Author Topic: Computer mods: What odd things have you done? (Read 26138 times)

wreckedcarzz · « **on:** July 13, 2008, 04:40 AM »

Alright, I type with a sore and somewhat bloody finger due to my last undertaking of using my computer for more than a computer. This one is a bit strange (and I do some weird stuff sometimes!

)

My yearly PC mod (I remove it at fall/winter because it is no longer needed):
Computer air conditioning/fan (with instructions)

Spoiler

I took an old fan out of my now-dead HP computer, and plugged it in - this thing spins at least 2x faster than the 120MM fans in my computer (those are $20 each, too) - hence the bloody/sore finger (I did it twice, the first drew blood). This fan has a REALLY long cable, being about 8" long!
On NewEgg a few months ago I bought some 4-pin to 4-pin+3-pin (fan) connector dealies. They take an existing 4-pin power connector and steal part of the power for the fan, then allow you to continue the power strand along. These things have about a 6" cable.

Now for some reason, probobally my fault, the "Front Fan" mobo fan connector doesn't work on this PC anymore (it is worth noting that I almost slammed a hole into the motherboard trying to connect the fan to the port before continuing on farther in my explanation - the needlenose slipped and... well, thank god I have a good PC case

). So here is what I did (and you can do for ~$10 from Newegg, plus shipping and tax of course):

Remove side panel (duh!)
Take power from 3rd hard drive cable, route it through fan adapter, and back into hard drive (you can use any 4-pin connector to do this)
With side panel off, position fan where you would like it to blow (obviously)
Position fan cable to go INTO the door jam where your door slides on (this does NOT work for the old school "snap closed" PC doors, sorry!) - make sure the cable will not block the door until the very front, so it will be the least noticeable; IT WILL FORCE YOUR DOOR TO STAY OPEN (a millimeter or so, but some people are picky...)
Set the door out of the way if you haven't already
Connect fan connector to 3-pin connector on the router you installed earlier. THE FAN WILL START SPINNING if the PC is on, so WATCH YOUR FINGERS! (I should take my own advice)
Move the to the side a bit, and slide the door over to the PC, and slide it on as normal
Stop before you smash the fan power cable and make any last minute movements to get it to sit in the jam, but where it won't be crushed
Close the door to your liking
Position the fan to your liking
Optional: If you have a REALLY fast fan like mine that literally knocks itself over, put it in front of your monitor or something
Enjoy your new A/C

So fellow DC'ers, what have you done to change your computer (physically)?*
*

Beating/smashing/crushing computer does not count as a modification

f0dder · « **Reply #1 on:** July 13, 2008, 09:18 AM »

Once upon a time was...

A SHEEPBOX! (~10meg mpeg, from around 1999).

This was before people really started doing casemods and the like, so when we brought it to TP99, people thought it was pretty fun. We all lost interest in casemods after all the kiddies with their cathode tubes and plexiglass windows started doing it, though... no more fun and innovation, just mindless bling-bling

EDIT: I should mention that the sheep's eyes are LEDs connected to the harddisk activity pins, and that it has a PC speaker mounted in it's chest

p3lb0x · « **Reply #2 on:** July 13, 2008, 03:06 PM »

I believe we still have the sheepbox somewhere at home if you want it fodder. But I am not sure what condition it is in

f0dder · « **Reply #3 on:** July 13, 2008, 04:07 PM »

I believe we still have the sheepbox somewhere at home if you want it fodder. But I am not sure what condition it is in
-p3lb0x (July 13, 2008, 03:06 PM)

Pretty disassembled (I think mobo+cpu have been thrown out), and the case itself isn't in super good condition. But at least the sheep is probably still alive

cranioscopical · « **Reply #4 on:** July 13, 2008, 05:29 PM »

Pretty disassembled (I think mobo+cpu have been thrown out)
-f0dder

I hope you kept the ram!

cmpm · « **Reply #5 on:** July 13, 2008, 06:12 PM »

A 3 prong male connection will power a 2 prong female connection.
For fans that is...as in motorized...lol.

I took a large fan out of a bad pcu that had the 2 prongs and connected it to the 3 prong on my dual p3 motherboard.
Without sacrificing the already used 2/3 prongs for the cpu fans.

This is a fan that is nearly as wide as my case.
But it was pretty warm in there so I put it in.
Keeping the whole unit cooler.

f0dder · « **Reply #6 on:** July 13, 2008, 06:37 PM »

Pretty disassembled (I think mobo+cpu have been thrown out)
-f0dder

I hope you kept the ram!
-cranioscopical (July 13, 2008, 05:29 PM)

Why? EDO RAM is pretty useless to me these days, and I really couldn't be bothered going through the hassle selling it

mouser · « **Reply #7 on:** July 13, 2008, 06:47 PM »

An idea: we should find someone who can do a professional and mind-blowingly cool job making a CodyCase mod and then chip in and pay for it to be built with top notch components and then raffle it off in the DC fundraiser.

I think the design should be Cody on an island and you have to feed him quarters to power the PC.

Deozaan · « **Reply #8 on:** July 13, 2008, 09:04 PM »

Pretty disassembled (I think mobo+cpu have been thrown out)
-f0dder

I hope you kept the ram!
-cranioscopical (July 13, 2008, 05:29 PM)
Why? EDO RAM is pretty useless to me these days, and I really couldn't be bothered going through the hassle selling it
-f0dder (July 13, 2008, 06:37 PM)

I'll forgive you for not getting the (hilarious) pun as I'll just blame it on you being a foreigner.

