Modding a 10yr old case like it's from 2020!!!!!!!

[@AudatiousXtreme]

Holy shit timmy! The memories I have with this exact case and you modded it and literally made it the way I always wished it was!!! Great video man seriously loved watching this!

[@alfonsocvu]

Same here

[@dec125rr2]

Me too

[@OzTalksHW]

I LOVE this. If you don’t wanna drill holes, you could glue small magnets to the acrylic sheet. No potential cracks 😁 I’m working on something similar at the moment and didn’t even THINK about making a PSU shroud/basement. Good stufffffff

[@TimmyJoePCTech]

Good idea for sure. I believe I am gonna follow this up eventually with maybe a color change and more. Mini magnets is a great idea. I look forward to seeing what you're up to!

[@newfieboy23]

Timmy Joe that is an epic mod to a classic case. I feel like you fully accomplished your goals -- keep up the great work. You truly got some skills there bud.

[@21April853BC]

Make it a beast. Timmy Joe is the Pimp My Ride of computers.

[@JuiceJM]

Epic mod.IMO its both nostalgic and modern in the best ways! Id be interested in more case mod vids actually lol

[@donh8833]

Im still rocking my haf 912. It has liquid cooling, an acryllic side panel and 6 rgb fans (3 front, 1 top, 1 rear, 1 side)

[@beezerblanks]

Love it. I never got rid of my HAF 922. I ended up fitting it with a 3600, rtx2080 and a bluray drive for my living room. It is great for an air cooled build. Still using the original 200mm front and side fans.

[@nedkelly2625]

When drilling next time use some thick wood under the panel then u want get any problems,nice pc well recycled pc.

[@TimmyJoePCTech]

agreed, I def figured that out the second time

[@NitrousFox83]

@@TimmyJoePCTech Or don't drill it at all and glue/epoxy four neodymium magnets in the corners so that it "clicks" into place. As a plus the black paint border hides them.

[@andrewsheldon604]

@@TimmyJoePCTech and tape it before you drill also

[@streamtabulous]

Buzzzz , he should use step bit, not a drill bit

[@tweakz_tech]

Don't use metal drill bits for acrylic.

[@TheJjjoj]

A tempered glass sheet that size can be had for around $24 in the US if you are buying a few at a time. I use the original side panel and cut a hole in it to then mount the glass to the inside or outside depending on the mod. No need for thumbscrews or holes in the material.

[@antec900AmD]

Laying tape over acrylic before drilling holes can prevent cracks most of the time, nice end result 👍

[@Hughesburner]

Have been building since 2005...and love the direction new cases went in. I used to have to mod the crap out of a case..to get what is standard today. ....but it was fun though.

[@yentihwd1]

I work with acrylic everyday at my shop. We use a table plotter to cut but if you have to use a drill it's best to run the drill in reverse. Sounds weird but it'll melt through and never cracks. Then you can clean it up with a file

[@FoxyThePirate]

That case I still have I built into it again back in 2021, it just feels so sturdy and well built I don’t want a new flat looking case

[@WRPG]

I'm doing a very similar thing with the cooler master storm sniper black edition case that I got for free. I'm using magnets to hold the side panel when I get the stuff to make my own side panel to the case. This video is the inspiration for what I'm doing with my case.

[@rossmpostpro]

I got one of these a while ago from a friend for free. We considered doing a full custom loop and going crazy but it never happened. Love this kind of content man, reusing and revamping. Nice.

[@neutechevo]

I recently brought up this case from my old pc and using it again (Haf 922) since it has great cooling lots of space. I got it in 2012 and it had a lot of neat stuff for its age. 2x 20 case fans which i use at ultra low spins powered by 5v and brings decentamounts of air. And.. for its time you could even load a Gpu vertical. Awesome case

[@hrayz]

What I look for in a case: No RGB Great air flow Drive bays, 3.5 & 2.5 Room for an optical drive Room for 240-280mm AiO A little cable management room So, old school is perfect! Modern (RGB bling-over-substance, glass glass and more glass) is opposite of my needs.

