[waldojim]

I know Rommel likes to paint/customize his own cases. But I am curious, who here customizes their own cases? Also, to what degree? Just different colored crap inside it (lights, fans, etc) or painting, or complete custom solutions. If you have pics, by all means, post them up!

Also, I am curious what you guys have found does or does NOT work. I am starting on the customization thing myself, having finally gotten a house, and I am looking for input. I have a 10 year old case that I cleaned up and repainted this week for the sake of getting used to the paint gun. Worked out well enough, quite bland though, and trying to figure out what more I can do to spruce things up. Will post pics later tonight (I hope! ).

[LiveBrianD]

To be honest, somehow I feel I would screw things up if I modded my case. It would be neat to mod a sidewindow into this though. I've thought about getting some LEDs, wiring them to a molex connector lying around, and putting them behind the fan grill so I can see the light from the outside. I haven't really bothered with any of this though. If I got front fans, I would consider LED ones, but I don't really need the extra cooling and noise.

[waldojim]

Eh, you haven't heard noise until you heard a ThermalTake 80mm 5000rpm fan!

[Rommel]

waldojim, on 01 March 2012 - 06:38 PM, said:

I know Rommel likes to paint/customize his own cases. But I am curious, who here customizes their own cases? Also, to what degree? Just different colored crap inside it (lights, fans, etc) or painting, or complete custom solutions. If you have pics, by all means, post them up!

Also, I am curious what you guys have found does or does NOT work. I am starting on the customization thing myself, having finally gotten a house, and I am looking for input. I have a 10 year old case that I cleaned up and repainted this week for the sake of getting used to the paint gun. Worked out well enough, quite bland though, and trying to figure out what more I can do to spruce things up. Will post pics later tonight (I hope! ).

LOL, I can spend time looking at cases at newegg and think of that same thing.
Customizing really makes a PC yours imo.

Perhaps 2 yrs ago I was given a pc that was prehistoric.
Gutted it then used it to practice my first side window install.
Found a simple shape here,
http://www.frozencpu..._-_Molding.html

Painted the interior red for the first time and liked it.
I feel brighter cases show the gear better though I did leave my Lian Li black.

Anyway, it was an interesting transformation for that old case.
Filled it with some laying around parts and some new inexspensive ones and sold it for $50 bucks.
Yeah, lost money but it helped the dude out.
Must admit I felt attached to it after those upgrades.

Anyway, maybe a side window WJ and or mount top fans in it.

Not sure what you plan on putting inside but this is the time to think of wire management and where a drilled hole may come in handy.
Grommets are cheap.

[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 01 March 2012 - 08:25 PM, said:

Eh, you haven't heard noise until you heard a ThermalTake 80mm 5000rpm fan!

Dang.. I have a 80mm thermaltake that's "only" 2900RPM and that thing is noisy as hell when running at the full 12V. It's too bad the temperature sensor broke on it.

[waldojim]

Rommel, on 01 March 2012 - 08:30 PM, said:

LOL, I can spend time looking at cases at newegg and think of that same thing.
Customizing really makes a PC yours imo.

Perhaps 2 yrs ago I was given a pc that was prehistoric.
Gutted it then used it to practice my first side window install.
Found a simple shape here,
http://www.frozencpu..._-_Molding.html

Painted the interior red for the first time and liked it.
I feel brighter cases show the gear better though I did leave my Lian Li black.

Anyway, it was an interesting transformation for that old case.
Filled it with some laying around parts and some new inexspensive ones and sold it for $50 bucks.
Yeah, lost money but it helped the dude out.
Must admit I felt attached to it after those upgrades.

Anyway, maybe a side window WJ and or mount top fans in it.

Not sure what you plan on putting inside but this is the time to think of wire management and where a drilled hole may come in handy.
Grommets are cheap.

Well, the little green machine is complete, at this time of morning I refuse to think long enough to post pics.

