Most users who have mastered a computer at an amateur level have a hard time imagining a situation when it is necessary to change its case. Nevertheless, it occurs quite often. For example, you can connect a new power supply to your system, as a result of which the old case will simply not fit in size or will be so hot that it will become impossible to use it. What to do in such a case? The easiest way is to buy a new case, but it is much cheaper and more convenient (and, of course, more interesting) to make it yourself. In this article, we will look at how to make a DIY PC case.

Types of PC cases and their features

Since we decided to do amateur performances, first we need to decide what exactly should turn out in the end. To do this, you need to figure out what kind of computer cases generally exist. There are four types in total:

1. Moddle-Tower Form
The most popular type today. Best suited for avid computer enthusiasts and gamers who are indifferent to how the new case will fit into the interior of the room. But instead of the damaged design, they get a chance to use additional hard drives or install several video cards at once. Well, to protect against overheating, it is strongly recommended to install a good ventilation system in such a model.

2. Small Form Factor
The main plus is its small size, suitable for use at home or in a cramped office where space on the desk is limited. This is where the advantages of such a model end. But disadvantages appear. Firstly, due to the close arrangement of parts to each other, the case can get very hot and after a while the entire computer may simply fail. Secondly, you will have to work hard to select components of such a small size and assemble exactly the version of the system that you need.

3. Mini-Tower Form
A more rational and powerful (power supply unit - from 400 W) option than the previous one. On the basis of such a case, you can complete a normal system with a dual-core processor. It is also suitable for gamers, because it makes it possible to install a normal video card. However, you still have to torment yourself with the details, since many of them will relate to the same mini-version, which was mentioned above.

4. Big-Tower
The vertical model, extremely bulky (at least 50 cm high) and voluminous (can accommodate, for example, five hard drives), requires the installation of high-quality ventilation, otherwise it will simply overheat and break. Of course, useless for the layman. But for the office, it is quite a working option in the form of a control computer. Also suitable for IT professionals and especially passionate fans of computer games, installing more than three video cards at once.

The advantages of a homemade case:

• Often cheaper than standard store options.
• It can accommodate any filling and additional elements that you want to install on your computer.
• It can be made of non-standard materials (suppose you are a supporter of environmental friendliness and certainly want a wooden case).
• It is unique and looks the way you want, because in this case you are both a master and a designer at the same time.

DIY computer case. Preparatory stage

So, we found out what the cases are and have chosen the type that suits us the most. Before starting active work, it is worth answering several important questions. This will help to avoid mistakes and, accordingly, multiple rework in the future.

The first such question is whether the internal space of the case is enough for what you planned to place there. At the same time, do not forget about the ventilation system, it requires that at least a minimum distance for air flow remains between the parts of the system.

Special attention should be paid to the power supply unit. Not only does it take up some place inside the PC case, it also needs to be cooled additionally due to its high power. In addition, the power supply can become a source of terrible noise that will not give rest to all the inhabitants of your apartment.

There are two ways out of this situation. We can place the power supply on the top of the case, which is generally accepted as the standard option. This will significantly reduce the noise level, and the elements will be heated by a maximum of 3 ° due to the free air flow. The bottom-mounted option also takes place, although not so often. However, it is less good, since the noise in this case is much more audible, and the situation with overheating happens more often.

Having dealt with the internal space of the planned building, we turn to the second question of the preparatory stage. It already concerns the appearance, from the functionality: what material to use for work?

Most often, computer cases are steel or aluminum. At the same time, in the first case, we will get a durable and quieter model, in the second - lightweight and heating up not so quickly. Of course, each of the options has disadvantages. So, aluminum cases are unstable to mechanical damage and are quite expensive, while steel ones are very heavy.
In addition to metal, you can use wood or plexiglass / acrylic for work. Next, we will consider and explain in an accessible way in Russian how to make a case for a computer from these materials.