[@GDTF88]

Did a similar thing with a cooler master storm trooper. I used magnetic tape to stick the plexiglass to the case. Works great.

[@Dark.Shingo]

If the video was only about the modded case, it would have been fine. But seeing you being honest about how it went and showing up that it's not easy for everyone and the issues you might find made it a thousand times better. Thank you for sharing this, awesome!

[@Griftercash]

TJ, the fan on the side was the best thing that happened to pc cases in its history. OK, is not not very pretty but they ventilate the GPU very well and on PC utility always comes over vanity.

[@a.p.980]

I've been thinking about doing this to my cooler master 431 elite for a while now. Cut those drive bays out and replace the side panel with either glass or acrylic. Your project was a success! It looks like a modern case now

[@CopperPopperComputers]

Nostalgic case + modern aesthetics = Man I can watch these mods all day ❤️ love it

[@megaglowz8540]

Little black vinyl on the side panel the same hight as the basement and it's sorted :)

[@floydp6217]

I have a HAF X cooler master case that looks similar with modern internal components(mobo, RAM, etc...) that i built 2 years ago, This is video giving me memories, great job

[@justindato2554]

Yeah I sometimes spend 20-30usd on spray paint for old cases when I can totally just get a new one online. But it's actually quite satisfying to mod something and it turns out nice.

[@cookiemcwilliam5300]

You should sand the bottom where the crack is around as high as the basement so the crack is smooth. And then spray it black. Ta-da all fixed up.

[@Ace12GA]

Timmy, 2005 called. They want their case modding back. ;) I spent so much time back in the day doing this. Cutting in side panels. Adding plexi. Reconfiguring the interior. Painting. Adding lighting with CCFL tubes. I even got into using body filler to custom sculpt ducts into the front panel of the case to look like turbines at one point. Good times. Acrylic.. check out polycarb next time. Way tougher, and generally will not crack or shatter. Drilling acrylic, use some sacraficial wood behind the plexi, high speed, low pressure, and drill slowly through the plexi, and into the wood. Shouldn't be an issue if you do it that way.

[@1internetraveller314]

I used this case for more than 8 years, I still have it next to my desk. Only problem is that it sucks a lot of dust but your system runs very cool.

[@Viperbird17]

I just cleaned up a HAF X tower and rebuilt it with all the existing hardware, it looks brand new now! It's old but cool!

[@izzeric1127]

My first build was in the case I have a 8350 FX and a 1060 both water cooled and the case had fans all over I had some amazing overclocks and great temps in that case sold it with no issues great job on your mod 👍

[@heres2ya]

the coolermaster Enforcer case windowed side panel fits perfectly on that case

[@roguehavikk]

I have a Chaser MK 1 (thermaltake case from 2011) that I modded for my main system a $2400 Hardline PC with a I9 9900k. Used the core P1 upgrade kit to replace the side panel with some tempered glass.($40 dollars USD for the kit). Had to drill out the drive cage and use fan adapters to mount a 360 radiator to the front. Its the only full-tower case I have ever bought and has seen 4 different computers in it.

[@piercetheheavens]

I did the same thing to my NZXT s340. I used magnetic strip of tape to mount the acrylic glass.

[@johngerding927]

@Timmy Joe, use the original Side panel as a frame for the plexi... Cut out the center leaving about a 2 inch border all the way around then cut the plexi where its broken and glue the plexi to the metal frame side panel... Thats pretty much how they used to do old plexi side panels.

[@allenj9083]

You can slightly break the cutting edges of a drill bit with a file to make drilling through plexi easier.

[@louisandjake]

I've had that case since 2013, still going strong

[@twizz420]

just for the future or for anyone who wants to do something like this, matte or satin paint is a LOT easier to work with than gloss. And it doesn't get sticky. Also, if you want it to last then get a good artist spray paint like Molotow or Montana gold or something

[@SparkyOne549]

I did an antec 300 similarly. The biggest issue I had, because I wanted a clean build, was the front panel being USB2. I looked for a USB3 equivalent, but I hadn’t learned soldering then. So I opted for a USB 5 1/4 bay to slot in that had usb3 and usb 2. I really wanted to take out the entire 5 1/4 bay. I sold it. I didn’t have a problem with the acrylic. I wanted glass, so I went to a custom glass business but I didn’t feel the price was worth the case.

