The Build Your Own Desktop Starter Thread

[Willravel]

Let's say you're either new to computers or new to the idea of building a computer. As easy as it may sound on the surface—throw a motherboard, cpu, ram, video card, hard drive, and disc drive into an enclosure—it's a bit more nuanced than you might think.

As a life-long Mac user, the only thing I know about building a PC is... well, I guess I could build a PC but I'd be worried that I might forget something or mismatch parts. It wouldn't be fun to return a cpu that doesn't go with the motherboard you picked up.

So, you under-the-hood type PC users, give us your take on how to build a decent rig. Do want to build the ultimate gaming PC? Do you want to show us how to build the perfect home theater PC? Do you have a recipe for the perfect bargain PC? Show us what you've got and walk us through your process.

---------- Post added at 02:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------

Bargain PC (created by a Mac user):
Enclosure: Rosewill R102-P-BK $25
Motherboard:

Intel D945GCZL

Intel D945GCZL

$28
Processor: Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz $70
RAM:

2x2GB Kingston 667MHz DDR2

2x2GB Kingston 667MHz DDR2

$25
Graphics:

Ati Radeon HD

Ati Radeon HD

4670 $90
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB $55
Burner: LG Black $22
Power Supply: Rosewill RV350 350W $26

Total: $341

How did I do?

[MikeSty]

I really am so out of the loop that I have no concrete suggestions, but surely I can add in some tips and pointers of stupid things that I've suffered through.

Sometimes more is better - buying second-hand can be really sketchy and have really bad results. Seriously. You REALLY need to know what you're getting!!! It can be worth a little extra $$$ and save you a lot of time and possibly more money in the future.

Make sure you put the spacers on the case before you screw down the motherboard or else you will short out the motherboard. The spacers are copper-ish doodads with a threaded nub on one side, and usually a hexagonal top with threading for a screw to go inside of it.

For your first case, I recommend something a little larger - more room is nice. A removable motherboard tray is kind of convenient, as well.

Before you ever build anything, I suggest you take apart and put together at least some parts of a pre-built machine and make sure that it works. I don't recommend unscrewing stuff, but if you can get ahold of a machine from about ten years ago or so, just play around with it and get acquainted with components. Newer OEM stuff, in my experience, is mostly toolless and actually different from a homebrew PC.

[biznatch]

I'd say desktop building can be a big money saver, but with bad decisions it can become hell. Don't get parts from shady sites, do read a lot of reviews on the sites you get them from, (eg, newegg), and make sure you understand exactly what is compatible with what. Watch out for sockets on mobos and processors, make sure the mobo fits in the case, make sure the PSU can supply enough power for your rig.
If you order the wrong video card, that could be a pain.
Overall, if you have experience tinkering with your desktops, swapping GPU's out, switching fans, hardrives, playing with master/slave seettings, adding ram, using the BIOS, etc, then go for it. Google is your best friend, keep a laptop handy next to you with wifi.
Also, if you order parts, make sure they come with cables, or order cables separately. There's nothing like getting a Hard Drive and not being able to plug it in.

[Willravel]

Alrighty then, I'll give the old gaming PC a shot:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Processor 2.8GHz $120
Motherboard: Gigabyte EG41MF-S2H Motherboard $100
Memory: OCZ Dual Channel 4GB PC6400 $50
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB Hard Drive $70
Graphics: Radeon HD 4870 Turbo $250
Case: Apevia X-Qboii Blue Micro ATX Case $80 (I like blue)
Disc Drive: Lite-On DH-4B1S Serial ATA Interface Blu-ray Disc Writer $200

Total: $1140

This theoretically should do the trick with anything from CoD Modern Warfare 2 to that new Resident Evil.

[Wrexify]

If I had to give one piece of advice when it comes to more powerful gaming PCs: don't go the bargain route when it comes to your power supply. I've seen (or, more accurately, smelled) some terrible results from the cheap included-with-the-case PSU in a high end gaming machine. Make sure it can handle those other fancy components you're looking at!

[Martian]

In the same vein, the wattage of a PSU is almost completely meaningless. More important is that you go with a trusted, reliable brand. This power supply would work quite well with the example system above, and won't break the bank.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by MikeSty

Make sure you put the spacers on the case before you screw down the motherboard or else you will short out the motherboard. The spacers are copper-ish doodads with a threaded nub on one side, and usually a hexagonal top with threading for a screw to go inside of it.

