How much would you pay someone to mod your case?

[50]

Ok, I want to have my Antec X-Pider case moded lightly...
Basically I want
All Blue LEDS replacing power button, cd-rw/dvd, floppy, k-board, monitor(hard?)
Vantec Rheobus installed(easy)
5 Case fans installed(easy)
2 fans replacing stock PSU fans(too scared to do it)
Audigy 2 installed(easy)
Heatsink/Fan installed(dunno which one yet, I want a really quiet one) for P4(hard?)
Heatsink (the fanless one by Zalman) installed for Radeon 9700 pro(hard?)
Chrome Cable sleeving (Hard!)
Install 2 Cold Cathodes
For one mod, I want to try to put EL wire wrapped around the front grill part of the case(I think this is possible)

That's basically all I want right now...how much would you pay someone to do that(I would supply all the parts)?

 

[cheapgoose]

do it yourself dude.

 

[Vonkhan]

if u're looking for some1 to mod ur case, i'll do it for free

only the LED are kindy tricky since u gotta match the specs

however, if u wanna have fun ... do it yourself!

 

[amcdonald]

If you really have no understanding of how to do this stuff, I don't recommend you do it yourself.
But if you would like to learn there are lots of guides for everything you want done.
Actually destroying your computer parts is harder than you would think it is.
All this would take a few hours to configure... even for someone experienced.
I'd do everything you think you can do before handing it over to someone else.
If its a friend, just take them out to dinner.
Anyone else would expect probably $50 for the labor.

 

[Vonkhan]

In my experience, working at a medium/relaxed pace

Vantec Rheobus .................. 4 minutes
5 Case fans ........................ 6 minutes
2 fans in PSU ....................... 4 minutes
Audigy 2 .............................. 2 minutes
Heatsink/Fan installed ......... 8 minutes (cleaning, applying AS3)
Heatsink - Zalman) .............. 15 minutes
Chrome Cable sleeving ........ 15 minutes
Install 2 Cold Cathodes ....... 3 minutes
EL wire ................................. 5 minutes

LED replacement: varies a lot

IF i wanted to get paid, I'd ask for $50-60 + disbursements

 

[amcdonald]

Sleeving an entire psu & all the case fan wiring andmaking it look professional (heatshrink) is simply not a 15 minute task. Assuming it is the flexo style sleeving.
This is where I would expect to spend a majority of time working.

 

[Vonkhan]

most chrome cabling is like wire loom ... its semi-flexible and is split down the axis so tht all u gotta do is shove the cable in it

 

[cainsdive]

Originally posted by: amcdonald
If you really have no understanding of how to do this stuff, I don't recommend you do it yourself.
But if you would like to learn there are lots of guides for everything you want done.
Actually destroying your computer parts is harder than you would think it is.
All this would take a few hours to configure... even for someone experienced.
I'd do everything you think you can do before handing it over to someone else.
If its a friend, just take them out to dinner.
Anyone else would expect probably $50 for the labor.

What he said. Some of this is easy, and like amcdonald said there are plenty of how-too's out there. The one's you may want to farm out are the LEDs, PSU fans and maybe the heatsink on the Radeon 9700. The rest is easy, it's not nealy as hard as you think. Have fun:beer:

 

[50]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It sounds like I can handle the Rheobus, Case Fans, Audigy 2, and installing the cold cathodes. The rest would be too hard for me I think. Maybe I can find someone around the forums that will do it cheaply around the boston area. I'm also thinking of getting one of those crystal fontz screens, but that would probably be really hard to install too right?

 

[1sikbITCH]

Chrome Wire Loom

Split down the middle, just spread it and push the wires into it. It really will only take a few minutes.

It's expensive though at $2.90 a foot.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Or, SVC has Chrome Flexo-Pet for a lot cheaper, but then you'd have to follow this guide, which isn't that hard either but more time consuming. Either way, I'm sure you can handle it.

 

[beatle]

You can do it! -Rob Schneider from Waterboy

PSU fans really aren't hard to change out. You don't have to be a wizard with a soldering iron to connect 2 wires together. LEDs in your drives can be a bit tricky, but that's about it. After you're done you can sit back and admire your handiwork and the fact that your wallet is not any thinner (from labor, that is).

