Case Modding has grown tremendously from its early origins only a few years ago. It is not uncommon to walk into a computer store and be greeted by a slew of case designs varying from exotic aluminum cases to weird animal themed cases to the common boring beige case designs. While many may opt for ready-made designs, there remain those that would rather modify their boring beige cases into labour-of-love affairs.
I was tempted to begin modifying my AOpen HX-08 the day I brought it home, however I didn't want to rush into things as I've heard time and time again that a proper case modification requires careful planning and preparation. Over a year later, I finalized the plans for my case. Alright, it's been a busy year :).
My intention for this gib article is to report my experiences as well as provide useful do's and don'ts that can benefit anyone.
I laid out a detailed plan of all the modifications I would attempt upon my HX-08. Painting was at the top of the list, followed by a case window, ending with improved cooling.
Although improved cooling and a case window weren't at the top of the aforementioned list, I felt it would be better to do the cut outs now in order save paint as all as prevent scratching the paint off at a later stage. The case window was etched upon the side panel using nothing more than a pencil, ruler and a coffee cup. I used old fan shrouds to shape the holes for the 60 and 120mm fans. A long straight cut with a dremel was hard to accomplish, but I (with the aide of my pal) was able to pull most of it off quite successfully.
Using the fan shrouds turned out being a fairly bad idea as the outer ring of the shroud is slightly larger than the fan's diameter causing the edge of the holes to be slightly bigger than their respective fans. Darn, the mod was just starting and I already ran into my first problem. The second problem sneaked up shortly thereafter as two holes for frontal fan intakes didn't line up by about 1/3 inch. An additional chop quickly straightened out the problem while creating an even larger hole between the fan and edge of the hole on the inside of the case. I left my buddy's house with a remarkably lighter case once all the rimming was done. Onto the painting!