Making a computer case from wood

Consider an option in which the body is made of chipboard. This model is good in that it is quite lightweight and versatile, i.e. all the necessary components are present inside, without the bells and whistles. We assemble the body of six walls; there is also a transverse partition in the middle part of the body, which will divide it into two parts. At the top we place video adapters, motherboard and fans for processors and video cards (there must be several of them, otherwise overheating cannot be avoided!) On the front wall. At the bottom there will be a hard drive (one or more, depending on your desire), a power supply unit with a fan, a floppy drive, a card reader, plus all drives.

We prepare the walls using a special file for wood and a jigsaw (it is better to level the edges with emery to facilitate the connection of parts). Then we fasten the parts together and we end up with a six-walled structure. Don't forget to make all the necessary holes for buttons and ports on the front of the case! Otherwise, your computer, for example, simply cannot be turned on due to the lack of a power button. Do not forget about insulation when distributing wires! The easiest way to provide it with the help of heat shrinkage (this is such a PVC tube that changes its diameter when the temperature rises: it is put on the place where the wires are soldered and heated with a lighter, because of which it adheres tightly to the wires and gives a good insulating effect).

When mounting the fans at the top, do not forget about their design! Because there will be more than one cooling devices, the version with "holes" on the front panel disappears (ugly and inconvenient). Better to install a good fan like Termaltake, which will last a long time and will not spoil the appearance of the case.

Do not forget about the holes for connectors of internal devices (for example, a hard drive) with the motherboard! After applying the full preliminary marking and sawing the holes, you can design and cover our body with self-adhesive rubberized film. To avoid problems in places with particularly strong wear (for example, at the points of connection of wires), it is better to process the cutouts for holes and drives over the film with double-sided foam-based tape.

The final stage of creation is the installation of a "basket" for hard drives, floppy drives, etc. We make it from plexiglass, and fix the drives with the same adhesive tape on foam rubber. After creating this last part, we proceed to the assembly and after a while we are already admiring the exclusive case we have created.

How to make a computer case out of plexiglass

The main disadvantage of this option is its high cost. But from the point of view of design, it is very attractive: you can come up with any shape, and even add lighting effects and other innovations.

When working, remember that plexiglass is fragile, so be careful. For work we need plexiglass of different thicknesses, from 5 to 10 mm. We first make the side walls from it (the size depends on your needs), then the top and bottom covers (while the thickness of the bottom should be greater). Please note that the size of the covers must be exactly the same, otherwise then you will face problems during assembly! Then we make vertical racks (it is better, too, thicker, from plexiglass 10 mm). We connect ready-made parts. You can attach the legs to the bottom so as not to scratch our case and spoil its appearance.

When installing the rear panel, do not forget about the holes for the wires of the drives. For this reason, it is better to fix the motherboard inside in advance, marking on it the places of the future connection with all the necessary details. This will save time and know in advance which holes to make and where exactly. The board itself is easiest to place on a cut piece of plexiglass of medium thickness, while securing it with dichloroethane.

Next, we mount inside the shelves for hard drives and disk drives. It is better to make them from 5 mm thin plexiglass. If you want to make the structure more rigid, you can glue the sides of the boxes for drives with thicker plexiglass, but this is optional.

We proceed to the installation of the front wall. Here, do not forget about the hole for the indicator (for greater beauty, you can insert a piece of glass of a different color with the help of the same dichloroethane) and on / off buttons, etc. (you can take ready-made buttons from another case, place a board with LEDs under them, and after that insert the entire structure into our creation). You can arrange all this beauty both horizontally and vertically, it looks beautiful and unusual, like our entire future body as a whole.

So, all the walls are ready, you can start assembling. We add that, since the case is planned to be completely transparent, you can install any LEDs and other lighting elements inside. It will look, in any case, beautiful, and the choice of color, blinking mode and other innovations is a matter of purely your taste and imagination.