[@XerotoLabs]

acrylic cement, the stuff that has a fine tip dispenser might weld that crack away almost invisible. I did a DIY side panel like that a while back. gotta love place that custom cut. Great stuff man.

[@LeoNyeDis]

The Lazy Susan is a big brain move to use for these videos!!! 200IQ. Hope your day is going well TJ

[@bouxesas2046]

I would paint black the part of the acrylic that is over the PSU shroud. So the crack would be hidden and it does not matter anyways.

[@hitznkoff4285]

I found a Cooler Master Centurin on the side of the road and I fell in love. A dull drill bit drills through better.

[@Yggdrasill8]

I ordered this case from newegg and never used it because I realized how much I didn't like the aesthetics once I saw and felt it in person. Went back to newegg to order the LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black when it was new.

[@kderp9727]

I still have my HAF 932 from well over 10 years ago (with the original fans too) and I'll never get rid of it. Its currently running my Thread Ripper and the previous build in it was a liquid cooled dual Xeon workstation setup. That being said your mods are very cool sir.

[@coinsbysean]

i think that was one of the best looking cases at the time if not atleast up there always wanted one

[@matthewday7565]

My system is not complete without an optical drive - or TWO. My most glorious case ever was the "7 bays in my desktop", back in the day when I'd turn up the odd bit of software cheap on 5 1/4" - it had 2x HDD in a cage off the PSU, 3x 5 1/4" front bays carrying a loadout of CDROM, 5 1/4" floppy, CD-RW and 2x 3 1/2" bays with floppy & tape drive (minor mod, frame cut to allow for out of form factor bulge on tape drive). I'd do Unicorn Puke for a build I want to shift, but mine sits under desk on a left platform, so a window is no use unless I went for a reversed case

[@KH_1]

I still miss old case have some optical drive bays, even you don't use DVD anymore, you can install other accessories like USB hub, fan controller, hot swap hard drive bay on it.

[@AveragePootis]

I have HAF 912 that i built a pc in recently, and it is brilliant, cooling is excellent... Keeps 3570k with a good cooler at 40 under load. Better in every single way than my Masterbox 5 Lite.

[@Plumfan_]

This diy proyects are really cool, keep doing them.

[@Matt-wc7bl]

Please do more content like this, man. Seriously great and entertaining. You have me sold on this, and I would really love to see you transform several more cases. No joke, you can totally sell these cases for $100+

[@cjolney]

Hi Tim. I have one of these cases with the original grey insides. It has the 2.5 inch drive holder still. Yours is the 912 plus, since it has the USB 3.0 front port. That was $75 extra when the case was new. Mine was built on a Phenom X6 1055T with a BFG 9800GTX+. Nice modding, it makes me happy to see my case still pop up in the time of today

[@sidewinder86ify]

My old mom still uses that case today.. still top notch airflow. Great mod you did Timmy!

[@lostapostle76]

Has flashbacks to the late 90's early 2000's and using various saws, drills, and utility knives to frankestien, I mean craft a side window in to the case door and still get it to work. Don't forget the cathode lights.

[@neurokinetik64ES]

Pro-tip: use a step bit when drilling acrylic. Much less prone to cracking.

[@BessotenJenny]

I have an Antec 600V2 that I absolutely love the look of. Doing something like this with that case would be amazing and it's really cool to see that it can be done!

[@eliteemerz]

3d printing would resolve your front panel issue, basically replace 3 of those 5.25 bays with a 120mm fan mount.

[@Babbages]

holy shit thats the same case i got i litterally found one of them in the trash a year ago and decided to build my new pc in it still one of my favorite cases i ever owned .

