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Modding Guide submissions for any project not already covered here are entirely welcome... |
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Case Modding Tool Guide I have tried case modding both ways and the "do the best with what you've got" method will only get you so far, I have found having the right tool for the job makes all the difference and also makes for a more professional finished mod. I hope that this guide gives those new to the hobby an idea of the tools available to make case modding easier and also a little insight into their use. |
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Hand Cutting / Applying Vinyl Decals I have a roll of red mirror chrome vinyl stock left over from my Hells Illusion case mod and had actually planned on having a local sign shop cut the design for the mod, instead I decided to kill a bunch of birds with one stone and do the cutting myself. When performing this mod a steady hand is key, but the low cost of materials required makes this a project worth trying... even if you have to re-do it a few times before it's perfect. Follow along step by step from initial design to final installation, it's decals demystified within this guide. |
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5.6" GameCube LCD Screen Mod I bought a portable GameCube LCD monitor online for cheap months back with the intent of modding it into a bay mounted device for a computer and I finally got around to doing it. Follow along and learn LCD game screen breaking and re-making through five pages of super easy to follow how-to guided goodness. |
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Simple Drive Stealthing This guide is guaranteed easy and will show what I consider to be the hands down absolute best way to stealth a drive. The end result looks awesome, is entirely functional, completely removable and unlike a lot of other mods will not void your warranty. |
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Build a PC Test Box "I was going through the piles of computer crap I have accumulated over the years, keeping everything that is useful and throwing away the junk, when I noticed this project floating in my "maybe" pile... the treasures that almost hit the trash - consisting of a pre-wired power button, reset button, power and HDD LED's and lastly a small pre-wired speaker - this was my initial motivation." |
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6" LCD - Single 5.25" Bay Case Mod There is no real reason for you not to have a 6" LCD screen as a secondary monitor in your case, it is an entirely functional mod that is absolutely kick-ass. If you have ever wanted to mod an LCD into your case then you need to check out our guide, for little more than a Matrix Orbital or Crystal Fontz you can have a secondary case mounted monitor... sweet. |
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CD Button Rerouting Got a stealthed CD-drive but tired of pushing on your faceplate to pop it open? This mod will give you an external button that wont ruin your stealthed look... You can put the switch anywhere on your case, I chose the most convenient spot right on the front. A power drill with a quarter inch bit did the job just fine. |
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Making Custom Fan Grills Although admittedly new to modding, Orion and Vivio have a definite knack for creativity and evidently know how to do things right the first time, this guide will show how to make your own fan grills and then make them come alive by hand painting them. |
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Hardcore Hard Drive Modding Modding a window into a hard drive is nothing new and there are guides on other mod sites that can show you how to do just that, but when you completely replace the entire top half of the drive housing with clear acrylic then the term "hard drive window" takes on a whole new meaning and you are truly modding CMG style. Though this is just a rough prototype for a larger drive mod it looks very cool and best of all the drive is still functional, check out this guide on turning a hard drive into a windowed work of art. |
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Build an LED Flame Fan This guide shows how to turn a top blow hole fan into something more closely resembling art, the flames are made of cloth illuminated by LED's and do a great job of simulating fire. Here is a quote from the guide, "After trying a few different types of cloth with mixed results I finally found one that worked well, silk. The flames were cut free hand and if you look closely you can see the slits that were cut to connect them together, one down the middle on the top of one and the other up the bottom." |
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5.25" Fan Controller Makeover There are a lot of really cool bay devices on the market, whether they have a finish similar to your case or are completely different - as in the case of the Zalman fan controller, this guide will show you how to make it match the rest of your case. |
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Mod a Lian-Li Bezel MOBY1 Style Sadly this guide marks the end of mods for MOBY, sometimes something like destroying and having to re-mod a bezel has to happen to make you realize that enough is enough and that everything has to end somewhere. So I present... MOBY, the end. And I'm not just saying that because my new case is sitting on the floor next to me... ok, maybe I am. This guide will show how to mod 80mm blowholes and grills into the bottom and how to mount Lazer LEDs onto the top of a Lian Li bezel. |
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Defyants Lighted Wiring Tubes Face it, wires ain't pretty... short of sleeving or looming them your options are pretty much limited. Of course if you are Defyant you get around these limitations by coming up with an alternate and original way and for good measure make the cases wiring glow too. CMG's favorite Aussie has a killer little guide showing how to make your wiring look entirely slick, a professional mod coming to you straight from the pages of the HP Resurrection II work log. |
