Aug 19 2006, 11:16 PM, updated 20y ago
I see in this and other forums many questions that I faced myself when I take up modding, and I obtained many answers and help from the internet, so I thought maybe it is time I contribute my own experiences. Here is my take on PC modding.
Nowadays, I do mostly utilitarian mods, i.e., for better cooling or better acoustic, rather than aesthetics. In other words, its ugly but it is cool and quiet
For example, below are a simple mod I just completed. It is an old ICute casing for my dual-CPU A7M266-D motherboard. It is an old workhorse now, but it was state of the art when I bought it. It have 2 Athlon MP 2000 CPU, 2 GB of registered RAM and 2 x 120 GB HDD. It also has 2 x DVD-RW drives, and 6 x 80mm fans. The PC was exhibiting PSU problems in that sometimes it cannot detect the 2nd HDD, and I suspect that the PSU cannot deliver enough juice to the 2nd PSU. Since this is an old motherboard, I have problems finding a replacement PSU.
So I take the PC apart and gave it a good cleaning after 2 years of accumulated dust. Rather than trying to source a new suitable PSU, I decided to add a 2nd bay at the bottom and put in an old 2nd PSU to support all the fans and the none-critical drives. This way, with decrease demand on the PSU, I should be able to get another few years of use. The picture below show the molexs I added to the ICute casing for when my 2nd PSU bay is ready.
Since I am doing all this, I decided to optimized all the fans. The front of the casing has 4 x 80mm intake fans, and the back has another 2 x 80mm. Together with the dual CPU, and 2 other fans inside the PSU, the machine sound like a jet engine when switch on. It really was a bit too much.
So I decided to get rid of the 4 x 80mm fan and replace it with 1 x 120mm fan instead. To do this, I have to cut a new hole at the center of the existing 80mm fan bays. The new 120mm was then mounted on a rubber gasket.
The front plastic bezels have only teeny weeny slots (something which I never understand) so I decided to cut a blowhole in the plastic for better airflow. The problem is that the power and reset switch sits right smack in the middle of the bezel. Therefore, to minimized the amount of workm I simply cut around the switches and create an U-shaped blowhole.
To improve the air-intake further, I add an extra 120mm fan on top of the case. The fan was again mounted on rubber gasket, with an air-filter and fan-guard. My rationale for such a high proportion of intakes is that I rather have intakes through my filters, rather than have negative pressure inside my casing and draw unfiltered air inside my casing. Secondly, I insulated my casing with rubber and foam, which seals up a lot of gaps so negative pressure will not work anyway.
For better acoustics, all the fans, including the ones inside the PSU are remounted either on gaskets or rubber washers. For example, the top 120mm fan was mounted on rubber gaskets, and foam was fitted into the top of the 3.5" bays. Foam was added to the bottom and side panels as well.
A. Essential tools
1. Jigsaw
This is a good tool for cutting large openings like side panels, but it is essential that the right blades are used and the panel properly supported.
It is panel is not properly supported or if you are using thin aluminium panels, it is possible that if the blade catch during the cutting operation it will warp your panel. Also, it is difficult to get a good smooth precison cut from a jigsaw, which is why I use this tools only when I have to, which is for large openings which will take too much time and effort using a Dremel. One should be prepared to do a lot of finishing work using files and sandpaper after cutting with a jigsaw. You can get this tools from pretty much any hardware store.
2. Dremel
I got mine way back in 2000 from a shop in Jalan Pasar. It was bought from Soon Huat Hardware, but when I visited them last weekend, they no longer carry the tool. I saw from Case Modding Tools post that Dremel is also available at a hardware shop at Jaya Shooping Complex, but I have yet to personally check out the place yet. I also see from the same post that Black & Decker offers a similar tool which is more readily available from hardware stores such as ACE Hardware at MidValley, but the complaint seems to be that it overheats rather quickly.
Dremel allows a much more precision cut than using a jigsaw, but unless you are using a diamond cutting disc (which I have yet to find in Malaysia) you will end up using 4-8 normal cutting discs on just one 120mm blowhole, depending on your skill and how may disc you cracked
. The good thing is that these type of cutting disc seems to be readily available in Jalan Pasar. There is a similar tool that looks very much like a Dremel sold in electronics shop in Jalan Pasar. It is quite cheap (<RM100) and comes with similar accessories. However, you will see that it takes power from a transformer, and it is way underpowered for cutting through steel or aluminium panels. It is a waste of money since it is an extremely limited tool.
3. Files
A simple and cheap tool, but often overlooked. Always get a set of files, and the most useful are the circular and sem-circular file. You should also get a set of the small files, which comes in a series of shapes, i.e., square, triangle, round, etc. A set of the small files will set you back RM10 from any hardware shop. Use the large files are large openings and the small files for small opening, tight corner and complex shapes.
This post has been edited by kenzilla: Sep 3 2006, 10:23 PM
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) hopefully 'sifu' can share wif us your knowledge and experience 
Started modding WAAAY back, while I was still schooling. About 1997-ish 
) find acrylic easily back then, so I resorted to using spare window panes, the one with the patterns 
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