For your first case, I recommend something a little larger - more room is nice. A removable motherboard tray is kind of convenient, as well.

Electrical tape works too Just put it on top of the screw heads.

I think it's worth it to spend a little more on a case. I went the bargain route when building my desktop, and I wish I hadn't. Next time I'm getting a Lian Li case (so pretty).

[Willravel]

Okay, so here's what I've got so far.

By my understanding, you should begin the process by choosing the kind of setup you want (basic word processing and web surfing, home theater, family, gaming, image/audio/video editing, industrial, server), and then move to the processor. If you don't plan on upgrading for a few years, I wouldn't suggest getting anything less than the equivalent to a 2.0GHz dual core processor. It will generally handle most of what you throw at it for the time being. If you're going to be doing intensive video editing or gaming, though, you'll likely want something a bit faster, 2.4GHz dual core or faster (I'd even say 2.8GHz or faster if you're going to be playing serious 3d games).

Then we move on to the motherboard, which requires that you know what kind of processor goes with a given motherboard. Above with my gaming rig, I chose the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz processor, which means you need a motherboard that has a "socket 775" interface for the Intel CPU I chose. The second consideration when choosing a motherboard is how big you want it. I'm partial to MicroATX, as it's a bit smaller but is still able to pack quite a punch, but you can choose what you want. Just bear in mind this will affect which case you'll eventually need.

You'll be needing memory for your computer, so once you've chosen your motherboard, check that motherboard to see what kind of RAM it takes. If the RAM it needs is a bit too slow for your tastes, you may want to pick a better motherboard. The motherboard I chose for my gaming rig requires DDR 2 PC6400 RAM, and can go up to 8GB, though as I understand it that would be useless in a 32 bit system. If you're just doing the bare minimum or normal computing, you really only need maybe 1.5-2GHz of RAM. More powerful computers, however, will require more RAM. For gaming, this means you really should have 4GB. Don't worry, RAM prices have dropped quite a bit (unless you want something brand new like DDR3 1066MHz RAM, which is still very expensive).

After you've got your RAM picked you may need a graphics card. If you're just using the computer for web surfing and word processing, you can probably just get a motherboard with a crappy integrated card, but if you plan on showing high def movies, games, or video editing, you'll need a card. Fortunately, Lasreth has a thread which is the authority on video cards here. It's outstanding.

Okay, you've got all this junk and you need something to put it in, so you'll have to go back and check on what motherboard you picked out. MicroATX you say? Well perfect. Now you need to take cooling into consideration. If you've got a faster CPU, you'll need a stronger fan. The 2.8GHz processor I chose for my gaming rig will run quite hot and absolutely needs at least one strong fan in order to prevent overheating. Fortunately the case I chose has a nice big 120mm fan. If that's not enough (which is possible) I can add a second 120mm fan later to double the cooling ability. If you plan on using the same rig and upgrading later, you'll want one that can take more fans. Note: as you're assembling your rig, you absolutely need to be careful to remember spacers so as not to short anything out, as MikeSty said.

The disc drive is probably the easiest. Just check good reviews and make sure the thing comes with the necessary cables.

Power source. Like Martin said above, the wattage doesn't really come into play that often, it's more just a high number that they think people want to buy. You simply need something reliable, so look for a lot of good reviews online before purchasing. And be careful of ultra-good deals, because they can be too good to be true.

Before putting together your first computer, you may want to take apart and put back together an old PC a few times just to get a feel for where everything goes. You may also want a seasoned veteran with you when you assemble your PC.

[Radio Monk33]

Nice guide, looking forward to seeing the rest. Personally I feel comfortable with all the individual components, but I feel a little wary about the cables and cable management..

[shakran]

Originally Posted by Martian

In the same vein, the wattage of a PSU is almost completely meaningless. More important is that you go with a trusted, reliable brand. This power supply would work quite well with the example system above, and won't break the bank.

well, not quite. they still have 200W power supplies out there, and if you run dual SLI video cards in your 3ghz gaming rig, you're gonna find out why wattage is important


Will, I'd lose that case - Heat dissipation is important and a micro ATX case is too small to do it well. Additionally, the board you chose is an ATX board, which is too large for a micro-ATX case. I recommend the Thermaltake Armor case. it's big, breezy, and has excellent airflow from the factory. You won't even have to buy any supplemental fans.