& nbsp & nbsp This page contains several dozen electrical schematic diagrams, and useful links to resources related to the topic of equipment repair. Mostly computer. Keeping in mind how much effort and time it sometimes took to find the necessary information, a reference book or a schematic diagram, I collected here almost everything that I used during the repair and that was available in electronic form. I hope someone will find something useful. cables.zip - Cable routing - Reference in .chm format. The author of this file is Pavel Andreevich Kucheryavenko. Most of the source documents were taken from the pinouts.ru site - brief descriptions and pinouts of more than 1000 connectors, cables, adapters. Descriptions of buses, slots, interfaces. Not only computer equipment, but also cell phones, GPS receivers, audio, photo and video equipment, game consoles, car interfaces. Capacitor 1.0 - The program is designed to determine the capacity of a capacitor by color marking (12 types of capacitors). startcopy.ru - in my opinion, this is one of the best sites on the Russian Internet, dedicated to the repair of printers, copiers, multifunctional devices. You can find techniques and recommendations to fix almost any problem with any printer. Pinout for ATX (ATX12V) power supply connectors with ratings and color-coded wires: ATXPower.rar - Diagrams of power supplies ATX 250 SG6105, IW-P300A2, and 2 diagrams of unknown origin. colors_it_330u_sg6105.gif - NUITEK Power Supply Scheme (COLORS iT) 330U. codegen_250.djvu - Power supply circuit diagram Codegen 250w mod. 200XA1 mod. 250XA1. codegen_300x.gif - Power supply circuit diagram Codegen 300w mod. 300X. deltadps200.gif - Power supply circuit diagram Delta Electronics Inc. model DPS-200-59 H REV: 00. deltadps260.ARJ - Power supply circuit diagram Delta Electronics Inc. model DPS-260-2A. DTK_PTP_2038.gif - Power supply circuit DTK PTP-2038 200W. FSP145-60SP.GIF - Power supply diagram of FSP Group Inc. model FSP145-60SP. green_tech_300.gif - Green Tech power supply circuit. model MAV-300W-P4. HIPER_HPU-4K580.rar - Power supply circuits HIPER HPU-4K580 hpc-360-302.pdf - Power supply circuit diagram SIRTEC INTERNATIONAL CO. LTD. HPC-360-302 DF REV: C0 hpc-420-302.pdf - Power supply circuit diagram SIRTEC INTERNATIONAL CO. LTD. HPC-420-302 DF REV: C0 iwp300a2.gif - Power supply circuits INWIN IW-P300A2-0 R1.2. IW-ISP300AX.gif - INWIN IW-P300A3-1 Powerman power supply circuits. JNC_LC-B250ATX.gif - JNC Computer Co. LTD LC-B250ATX JNC_SY-300ATX.pdf - JNC Computer Co. LTD. SY-300ATX Power Supply Diagram JNC_SY-300ATX.rar - Presumably the manufacturer of JNC Computer Co. LTD. SY-300ATX power supply. The diagram is hand-drawn, comments and recommendations for improvement. KME_pm-230.GIF - Power supply circuits Key Mouse Electronics Co Ltd model PM-230W Power_Master_LP-8_AP5E.gif - Power Master power supply circuits model LP-8 ver 2.03 230W (AP-5-E v1.1). Power_Master_FA_5_2_v3-2.gif - Power Master power supply circuits model FA-5-2 ver 3.2 250W. MaxpowerPX-300W.GIF - Power supply schematic for Maxpower PX-300W microlab350w.pdf - Power supply circuit diagram Microlab 350W microlab_400w.pdf - Power supply circuit diagram Microlab 400W linkworld_LPJ2-18.GIF - Powerlink LPJ2-18 300W power supply circuit SevenTeam_ST-200HRK.gif - SevenTeam ST-200HRK power supply circuit SHIDO_ATX-250.gif - Schemes of the SHIDO power supply model LP-6100 250W. SUNNY_ATX-230.png - Power supply schematic diagram SUNNY TECHNOLOGIES CO. LTD ATX-230 splitter.arj - 2 schematic diagrams of ADSL - splitters. KS3A.djvu - Documentation and schematics for 29 ″ TVs on KS3A chassis. GFL2.20E.pdf - Documentation and diagrams for Philips TVs on the GFL2.20E chassis. Top of Page & nbsp & nbsp & nbsp | & nbsp & nbsp & nbsp To the main page of the site

Stylish wooden PC case with your own hands

The best computer case in the mid-range

Hello, I'm assembling a gaming computer. Could you please make a review on the case in the price category up to 5000 rubles. Thanks in advance.

