Modding your PC Cabinet

Walking past computer shops you may have noticed all the funky looking cabinets now on shelves, with see through side panels, LED fans and brightly lit by CCFL’s, and as you see the different designs available, it makes you think that why don’t you get one of these, the prices when enquired are pretty steep for these in India, thus all you do is drool over those funky cabinets. Well, here is how you can mod your PC by cutting, painting, adding lights and fans to make it funky looking and stand out among your friend’s PC’s.

All in all modding a cabinet is quite easy; all it takes is a little time and effort. What you can transform your cabinet into is upto your imagination. So here is a little tutorial to mod your cabinet yourself. What I will tell you here is, cutting a side window, painting the cabinet, and put in some lights, here is how;

Step 1: Getting Started

You will need a few things to mod your cabinet, and most of these are easily available in any hardware shops. The basic requirements are, a dremel tool, polishing paper, spray paint cans, acrylic sheet. Other than these the things that you need are LED fans and CCFL’s for the lighting, these however are not easily available in India, and you can either order them online or buy them from some one selling it in India.

You must plan your case mod, the extent of modding you can do is upto your budget, time and imagination.

Most of the cabinets owned by people today are ATX and are large enough to add windows in the side panels. Make sure you shut off your PC before doing anything, remove the cables connected to the PC. If you intend to paint your entire cabinet, I suggest you to either remove all the components from your cabinet, or if that’s not possible cover them properly with plastic and paper sheets making sure that the paint doesn’t reach them. Also be careful not to paint any plastic surface of the cabinet.

Step 2: The Side Panel

Detach the side panel from your cabinet and clean it thoroughly before doing anything on it. You can cut the side panel in anyway you prefer, either it can be a plain rectangular shape, or a logo of your favourite game or movie. I will however explain the procedure to make the basic rectangular shape.

Mark out the outline on your cabinet’s side panel with a pencil or a marker and a scale, so that you get a perfect rectangle shape, make sure that you leave enough margin on all sides so that the acrylic sheet can be fixed properly and the panel should be able to fit in the cabinet. Get a dremel too, it is a small handheld device which costs around 1200, and operates a tiny circular blade which spins at around 30000 rpm, the blade that is fixed on it costs around 30 to 50 bucks and makes the process of cutting the metallic sheet very easy. While using the dremel tool, attach the blade firmly and cut the sheet so that the blade is perpendicular to the metal surface. Move the blade on the marked outlines keeping your hand as steady as possible. I suggest you to put on protective eyewear while cutting the panel.

After you have cut out the window shape, smooth out the edges with sandpaper so that the sharp sides do not pose the risk of cutting. You can do this to both side panels, but it preferable if it is done on one side only as the other side panel just shows the backside of the motherboard, which kind of looks ugly through the transparent window.

Alternatively you can get this done by a local blacksmith also, just take the side panel with the marked outlines and tell him to cut the window and polish the edges. This would save you a lot of time and money as this would cost hardly 20 to 30 bucks. But be sure that the blacksmith cuts it properly without bending the side panel.

Step 3: Painting

After cutting out the window, you should paint the cabinet so that later when you add the acrylic sheet it doesn’t get any paint marks. For painting you can use Spray paint cans available in various colors and if low on budget, you can use the standard oil paints, applying them with a thin brush. But I must warn you that using oil paints takes a hell lot of time than using a spray paint can and the finish is also not as good as that of spray paint. Spray paint cans are easily available at paint shops costing about 300 - 400 per can.

Before starting, put some tape over the already existing front LED’s, I would also suggest that you remove any existing paint from the cabinet with a thinner or by scraping it off with sandpaper as this allows a smoother finish. And be sure that you do not apply this to any plastic part of your cabinet.

Make sure that the surface is clean and while spraying, hold the can at a distance of a foot from the metal surface and apply it in even strokes parallel to the edges. Apply a minimum of 2 coats of paint leaving enough time in between for drying. The parts that can be detached such as side panels and drive covers should be painted after detaching them.