It is a very bright color, inside and out - as I said though, bland. A single color just doesn't work out well. The next machine I may do something different, like green/black or red/black. The green machine with the new mini-ATX board from Gigabyte leaves open just the right amount of space underneath to run the front panel wires, and fan connections. The wires are almost completely hidden, within the limits of the case and power supply anyhow. Due to how certain parts... well... glow, I decided to add in my lightning effect neon light as well. Over all, the effect is quite pleasing, and works well. Having a single hard drive, and DVD burner helps.

Sadly, being as old as this case is, I am missing a few parts to make it look complete. Also, the window in the side is a tad gay. I didn't really think about how bad a giant flower looked in the side of the case when it was silver. Now that it is green on the other hand, that story changes.

I was quite surprised though, to see how much more I like how they machine looks. Even with the meager parts in there, I get the feeling I will end up using this sucker way too much now. Partially because now it is my machine, in the sense that I have done more than just throw parts together.

Anyhow, always good for more feedback. I have more plans for the green machine, will talk about them later after I figure out how to even pull them off!

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 01 March 2012 - 08:38 PM, said:

waldojim, on 01 March 2012 - 08:25 PM, said:

Eh, you haven't heard noise until you heard a ThermalTake 80mm 5000rpm fan!

Dang.. I have a 80mm thermaltake that's "only" 2900RPM and that thing is noisy as hell when running at the full 12V. It's too bad the temperature sensor broke on it.

Their big boys are bright orange, and as I recall peak at 48Db. Needless to say, I keep all of mine on an external control.

Ah: here it is. That fan is what I used on the Thermal Take Volcano 9 CPU cooler in the AMD Athlon - XP days. Mean little suckers. But at 77CFM, they can't be beat in the 80mm market.

[waldojim]

IMAG0066 by waldojim42


IMAG0063 by waldojim42

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 01 March 2012 - 07:12 PM, said:

To be honest, somehow I feel I would screw things up if I modded my case. It would be neat to mod a sidewindow into this though. I've thought about getting some LEDs, wiring them to a molex connector lying around, and putting them behind the fan grill so I can see the light from the outside. I haven't really bothered with any of this though. If I got front fans, I would consider LED ones, but I don't really need the extra cooling and noise.

Hey, I have a 200 mm Fan in front ( w/ blue LEDs ) and it is quiet.

[coastie65]

Hey wj, Green ??? It looks like Chartreuse to me. Not bad though. Looks good. With that vent design and the color, I would heve to agree with your assessment.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 04 March 2012 - 07:15 AM

[Rommel]

Cool, we get to see it.

First thought would be the color choice but looking at it more it really is a good choice.
Common colors sometimes equals common results so your pc is unique and looks good.

My knock to it would be the fan color and grill.
The green and orange clash imo.
And the grill is bland for a custom case.
The grill doesn't cover the opening properly so a gap is visible center of each side of the fan opening.
I think a clear fan would work better with one of these grills.
http://www.frozencpu...ills-Page1.html
Next to the bottom is the alien head in a web that, imo, would work better.

Where is the rest of the front bezel?
What parts can you not fit in?
A card reader?

Maybe this will help somehow.
My Lian Li didn't come with any provision for a 3.5 device, except the internal drive bay.
Instead of paying for it being the case was expensive enough.
I used a section of the bezel, laid it out, then used a dremel to make my own.
http://s18.photobuck...=3point5mod.jpg
Luckily I had the 5 1/4-3.5 adapter in my spare parts box.

I like your neon lighting inside the case, looks like an ideal amount of light without being too strong.
Looking forward to where you what to take this.
You're off to a great start.

This post has been edited by Rommel: 04 March 2012 - 09:20 AM

[waldojim]

coastie65, on 04 March 2012 - 07:13 AM, said:

Hey wj, Green ??? It looks like Chartreuse to me. Not bad though. Looks good. With that vent design and the color, I would heve to agree with your assessment.

