Case hackin project

Hey guys.
I just took delivery of a case i bought on Ebay today.
Dispite the seller being sloooooooooowww to deliver, it was a good deal (and a bargain).
Case is in VERY good nick (better than expected), being only 3 months old, looks like its hardly been used.
I cant seem to locate a brand on it, but its looks pretty much the same as the more costy AOpen cases, so Im assuming its a OEM clone.
Its a great case, good and sturdy, attractive, lots of room inside for working (and fans), swingout Mobo holder thingy, and all the dooda's.
Anyway Ive decided that this case looks to sweet and innocent....it needs to be cut up
Basically its a wideish mid tower, standard 3 X 5 and 2 X 3 (External) 1 X 3 (Internal) drive bay job, nothing special.....yet.
Im lookin for YOUR ideas people, be creative.

Hear from ya soon.

Simo

[Omega]

Well, I guess it's kind of a matter of what you're going for, and how much time/money you're willing to invest.  You could go for a techy look, or a more artsy look.  That will kind of depend on what your style is.  Also, there's a whole bunch of really cool things that you can do, but that take a lot of skill and time.

Basically, I'd suggest modding it for cooling, color, and a window of some sort.  A 5 1/2" bay fanbus would be pretty cool, but then again, there isn't a massive amount of room for fans.  A front lower intake, a top rear output, and a processor duct would be my main choices.  A glossy black finish is really nice, in my opinion, but that, again, takes a long time with all the recommended steps.  A plexi-glass window on the side of a case can also really add to the appearance of a case when done right.  If your case is extremely crowded and messy, a window won't look very nice.  Remember, you want a window so you can show off your 1337 system, not your mess.  Also, sometimes if you want some extra flash to your system, instead of just a standard rectangualr window, windows integrated into some sort of design can look really really nice.  A light of some sort inside your case can accent a window as well.

Once you make a few decisions about what you're going for, and how much you're willing to invest as far as time and money then it's time to start with more specifics.

K heres what ive decided to go for so far.

A window of some sort as none of my PC's have one and I feel the need.
Blow holes of some description.
Pretty lights..
Ill post some more ideas as they come.

[Omega]

Also, it could be helpful for us to know what stuff is going to be in the case.  For example, what drives you'll have, how many IDE / SCSI cables you'll have, how many/which cards you'll have.  If you're going to have a bunch of drives, and some big cards, we might want to focus more on cooling, with design taking second priority.

yeah i might help
Cooling always takes priority, but it can still be pretty.
1 x EIDE HDD
2 X CD ROM (one is a burner)
1 X FDD
Athlon OC'ed
SB Live
A new vid card (prob GF2 Ultra)
and assorted bits and pieces

[Omega]

While this doesn't exactly pertain to case modding, if you're gonna go with a window, I'd highly recommend either buying rounded cables or making your own, unless you can do something this cool.

I would definatly recomend rounded cables they allow better airflow(that is the point if you want to add fans to your case) and they look awfully sweet if you get the right colors. I just aquired some a coupl;e months back and i wouldnt trade them for anything.(except a xp1800)   Oh by the way im new to these forms so wassup everyone!

Hey knight.
Yeah rounded cables look cool, however Ive heard that they are bad for performance cuz the wires touch one another (they dont in a normal cable).
Ill see if I can sig up some links.

This could be a problem IF the wires were not insulated (which the production versions are) so it doesnt matter if they touch each other.  The wires never actually touch just the plastic insulation. JFYI

[Omega]

Interestingly enough, the thread to which I had previously provided a link had a similar debate about the integrity of rounded cables.  You can read it for yourself here.  I think the basic decision (with which I agree) was that there is a possibility of problems when cables are rounded manually, but with industry-rounded cables there should be no difference.  I'd never trust myself to round cables right, so once I get around to it I'll probably buy a few from that other page to which I linked.

Knight1976: It's always nice to see a new face around here, and hopefully you'll become a familliar face around here too .