The case of any PC is not only a "container" for fans, hard drives, expansion cards, cables and cables, but also a reflection of the individual owner.

It is not for nothing that most experts claim that you cannot save on the case. It is better to take a "hard drive" with a smaller volume, but the "correct" model should have an outstanding design, be heavy and "cold", and also have good capacity. Savings will inevitably lead to overheating of the insides of your PC, impressive noise and rattling of poorly fitted parts.

Most active users can say with confidence which PC configuration they want to have, but which case is best for a computer, almost no one knows. The specialists of our company decided to fill this gap and prepared an overview of several popular models that have recently appeared on the domestic market. And if desired, we can purchase and bring all the necessary equipment.

Zalman Z9 Plus Black

Let's start our review of the Zalman Z9 Plus Black, which is the most inexpensive, but quite high quality and popular model among "advanced" PC users. This device is made of steel and has an impressive weight, so we can say with confidence that it will not "bounce" from four 120 mm coolers working at full power. Two fans are included, and two are purchased separately. The control unit built into the case will allow you to adjust the speed, which will have a positive effect on the low noise level of the fans.

• The device is made in the Midi Tower form factor with dimensions 173x432x490 standard for such models. However, there is enough room for five 3.5 "bays, three 5, 25" and one 2.5 "internal bays, one external 3.5" and seven expansion slots, with the possibility of installing cards , up to 29 cm long.
• In addition, there is still enough room in this case to install a cooling water pump. The Zalman Z9 Plus Black is designed for the installation of ATX and mATX form-factor motherboards.
• The design of this device is quite classic and discreet, although it is possible to decorate the space of the front cooler with LCD backlight.

This device completely disproves the fact that cheap computer cases are never good.

Zalman Z9 Plus Black can be confidently called a fairly high-quality device, in the price range up to 2500 rubles.

Cooller Master CM STORM SNIPER SGC 6000

This PC case is made in the MiddleTower form factor and has dimensions of 219 × 496 × 489 mm. It is designed for motherboards of two types: ATX, Micro ATX. This device, of course, cannot be called a novelty in our stores, but due to its spaciousness, workmanship, rather aggressive design and relatively low price, it is popular among PC users and gamers.

• In its upper part there is a platform with interface connectors: 4 - USB 2.0, eSATA, audio connectors for headphones and speakers. In addition, there is a handle on the case for carrying the system unit.
• This model is spacious enough: it is equipped with five internal compartments of 3.5 ”; five external 5.25 "bays and one external - 3.5" and seven expansion slots.
• Cooling in this model is provided by three coolers: one 140 mm with red illumination, mounted directly in front of the drive bay and located in the front part of this device.

  Unusual modding - a computer in a wooden case with your own hands

  There is a decorative grill in front of the fan, behind which there is a coarse air filter. The same cooler is installed in the upper part of the device, and one, 120 mm, in the rear part. This unit can also be retrofitted with two 120mm fans or one 140mm fan that fits nicely onto the side panel. At the back of the case there are two rubber membranes for the water cooling hoses.

In general, the Cooller Master CM STORM SNIPER SGC 6000 can be safely called a very heavy gaming case for a computer, with an excellent cooling system, good build quality, a fairly low noise level of fans, an aggressive design and a user-friendly interface panel.

Disadvantages include an ill-conceived cable management system and a non-removable filter on the front panel. The average cost of the device is 2700 rubles.

