Is case modding dead?

[ablumski]

Curious how many of you in here are actively modifying your setups beyond just RGB fans. Anyone doing custom decals, paint jobs, or entirely custom layouts? I'm talking internal, external, or even on wall mounts.

 

[BeeP]

There is a full section where folk are doing exactly this mate, some amazing custom builds to be seen in there.

Look in the project logs section.

 

[ablumski]

Yep the logs in there are great, but I was hoping to start a bit of a general discussion here about non-standard materials. Seems like 90% of the market is just identical glass boxes now. Are you running a standard case or have you ventured into the custom stuff?

 

[Grim5]

Why would it be dead?

Cases are still cheap

The hardware that goes inside is expensive but the case is still cheap

 

[ablumski]

Spot on. You can grab a case for under £80 now that has perfect airflow and glass right out of the box.

But because the factory engineering is so good now, there's no practical need to cut them up. That convenience is exactly why standard case modding—custom paint, dremel work, unique front panels—seems to have died off.

I'm looking at doing some regular case mods, as well as entirely custom open-air and wall mounts, just to break away from the identical glass boxes everyone has.

Do you stick to stock towers, or do you ever tweak the aesthetics?

 

[BeeP]

Stock towers for me now, I’ve been building for 25-30 years now so I guess apathy has taken me.
When I was water cooling case mods were common place, from dremel mods to making side panels or light boxes on the cnc I’ve done loads of things, now my standard case gets shoved out of sight so I’m probably not the best to answer this.
The project logs section has a bit of everything, from standard case builds to full on custom cases, well worth reading through.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Cases are much better than they used to be as well.

Where you could get some cooling performance gain, and/or aesthetics gains back in the day, now there isn't as much benefit.

 

[ATIorNvidia]

The bulk of case modding back in the day was drilling holes for extra case fans or acrylic side windows, not as necessary nowadays.

 

[Mr Evil]

I used to do case modding, but not any more. Now I just build whole cases to meet my specifications from the start so they don't need modding.

 

[SpudMaster]

I guess modding in the sense of doing it so stuff fits is mostly dead. Like back in the day I used to cut my cases so I could fix extra radiators but nowadays cases that can fit 3 or more rads are readily available off the shelf.

 

[Brackish]

Custom cases via 3d printing is a great option. With a modern 3d printer the accuracy is not an issue and it's more how you design it.