Ten minute modding

Interior

Even the best outside of a case can be utterly ruined by a rat's nest of cabling. Any talented modder knows that a good mod requires good thought to both the outer shell and the inside...but particularly when we're building just a quick case, the inside is the first thing to go utterly neglected.

Cast off these poor habits! It doesn't take much to turn the inside of a case from a disaster of messy cabling and exposed drives into a smart-looking interior, enjoyed by even for someone who wouldn't necessarily know how to appreciate modding as a hobby. There are so many great little products available to even the ten-minute modder when it comes to an attractive interior build, and attention to this often sorts the Pros from the Not-So's.

We'll go ahead and start with the obvious...Cable sleeving - use it!

There was a time way back when, where using braided cable sleeving was a difficult and obnoxious operation. Removing molex plugs was hard, the sleeving frayed at every cut and there was never enough heatshrink to wrap more than about 5 cables. Back then, I could understand all the hesitation.

Guys, that time has passed. Honestly - modern cable sleeving kits and a molex plug remover tool will let you do an entire PSU and most of your accessories in about a half an hour at most. It's just not that dramatic anymore. Even back in 2005 with Richard's Cable Tidying article, the products were improving. Nearly three years later, there's simply no excuse.

And by the way, while you're at it, why not take a moment to switch out the cover on that thing? Or how about the fan? Maybe both! Or, you could even switch out the plug heads for something a little brighter or more colourful? The products are there, you just have to pick them up!

The other great avenue for interiors are to ditch the standard kaleidescope of SATA, IDE and front panel connectors, and trade up to something a little nicer. My personal favourite is a little harder to find now, but if you pay attention then you can find some great EL wire SATA cables from AC Ryan. They're no longer a current product - but if you can find them then you'll be suitably impressed - the cable glows along its entire length without any need for UV anything. FrozenCPU has some in stock under its own brand, but only in red.

For organization, don't ever discount the benefit of right-angled SATA, IDE and power cables! These simple moves can make the difference between wiring heaven and hell. If you build more than one system every year or so, I highly recommend that you pick up some just to keep in a drawer. I find them quite invaluable for my "oh, I think I want to build..." moments.

What you definitely should not do, however, is zip-tie all of your cables together. Particularly with ever-increasing PSU voltages, EMFs are becoming more and more of a problem. If you end up zip-tying a bunch of data and power cables together, your well-organized layout may also turn into a huge headache. Unfortunately, it's a byproduct of our "more power, more power!" mentality in the industry. Areas around the graphics card are especially sensitive to this due to the way graphics cards pull power - so since most SATA ports are near the PCIe slots, it may be worth shortening cable lengths to keep your data cables clear of these troublesome areas.

While we're on the topic of data paths, where are your hard drives at? May we take a moment to suggest that you look at one of the many alternatives to stuffing a couple drives into your 3.5" bays by looking at 5.25" bay insert coolers? There are several brands, though I'm partial to another product that's getting harder to find - the AC Ryan "Tanky". It's not discontinued, but it's getting very difficult to locate as people stray away from the idea of HDD coolers in general.

HDD coolers not only keep your drive cool, they also move them up to the generally much more free 5.25" bays in your case, which can help massively with cable routing. They also do a tremendous job at keeping your drives much, much quieter. Did I mention quiet? Because honestly, the coolers I run my 1TB Seagates in barely heat up and I can hardly tell when the drives are accessed. It's even more invaluable in a case that doesn't have a lot of space or airflow to begin with - so cramped cases take note!

I've seen the same "concept" of moving the drives to more spacious environs with a rather creative adaptation - rubber bands and sticks. The rubber bands are threaded through the screw holes on the drive bay and sticks keep them stretched. The hard drive is then tucked in between the rubber bands, to be hopefully held fast and completely dampened from the case.

If it's a drive you need, please don't do this. I think that's all I have to say about that.

Conclusion

I hope you've enjoyed this short look on mods that take even less time than it took to read this article. Remember, modding is modding - and no case isn't deserving of at least a little love and attention.

It doesn't take a lot of time and most of these (aside from the watercooling, at least) don't take much money at all. But these little details can make a huge difference in the final product. Whatever you're looking for - a little bling, a little silence or a little cleaner layout - it can all be accomplished with a ten minute mod and a few quid. So why not do it?

I hope this has started to get your gears turning on the beauty of some more simple improvements - not everything requires months, weeks, or even days of cutting, scraping, drilling or painting. In fact, some of the greatest mods are made by their details - just look at Black Narcissus or Orac. The fittings, the cable sleeving - these simple ideas can really separate ideas from "good" to great, and they can do the same for your next case.

In fact, I'd love to see some of what you guys could come up with using only pre-purchased parts, a little ingenuity, and a lot of creativity. Could there be a little contest and prize? Maybe so...

But until then, thanks for reading and keep on modding!