CoollerMaster STORM ENFORCER

This review should start with a design that is both powerful and aggressive. The weight of this device cannot but rejoice: almost 9 kg with dimensions of 229 x 485 x 524 mm. Immediately striking is the door in the upper front part of the device, which hides 4 5.25 ”compartments. The lower front part is covered with a metal mesh and a removable plastic grill, behind which is a powerful 200 mm fan with LCD backlight, and 4 more 5.25 ”bays. In the upper front part there is a control unit with two USB 2.0 ports; two USB 3.0 ports. audio jacks and power button.

• Half of the upper part of the case is occupied by an additional fan. Based on the size, you can safely install another 200 mm huge cooler.
• This model is designed for the bottom position of the power supply. Above it is space for seven expansion cards, a cutout for a communication card or optional interface unit, and a 120 mm fan. In addition, the model is equipped with a place for a cooling water pump. At the very top of the rear of the case there are three rubber membranes to hold the hoses for the cooling system. A removable dust filter is located on the bottom of the device.
• With good capacity, it cannot be said that this is a very large case for a computer. Good build quality, excellent cooling performance when tested on the bench, low noise level, good cable management and a rather bold and unusual design make Cooller Master STORM ENFORCER an excellent candidate for purchase.

But this model also has some drawbacks, which seemed to us quite significant.

1. High average price, which is 4,700 rubles.
2. The dust filters are of rather poor quality.

Despite all the advantages of the Cooller Master STORM ENFORCER, the high cost of the case brought it only to the second place in our review.

The best case for a computer in the price category up to 5000 thousand rubles, was recognized as a fairly inexpensive model Cooller Master CM STORM SNIPER SGC 6000.

Did you find the answer to your question? Help others find it too.

Hello! About a year ago I bought an Iconbit HD400Le media player without a hard drive for watching movies, mostly of high quality. And in order to store large movies somewhere, I adapted the old computer for a NAS server, put FreeNAS there, connected it to a media player via a router, and watched movies on the network, everything would be fine, but the black system unit constantly buzzing in the corner, not gave aesthetic peace.
And as it usually happens, suddenly there was an opportunity to change my old computer for new components, and most importantly, to change the ATX mother to mATX, then the idea was born to create a compact NAS server, and even in a transparent case, to delight the eye and give peace of mind !


I note that everything was done from improvised means, only a small power supply had to be bought, and some materials and tools (HDD 3.5 inches 500GB was sold, and with the money received, I bought HDD 2.5 inches 320GB).

So we have the following:
Components:
Mat. board - Asus P5kpl-am se mATX
Processor - Intel E6400 -
Memory - Kingston 1GB DDR2 800Mhz Low Profile
Hard drive - WD 320Gb 5400RPM 2.5 inches -1200 r
Power supply - IP-AD160-2 from In Win case, Mini-ITX 160W - 1050 r
USB stick with system
Materials:
Pieces of plexiglass (found at the school where he studied)
Metal mesh (bought in the building materials market)
Round buttons from the Lego constructor (incl. Reload)
Aluminum strips for mounting HDD (I cut it myself from an aluminum sheet of 1.2 mm)
Rubber strips - to suppress vibration from HDD (bought on the market)
Glue
Alcohol
4 rubber pads for plumbing (bought 2 rubles in the plumbing department)
Tools:
Plexiglass cutter (bought on the market)
Metal scissors (bought at the market)
File and file
Mini drill
Screwdriver
Pliers
Ruler
Marker

In the process of work, many things came to mind after I did something wrong (for example, I made holes in the base at the very end, when I realized that the board was getting too hot), so some of the photos will have ready-made future parts.

1) Let's start with the base, cut a rectangle () out of plexiglass a little larger than the mat. board, drilled 4 holes for attaching the mat. board, screwed in screws with a hole instead of a cap, on which he put the board and screwed it on. On the reverse side, where the screws come out, I glued rubber gaskets, we got vibration-damping legs.

Figure: 1.1

Figure: 1.2

The power and HDD indicators now look like this.

