All The Sweet Case Mods
Computex 2018 isn’t just about new tech - case modders from around the world use the annual event to showcase their computer creations to the world. For these exotic systems, what’s on the inside isn’t what matters. We walked the halls of the Nangang Exhibition Center in search of such pristine projects, and here are the best we saw at the show.
Giant Viper
Colorful’s booth was filled with several unique case mods, including a red open-air spider-like chassis called the Giant Viper. The system was built by a modder named Bykski, and it sports an Intel Core i7-8700K, custom open-looped liquid cooling, and a plethora of Colorful-branded components, including an iGame Z370 Vulkan X motherboard, a GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Vulcan X TOP graphics card, and an SI 500 960GB SSD.
Get To The Choppa!
Every year, Thermaltake’s mod rig gallery is a sight to behold, with a cavalcade of exotic systems featuring varying themes, shapes, and sizes. One of our favorites was a large helicopter-like chassis, built by Suchao Prowphong of Thailand, which is adorned with RGB LED fans, custom liquid cooling, and a large Asus Strix graphics card prominently displayed at the center of the monstrous machine.
Through a translator, Prowphong told us that the case is meant to look like one of the helicopters from the movie Avatar (the case is way cooler than the film). He said that he used laser cutting materials to get just the right shapes and that he even worked on making sure that the material looked a little weathered to imply that it had been used a bit.
Prepare To Be Punished
The winner of Thermaltake's most-recent modding contest, this turret-like system looks like the love child of ED-209 from Robocop and the Punisher, with side-mounted missile launchers, guns and a riot shield. It has the skull logo of everybody's favorite vigilante in the middle and a motor at the bottom which can be used to make it rotate.
This bad boy beast is the latest masterpiece from Jesse Palacio of the Philippines, who is also known as JP Modified. Palacio said that he was able to finish his build in just two weeks and that he worked hard to make sure that he wasn't totally ripping apart the Thermaltake P90 case it was based on. All of the case mods at Thermaltake's booth began life as P90s.
Sailing The Seven Seas
Asus threw its hat into the case mod arena with a large galleon-style boat PC called Freedom, complete with blue LEDs that resemble an ocean contained in a wooden treasure box. With a Core i7-8700K processor, an ROG Maximus X Formula motherboard, and an ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, this sea-bound rig is enough to shiver anyone’s timbers.
The Force Is Strong With This One
GamerStorm’s booth featured a modded Deepcool Quadstellar chassis made to resemble a spacecraft you’d find in the Star Wars universe. An Empire stormtrooper sits atop the four chambers, which have been bored out to expose more of the interior components and etched to give the surface an edgy look. In a galaxy far, far away, you could easily handle the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs with this beastly mod rig.
Foosball Anyone?
Another entry from the Colorful booth, this foosball table doubles as a powerful gaming rig with custom liquid cooling and RGB LED memory. Now fans of the tabletop soccer emulator can play their favorite game digitally or the old fashioned way.
A Drive Around The Blockchain
Biostar displayed its latest cryptocurrency mining components in what appears to be a modified Power Wheel car that houses the company’s TB250-BTC+ motherboard, a liquid-cooled Intel CPU, a 120GB S100E SSD, and eight AMD RX 570 8GB graphics cards. You may not be able to take it for a spin, but you can definitely drive it around the blockchain with an estimated ETH hashrate of 220MH/s. Just don’t blame Biostar if you get a speeding ticket.
The Romans March Again
Taiwan-based AK Mod styled a Cooler Master C700P chassis to match the ancient uniform worn by Roman commanders, who were known as Praetors (the namesake of this mod rig). Holes were bored in the top of the chassis for the mercury chrome tubing, and the case has been modded with CNC aluminum for an edgy yet elegant design.
It Takes Two
A pair of 19 year-old twin brothers known as Brother MOD created a custom gaming rig known as the Chameleon Project. The Cooler Master Cosmos II chassis has been masterfully sprayed with automotive-grade paint, and although it may not be the most elaborate mod rig in the room, it’s certainly impressive to see the next generation of modders build at this level.
Yellow There, Beautiful
Korean modder Yong Un Kim customized an open-air Cougar Conquer White Edition chassis for the FSP booth. It sports a unique liquid cooling loop that features a clear acrylic reservoir and yellow coolant, which bathes the case in a golden glow. The chrome piping further adds to the system’s ambiance, and the Core i5-8500 and Asus ROG Strix GTX 1070 graphics card are sure to keep cool with the expertly crafted cooling system.
