By ifmu - June 29, 2001
Last Updated - August 28, 2001

Well hello to all out there, hopefully this will be the first in many case modifications I post here. Ok everyone let's give a big hoorah for Kelly Lu for giving a guy a chance. I've never even created my own personal website so this stuff is real new to me. Hopefully I won't make an idiot out of myself, I do that sometimes!

I am going to try to do a few things that I've seen on other sites that I liked and even a few I didn't see that I would like to have seen. I am going to try to start off with the most basic of set-ups and work from there until it is felt that the final touches are done on the first case mod on OnePC. Although, anyone who's bothered with case mods knows... it ain't never done!!! Now I figure that the easiest way to do this is to start from scratch. The good part to this is that you will be here from start to finish with this little puppy! Just make sure you check back every so often for updates!

We are going to need to know what it is that we want to go for. Considering most people have limited resources, I think we should start with a basic system.

Now the first thing I want everyone to know is that we are going to build the computer from scratch, every little detail about it will be posted here, so in effect anyone who is still learning about this can hopefully use this as a guide, including the beginner in case modification.

Murphy's Law:
"If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it."

Here is a little plan of the overall of it, but just as a note in the beginning, I am going to be cutting the case up pretty good in the beginning (another reason why I'm buying it first). So under that there will be the mods to it as I buy all the rest of it.

This is the basic outline of what we are going to accomplish through the course of building this system. Each step will eventually get linked once they are completed, so check back often:

Btw to alls, this * will let you know that this portion has been updated so you might want to check it out!!!

Step 1 - Web cam*
The first thing I am going to purchase for this little escapade is going to be a web cam; been planning on getting one for some time now, just never had the overall need to get one... well now I do, so I can show all of you the details of it all.

Step 2 - Case -- New!
I think I am going to try to go with an Antec case, my personal computer is inside one of those little beauties right now and it is a great case. (Most of the time, you want to start with the CPU you're going to get, but due to the lack of money matters around here I'm going to start with the case.)

Step 3 - Motherboard
At this point I think I am going to try to get an ABIT or ASUS, I personally have read and heard tons of nothing but good things about these mobo's.

Step 4 - CPU
Here I think I am going to go for an Athlon T-Bird. The actual hertz of it, I'm not going to state quite yet due to that being far down the road, so the prices might change enough to let me be able to afford something better by the time we reach this point.

Step 5 - Hard drive
Here I would like to try for a Seagate or even an IBM but I think I will get something a little less expensive here so odds are I'm going to go for a Western Digital or Maxtor.

Step 6 - Video card
Here is a toughie, quality and pricing will alter this for quite some time so all I know is that I am sure I will go for NVidia card of some sorts beyond that, couldn't say.

Step 7 - Sound card
With this I am going to presume that most want something good yet not TOO pricey. So I will more than likely go with a Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer.

Step 8 - LAN/Ethernet card
Here is something that won't be too bad to figure out. I've used Linksys for most of my personal computers so odds are that's the route I'll take here too.

Step 9 - RAM
Well this is going to be a little more difficult for some, I'm not going to go cheap here. The good old saying you get what you pay for will qualify here big time, I am thinking of going DDR PC2100 all the way; I want a good running system here so that's really my only choice. Minimum 256 Megs.

Step 10 - Heatsink fan for CPU
No clue here, my personal system has a water cooler on it (home built). I used the one that came with my T-Bird 1.2GHz for some time till the water cooler was done being built. So, if anyone has any good ideas as to a good heatsink that isn't too expensive, then give me a buzz.

Step 11 - Monitor
Here is again going to be another toughie, the size for me is going to be the biggest part. The good part is that I have a 19" on mine so I know I won't go below a 17" viewable. The minimal resolution here for me is 1600x1200.

Step 12 - Keyboard & mouse
Here are some overall very easy decisions. The keyboard, well I don't like split ones-too different for me-so a good old-fashioned one from any computer store for 10 bucks will prolly do me just fine. Now the mouse I have a Logitech Optical Mouse, and I love it; no cleaning; no upkeep, nada. So odds are with this one I will get either another of these or an optical trackball.

Step 13
Finally the set up of it all, the OS (Operating System) install and the finishing touches to it!!!

If you have any questions for me or even ideas that I could use throughout this little spectacle you can email me here - ifmu@onepc.net - and remember to check back often for updates!

Update: 6/27/01 - I got me a web cam finally, so I will be able to post pictures of all the little alterations we do to the case or anything else. So wish me luck here... Now I thought some of you might be interested in some of my personal setups, so I thought I would show you my present setup now. Now you have to keep in mind that it is only like this for a couple of days while I am cutting up my case. If you do something like this, be very, very, very, very careful… I don't want anyone coming after me cuz you spilled pop on your mobo!!!

On to: Step 2