Figure: 1.3

2) I cut out the walls, drilled the ventilation holes for the PSU, holes for the motherboard and buttons, drilled many holes in the base, glued them. I glued the walls to the base, glued L-shaped mounts to the side wall for planting the power supply, made from bent blanks for the computer.

The lid will be made of dense mesh for better ventilation; for its attachment, hot metal wires (paper clips) were inserted into the ends of the walls.

Figure: 2

3) I cut small strips of plexiglass, made mounts for buttons and for a hard drive.

Figure: 3.1

Figure: 3.2

4) I installed the board in the case, glued the Power and Reset buttons

Figure:

Figure: 4.2

5) I painted the power supply unit and the grid black with a spray gun.

Figure:

6) Made a hard drive mount: 2 aluminum strips, 2 soft rubber strips, large screws.

Figure: 6.1

Figure: 6.2

Figure: 6.3

Figure: 6.4

7) Installed the mounting structure from the HDD into the case. At the same time I connected a flash drive and a red fan for the processor. For better ventilation of the power supply, the holes were replaced with a mesh, two windows were previously cut out: in the back and in the front.

Figure: 7.1

The flash drive is connected to the internal usb on the mat. board.

Figure: 7.2

8) The final stage. Install the mesh cover.

Figure: 8.1

Figure: 8.2

And this is how it looks in the interior.

Figure: 8.3

Dimensions of the resulting case: 270x200x110, i.e. slightly more than the mat itself.

DIY wooden PC case

Figure: nine

Work on bugs.
During the time I was making this case, along the way, I had to change and redo a lot. At the very beginning of the project, 2 small zones of ventilation openings were conceived, above the processor fan and the power supply, but this turned out to be not enough, the air inside the case heated up to 80-100 degrees, as a result, the entire top cover turned into a huge ventilation zone.

Figure: ten

The first HDD mount was made of the same plexiglass, and was simply inserted into the case, without glue and screws, because of this design, the working HDD vibrated strongly. I had to re-do a completely new design.

Figure: 11.1

Figure: 11.2

The power supply was originally mounted on the top cover, it just clung and hung, it turned out to be very inconvenient.

Figure: 12

In general, think! before doing something. I completed this project in about 3 weeks of evenings.

In the future, make a switchable backlight from 4 LEDs, add another hard disk (space allows and new mounts are already ready) so that the data is mirrored and it is possible to replace this slightly flexible mesh with a perforated aluminum sheet, it would be more beautiful.

Personal modding collection

The front panel is the face of any body, and therefore I am sure that every modder wants to have a body, the "face" of which will be unlike any other, and therefore memorable at least. About six months ago, I made an individual mask for my body made of plexiglass, but I accidentally broke it. Faceless body, gentlemen, this is a reproach to the owner;), so it was decided to do it all over again and put an end to this unaestheticness.

Materials:

• White, matte PVC plastic. Thickness 4 and 5 mm.
• Blue, UV active plex. Thickness 3 mm.
• 4 UV lamps. 2 - 10cm, 2 - 30cm.
• 2 digital thermometers, blue backlit.
• Backlight control module.
• 8 bolts 4 * 30, with a hex wrench head.
• Matte, blue film with a textured pattern.
• 6 caps for fastening car door trims.

Tools:

• Stationery knife
• Dremel
• Hot glue and a gun to it.
• Dichloroethane, bottle 30 ml.

First you need to think about how and what we will attach our panel to. I wanted to make it so that it could be easily removed if necessary, and there would be no need to use a screwdriver for these purposes. In connection with this goal, I visited the nearest car market, where six caps were purchased for fixing door trims in cars of the VAZ 2109 type.

The main material for the panel will be white, matte, PVC plastic, 4 and 5 mm thick. From plastic 5 mm thick, I cut out the base of the future "mask" of the case, immediately cut holes for the caps and three 5 "25 devices. In order not to miss the dimensions of the base, I first drew and marked the holes on a piece of Whatman paper, and then transferred all dimensions I also had to engrave small indentations in the plastic to hook the base of the caps onto.

