Modding a case - need newbie tips ^^;

[Nagoshi]

YEa I know. what I wanted to do fast was to take shots of my computer, and my drawing. but normally I take my time to make it works the way I want.

And no I dont live near Ottawa, sadly. I live in Drummondville, which is kinda between Quebec and Montreal.

Im wondering what it would looks like on my case if the fan intake is off-center.

Since I am probably going to get a new computer soon, I just told myself ''instead of buying a new case, I could use this one if it alreasy has a nice customized air cooling'' so Im thinking about making it looks damn cool. altho I dont want to spend $$$ on it, I think I can get something to work and stand nice for cheap.

Ive got a link to the Extreme OverClocking forums where I found shots of a guy that had the same case as me (but black) and modded it kinda. Keep in mind that he got the same tower as me, which means he actually made new holes to make his fan centered.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=211201

If the link doesnt work, or if you need to be logged in to see this, just tell me and Ill take the link of the shots and post them there.

[Nagoshi]

No replies eh... So what youre recommending me to do? keeping the front fan off-center and make a blow hole in the front panel? or just drill bigger holes in the holes that are already made (but doesnt flow much air right now)? Ill surely buy a new fan soon when Ill have the cash. It shouldnt cost alot...

[jdbnsn]

Please be patient as some questions aren't answered for days. As for the pics, I couldn't see them, I think you need to be a member to view them. Got any other pictures to see?

[Nagoshi]

You couldnt see the pictures...? Strange, cause I see them. I would post them on my FTP but I have port problems with my computer/internet/modem/firewall and can't seem to access FTP (I try to locate an FTP port when I get an error but they vary from 5001 to 5xxx and 61xxx to 6xxxx.. ill think bout something).

Pictures are in page 1 in this thread.

I was thinking about using a red-lighted theme for lights and maybe a black/silver theme for painting if I ever paint the whole thing. I would have took blue, I still have to think about it anyway, can'T seem to decide myself over blue and red.

[jdbnsn]

Maybe before you go any further you should take a step back and decide overall what you goal is here. If you want to keep the case for a new system, then I recommend not holding back and design the best possible case that suits you, whether it is a theme or just a facelift and that will probably help you decide where the fan should be. But if you are wondering if it would be too hard to move, then I would say no, very easy. So without knowing what your final product is supposed to look like, it's hard for others to form an opinion of this nature I think.

[Slug Toy]

jdbnsn has it pretty much right. im having a bit of trouble visualizing what you can do with what you have. i for one like to draw a lot before i decide on something final (i think i went through at least 10 ideas for my zanzibar mod).

what i would like to see (key word being "I", i dont speak for everyone) is a nice scale drawing, or at least something clean and representative. i found it hard to look at all the arrows slapped on your pictures. i read best in blueprint form.

i might be able to help with colours though. im the resident designer at my house as well (i have experience in almost everything these days). you would want to go with blue if you dont want the case to be too eye-catching, because it would blend with the green of your desk. if you want the case to really stand out, go with red because its the opposite of green on the colour chart. as for silver, it works with a lot of things, so dont worry about making changes to it.

personally, id like to see you do a silver and dark cobalt blue combo, because those colours look so good together. cobalt and ultra pure white is a second best. add in some dull blue lighting, and you've got a very interesting scene happening.

so heres what you have to do:

-finalize where you want to go with your case (stucture, airflow, colour, everything)
-draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, oh, and draw some more
-walk away for a few hours, and then come back and critique your own work
-let us know when you're happy with what you came up with

[Nagoshi]

I may try to draw a sample of my case and ''mod'' it the way I want, the prob is that I dont know how to use Photoshop for 3d realisations. I would draw it but, no scanners. I may simply draw it and scan it at a friend's house.