While painting with oil paints, please make sure that you have enough colour available so that you don’t run out of it. Apply the paint firmly with a thin brush with even strokes. Apply at least 3 -4 coats of paint to get a good smooth finish. You can also get the side panels painted from a painter. But if you intend to paint the entire cabinet, you better do it yourself, as the painter may not take care of the internal components while painting the top and front.

Also use a sheet of paper or old cloth beneath the cabinet in order to prevent staining any areas underneath. I also suggest that you should switch off the fan so that the paint doesn’t fly around and wear a handkerchief around your nose and mouth to prevent any paint from entering them, as it can be harmful.

Step 4: See through window

This is the easiest part of the modding work. All you need here is an acrylic sheet which will prevent dust from entering into your cabinet while showing off the components and lights installed through the transparent plastic. The acrylic sheet is available at all hardware and glass shops and depending upon the size of the sheet will cost somewhere between 50 to 100 bucks.

Depending upon the size of window cut in the side panel, measure and get an acrylic sheet making sure that it is big enough to fit on the rear of the panel surface. Put the acrylic sheet behind the window and use adhesives such as feviquick or quickfix to stick it to the surface of the panel. Make sure you use the glue evenly across all edges for a firm fit. You can also drill holes in the acrylic sheet and the side panel and bolt them together to attain a stronger joint.

For added effects you can paint a logo on the plastic sheet or get a design cut within the plastic sheet, but then again it would take more time and money. So the beginners should stick to the basic and simple modding.

Step 5: Adding Lights

Lights are the tricky part of the modding. As I already mentioned before, getting LED fans and CCFL’s (Cold cathode florescent lights) aren’t easy in India. Although Antec dealers do have the LED fans available but they are priced at 1200 per piece, which is quite costly. So it would be better if you order these online or get them from someone selling one of these in the numerous India tech and gaming forums. LED fans are available in different colours that provide a beautiful effect.

If your cabinet already has a fan installed inside the cabinet below the SMPS, unscrew it carefully and replace it with the LED fan, same to do if your cabinet has a front side fan and you replace it also. Take care while mounting the fan so that the air is expelled by the fan at the rear and sucked into the system from the front fan. You should be careful that the modding should not affect your system cooling so that the thermal levels do not go high due to bad airflow. In case you do not know of the direction of the fans, check the top of the fan as airflow is indicated there in form of arrows.

Adding a CCFL tube takes some effort though; CCFL tunes come in different sizes, of 8, 10″ and 12″ inches and are available in various colours. Depending upon your choice, you can get a CCFL to suit your cabinet’s colour and the existing lights. Although most of the lights can be plugged directly into the inverter, which mean the lights will be on when the PC is on, some come with switches which allow the turning on and off of lights when required.

CCFL run at higher voltage than the regular components of your PC, hence they require a voltage inverter to supply the proper levels to the lights. The inverter usually comes with the CCFL and can be mounted through double sided tape. The only trouble is that CCFL tubes do not have any direct means to mount them to the case. So in order to mount them, they are strapped to feets that are put into the case. These feet are attached by double sided tape and come with the CCFL tubes. Once these feet are attached, simply fix the CCFL tubes over them and attach them over the feet.

Step 6: Finalising

After you have done all this, make sure the paint is dry and the lights and fans have been attached securely in the cabinet. If you still want to get more into it, you can easily use whatever is left of the paint to put on shades, airbrush effects and designs that you want, but be warned that you can easily be carried off during this and would end up with the cabinet looking like a modern day painting. Try to keep it as simple as possible and practice over with your friend’s cabinets, once you get the hang of it you can do immense modding, from fan grills to cabinet front and back grills.

Although the total costs of modding a PC through this way seems to be higher than getting a new cabinet when you add up the costs of dremel tool, spray paint cans, LED fans and CCFL’s, trust me the end result is immensely satisfying. Besides if you get into the limited side, get the panel cut from a blacksmith, leave getting a new paint, and get lights and fans from online sites, the costs doesn’t go above 1000 bucks. So I suggest you to give it a shot. Have fun modding and oh yeah, I have done all this myself, alongwith some friends, but I wont be responsible for any damage you do to your system during following my simple steps given above.

Karan’IceFusion’Bajaj