[@Exloar]

I know this video was a while ago, but it's the same case as I have, and I've been thinking of just using the original side panel that came with the case, cut the inside around the edges, so that I get a frame with tabs to "lock-in" and then just adhesive the plexi onto that frame, like some double sided black tape. Avoids any drilling of the plexi AND you get the same functionality of the original panel.

[@LeMMingSlayeR]

I loved my old HAF 922, it was one of the best cases I ever had up until my current Air 540 which is my favorite case of all time. Great video Timmy Joe, thanks for all the entertainment and content!

[@joefowble]

Putting on Steve Burke wig: You just lost a gpu-cooling blowhole for a piece of Plexi with no air holes.

[@parulbanga007]

You should have acrylic sheet on the front of the case as well. That would have been icing on the cake

[@spagsketti]

acrylic (plastic) does not want to let that paint stick you have to make it stick. Bull Dog adhesion promoter made by Klean Strip (you can get it in a spray can) Spray it on with a medium light coat wait 5 min. spray paint it. will not peel and good luck trying to get the paint off.

[@GeorgeJFW]

It actually looks really good. I want to see this on an OLD! Case

[@ΛάμπροςΠολίτης-κ6ρ]

i feel like if you added another side panel for the back of the case, you know those that have a little curve, you couldve done a terrific cable management job. I'm considering to do that with my old Coolermaster Elite 430 which has literally no cable management room whatsoever but has excellent airflow. Great video.

[@kyleb2044]

Looks damn sweet after all that frustration you went through. I once bought acrylic for my crappy wire shelf fridge. Home depot's cutter was broken so I thought I'll just cut it at home. Turns out even thin acrilic is very hard to score and snap, it was a big pain, cuts weren't clean, I also mis measured too large at first. But I made it work and the fridge works much better all these years later. I would triple check the measurements and only buy from a place that can cut for me in the future. I also did something similar with acrilic and oak many years ago to an old case, it didn't look nearly as good, but was unique lol.

[@saintuk70]

Love TJ's stuff....as he said himself about the videos he has to do, these where it's his own content is much fun. Love the haphazard approach too....esp cutting plexi right on the desk. Double like for the C-19 message!

[@doodiedooddoodicus]

You get a like just for the ACRYLIC SHT alone, but also for you being you and making awesome and hilrious content. I look forward to all of your videos.

[@christopherjames9843]

Drilling thru acrylic. You need to make pilot holes and a drill press is preferred.

[@SFearox]

The coolermaster haf xb evo is Also a Nice case for modding. I added Plexiglas on the sidepanels and a large one on the top panel.

[@SethEden]

Gonna try this with a 25 year old server case. I've got 3 of these old cases so I may have several attempts to see if I can get it right! :-D Thanks for giving me the confidence to try!!

[@johnchristianson515]

This is why I use Tapps Plastics in san Jose, they are cheap and cut my stuff to order. With all of that metal cutting a rotary tool would be good to grind the edges and then paint it or a person will get cut.

[@linus2974]

I had a cooler master haf 912 advanced for my main rig up until this January. Got in a killer deal for the case and a cooler master 700w psu for $50 cad. Had a ryzen 7 2700 and a rtx 2060 in that case til i upgraded to a meshify c

[@aaronjohnson2547]

Good job Timmy that looks really good I'm impressed I wasn't expecting it to look that nice.

[@nothlur]

Just upgraded from a HAF 912 (with the gray interior) to a Cougar Panzer MAX, def looking to do some of this to my old box now.

[@Wiseion]

Use the oem panel and cut it to fit the trimmed acrylic, would be cool as well.

[@deadbugdoug505]

It does look awesome! Great job

[@theviewer1423]

I have an Aerocool case with acrylic window as stock I mean sure it can get some minor scratches on it but at least it wont crack and shatter as easily.

[@davewills6121]

A triumph, small steps. As usual, a fun time was had. Kudos.

