|
|
|Modding the Perfect Computer
This blog post is part of a series on my experience building my perfect computer. As part of my job at Member.buzz, I needed a high-performance computer for programming, graphic design, and video rendering. I also wanted it to look the part; looking as beautiful on the outside as it is in the inside.
This article focuses on the custom modifications that I created (or had created) for my computer, which helped make it stand out amongst others who may have used some of the same components.
Casters
One of the best mods that I made to my case was to add casters – allowing the case to delicately roll along my office floor instead of me having to pick it up and plop it down. Mockett has a lot of premium options.
To get my casters to work on my case, I had to drill the required holes in the bottom of my case and use a tap to create threads for a bolt to secure it into place. I would recommend using Titanium Drill bits and Tap Oil to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Here is the end result:
While this mod is not as sexy as some of the others ones that I made, it made a huge difference in making it easier to move my computer around as I was putting it together.
Custom GPU Brackets and Backplates
My NVIDIA Quadro P4000 is a single slot GPU, which means that, despite the fact that it is still very powerful, it does not look as cool as some of its gamer-focused couisins.
In order to give it a bit more style, I had a custom GPU Bracket made; which is effectively a customizable piece of (purely decorative) acrylic that sits directly below your GPU.
Unfortunately, the standard back of a P4000 does not look very pretty:
To fix this, I had a custom GPU bracket made, which is effectively a piece of custom-cut acrylic (or other material) that sits on top of your GPU, often with an LED pattern.
The combination of the GPU Bracket and Backplate made a huge difference to the look and feel of the components inside of my computer. I had Jeff over at JMMods custom make both of these items - and I could not be happier. V1 Tech is an alternative option.
Custom Cable Management Routing
There is an unfortunate design defect in the Phanteks EvolvX case: it is impossible to route your motherboard power cables at a right angle from your power supply to your motherboard.
This is because while the horizontal cable management panel has a cutout for these cables:
The vertical panels on the side do not:
Luckily, ModMyMods was happy to make a quick cut for me so that my wires would route just the way I wanted them to:
You can read more about the custom motherboard cables and CPU combs in my cable management article.
Custom Panels
One of the only major drawbacks of my Phanteks EvolvX case is a lack of airflow into the front and out the top.
While this can be disappointing out-of-the-box, this case does offer a blank slate for some fantastic customization options.
While ModMyMods has a full line of custom-cut panels for Phanteks cases, I wanted a design to fit around my custom logo.
This is how my panels started out:
After going back and forth with their design team, this is what they sent me back:
I would say that of all of the customizations that I did, this one made the biggest difference.
Custom Logo
The Phanteks EvolvX case offers a beautiful canvas for customization:
In order to really make this case stand out, I had a custom acrylic centerpiece logo made based on my company's logo:
This was custom created for me by the good people at Performance PCs Custom Shop.
While it took quite a while for them to complete the project, they did an amazing job.
In order to mount it into the panel, I sent the custom logo over to ModMyMods who installed it when they were creating my custom cutouts:
About
As you may have realized, this series of articles has very little to do with the products provided by Member.buzz. However, we thought some of the research we did while building this computer would be useful to others.
Fuzzylogic.io is our company blog, which is powered by the Member.buzz platform. If you are interested in creating your own blog, you can create one today for free on our platform.
|
