There's also a NA440BX, which uses the Astor case

I believe the difference between the Columbus and Columbus II and Astor and Astor II cases is just that they take different motherboards. They're otherwise the same.

Mine is missing the drive cage, which is unobtanium now. I had to mount the hard drive in one of the 5.25" bays instead.
The white plastic fan casing at the bottom also broke off in transit (I guess plastic gets brittle with age) so I had to secure it with twist-ties.

ETA: add links

https://web.archive.org/web/20000815081703/ht … is/Columbus_II/
https://web.archive.org/web/20130908074845/ht … ~1/columb~1.htm
Another poster has uploaded the product specification here: Re: NEC Proserva V Plus (dual socket 7 system) (have a lead on multiple of these)
It's also included in this official archive about the Columbus II and Astor II: https://downloads.bl4ckb0x.de/downloadcenter. … .com/18389/eng/

Errius wrote on 2024-08-06, 15:42:

The white plastic fan casing at the bottom also broke off in transit (I guess plastic gets brittle with age) so I had to secure it with twist-ties.

The careful application of two-part epoxy can repair and reinforce brittle old plastic. Go very slow. A little goes a long way.

Start slow. Use toothpicks. Use barely just enough epoxy to bond the broken pieces together, no matter how fragile it may be. Then wait at least 24 hours. After it cures, use a little more to build up and strengthen the repair. Repeat. Repeat again. You'll eventually build up a layer of epoxy that is stronger than the plastic it has repaired.

I've done this with the cracked front panel of my NetVista A40. It works, but patience is required. When I repaired my A40 front panel, I did it from behind to conceal the epoxy and the repair job. Unless you take the front panel off, you would never know it's broken and held together by epoxy.

Bonus: cured two-part epoxy can be sanded and finished with primer and paint. Wait at least a month before doing this. You need to give it lots of time to REALLY cure. If you can be patient, wait 90 days before sanding, primer, and painting. Six months is even better. The waiting is worth it.

If you have brittle old plastic that you suspect may crack in the future, be proactive now! Start applying thin layers of two-part epoxy to reinforce it before it breaks. Of course, you may not want to do this for external pieces that may be subject to aesthetic consideration. Use your best judgement.

For example, I've also got an old Antec Solution SLK???? case, much like this one:
https://www.newegg.com/metallic-bronze-antec- … N82E16811129117

See those two USB ports on the front? They're held on by two very small and fragile plastic clips. Even when it was new I knew that they would break eventually, so I took action and proactively reinforced them with great globs of epoxy behind the panel. I'll never be able to remove those USB ports, but that's the point; I also won't be able to crack their attachments either.

Thanks for the info. I have several old computers with issues like this. Your solution sounds more practical than 3D printing a whole new part.

3D Printing is also a valid solution. If I had that resource available to me, my response may have been different.

I'm old and stuck (see what I did there?) in my ways.

Picked up these two from a neighbour, a Dell XPS Generation 5, and another containing a Celeron. I really like the Celeron case, something space retro about it. Yet to test or clean them