Then from 4 mm plastic we cut out the sidewalls of the future panel, the front part of the compartments of 5 "25 devices, three arched partitions, as well as a couple of strips in order to properly glue the sidewalls. By the way, when pasting, I used dichloroethane with dissolved chips from the plexus. consistency, my glue resembled sour cream, did not spread in different directions and was easily smeared on the part.

I wanted to place a set of two 10cm UV lamps on the blank. In order to see the light from them, I had to drill, with a 14mm drill, 6 holes on each side of the panel (later, I added one more hole on each side). From above, I covered all the holes with a 3mm blue UV plexus frame, which I put on 4 bolts (4 * 30) with a hexagon head.

At the bottom of the base, I made a hole for the blowhole, and also made a rectangular cutout to access the face components of the case.

At this point, I had to change my plans for the body mask. Initially, I wanted to make a panel with two doors, for this, arched partitions were made. But thinking that the backlight would be hidden by the doors, I decided to abandon them. Therefore, I had no choice but to do how to get rid of the arched partitions, I sawed them flush with the plexus frame. And also slightly widened the hole for the body components.

To decorate the lower part, in a piece of plastic that was supposed to close it, I cut out a hole for the flyhole, two rectangles for a pair of Megamod thermometers, and also drilled 9 holes with the same 14mm drill so that the upper and lower parts of the front panel at least somehow combined. By the way, under the lower part of the workpiece, I also decided to make a backlight from two 30 cm UV lamps. The holes on the top will be covered with strips of blue UV plexiglass.

In order to "embed" neons deep into the front panel, I had to get them out of the cases - glass tubes. This is done very simply, the glass tube needs to be cut from the end where the wire comes out, just try not to cut the neon itself.

After the neons have been safely (I hope) got out, it is necessary to replace the thin wire that runs along the side of each lamp with an insulated wire. There is nothing complicated here, we solder the wire, solder the wire, the main thing is to insulate everything well with heat shrinkage.

Neon lamps will not work without an inverter, I took them out of the cases and glued them with hot glue to the back of the lower part of the front. I also used hot melt glue for attaching the neons.

All work has been completed, we can begin the final formation of the image of our case - screw the frame and strips of plexus, install thermometers. In order not to leave the front part of the case white, I pasted over it with a blue film with some kind of textured pattern. I didn't make the power and reset buttons. I turn on the computer from the keyboard, I don't use reset at all. Also with LEDs - whether my computer is turned on or not, I recognize by the illumination of the thermometers, and the workload of the hard disk does not bother me much, so I did not install the LED.

That's what I did.

The "facade" of our case reveals all the beauty in the dark with the UV lamps on.

I connected the neon lamps through a sound activation unit for lamps from Sharkoon.

In addition to turning it on and off, this device can cause the neon lights under the bass to flash. In order to evaluate the work of the backlight "to music" I suggest downloading a small

Greetings! Today I will have a rather unusual article for you for my blog, but I hope many of my readers will be interested in it. This post is recommended for reading, first of all, for "computer maniacs" who like to pervert their PC in order to improve its appearance and functionality. So, below you will get acquainted with a project called "Black and White" - this is a do-it-yourself system unit modding. This miracle was created by my friend Anatoly Vasilenko and asked me to publish this review on my blog, which I do with pleasure. Below, its text is unchanged.

Hello everybody! I recently purchased a new computer and everything seemed to be cool, it suited me, everything seemed to be at its best, but still something was missing ... After much thought, I came to the conclusion that I was not satisfied with its appearance! :)) Housing Cooler Master K280... The design will work, but only for the first time, I decided, and after a couple of days I started to modernize it ... otherwise the case looked too cheap, not serious, boring and like a usual "stamping".

And so that the body would have a more or less neat and balanced look, I decided to do the whole thing in black and white. I will skip the design stage and get straight to the practical part!

This is such a boring, default look the system manager has now:

Change the factory front panel

Unfortunately, not all the photos that I took in the process of work have survived, and I did not always think of photographing some of the stages.

