Anyone here who was into case modding back in the 2000s? I ran a semi-popular German case-modding website and forum 19 years ago.
We put windows in our boring grey computer cases and bought blue LEDs for 2 EUR a piece to light up the internals. As LEDs were so expensive we often opted to use CCFL tubes. We put electroluminescent wire everywhere, even into keyboards. We built our own fan controllers from scratch to fit into a 3.5" slot. People payed 200 EUR for PC cases from LIAN LI and Cooler Master just to mod the shit out of them. Watercooling just became a thing and it was hugely expensive, the PC cases didn't have a place for the radiators so you had to get creative with your power tools. We went to LAN parties with our awesome machines, we organized collective orders in our case modding forums to buy cheap LEDs from china. We were amazed by the latest products, like LED fans that flashed the light in synchronization with the fan RPM like a zoetrope, so it appeared to stand still.
We couldn't even dream of a keyboard with individually RGB keys back then and now you get RGB in everything without even wanting it. Mass production has taken over and all the magic is gone. You just buy it and yeah it looks cool, but whats the fun in that if every PC looks the same - thats exactly what we didn't want, we wanted to be different.
I even currently run one of these: https://koolance.com/pc2-601bw-liquid-cooling-system-black - I've had to replace the pump this last week. It didn't die, but the plastic got brittle and cracked. I ran it, without flushes, adding tap water when low, for about 18 years. No corrosion, all liquid looked great! I modified the old Swiftech WB to mount to my 3930K, overclocked to 4.5GHz and am typing on that system right now! If you're curious, it tops out at about 75*C at ~150W CPU power usage.
I still have a CCFL (and my $5 blue LED to replace the power light), and have been thinking of incorporating it into my next build. I plan to build a sleeper system using a case from the 90's, but fully watercooled and upgraded (along with an ESP32-powered fan control/thermal monitoring system I'm coding up now - this is where the magic still is in 2021 IMO)
I also did cut a window into a PC with a dremel. Those cases are quite thick and hard to cut! I totally don't miss hauling that big PC case and a 17 (or 19?) inch CRT to a friends place to LAN. Was really fun, though.
I was too young to really get into case modding at the time, but I went to a Linux users group event at our local college around 2006. Up until that point I had only used Linux as a live CD on my dad's computer, so when I saw the rigs people were showing off my jaw dropped. They'd ditched the beige and black I was used to for silver, blue, purple etc. with lights glowing inside case windows.
The one that left the biggest impression on me had backlit tubes on either side of the case front with bubbles flowing up, and the owner was demonstrating the Compiz cube and wobbly windows. I was smitten!
Incidentally, I also got my first experience with Linux elitism when somebody asked me what my favorite editor was and I told him Abiword. He told me "Real men use emacs." Still a little embarrassed about that, but as a middle school kid I didn't have much need to know the difference between a word processor and an editor. In hindsight I'm sure they thought it was pretty cute/funny for a kid to visit a college event.
I remember in college back then taking a dremel to the side of my steel PC case to cut out a hole for a plexiglass window. Lit up the internals with a blue CCFL. Pretty weird the effort that went into stuff like that. I made fun of people who put ground effects lighting under their car, but was I really any different? Ha!
I realized it was time to clean out the stash of "cables and things I might need one day" when I found a dozen CCFL tubes while looking for an HDMI cable last week.
Yes, I remember those times! Somehow even the custom build communities have moved away from that. Do you have any thoughts on why? Just because nowadays more fun stuff is available as standard?
bit-tech.net is another site I remember (which is still around, but a lot less active in the modding sections than it was)
I think it's more than just stuff being cheap and available. It was also a very special time, the internet was new and not everyone had access to it or knew how to use it. Showing off your modded case was a huge accomplishment - not only because you spend so much time and money on creating something unique, but also because you had very isolated communities with only people who had the same interests as you.
Nowadays, where do you share? Reddit? Twitter? Facebook? It's so public and you have to compete with people who spend 3k on their PC, 1k on a keyboard, nice periphery, table, monitors and room LED lighting.
I'm sure there is more to it, but that's at least how I feel about it now.
Edit: Oh wow, thanks, didn't know bit-tech is still active!
Bit-tech also has a YouTube channel now showing off all sorts of custom builds, too. Most recent video was a rather relevant "how to start a custom build" https://youtu.be/lObaMrwwkcw
Man, this brings back memories... I remember talking to someone from casemodder.de on ICQ trying to partner with them but we got into some silly argument so it never happened.
Do you remember case-gallery, pc-max and the modding toplists? Its very fun to look those pages up on archive.org, those where the days :D
We put windows in our boring grey computer cases and bought blue LEDs for 2 EUR a piece to light up the internals. As LEDs were so expensive we often opted to use CCFL tubes. We put electroluminescent wire everywhere, even into keyboards. We built our own fan controllers from scratch to fit into a 3.5" slot. People payed 200 EUR for PC cases from LIAN LI and Cooler Master just to mod the shit out of them. Watercooling just became a thing and it was hugely expensive, the PC cases didn't have a place for the radiators so you had to get creative with your power tools. We went to LAN parties with our awesome machines, we organized collective orders in our case modding forums to buy cheap LEDs from china. We were amazed by the latest products, like LED fans that flashed the light in synchronization with the fan RPM like a zoetrope, so it appeared to stand still.
We couldn't even dream of a keyboard with individually RGB keys back then and now you get RGB in everything without even wanting it. Mass production has taken over and all the magic is gone. You just buy it and yeah it looks cool, but whats the fun in that if every PC looks the same - thats exactly what we didn't want, we wanted to be different.
Fun times though!