I know some people think case mods are a waste of time, so I decided to post a couple of links to either irritate people or make them giddy... Doom III Case Mod Half-Life 2 Case Mod Tell me what you think.
I find it to be fun, and when done right, there are some awesome cases around. With the pre-modded cases having some really lame exterior looks (see most RAIDmax and Thermaltake Xasers, for example), having a nice case with a mod that someone took the time to do is great to see. While I'm not a Half-Life freak (I enjoy the series, but my life doesn't revolve around it), that HL2 case is one of my favorites.
Yes alot of cases out their look very nice, and are great fun and all, but why bother? The only people who are going to see it on a regular basis are yourselves or close friends or family... Alot of time/energy/money is waisted on modifcations like this - but for what? to boast on a enthusiasts forum about how "l337" and "ub3r" your case looks? - To gain respect amongst Cyber Friends? or to impress real-life friends.. either way, if your friends are all going to enjoy looking at your amaizng new case and the energy and time you've spent on it.. I would really be very worried However, after my little personal rant on stupid modifications - however good they look, i do believe it's down to personal choice and preferance. Personally i don't like computers with Side Panel Windows, Lights / Hundreds of panels - cheap design.. I like a good quality case, thats firm, sturdy, good quality and doesn't vibrate, these elements usually mean- Less noise, less vibration and less heat. My case isn't fantastic i brought a cheap o case just to get me by but when i get back from abroad i'll buy myself aload of new stuff and update my pc to a good "current" spec, or build myself a new one.. .. abit of subject but why do people stick more than 2 case fans in their computer? - their's no need, all it does is increase the CFM of air flow in the case and hugely increase the noise.. 2 x Silent Good High Quality Fans / Good High Quality Silent PSU / Acoustic Matting / Good Silent HSF(CPU&GPU) and your all go - Nice neat / clean / tidy case's with good wiring.
Yes but after saying that u've gotta say modded cases look really cool. Mine came with all the lights so i didnt put energy into it and it looks cool. Was only £45 too
What I really think are neat are some of the SFF mods with people cramming a watercooling setup into the thing and having very little outside the little box. There are some mods that are just tacky, just like guys that put huge fins on their Cavalier or Civic. I'd also like to add the NZXT Guardian cases to the list of fugly/tacky entries. They wouldn't be so bad if they didn't have the Transformer front to it, but they do.
Modded case's are like Rude Boy Racers - The majority are merely wannabe "Boy Racers", and their cars are all modded up - resprayed with all the decals / alloys / illuminous lights, with a great sound system with 2 much bass.. However the cars that have had this done to them are usually no more than a 1.0-1.4 Litre Renault Clio or Ford Fiesta. It's the same with the majority of case mods or premodded cases. I'd personally rather have a simple looking case ie a case with no modifications (not even Windowed Side Panels), thats of very good high quality build, made out of good material. Instead of some cheap - "almost plastic" premodded case with tacky lights. Ie i'd rather spend the extra and buy myself a new Renault Clio than buy a 2+ Year old Renault Clio and add alloys, paint jobs, racing tyres, exhausts.. and especially filters.. filters are merely what crap cars have been installed with so that they sound louder, instead of sounding like a hair drier.. I'd rather have good quality and great presentation, than some tacky piece of shite thats not actually earning me anything.. let alone respect.
The amount of case fans that help is based on the amount of intake your chasis provides. If you have a lot of capacity for intake, a lot of exhaust isn't a waste because you are actually moving a lot of air. Therefore, you are actually pushing more hot air out and pulling more cool air in.
Fred's right. Moving more BTUs generally means better cooling, provided the airflow is going in the right direction. The amount of fans are not important; it's the amount of air they're actually moving. If your system is not ventilating fast enough, heat will continue to accumulate until it gets completely saturated and cooling becomes ineffective. This is especially previlent in systems with lots of HDDs. Your system must vent the same amount of heat your components are generating just to prevent overheating, and it must vent more heat than they're generating to actually cool the system.
I think both are really impressive, maybe a little too showy for my taste though. I guess if you have a bunch of time, plenty of tools and knowledge, a sweet idea in mind, and bragging rights are important to you than I can understand case modding. A lot of people think of their computer like a car they never had, sounds weird but with both you like to keep them running properly and efficiently, you want them to look as spiffy as you can (usually anyway), and some like to tinker around and show their buddies what THEY did on their own (sort of like unnecessary overclocking, think P4 3.8Ghz to 4.4Ghz, Is that really needed?). Still, I imagine it feels pretty cool to walk down to you computer in the morning and admire what you did to make it look that way.
I want one of them LCD displays on the front of my case. They look cool, but they're no good if you PC's low down.
My last post i suspect didn't get my point across clearly - I totally agree with you and understand these factors, i just think that there are better ways of air&cool management in a computer than sticking hundreds of loud cheap fans in My point was that for instance, Addis/Boland or Ninja with his 7 fans, i can almost guarantee that for alittle bit more cash he could have equal if not better cooling, and a considerably more quiet computer. Silent Fans with great CFM's cost quiet alot compared to noisy fans that do the same CFM for 99p or $2.. where as a good silent fan will cost you $20-$30 / £6-15. Which may seem alot, but the fans are better quality, have a longer life, are MUCH quieter, and produce equal if not better CFM. None the less, i personally think case mods (big one's such as the DOOM 3 or HL2 cases are very cool, just abit extreme, sad, and over the top, and above all "a waste of time". It does cost more, but my point is that you can get better quality cooling, without the noise for slightly more.. This post isn't a rant, so appologies if it's coming across as that, as it's not :good: I'm a strong believer in getting the BEST cooling out of your system with MINIMUM noise
Well I wasn't exactly swimming in money when I built mine. The case came with 2 fans, one intake and exhaust. They're quite loud on their own. Then I got a slightly quieter and better Coolermaster one, then also with the cheap, but pretty good HSF fan also adds up, with my PSU also having 2 fans, not loud but 2 fans add to it. Then I've got my HD noise, graphics card fan, DVD driive spinning when in use and the occasional vibrations. I wasn't really thinking of noise when i was buying parts, just hoping that they would work. And it was only when I put it all together and started it did i realise how noisy it really was.