In a nutshell: for the front panel I used 2 sheets of clear plexiglass, which melted in the process of improper drilling, which led them to a rough, unusable form ... But the fools, as they say, learn from their own mistakes and had to cut the panel "from scratch", but already using sheet getinakfrom. Lord, why didn't I immediately think about it? .. \u003d) Unlike plexiglass, getinax is much more refractory, durable and not so brittle!

We drill a sheet with such a drill, the seller called him: "ballerina")), using a sheet getinax 5 mm thick:

The drill is like a crown, only the crowns come in fixed sizes, and the diameter of this drill can be adjusted by yourself from 30 to 125 mm! A very profitable purchase in my opinion.

The drill perfectly coped with its task, I was pleasantly surprised with the result:

Further we clean and degrease the inner side of the panel, for gluing the cooler fasteners (I didn't take pictures of the gluing, but the fasteners will be visible at the painting stage), and, accordingly, we glue it with flexible glue: TYTAN professional Classic FIX... Further painting the panels black matte NEWTON enamel... Apply 5-6 coats for added confidence:

In the photo you can see a "lock" for fixing the panel in the frame of the case:

While I was painting, the long-awaited package with a braid arrived MDPC-X. Guess what colors? Correctly! Black (30 m) and white (10 m):

The enamel is dry, you can install the valves. We solder them to the 12 volt molex, we cover the wires with black braid, otherwise we do not need incomprehensible multi-colored wires in the case:

A factory-quality panel came out, and the case already looks pretty good:

Let's take care of the braid

The front panel is finished! But we still have almost 30m of black braid, and the white one is not touched at all! It's time to put them into action ... So, a new power supply has arrived Aero Cool 650 W, we disassemble it and start braiding each wire separately:

One day was enough for me to fit ONLY a 24 pin cable !! The activity is incredibly routine, but interesting at first:

The peculiarity of this power supply is that the power cables of the video cards are doubled, so we had to bifurcate them so that there was only one wire in one braid, if there are 2 or more, then the braid will be thicker against the background of the others, but we do not need this:

In total, I had the patience to tighten only those wires that I will use, and we will fix the unused ones on the back of the motherboard out of sight:

Trial run. We made sure that we didn't mix anything up and that all nodes are working:

To avoid unnecessary bending of the 24 pin cable, we it is necessary to slightly extend the factory hole in the housing downward for this cable, and paint over the cut:

We stuff the remaining small wiring into the braid:

We mount the new braided power supply and arrange the cables in their places:

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Let's see what happened:

Enjoyed, rested, now let's move on to the acrylic window!

Acrylic window installation

We go to a building materials store and buy everything we need:

• transparent acrylic sheet - 300x300mm,
• molding tape - 1 meter,
• engraver for cutting,
• lED strip,
• dimmer to adjust the backlight.

Pasted the case cover paper tape, this will protect the paint from scratches and any damage during cutting:

Turn on the engraver and cut out our window with a cutting wheel. And don't forget to let the engraver rest! And while the engraver is resting, we cut out acrylic in parallel. We carry out fine grinding of the cut, round it at the bends and remove the already unnecessary protective tape. The scotch tape did not come off completely, but it doesn't matter if there is a wet cloth:

As you can see, it turned out very neatly, without scratches and irregularities:

Remove the protective layer from one side of the acrylic and glue it on the inside of the case wall and leave the whole thing to dry properly. After lying down overnight, the glue has dried and voila - we have a decent-looking acrylic window:

Installing LED backlight

So we have: female 4pin, soldered cable molex - male 4pin (needed to connect to the power supply), a dimmer with a remote control, a piece of white LED strip and a dumb wire to connect it all.

We solder all the elements into a heap and we get something like a backlit cord. We attach the "backlit cord" to the wall and connect the power:

New metal legs

A good friend who works in a factory made me new legs from a solid stainless steel bar. The visible part of the leg is polished, and a layer of rubber is glued to the bottom, you know why. Fastened with potay screws.