I was shooting for Nvidia green at the time... still, I actually like the color. I didn't know how the blue lights would work out, but the actually blend in nicely. Not that I had a lot of choice, the 8800 has blue lights on the fans...

[waldojim]

Rommel, on 04 March 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Cool, we get to see it.

First thought would be the color choice but looking at it more it really is a good choice.
Common colors sometimes equals common results so your pc is unique and looks good.

Which is exactly why I went with something loud if you will. It was silver before. I don't really want black either.

Quote

My knock to it would be the fan color and grill.
The green and orange clash imo.
And the grill is bland for a custom case.
The grill doesn't cover the opening properly so a gap is visible center of each side of the fan opening.
I think a clear fan would work better with one of these grills.
http://www.frozencpu...ills-Page1.html
Next to the bottom is the alien head in a web that, imo, would work better.

As for the fan color, again, like with the 8800gt, I don't get a whole lot of choice. This fan is one of the few 80mm fans I have, and happens to be the ThermalTake Smart Fan 2. All of which came in Orange... I opted to use it there, because my other 80mm fan has all the rubberized mounts for the back of the case. Now one of the unique results of this fan, is that the alien eyes actually appear to move around, and the label actually gives it an iris and pupil. This is something that will be near impossible to grab in a picture.

However, I would have to agree, clear would have been my fan of choice. As this case is still being worked on, I may yet get one.

Quote

Where is the rest of the front bezel?
What parts can you not fit in?
A card reader?

That is 90% of the bezel. This case has 4x 5.25" bays, and at one point they were all in use... Not so much anymore. Please remember that this box is 10 years old, moved to three states, and 2 countries. Parts got lost!

Quote

Maybe this will help somehow.
My Lian Li didn't come with any provision for a 3.5 device, except the internal drive bay.
Instead of paying for it being the case was expensive enough.
I used a section of the bezel, laid it out, then used a dremel to make my own.
http://s18.photobuck...=3point5mod.jpg
Luckily I had the 5 1/4-3.5 adapter in my spare parts box.

I like your neon lighting inside the case, looks like an ideal amount of light without being too strong.
Looking forward to where you what to take this.
You're off to a great start.

To be frank, there are just a couple more things I am going to try with this, then move on to the new case. This green machine was my learning experience. I know a bit more now than I did before. I also know what paint to avoid (I could shoot that person at Home Depot that told me to use this stuff). For the moment, I want to treat it for what it is, this is not, and likely won't be a completed project any time soon. However, I want to try my hand at a few things to try and complete the next project. For an experiment, and the first time (EVER) using a freaking high pressure paint gun, I think this worked out well.

Next time, I use Oil based paint though.

Edit: Thank you for the feedback! I love constructive criticism.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 04 March 2012 - 12:26 PM

[LiveBrianD]

Nice, though I think it's a bit too bright. I like having my antec 300 case quietly tucked away, out of sight, out of mind, and since it's black that helps.

As it is, I have a project going right now. I bought a cheap little fountain, modified it so I can stick it in my birdbath outside, and am probably going to get a solar panel or two for it. Of course, since I'm using really cheap parts (the fountain was $6 at CVS, for instance), I have to question how long this'll last for.

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 04 March 2012 - 12:56 PM, said:

Nice, though I think it's a bit too bright. I like having my antec 300 case quietly tucked away, out of sight, out of mind, and since it's black that helps.

As it is, I have a project going right now. I bought a cheap little fountain, modified it so I can stick it in my birdbath outside, and am probably going to get a solar panel or two for it. Of course, since I'm using really cheap parts (the fountain was $6 at CVS, for instance), I have to question how long this'll last for.

Hey Brian, Speaking of which, I saw a pic you had posted of your computer in that cubby hole. That didn't look too good for good air flow in there.