You didn't put a powersupply in there (I'm only looking at the gaming rig - though if you also wanna talk about the bargain rig, stay the hell away from Rosewill. They suck). Again, I recommend Thermaltake, at least 500W, and make sure it's a Toughpower, not a Purepower.

ATI makes nice cards but I've enver been a big fan of their drivers. I tend to stick with nVidia, but that's largly personal preference.

Also, WD makes nice stuff, but Seagate has in my experience been more reliable.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by shakran

Will, I'd lose that case - Heat dissipation is important and a micro ATX case is too small to do it well.

Even if I slapped another 120mm fan on there?

Originally Posted by shakran

Additionally, the board you chose is an ATX board, which is too large for a micro-ATX case.

Heh, oops. I read the specs on the mobo too fast. Let this be a lesson to everyone? Read twice, order once.

Originally Posted by shakran

You didn't put a powersupply in there (I'm only looking at the gaming rig - though if you also wanna talk about the bargain rig, stay the hell away from Rosewill. They suck). Again, I recommend Thermaltake, at least 500W, and make sure it's a Toughpower, not a Purepower.

I'm pretty sure the case comes with one.

Originally Posted by shakran

Also, WD makes nice stuff, but Seagate has in my experience been more reliable.

Didn't Seagate recently have a huge problem with hard drive failures? Back in January, I think it was. I've used both, and I'm happy with WD.

[shakran]

Originally Posted by Willravel

Even if I slapped another 120mm fan on there?

First you have to have a place to slap it on unless you want to dremel out a hole for it, which is a pain in the butt. Second, the more fans you put on there, the more noise you have, which gets annoying after while. And third, random placement of fans can have little to no effect, or can even harm, cooling - it all depends on the airflow of the case.

I'm pretty sure the case comes with one.

Possibly, but in most cases, if a case comes with a power supply, the power supply is going to suck. and a bad power supply can kill the other components, requiring a replacement of the machine. That's one lesson you don't wanna learn the hard way

[laconic1]

Another consideration is noise. After all it can be hard to focus on whatever you are working on at your computer if it is screaming like a banshee. As shakran mentioned, more fans = more noise. Preferably a case with a 120 mm fan would be best. Plus a power supply with only one fan helps. Plus good heatsinks on the processor and video card. Using a huge heatsink with heatpipes and tons of fins with lots of surface area dissipates heat more effectively than a smaller heatsink with less surface area and no heatpipes. As a result you get more cooling from the same fan or can even use a slower spinning fan to reduce the noise level.

I have an old Antec SX835II case, an older Core 2 Duo processor, and an old AGP card with a passive heatsink. With the original Antec power supply, all 5 case fan spots filled, and the stock processor heatsink and fan and no fan on the video card the computer was loud. And hot. Processor temps typically around 130 degrees F and the video card would reach an eye popping 175 degrees F just doing desktop apps. I recently made some changes, while keeping the same case for the time being I replaced the power supply with this one, put in this cpu cooler, and promptly replaced the fan on the cooler with this one. I also figured out how to mount this 92 mm case fan to my passive video card heatsink. I got rid of all the case fans, and mounted the cpu cooler so the fan points right at the holes left from the 2 rear case fans. I left all 5 case fan spots open, and the result is I went from 8 fans to 3 total. And yet my cpu temps dropped about 20 degrees and my video temp dropped about 65 degrees, just due to the more intelligent layout of the fans and the more efficient processor heatsink. Plus the fans are quiet enough I don't hear them, just a little noise from the hard drive.

When I built my first computer I never took noise into consideration, and now having done so it makes using the computer so much more pleasant.

[Martian]

On the subject of fans, bigger fans spin slower and are therefore generally quieter. I have two Vantec Stealth 120mm fans in my case, one for intake and one for exhaust. They've been serving me reliably for years and I'll be sad when they go. The main source of noise in my PC right now is the CPU fan, and aside from going with a Zalman or other passive cooler there's not much to be done about it.

Airflow is tricky. As noted, more fans aren't always better. Creating an efficient airstream is more important.

[shakran]

this is why I recommend the Armor. it has a 120mm front fan, a 90mm top fan, a 90mm rear highmount fan, and optionally (and I recommend it) a 25cm (that is not a typo) sidefan. The case is whisper quiet, yet easily cools whatever you put in it. it's all in the airflow design and the volume of the case - -smaller cases heat up faster, and the Armor is anything but small

[Radio Monk33]

Hey Will and the others:

Any more thoughts on motherboard choice and power supplies particularly modular v non-modular?

