I'm sure there are much more competent builders hanging out here in these forums building some incredible custom stuff, but I thought I'd post my little project that i had a ton of fun putting together. It does not reflect current trends in PC fashion, but it is quirky, different, and has some cool nostalgic vibes.
I've wanted to do a sleeper build for some time, and was looking into some beige eMachines computers, but apparently, the cool kids found them, and they are selling for ridiculous prices on Ebay these days. While browsing through my local Craigslist, I came across an almost-free, acceptably mundane computer that had a particular feature that caught my attention.
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One of the main problems I had been kicking around in my head concerning sleeper builds using old cases is the lack of direct airflow or more specifically front airflow to accommodate a strong modern CPU. What caught my attention on this computer were the dual spring loaded, hinged optical drive doors. My thinking was, if I could figure out a way to hack these into front air intakes, it could retain completely stock look while providing airflow on par with a modern case design.
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Luckily, this era of case design has not found popularity yet with the retro crowd so machines with the feature are readily available at low cost. It is not beige, but it would work.
I've wanted to do a sleeper build for some time, and was looking into some beige eMachines computers, but apparently, the cool kids found them, and they are selling for ridiculous prices on Ebay these days. While browsing through my local Craigslist, I came across an almost-free, acceptably mundane computer that had a particular feature that caught my attention.
One of the main problems I had been kicking around in my head concerning sleeper builds using old cases is the lack of direct airflow or more specifically front airflow to accommodate a strong modern CPU. What caught my attention on this computer were the dual spring loaded, hinged optical drive doors. My thinking was, if I could figure out a way to hack these into front air intakes, it could retain completely stock look while providing airflow on par with a modern case design.
Luckily, this era of case design has not found popularity yet with the retro crowd so machines with the feature are readily available at low cost. It is not beige, but it would work.