[@nate_meador89]

You should totally make this a series! You should do more cases and maybe some oem cases. Maybe expand to other parts as well, like graphics cards and other parts. Just making otherwise crappy parts look “the part”😉

[@Adam-hb6go]

Have this same case, got it at Goodwill, thanks!

[@hashtaglobotomy2655]

I have that exact case. You totally gave me the will to mod it. Plus I'm gonna go ahead and try one of those dual Xeon Chinese setups and run 2 r9 390s. It should fill the case quite well. Think I'm gonna go with the 200mm fans front and top though. They look nice and still less common.

[@mr.pikachu9570]

Gives me a good reason to hold onto my old Lian Li case. Maybe do an old school/new school mash up with their new 360 AIO

[@everengaged9370]

this is exactly my pc case i got in 2013 and still using it...

[@bmh67wa]

I have never seen one of those cases with a gray interior. They were black like yours. I still have a system running in one of these cases. It's a dust magnet but keeps my old AMD Phenom cool.

[@panteradown2]

I had the haf that was grey inside not even all black. I also put Plexi glass cutout in it.

[@demofighter]

Just use double sided magnet strips on the inside of the acrilic panel! Looks good Timmy!

[@lordvader3538]

Sitting here with this exact case under my desk but dusty and with old hardware.

[@BigWorm1705]

Easy fix just mask off and spray paint the bottom 3 inches up on the plexi glass that broke black like u did the edge since u have a basement there it doesn't need to be seen. I have 2 of these cases might have to update one like you did great mod to make it look modern.

[@anansilas6114]

Freakin' brilliant. This was a success even with trial and error, i would highly recommend it on cases with broke/missing side panels. I just paid 30 dollars for a tempered glass panel which was still a success on a 10 dollar auctioned Corsair case.

[@kxdirtjumper]

Sharp drill bits grab way worse. A Plexi bit will dril easy. It's basically a regular bit ground steeper and the cutting edge doesn't stick out. Old bit put in drill grind slowly while spinning it in the drill and there you go, Plexi bit.

[@michaelthompson9798]

Hi Timmy all the way from Australia 🇦🇺 ☺️🖐 absolutely smashing mod! I love the way this case looks after the plexi side panel. As another viewer commented below, this was the way this case should have looked! Loving the video’s, keep’m coming 🥰 cheers.

[@jacksmiles47]

Hey brotha! Pro tips for drilling the plexi, or anything else thing and potentially breakable: 1. Use the correct bit. They make bits that are more pointed like a spear that work on glass/plexi that are less likely to grab on to the material and cause the stress cracking. 2. In conjunction with #1, put a piece of scrap wood under the piece you're working on so that the drill can smoothly work it's way through the entirety of the piece. This will remove that little jolt that sometimes happens when trying to punch through a piece. 3: As you already found out and mentioned, use the right drill speed for the right material. Really dig the mod my dude. Keep making content, and hope this info was helpful! :D

[@dot_boi]

Try Polycarbonate next time, Its way less brittle then acrylic and it costs about the same. One downside it is can yellow over time if under long exposures of direct sunlight. I guess as long as it stays in your Dimly lit Dorito Dungeon it should be perfectly fine.

[@asysjr]

in the same year, CM released the CM 690 II advanced, which is still a VERY good case, and don´t look really old, both inside and outside.

[@RedTunaRoll]

Ahh, I remember having this case exactly 10 years ago lol

[@cosmic_drew]

Wow. I wasn't sure when you were describing it at the beginning but DAMN BIO!

[@59CadillacRoller]

I did something similar to a HAF 922 case in memory of my stepson although I did much more mods to it than in this vid. Your case turned out great!

[@tylerwilliams3990]

Looks great. You were even able to install a 240 rad. Nicely done!

[@joels6736]

Custom modding anything that requires a bit of fabrication always comes with some unexpected mishaps, whether its automotive or PC so take it slow and practice makes perfect. These are the perfect kind of projects for people who are bored during the covid 19 situation. Are they necessary and a wise use of money? Probably not but it's something you can have fun with and take pride in.

[@jollysword]

You can hide the superglued part with a decal or something.