 

[Bookie]

you'll get much more enjoyment from this if you do it yourself. I just replaced the fan in my power supplies last weekend and plan on doing the flexo-pet wire management this weekend (if it comes in time). I wouldn't enjoy my computer quite as much as I do knowing that I've done all these mods.

Modding the ps is really easy. Just cut the two wires going to the current fan and attach those wires to the wires of your new fan. black to black (or blue if using panaflos) and red to red.

I'm also planning on cutting off the AT connectors from my power supplies too since I'll never have an AT board again.

all the info you need to do these things is somewhere on these boards. Just search around. You'll have fun doing it.

 

[cybercelt]

As a newbie to this modding business, let me tell you what's happened to me so far.

I know how to put a pc together and install windows, but as far as sleeving the psu, cutting holes, etc....never did it, and I didn't feel comfortable doing it.

So I thought I would just buy a case that was already modded. I went and ordered a LL PC60 from a fly by night group called UMAXPC. It took a month for them to deliver the box, even though the companys in the next state 100 miles away. When I got the case it looked nothing like the picture...no cut out blowhole, and they didn't even install the pexiglass window. What's worse is that I discovered that they had actually ordered the case from FrozenCPU (invoice dropped out of the box) then tacked on thier "exclusive modding price" I got Burned big time on that one, and since it took numerous angry e-mails to even get the case delivered, I could only imagine the fun in getting my money back...so I installed the window myself (which was a real PITA) then figured out where to go from there. I then recieved my sleeving and heatshrink from FrozenCPU to sleeve my new Enermax PSU...word to the wise...some of these "guides" leave out very important info. I discovered that those black ground wires do matter. I ripped a few molex connectors off, and started sleeving them...Sleeving with the heatshrink and tubing is a PITA as well. I looked at my first cable and thought..should the black ground wire be in the same position on the connector as it's proceding mate? No info on the online guides I printed. I posted that question to here and Sharkys, got some help some mixed answers, and discovered too late that I was in over my head when people started talking about measuring things with ohm meters. So I did a simple test with some old cd drives and and old HD, and was sadden to see my PSU cook the drive. At least I knew before I connected it to my new stuff. "nother lesson learned the hard way. So I ordered another Enermax PSU from Performance PC's who will sleeve the PSU for you at a steep price. I do recomend them, the work they do on PSU's is excellent.

So Back to the case...the new LL PC60 comes with a blow hole that wasn't what I wanted. I figured that I did well in kindergarten cutting with scissors, so I bought a dremel read some more guides and threw caution to the wind. I replaced the stock fans with some panaflos that I ordered from FrozenCPU. I then got creative, I replaced the stock blowhole fan with a panaflo 120mm H1a. I wanted to install the fan with out drilling holes to the top of my case. I took two of the bay covers and with a nibbler cut a half-moon shape to each one, then drilled holes to each side of the bay covers, then drilled holes to the inside walls of the case (the ones that the psu slide on). Then I cut my hole...surprise...this one actually worked out great. So if you read the guides, tape your case well, and go slowly, you too can cut basic circles on metal. It probably helps if you were good at cutting things with scissors in kindergarten.

I then cut out the pesky grill on the backside of the motherboard tray, clean up the ragged edges, attached that tubing you that FrozenCPU sells to all the new holes. I also grommeted (is that a word?) all my fans. That project turned out nice, and I did have fun!

Next got my rheobus, I installed my sunbeam, no real issues there.

The next wierd thing I did was replace the bezel. I'm using black drives, because I didn't realize at the time that you can dye, paint or buy ones that are silver. PCMods sells replacement bezels for the old (version1) LL cases. I got a black one for the LL65 that has a silver face plate. My idea was to do a black and silver case...(my cables are silver and blue, and my new Abit board is black) Now on the website, it says that these bezels will not work on the newer cases, specifically the power button, but after my victory with the dremel...I thought I could fix it it unseen....and I was right! Basically the power button has a little hollow plunger mechanism behind it that pushes a button on the case.The plunger on the old version is too short to reach the button on the new case. So after fiddiling with it for a few minutes, I thought of a fix. I took a small nail and clipped of the front end with wire cutters. I inserted the nail into the hollow end of the plunger, and tried it out. The modded button worked fine.

My limited experience doing this....things that look hard may be actually simple, and other things that look easy are actually pretty difficult. So I would spend money rather than waste money by destroying stuff, but it's up to you to figure out your comfort level on the projects you want to do.