This is my first attempt at modding. I think I did fairly well considering my lack of experience. The first thing to remember is to plan it well. Dont just start hacking away. Before you start you should make a materials checklist.

• Amd Athlon XP1700+ OverClocked to 1.61GHz from 1.46Ghz
• Asus A7V266E MotherBoard Overclocked to 146MHz FSB from 133Mhz
• Micron 512MB DDR PC-2100 ECC Registered Ram
• MSI GeForce4 Ti-4200 128MB Video Card. Overclocked
• Maxtor ATA100 40GB Hard Drive
• LG 52X CD-Rom
• Lite-On 40x12x48 Burner
• Enermax 350W Whisper Dual Fan Power Supply
• Volcano 9 CoolMod Heatsink and Fan
• 3Com 10/100 Ethernet Card
• Pinnacle FireWire Card
• 2 CeraDyna Tri-Color Fans. 34.75CFM @ 32dBA
• Onboard Sound

 

Building the Case

	The first stages of the Case. Here I have drilled and bolted the four sides together. This is only a test fit, so dont tighten the nuts too tight.
The next thing that I did was mark out the holes for the Motherboard. Using a small drill bit only drill in 1/8 inch, or just enough for the threads of the stands. Double check all of your holes before drilling, they must be exactly right! When you screw them in, use another screw in the stand so you can use a screwdriver, then back the screw out, the stand should stay. If the stand comes out, add a little crazy glue and quickly screw it back in.
	Here the motherboard has been mounted and I have traced the outline for the back plate. This is the easiest way to do it, rather than cutting out for every connection. It also gives the ability to easily add and remove PCI cards.
Here is the backing plate for the PCI cards. I have painted it gold. Also painted gold is the Power Supply, CD-Rom Brackets and Fan Covers.
	Here I have mounted the Power supply and mounted the back plate for all of the connections. The CR-Roms are also placed in for test fitting.
Front View of the case at the same point as the previous picture. here you can see a rack for the HDD and Floppy drives. I decieded to discard this and the Floppy Drive, as it is rarely used. I ended up mpounting the hard drive directly onto the bottom sheet of glass.
	A shot of my old Heatsink and Cooler. Kinda hurting and definately not adequate for overclocking.
Well, this was a disapointment for me, I measured TOO well, and forgot to account for the extra width the screwheads would add. In short the case is 3/16 too wide for it's home. But never fear, I will jam it in there. Here again is a great example of why planning is absolutely nessary!
	I missed taking a few pics, but here is the case with the two Tri-Colour LED Fans installed. I cut the holes using a 3 inch (80mm) hole saw. It took a bit of work but it was worth it for a perfectly round hole. Note the mess of wires.
Here's whats left of my old case. Good thing it was only $30.
	A shot of the case in the dark. I have just installed the new Heatsink.
A shot of the case with the "Volcano 9 coolmod" Heatsink in place. It attaches to the HDD and PLED connectors on the motherboard. So when the power is on, the fan glows blue, when the HDD is working the fan glows blue and red.
	Well here is the completed case. I have decided to stop at this point, due to the fact that I could spend forever adding and fixing little details.
From the back
	The CD-Roms and power and reset buttons.
Left side of the case. Not much to say here
	A shot from the top. The top is hinged for easy access.
A look from the front

 

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© Rob Covell 2003