Case mods have been a staple in the PC industry for a very long time. They allow system builders, artists, gamers, and pretty much anyone to really make their PC build their own. Case modding has never been more popular and many companies actually commission modders to create one of a kind builds to show off their new hardware or case. Each week we feature a mod or build that has been completed in the community in our Case Mod Friday section. Going through all of the features of the past year we have picked out a few that really caught our eye! Without further ado here are our picks for the best case mods of 2015! In no particular order of course!
Peter Brands L3Pipe
This has to be one of our favorite builds of 2015. Peter Brands is very well known in the modding scene, especially for his desk builds. This build was a scratch build, which means that he actually built the case himself. The thing that really sets the build apart from many others is that the watercooling piping is actually a major part of the chassis itself. It was the first time we’ve really seen something like that. Another cool thing about this build is that it is set up as reverse ATX so you can actually see the bottom part of the GPU blocks where the coolant is. Check out our full feature on the L3Pipe.
Jlakai’s Neun Blanc
The CaseLabs MAGNUM SMA8 is a very popular case for large and extreme watercooling builds. Jlakai’s Neun Blanc has to be one of the most elegant build in this case we’ve seen! The two features I like the best about this build is the custom-cut side panel and the fact that the builder polished the water blocks, reservoir tops and pump tops. The custom bottom side panel really sets this case off and definitely brings attention to it. The polished blocks and reservoir / pump tops make it so you can really see the coolant, especially the connector block between the graphics cards! Oh and the coolant color choice is perfect! Can you believe this is the first PC that Jlakai has built in over a decade?! Check out our full feature on Neun Blanc.
Laine’s Luna
Most of the builds on this list are pretty extreme in terms of hardware, but not this one! Laine’s Luna build is a water cooled Gigabyte BRIX Pro! It is quite impressive that he was able to water cool such a small device using a water block that was actually made for a 780i motherboard from 2008! One thing that really sets this build apart from others is the metalwork, which Laine is known for. Also the way the photos are taken and obviously the build itself really tell a story and you feel like the Luna is an important artifact or something like that. Check out our full feature on Luna.
Snef’s Gold Wings
EK Water Blocks came out with their first ever case this year, the EK Vulture. With that we’ve seen quite a lot of case mods based on it. One of our favorite has to be Snef’s Gold Wings build. This build really stands out because it has an ancient Egypt theme to it and that is something you never really see. One of the hardest things about an ancient Egypt build is getting the colors right and Snef nailed it with the gold on the fittings and water blocks. This is actually real gold plating! Other cool things about this build are the hieroglyphics on the side of the radiator and on the reservoir. Also Snef made a really cool custom back-plate for the graphics card, which is of keeps with the theme of the case as well. Check out our full feature on Gold Wings.
p0Pe’s HEX GEAR R40 Engineering Station
Another case we saw a lot of builds based off of this past year was the HEX GEAR R40. I love this case and many other builders do too! p0Pe is actually one of the founders of HEX GEAR and he needed to build an engineering station as he does all of the 3D design work for the company. The R40 Engineering Station is what he came up with and we are definitely impressed! One of the coolest features of this build is that the entire back of the case is a reservoir! Another thing that really impressed me is that he made a custom plate that actually organizes all of the individually sleeved cables. Check out our full feature on the HEX GEAR R40 Engineering Station.
So what was your favorite case mod of 2015?!
