Editing Computer tower (section)

{{Short description|Computer case that stands vertically upright}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Falcon Northwest Talon.png|thumb|A mid-tower computer case from {{circa}} 2011]]
In [[personal computing]], a '''tower unit''', or simply a '''tower''', is a [[computer form factor|form factor]] of [[desktop computer|desktop]] [[computer case]] whose height is much greater than its width, thus having the appearance of an upstanding [[tower block]], as opposed to a traditional "[[pizza box form factor|pizza box]]" computer case whose width is greater than its height and appears lying flat.

Compared to a pizza box case, the tower tends to be larger and offers more potential for internal volume for the same desk area occupied, and therefore allows more [[computer hardware|hardware]] installation and theoretically better [[airflow]] for [[computer cooling|cooling]]. Multiple size subclasses of the tower form factor have been established to differentiate their varying sizes, including '''full-tower''', '''mid-tower''', '''midi-tower''', '''mini-tower''', and '''deskside'''; these classifications are however nebulously defined and inconsistently applied by different manufacturers.

Although the traditional layout for a tower system is to have the case placed on top of the desk alongside the [[computer monitor|monitor]] and other [[peripheral]]s, a far more common configuration is to place the case on the floor below the desk or in an under-desk compartment, in order to free up desktop space for other items.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Crossman | first=Craig | date=October 3, 1993 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/288565042/ | title=PC 'tower' configuration saves desktop space | journal=The Salt Lake Tribune | page=F5 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Computer systems housed in the horizontal "pizza box" form factor—once popularized by the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] in the 1980s but fallen out of mass use since the late 1990s—have been given the term ''desktops'' to contrast them with ''towers'' that are often situated under the desk.