[telekinetic]

Originally Posted by snowy

Electrical tape works too Just put it on top of the screw heads.

Umm...what? You can't not use spacers, and I can't think of a plausible way to use electrical tape instead.

[Wrexify]

Originally Posted by Radio Monk33

Hey Will and the others:

Any more thoughts on motherboard choice and power supplies particularly modular v non-modular?

I bought my first modular power supply recently and it was a GREAT decision. I'm pretty obsessive-compulsive when it comes to a clean case and what a difference it made! Cleans up your workspace, improves airflow, and looks beautiful if you have a case window.

Of course, the benefits are mostly cosmetic. If you don't have a window or don't care too much about cleanliness and airflow, you can save a couple $ by sticking with a non-modular PSU.

[kutulu]

Will, that's a pretty good guide, especially since you are a Mac guy. The decision path you show is pretty good. I've built three computers so far. I did my most recent one in Feb.


Processor&Motherboard
Like you said, the most important thing is that you decide what you want to do with your rig. You want to buy a processor that matches up with what you want to do. However, you still need to look toward the future. Right now, you can get great deals on the dual cores and even the quad cores. However, part of the reason for this is because their associated socket (775) has been superseded by the LGA 1366. Yes there is quite a price difference but it is worth it.

If you want to do serious video editing/encoding, you really should go with the Core i7. CPU and motherboard will run $540. It isn't that much more than a quad core with a nice motherboard. It's performance on encoding video is far superior to the Core 2 Quads.

Another thing to look on the motherboard the inputs. How many SATA drives can you run? What does the back panel have on it? How many PCI-e slots does it have? If you wanted to, could you do 2 or 3 way SLI?

Memory
DDR3. DDR3 prices have dropped like a rock. In Feb, I paid $160 for 6GB of DDR3 and now similar kits are about $90.

Video Card
Again, look at what you have and what you might want to do. Dual displays? What resolutions do you use? You can get awesome cards for less than $200 (4870 OR GTX 260).

Heat Sink
Another very important thing is the heat sink. I went with the stock cooler on my rig and it isn't good enough. When I start the second pass in my encoding jobs the temperature shoots way up. As a result, I needed to run it on a lower performance setting during this. Soon enough I'll get a good cooler and I'll be able to even overclock it.

Case
I wouldn't do MicroATX. Today's video cards are behemoths and you want plenty of room for all the drives you might have in it. I have a mid tower and I wish I had bought a full tower. My case is almost full and cramped. I ended up doing a shitty cable job because I was running out of space. I have three platter HDDs, one SSD, one vid card, a BD-ROM, DVD Burner, and multi card reader. I can squeeze at least one more HDD in there but it would be nice if it didn't have to be so cramped.

Power Supply
Don't cheap out. Also, look towards what you might do in the future. A new computer using a powerful vid card should have at least 500 watts.

Cables
A good motherboard should come with all the internal cables you need. If you need more, cannibalize your old system for the rest.

[Willravel]

There's a great article on Gizmodo today about how to build a moderately serious gaming PC (that can play Crysis at 40 fps) for under $500. Check it out here. The gist:

...an ATI Radeon HD 4870 at $175, $71 Intel Pentium E5200 2.5GHz Wolfdale, $90 MSI Neo3-F LGA 775 motherboard, $21 2GB DDR2-800 RAM (with a rebate, you can go up to 4GB of RAM for $7 more, which I'd recommend), $25 optical drive and $50 320GB hard drive (for $10 more, you can go up to 500GB). Finally, for the case and power supply, a Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black, which is a good pick since Rosewill makes decent power supplies (I also like Seasonic, which is what I rock in my PC) and it's only $75 for the whole package. After rebates, that's just $479...

Holy crap, that's not bad at all.

Also, because it fits perfectly with the thread, here's this: Lifehacker - The First-Timer's Guide to Building a Computer from Scratch - Hardware Installation Probably the best how-to I've come across in my search to grow beyond my Mac roots. There should be a movie about this. Called "Roots".