A Ram is a male sheep.

f0dder · « **Reply #9 on:** July 13, 2008, 09:27 PM »

Heh, doh! I was thinking in hardware terms... can't even excuse it with "but it was late!", since that post was half past midnight. It's late now, though

. Wasn't a ram though, twas a female sheep

cranioscopical · « **Reply #10 on:** July 13, 2008, 09:42 PM »

Wasn't a ram though, twas a female sheep
-f0dder (July 13, 2008, 09:27 PM)

Even so, think what ewe could do with the ram

mouser · « **Reply #11 on:** July 13, 2008, 09:59 PM »

do not even try to compete with cranioscopical when it comes to puns.. it simply cannot be done.

Shades · « **Reply #12 on:** July 13, 2008, 10:04 PM »

@ cranioscopical:

Hmmmm....when I saw the words Ram an sheep together, the animal association was made immediately

And no, my native tongue is not English (which is Dutch, if you wanted to know).

Yep it is true what they say, "Great minds think....dirty at the same time!"

More on topic now:
Don't know if it counts and there are no pictures to back me up, but many many moons ago I built a Amiga 1200 into a big tower case. While one could say it is a mod...others would say blasphemy

Edvard · « **Reply #13 on:** July 14, 2008, 10:15 AM »

Once upon a time, I had an ethernet hub (one of those little 5-port thingummies) that required a 5-volt power supply. I searched my supply of wall-warts in vain for a 5-volt adapter, to no avail. Then I had an idea (tell me you haven't guessed it already...) I clipped off an unused 5v lead from the computer's power supply, wired on the plug and lead clipped from a burnt-out 9v wall-wart and strung it through and unused serial port hole in the back of the case, VOILA!

Also I had a friend one time who for some reason ran short on fans and bolted a standard box fan to the side of his case in place of one of the case panels.
Coooool.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #14 on:** July 14, 2008, 07:29 PM »

Also I had a friend one time who for some reason ran short on fans and bolted a standard box fan to the side of his case in place of one of the case panels.
Coooool.
-Edvard (July 14, 2008, 10:15 AM)

LOL! Thats a new one.. and I thought I had a big fan!

Lashiec · « **Reply #15 on:** July 14, 2008, 07:31 PM »

Also I had a friend one time who for some reason ran short on fans and bolted a standard box fan to the side of his case in place of one of the case panels.
-Edvard (July 14, 2008, 10:15 AM)

He ran a Preshott

Edvard · « **Reply #16 on:** July 15, 2008, 04:42 PM »

Actually, If I remember correctly, it was 233MHz PII he had loaded into one of those old-school monster 386 tower cases (remember those? they were about 3 feet tall and a foot-and-a-half deep?).

Lashiec · « **Reply #17 on:** July 16, 2008, 10:37 AM »

* Lashiec does the conversion

Wow, no wonder he could fit a fan in there

mouser · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2008, 11:10 AM »

i think a cool mod would be a flat old style computer case (not tower but the kind that has proportions more like a pizza box), but with the entire top being one giant slow fan (like maybe a 20inch by 20inch fan). now that would be cool in more than one way.

jgpaiva · « **Reply #19 on:** July 16, 2008, 11:15 AM »

i think a cool mod would be a flat old style computer case (not tower but the kind that has proportions more like a pizza box), but with the entire top being one giant slow fan (like maybe a 20inch by 20inch fan). now that would be cool in more than one way.
-mouser (July 16, 2008, 11:10 AM)

I think your cat wouldn't find it that interesting, if he(she?) got a paw in there

40hz · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2008, 11:24 AM »

I don't know if this is odd, but I equip almost all of my workstations with removable drive bays. I work with a lot of different operating systems and special configurations - and I don't like multibooting. So I do up different setups and plug them in as needed. I usually buy the hot-swap models. I don't use the hot-swap feature, but it's nice to have "just in case." Hot-swap hardware is usually of better quality (i.e. smoother install and removal) but you can save considerable money opting for non-hot swap models.

I also keep a few virgin "swappy" XP and Vista drives on hand for when I need to test something on a "known good" configuration. These get reghosted once I'm finished so I'm always set to go.

I've had very good luck with stuff from Granite Digital. Their build quality is excellent, although there are also many less expensive products out there that I'm sure would work equally well. My current favorite is this beastie:

http://www.granitedi...WPROD&ProdID=354

For server use, I prefer to go with external bays when running multiple drives to keep the heat down inside the server case. Drive replacements are relatively cheap compared to CPU/Mobo repairs.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #21 on:** July 16, 2008, 03:11 PM »

i think a cool mod would be a flat old style computer case (not tower but the kind that has proportions more like a pizza box), but with the entire top being one giant slow fan
-mouser (July 16, 2008, 11:10 AM)

I think you need a draftsman to design that properly.

JennyB · « **Reply #22 on:** July 16, 2008, 04:18 PM »

i think a cool mod would be a flat old style computer case (not tower but the kind that has proportions more like a pizza box), but with the entire top being one giant slow fan (like maybe a 20inch by 20inch fan). now that would be cool in more than one way.
-mouser (July 16, 2008, 11:10 AM)

Thinks: inside a kitchen extractor hood (mounted on the wall, but over a desk, not a cooker!)?

Shades · « **Reply #23 on:** July 16, 2008, 07:48 PM »

My recently acquired computer case has been designed with 12cm fan in front, 24cm fan on the side and 12cm fan on the back....so I don't need to make any alterations to my case like the original poster from this thread suggested ;-)

The only difference with the picture and my case is that is completely black and spray painted like a car.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #24 on:** July 17, 2008, 10:29 PM »

An idea: we should find someone who can do a professional and mind-blowingly cool job making a CodyCase mod and then chip in and pay for it to be built with top notch components and then raffle it off in the DC fundraiser.

I think the design should be Cody on an island and you have to feed him quarters to power the PC.
-mouser (July 13, 2008, 06:47 PM)

Can we just buy a case like that? I would seriously save up $150+ just for that!!