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Test PSU Into Modded Desktop PSU This guide is based on our recent Test PSU guide, in it we show how to turn an old PSU into an external independent test PSU... Build the test PSU, mod the hell out of it and use it to power desk, monitor, mouse pad, keyboard, printer or speaker lighting mods, why limit the mods to the inside of your PC? |
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Make a Test PSU Ok, I know I know. This project is probably seen all over the Internet and many of you may have already done this. But for those of you who have not, Built Ford Tough will show you how to make an ATX switched PSU test unit. |
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EL Applique Side Panel Mod "Instead of just reviewing the EL appliques by using them on case windows and calling it good I decided to take things to the next level and mod them permanently into the case, and also document it as I went. They kind of look like glowing tattoos for your computer, it's not a simple mod by any means but it definitely looks classy and is well worth doing. CMG is proud to present our latest how-to guide "EL Applique Mod". |
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6" LCD - Triple 5.25" Bay Case Mod A 6" LCD monitor is about as large as will comfortably fit into a computers 5.25" bays, there are other guides out there showing how to fit smaller LCD modules into the front of a PC... but bigger is better. This guide will show you how to fit the 6" LCD module into the case without having to alter the case at all, wiring instructions for the LCD are in the single bay 6" LCD mod guide. |
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Build an HSF Funnel "Why funnel your HSF? Simple answer really. Cooling benefits. Your CPU builds up a tremendous amount of heat and relies on your heat sink and fan to dissipate that heat in the most efficient way by design that it can. Now don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of excellent heat sinks and fans available that provide good cooling. This mod will enhance it. |
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LED PCI Bracket Mod If you have ever wanted to make the back side of your computer glow then this is the how-to for you, inexpensive and effective are two words that best describe this mod. CMG reader Sebastian submit a beginner friendly guide that will walk you through it showing the wiring of LED's and also how to hook it to a switch. |
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FraggPad WB Mouse Pad Mods In the ongoing tradition to try and mod everything we proudly present a mousepad lighting mod, done for under $15. We were sent a Steelpad 4S and a FraggPad for review, they both performed well and received good scores... but the main reason for wanting to review them was to mod them both afterwards, first up... the FraggPad mod. |
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Cable Management Guide Is there a window in your case? Does the inside of your case look neat and tidy or are all your wires and cables in disarray? If the inside of your case looks like spaghetti all you need is some split loom, zip ties and a half hour of time and it can go from messy to managed. |
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Make an Old Case New Again If you have an old case lying around that is scratched up or dirty looking, or if your present case is suffering from the same symptoms then our latest guide is just what the mod-doctor ordered. Trash becomes treasure with all steps completely covered in what we like to call "The $10 case makeover". |
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Make a Case Front Switch Bay If you have more than one light in your case and are tired of having to reach around to the back of your case to turn them on or off you need to read our latest how-to guide. We show a very simple and affordable mod that adds functionality and class to a 3.5" floppy bay cover, plus the guide contains a template layout for up to four switches. |
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Add Molexed Wiring to a Rheobus So you got yourself a shiny new rheobus and you are looking at the backside of it where the red and black wires should go... wait a minute your fans have a plug on the end of it, not bare wires and you don't want to cut them off. What can you do? CMG has the answer, let us show you how to sacrifice a few molex Y-splitters to the modding cause. |
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Outline a Window with EL Wire This guide will show you how to trim the edge of a window with Glo-wire. Below is the window that was shown in our how-to article "The $5 Window Mod", we are going to tear it completely apart and redo the whole thing, sure it looks good as is but it is about to look a lot better... |
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Lazer LED's on the Case Underside Cars have neon kits that can be installed to their underside and we all know how cool that looks, but putting a CCFL under your case isn't a good idea (especially if you move yours around as much as we move ours). This guide shows an affordable way to achieve a great under-case lighting effect without having to worry about breaking a bulb. This guide shows how to elevate the case and also wire Lazer LED's to an on/off switch. |
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LED Meter How-To Guide "The LED meter is a rare mod that is used by only the most daring (read: can kill a parallel port) or well funded case modders. This mod uses the printer port to transmit data to an array of 8 LEDs, making them do whatever the user can find or write a program for. From WinAmp sound movement to system use, the possibilities are limitless. This guide will show you how to make an affordable and safe meter so you to can have one of the most visually entertaining mods on the market." |
