Mod of the Month - October 2007

Infinity CM Stacker

by DoOb's
Worklog

Hot on the heels of the CoolerMaster Cosmos comes a second mod based on another beloved CM case - the Stacker. This bad boy is one of the most popular modding cases lately, so it's no surprise to find some great mods built off of its giant frame - including the Infinity CM Stacker by DoOb's.

Stackers are usually loved for their massive size - but the mods done to them largely take away from the sleek, minimal design that the case was made to showcase. This was exactly what DoOb's didn't want to do - instead, his goal was to take that giant, clean canvas and make it even more clean.

It's an odd approach - taking a huge, minimalistic case and shooting to make it even more "simple" and monolithic but it's also really working with the Stacker's greatest design attributes. It's also worth noting that DoOb's has done pretty much every cut with nothing more than one tool - a Dremel.

But enough rambling; how well has he gotten on with his goals? Let's take a look...


The Stacker DoOb's got a hold of is slightly used, but that was just fine by him - most of it would be altered anyways. After the bad boy was stripped down he finally made a plan for it (note that the plan was after...including after some of the damage!) via SketchUp. Take note - by the time he's done, this monster of a case doesn't even have room for the radiator inside!


DoOb's made use of the hole in the floor of his stacker, choosing to accent it rather than try to cover it up with a flat bottom. To that effect, he grabbed some mesh and made a grille for it, along with the new bottom made from aluminum sheeting.


That sheeting is carried on throughout the case - covering up everything from the PSU to the drive bays, both inside and out. Even the back was replaced with a piece of sheeting, cut to allow space for the various components like the radiator, PSU and PCI backplate. That way, there were no unnecessary holes such as unused PCI slots. While he was in the cutting mood, DoOb's also made sure to do the fan holes for various places.

Did we mention he did all of these with a Dremel? No hole saws here, folks...


The clean aluminum interior is further preserved by a unique "mask" which covers up much of the motherboard. To allow for proper ventilation the grille for the 92mm PSU fan has been cut straight out of the aluminum used to cover and separate the upper portion of the case. No obtrusive fan grilles would be cluttering up the interior - though hand-designed and cut ones will be used on the outside.

Did ya catch that all of this is cut with a Dremel yet?!


The case front has been replaced in its entirety with a piece of aluminum sheeting (properly bent to match the subtle curve), with nothing more than a fan hole and a DVD drive opening (at the bottom) cut into it. The cut-out for the DVD was saved to be used as a stealth plate for the drive, keeping the appearance of the unbroken fascia. The hard drives themselves are attached via a vertical retention mechanism fashioned partly from the top of an old CD drive.

When done, DoOb's plans to paint the entire case, which will undoubtedly make for an attractive finish if he does it with the same attention to detail that he's been giving so far. Of course, we'll just have to see how it turns out by keeping an eye on his worklog.

If strong lines and big, clean cases are your type of thing, then make sure you drop in and vote for Infinity CM Stacker for October's Mod of the Month!