[LiveBrianD]

It's not a big deal. The CPU idles at 25-30C (the fan's only running at 950RPM right now btw), hits 45-50C under load (I reverted back to stock and lowered the voltage a little bit because I didn't notice much performance improvement when OC'd, plus it was very noisy under load), the chipset is at 30C right now, case at 25C. Someday (a few hundred years from now), I'll get around to disassembling the desk and removing the cover in the back of it so that I don't need the front door on it to be open.

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 04 March 2012 - 12:56 PM, said:

Nice, though I think it's a bit too bright. I like having my antec 300 case quietly tucked away, out of sight, out of mind, and since it's black that helps.

I was going for bright! I went ahead and decided to go with a bright green as it is running mainly Nvidia parts - so my little tribute if you will. It also helps me to see what I have done correctly, and what I need to work on.

For what it is worth, this is just my test bed. My main won't be nearly as ostentatious. Though I hope it will still be impressive.

Quote

As it is, I have a project going right now. I bought a cheap little fountain, modified it so I can stick it in my birdbath outside, and am probably going to get a solar panel or two for it. Of course, since I'm using really cheap parts (the fountain was $6 at CVS, for instance), I have to question how long this'll last for.

My little fountain pump was $30 and used for liquid cooling!

You would be surprised though. The cheap pumps I have dealt with have all done pretty well. I used them for several years before getting rid of them. Though, I did not use them for their intended purpose. I used them in my salt water fish tank to give the fish a bit of under current. Nothing strong mind you, just enough to do the job.

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 04 March 2012 - 02:18 PM, said:

It's not a big deal. The CPU idles at 25-30C (the fan's only running at 950RPM right now btw), hits 45-50C under load (I reverted back to stock and lowered the voltage a little bit because I didn't notice much performance improvement when OC'd, plus it was very noisy under load), the chipset is at 30C right now, case at 25C. Someday (a few hundred years from now), I'll get around to disassembling the desk and removing the cover in the back of it so that I don't need the front door on it to be open.

That part comes after the PC's are done. I intend to build a completely custom shelf/cabinet for the PC's and the audio gear. Something that can handle my chaotic nature.

[coastie65]

Well, it will be easy to find.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 04 March 2012 - 04:09 PM

[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 04 March 2012 - 03:31 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 04 March 2012 - 12:56 PM, said:

Nice, though I think it's a bit too bright. I like having my antec 300 case quietly tucked away, out of sight, out of mind, and since it's black that helps.

I was going for bright! I went ahead and decided to go with a bright green as it is running mainly Nvidia parts - so my little tribute if you will. It also helps me to see what I have done correctly, and what I need to work on.

For what it is worth, this is just my test bed. My main won't be nearly as ostentatious. Though I hope it will still be impressive.

Quote

As it is, I have a project going right now. I bought a cheap little fountain, modified it so I can stick it in my birdbath outside, and am probably going to get a solar panel or two for it. Of course, since I'm using really cheap parts (the fountain was $6 at CVS, for instance), I have to question how long this'll last for.

My little fountain pump was $30 and used for liquid cooling!

You would be surprised though. The cheap pumps I have dealt with have all done pretty well. I used them for several years before getting rid of them. Though, I did not use them for their intended purpose. I used them in my salt water fish tank to give the fish a bit of under current. Nothing strong mind you, just enough to do the job.

Doesn't this mean you'll need to paint the entire case red if you put an ati graphics card in it then?

I'm probably going to have this running just during the day when the sun is out (remember, solar panels) to attract birds (I already have a big container slowly dripping into the bird bath to prevent the water from becoming stagnant, preventing mosquitos from being attracted to it). I hate how radioshack has such a big markup on some things - it's probably cheaper for me to buy something from dollar tree that has solar panels and then rip the solar panels out of it than buy solar panels from radioshack!

On a side note, how do you get fish to live long? I've only managed to get fish to live for 3 weeks at best, yet had a guinea pig that lived to over 5 years and have a rat that's 2 years old right now and still doing well (I had 2 from the same litter, but one died at around 1.5 years.).