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The Five Dollar Window Mod A mod doesn't have to cost a fortune to look classy. We installed a window for under $5.00, then we added a custom applique and a lighted fan to the window. Tips on cutting holes in plexi-glass and making a home made window applique make this guide something that every modder can benefit from. |
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Hole Saw - Modding PC Blow Holes Coming to you directly from our "Mod Guides of the Lost" series... this guide covers the best way I have found to cut blow holes into wood, metal, Plexi-Glass and acrylic. Originally appearing in the "$5 Dollar Window Mod", "Modding a Test PSU Into a Desktop PSU", "A Modders Toolbox" and the "MOBY1 Bezel Guide" this 'new' guide explains the ins and outs of cutting blow holes into your computer. |
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Defyant Style Turbine
Fan Mod
Defyant shows how to turn a bland fan into something unique, here's a quote from the guide... "When I built HPR-2 I had a lot of people asking how I made the "Turbine" Style Front Fan. As simple as this was to just explain (which I hopefully did well) pictures always help." Read on to learn how easy it is to trick out your case fans. |
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Printing Custom Color Appliques Coming to you directly from our "Mod Guides of the Lost" series... this guide shows how to print out and apply home made window or case appliques. Originally appearing in the "$5 Dollar Window Mod" and "Modding a Test PSU Into a Desktop PSU" guides, this compilation guide will take you from initial designing to final application of DIY custom printed appliques. |
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LED Brake Lights Into Case Lights Coming to you directly from our "Mod Guides of the Lost" series... this guide shows how to turn the LED brake lights from a car into a very bright and highly affordable case lighting solution in any color you like so long as it's red. Originally appearing in the "Project Lament: HellRaiser Cenobite PC" and "Project Lament II: Hell's Illusion" worklogs the 'new' guide shows two different takes on brake light modding. |
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Oven Forming Sheet Acrylic There are a few different ways to form acrylic including a heat strip or heat gun, but short of using a vacuum table the electric oven in your kitchen is your best bet for forming complex shapes in acrylic sheets. Coming to you directly from our "Mod Guides of the Lost" series... this guide shows how to form your own 3-D case windows or parts, originally appearing in the "Project Lament: HellRaiser Cenobite PC" work log it's now a stand alone guide. |
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Sculpting Compounds - A Primer This guide will introduce you to a few different sculpting compounds that can be used to create original mods and also rates their ease of use, strength and effectiveness versus cost per ounce. Coming to you directly from our "Mod Guides of the Lost" series and originally appearing in the "Project Lament: HellRaiser Cenobite PC" work log, not all sculpting compounds are created equal.... read on to take the hassle out of deciding which modeling product will work best for your mods. |
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5" Lumin Disk Window Mod by Ecca Ecca wrote up a guide showing an easy way to mod a five inch Lumin disk into your side panel window, it really could be modded into almost any open part of of your case but it shines as a window accent. A quote from the guide: "This was a brilliant idea I thought up when I was in the mall and saw this super-fly groovy Lumin Disk. A Lumin Disk is very similar to a plasma ball... Anyhow, I thought this would be a nice addition to my wannabe plasma tubes already in my PC". Follow along as Ecca shows step by step how to accomplish a slick little window mod. |
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CD Bezel Vinyl Dying Guide Coming to you directly from our "Mod Guides of the Lost" series... this guide shows how to take apart a CD-ROM drives front bezel and how to go about changing your drive color from beige to black by using a can of spray vinyl color. Shown briefly in the $10 case make-over guide, this all new guide covers CD-ROM disassembly, preparation and spraying... so simple that there's no excuse to settle for beige drives. |
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2X16 Serial LCD Mod by Arem Arem wrote a 2X16 LCD modding guide to share with the community, here's a quote from the how-to: "I've had a basicx24 with development board and serial LCD laying around since Christmas about 2 years ago... While looking through the documentation for the LCD however, I noticed that it could be connected to a PC serial port as well as to the micro-controller.", sweet. Follow along step by step as Arem hacks a 2X16 character LCD into a bay mounted programmable PC display. |
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Mod LED's into PSU Molex Ends Coming to you directly from our "Mod Guides of the Lost" series... this next guide covers adding a little extra 'bling' to what is normally just a small white drab piece of plastic. Originally appearing in the "Modding a Test PSU Into a Desktop PSU" guide, this excerpt shows how you can make your molex ends glow. |
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Steelpad 4S Lighting Mod
In our ongoing tradition to try and mod everything we proudly present a mousepad lighting mod done for under $15. We were sent a Steelpad 4S and a FraggPad for review, they both performed well and received good scores... but the main reason for wanting to review them was to mod them both afterwards, here is the Steelpasd 4S mod.
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