[crazybobmarley]

http://http://www.antec.com/Believe_...ct.php?id=MjQ=

# 9 Drive Bays:
• External 3 x 5.25"
• Internal 6 x 3.5" for HDD
# Cooling System:
• 1 rear 120 x 25 mm TriCool™ Fan with 3-speed switch control.
• 1 top special 140 x 25 mm TriCool™ Fan with 3-speed switch control
• 2 front (optional) 120 mm fans to cool the hard drives
• 1 side (Optional) 120 x 25 mm Fan to cool graphic cards
# Washable air filters reduces dust build up in your system, which helps keep your system cooler
# Perforated front bezel for maximum air intake
# 7 expansion slots
# Top mounted I/O ports for easy access
• 2 x USB 2.0
• HDA & AC'97 Audio In and Out
# Unit dimensions:
• 18" (H) x 18.3" (D) x 8.1" (W)
• 45.8 (H) x 46.5 (D) x 20.5 cm (W)
# Weight:
• Net: 15.9lbs / 7.2kg
• Gross: 18.7lbs / 8.5kg

Usually about $ 50 - 60

[Lucifer]

all that and only 2 front mounted USB's?

[Wrexify]

Originally Posted by Lucifer

all that and only 2 front mounted USB's?

That seems to be an Antec standard. Both Antec cases I've owned have only had 2; even the high-end Antec Nine Hundred gaming case only has 2 front USBs. Are there many cases around with more than that?

[Dragonlich]

I agree with laconic1; getting rid of computer noise is my main goal. FYI, here's my setup:

- Antec P182 case. Main selling point: the power supply is at the bottom of the case, seperated from the rest of the components. It has a lot of other features, of course. The regular 120 mm casefans have been replaced with even more quiet Nexus fans.
- Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboard. Passive cooling with heatpipes = no noisy 40mm fan.
- Intel P8400 dual-core. I specifically didn't go for quad-core because this CPU generates less heat. Besides, in most real-world applications the extra cores won't matter.
- 4 gb of memory, with extra heat spreaders. Not that important, but the extra cooling is a nice bonus.
- Scythe Ninja CPU cooler. Waaaaaay overkill for the processor. But that only means the 120 mm Nexus casefan can run at around 500-600 rpm (= no noise). (The CPU is 35 degrees C). I've mounted it using a bolt-through kit from another CPU cooler. The normal mounting method (regular Intel) looks waaay to weak for the heavy cooler.
- MSI videocard, geforce 8800GT, with huge cooler (Zalman). This is the one thing I would change. The cooler is pretty damn quiet, but it's the only component I can hear...
- Corsair 520 watt PSU, with big 120 mm fan. I specifically picked this one over the 650 watt PSU because it's even more quiet. And I really don't need more power.
- 2 x 750 Gb Samsung harddisks. Picked because they're quiet. They're mounted in the lower drivebay, using the (standard P182) rubber spacers. The spacers stop any vibration from spreading to rest of the case; less vibration = less noise.

On a normal day, my computer is almost impossible to hear, even from up close. And it's powerful enough to easily run every game I throw at it.

I post this to show what can be achieved with a normal budget, without going to extremes. I picked each and every component for it's low noise and (relatively) good performance. I would never buy a noisy computer again.

(edited: videocard was wrong. sorry will.)

[Willravel]

Yeah, I'd imagine the 8600GT is audible, especially when putting it through it's paces. Are there any comparable graphics cards that are quieter?

[Dragonlich]

Originally Posted by Willravel

Yeah, I'd imagine the 8600GT is audible, especially when putting it through it's paces. Are there any comparable graphics cards that are quieter?

I spoke too soon (and without too much thinking). It's an 8800GT. DUH.

And it's still quiet. :P

(FYI: http://tech-reviews.co.uk/reviews/msi-nx8800gt-zilent/)

[Jinn]

The Antec 300 is the best case ever made in the history of computer cases.

That is all.

No seriously, I built my last rig with it and it's the best I've ever seen. Super quiet, easy access, cable management, tons of space, cool design.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by Dragonlich

I spoke too soon (and without too much thinking). It's an 8800GT. DUH.

And it's still quiet. :P

(FYI: MSI NX8800GT Zilent - Graphics Card Reviews - Tech-Reviews)

That's a really well designed card. The cooling system is quite an eye-treat, too.

[Frosstbyte]

Originally Posted by Jinn

The Antec 300 is the best case ever made in the history of computer cases.

That is all.

No seriously, I built my last rig with it and it's the best I've ever seen. Super quiet, easy access, cable management, tons of space, cool design.