Basically my ides is to make my case look better and having a better airflow. I may sleeve my PSU cables with some black plastic cable sleeving (you know, the stuff that is cut in the half and you dont need to open your PSU and sleeve all the cables one by one)

I finally managed to access my FTP so no more imageshack! Ive got an inside shot of my Pentium3 :

Its kind of a mess, I have 5 large IDE cables (all used) and no sleeving and nothing. I just remembered my front panel has some breathing holes under it, I feel air moving there so I remembered the fan takes its air from the bottom. But still, the front panel block alot of air from entering, I felt the air blowing in the computer with and without the panel and there's a big difference.

I also have shots of another (there is a blown off Pentium4 in it) cheaper case, I may as well use this one and mod it. The ideas are still moving in my head, Ill have to focus on one thing. This P4 case got NO airflow hole in the front, and there is an USB panel that may interfere with a blowhole. Ill have to take some measurement on this one.

I dont like the design of the case, but I could mod this one to some nice case, since it already have USB and headphone/microphone imputs in the front. Somethng for sure, if I mod this case, I will paint it.

Ill think more about it today, Ill also sketch my idea of my P4 case on a sheet of paper and Ill try to take a photo of the sketching if my webcam/camera will allow it.. X_X

[Nagoshi]

Thought about the whole thing, if I am going to mod something, it will be the second case (the Pentium4 case). I was thinking about using a dark tainted plexi (but not opaque, so it can hide my beige case and drives but let the LED indicators show themselves, even if they do not bright alot, as long as I can see my DVD drive is spinning its okay) to cover all of the 5.25'' bays, cut all of them so I can ''stick'' each 5.25 tainted plexi on each 5.25 bays so when I open my DVD drive the tainted plexi moves with it. I forgot where this project was located in these forums, but Ill try to find it back.

Since the power and reset buttons are in the way of the fan, 3 choices are offere to me:
1. Move the original casing buttons in another place on the front panel, meaning Ill have to make a big round front blowhole.
2. Cut all the part where the fan and buttons/LED are placed, put a new panel there, get new buttons and stick them elsewhere and making a front intake shaped the way I want.
3. Leave all the buttons there and make a weird-shaped intake.

I was also thinking about removing all the grey panels on the side of the front panel and replacing them with plexis, and putting the buttons there. Maybe Ill add some lighting there to make an effect with my front fan.

Ill find a way to draw something that would show what I want to do with my case.

[Slug Toy]

oh, for the project with the plexi on the disc drives, i think you mean tribal's blackout mod. go check it out if you havent found it already.

ill wait for your pictures before i say anything more.

[Nagoshi]

Yeah it was Tribal's Blackout mod. now I remember it. Ill take a look to it again just to be sure.

I hate my camera. Its a logitech clocksmart 420, and its first use is a webcam. It cant take clear pictures. Anyway Ill try to take a good shot of my Pentium4 case (the one with the ugly grey bar on the side of the front panel)

And I dont have any programs for blueprinting/3d rendering except Photoshop CS2 9.0 and I cant use it at its full power right now (lets say I dont know how to use it) so maybe if someone could find me a drawing tool on computer except paint and photoshop, thanks alot

Ill try to get something done with Photoshop, but I am not sure of the resulting.

Yay! After like 5 minutes of taking shots with my noob camera I finally got some interesting pose :

3
Its showing the case's and cover's front panels both side by side. We can see the power/reset buttons and the USB panel are blocking the way to the fan grill (80mm fan). And I looked thru the front panel's back carefully, and I noticed the only airflow the front fan could get, was from the holes for the USB and headphone/mic holes that are larger than the plugs... Pathetic.

Okay so my plexi idea was to : cover each 5.25 slots so when I open my CD drive the panel moves with it (like in blackout mod, except I didnt had time to look thru the thread) and surely using more plexi around the corner to replace the grey corners of the front panel. I could then cut the front panel as much as I want and the mod it the way I want. I would also place the buttons/LEDs and USB/headphone/mic plugs in these corners. That way I would have all the space I want for the modding.

Gotta go for now, my bro wants the ocmputer, Ill try to draw something until then.