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The Best Case Mods From 2010
arcticstoat writes "Who says PC modding is dead? UK tech site bit-tech has rounded up the best case mods of the year, showcasing an incredible amount of innovation, skill and craftsmanship. From a PC made of concrete to a replica of a Cray-1 chassis to an Art Deco style wooden radio, these are just amazing pieces of work."
I am sick and tired of gamer-looking cases, loud fans (even my Antec Sonatas are louder than I'd like), and uber-bright blue LEDs. To me the ultimate case mod would involve:
I like running certain cables under the motherboard, so I beg to differ with the folks above who hate it. I have a better idea to make everybody happy though: instead of the motherboard mount being a flat plate, why not make a chassis with a steel or forged aluminum spaceframe, and as far as EMF rejection/ground plane/etc. are concerned, the stamped steel or aluminum chassis will handle shielding? That way, the back/bottom side of the motherboard remains accessible which allows for easy servicing in the event you do want to run cables under the board, and CPU heatsinks will be much, much easier to swap. This would hold doubly true for servers; make a sort of a space subframe assembly which can be removed to service systems more easily.It would be kind of like some of Inwin's and Enlight's from the '90s, but with sturdier and more open construction to make the back side of the heatsink mounts fully acccessible.
The case should not intrude on my bedroom, living room, or any other room any more than a box of tissues. In other words, while it doesn't have to win Martha Stewart's approval, let's try to make it so it will be right at home regardless of decor, kind of like a set top box. I don't want to notice the case at all; all I want is enough space inside to house the components, enough quiet airflow to keep it cool, indicator lights to be very dim, and easy access to a DVD or Blu-Ray drive. It should be nondescript so the only time I notice it is if I need to insert a disc. As an HTPC it should be quiet and fit well into a living room, and as a productivity PC in my bedroom, it should be quiet and not have bright search lights for power or HDD activity indicators. Don't get me wrong - blue LEDs are cool. I love blue LEDs. However, like the old blink tag years ago, and HDR in photography, blue LEDs are everywhere now, are over-used and mis-used in so many ways that I don't care to see another one for quite a while.
I don't want to even think about the chassis until it's time to insert an optical disc, or to service the unit. Otherwise, the case should be unnoticeable.
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good.. you go drive your electric go-cart, while the rest of us performance nuts will stick to our 600hp big iron.. Try upgrading/overclocking/configuring that laptop-on-a-stand and you'll see why some people still prefer the larger form factors. stock OEM machines from apple/dell et al come with shitty stripped down hardware to fatten bottom lines. they really aren't worth the price charged for them.
Case modding is still interesting to those still interested. The times have changed due to demand. Back when case modding was widespread, it was mainly because your computer case came in two or three options: Beige, Tan, or Ugly.
Nowadays, you can buy an aesthetically-interesting molded plastic case, for $40. Hell, they practically shove the clear plexi windows and LEDs down your throat. I had to go out of my way to get a full-featured case with good quality, but still a nondescript black-box appearance. (The CoolerMaster Centurion series are good for this. Nice, light, cool semi-mesh build, without stupid side windows and crap.)
Case modding has become less of a hardcore-computer-geek past time, and more of an artist-who-likes-computers-too concentration. Look at some of the hardware specs of the systems these cases were built around; they're lackluster, old tech. Nowadays you can build a quad-core AMD AM3 3Ghz setup, with 16GB DDR3-1333 RAM, SATA III, USB 3.0, a 1TB WD:Black drive at 7200rpm and 64MB cache, and an Antec 640watt PSU - all for $525 from Newegg.com, shipped. One would think they could at least come up to par on these hardware specs, if they have the time and money to spend on the external pretties.
I mean, there's even this kickass antique-lookalike case from Red Wood for the people that want something Steampunk. It's $120 on Newegg, but can be purchased new from other online retailers for $89. I have a hard time convincing myself it's even worth the 2 hours to mod up cases for water cooling purposes anymore.
So, in tl;dr summary: Case modding isn't really about the geeks anymore. It's about the artists who like tech.
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You know, I used to think that too, but the last time I built a machine I bought a CoolerMaster Storm at MicroCenter that was marked down because it was scuffed. Man, having a nice case really made every part of the build more pleasant. It's not a crazy-expensive case to begin with, but it's really well made and it has a nice sturdy handle on top and a great canted panel on the top-front with eSata and USB and audio. It's easy to clean the dustbunnies out without having to take everything apart and open the case, too, which is great. There's lots of room inside and except for one audio jack connector that I would have like to be a little longer, it was well thought out with the builder in mind. You don't need tools to do stuff and there are no sharp edges to cut up your hands.
I plan on figuring the extra few bucks that a decent case costs into all of my future builds.
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