This. 1000% I actually have its big brother the 900, which is superior if you're looking for more heavy duty gaming applications.

[Martian]

I have an 8600 GT, which is nearly inaudible.

It depends primarily on which manufacturer your card is from and what sort of heatsink/fan they put on there. It's also not that difficult to get an aftermarket Zalman or similar passive cooler to eliminate noise entirely.

The loudest noise in my PC is my CPU fan, especially when I'm playing a game and it spools up to dissipate the extra heat. I don't really notice it until I'm done and it settles back down again, though.

[kutulu]

Originally Posted by Jinn

The Antec 300 is the best case ever made in the history of computer cases.

That is all.

No seriously, I built my last rig with it and it's the best I've ever seen. Super quiet, easy access, cable management, tons of space, cool design.

I have the Antec 300 and I'm mostly happy with it. It has a lot of room but I've filled it up pretty well. Next time I'm getting bigger case. I'll be testing it's limits with the heatsink I just purchased. It is a beast.

Newegg.com - Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 120mm SSO CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

This should be the last upgrade for a while, I'll do my best to get the cables sorted out during the installation, right now it is a mess inside. It is really difficult to work around the video card. I think what I'm going to do is pull out the video card and PSU so that I can move things around a bit and see if I can get things under control a little better.

The side doors are thin aluminum and bend easily. I accidentally dropped the side door on my tile floor and now the corner is bent just enough that I can't close the door all the way.

[Dragonlich]

Originally Posted by Jinn

The Antec 300 is the best case ever made in the history of computer cases.

That is all.

No seriously, I built my last rig with it and it's the best I've ever seen. Super quiet, easy access, cable management, tons of space, cool design.

By the looks of it, the P182 is better.

The 300 has the same basic idea as the P182, but lacks the extra features that make the latter really stand out.

[Radio Monk33]

Originally Posted by Dragonlich

By the looks of it, the P182 is better.

The 300 has the same basic idea as the P182, but lacks the extra features that make the latter really stand out.

I would hope so considering it costs around 3x more..

[kutulu]

The on/off buttons on the 300 feel really cheap and flimsy. The exhaust fans (120mm and 140 mm) can be set at three different speeds and that is nice. However, you have to open the case up to adjust the speeds.

Still a nice case but it has its limitations.

[Dragonlich]

Originally Posted by kutulu

The on/off buttons on the 300 feel really cheap and flimsy. The exhaust fans (120mm and 140 mm) can be set at three different speeds and that is nice. However, you have to open the case up to adjust the speeds.

You can solve that problem with a fan controller. That's assuming there's a regular 3- or 4-pin connector on the fans.

[Wrexify]

Originally Posted by Dragonlich

By the looks of it, the P182 is better.

The 300 has the same basic idea as the P182, but lacks the extra features that make the latter really stand out.

I'll vouch for the P182 any day. I've had one for almost 2 years now and it's excellent!

One thing I didn't realize before buying is that it's quite a bit heavier than most cases. The steel used for noise-cancelling probably has something to do with that. I recommend it for anyone who likes quiet and doesn't need to move their computer around too much.

[Willravel]

Has anyone actually built their own case from scratch or created a casemod? I'm just curious.

[Redjake]

Originally Posted by Willravel

Has anyone actually built their own case from scratch or created a casemod? I'm just curious.

Lasereth and I have modded some cases in the past and it's just not worth it if you don't have a boat load of tools and materials at your disposal. All of those massively awesome case mods you see online are usually done by people who have a hookup at work to use amazing tools and stuff. It's really hard to do visually pleasing mods without an arsenal of tools readily available.

[kutulu]

It would be cool to add a window to the side door of my case but although I have the tools to cut the aluminum, I don't have the skillz it would take to make it look good.

[shakran]

Originally Posted by Willravel

Has anyone actually built their own case from scratch or created a casemod? I'm just curious.

does a piece of plywood nailed to a wall count? I screwed the motherboard to my first BBS to that back in the 80's. Even had the (big freaking giant hard drive that stored like, 2 megs) screwed down to the thing. I nailed it to the framed-but-not-sheetrocked wall in the basement. Considering the air volume of the case was. . the entire basement, cooling was not a problem at all.

beyond that, like the others have said, it's damn hard unless you're experienced with metalworking, and have the right tools, you're better off getting a prefab. If all you wanna do is a case window, hell, it's hard to find a case these days that doesn't have one.