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Modding not popular anymore?

S

Spaceninja

2[H]4U
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Sep 15, 2004
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I've been away from the forums for a while and it seems that modding isn't quite as popular as it once was. Few years ago there were pages of ongoing threads in the work log section. Now it's just a few new ones.
 
Try overclock.net forums, some awesome stuff going on there like the Robocop case!

I think many still mod but if like me feel outshined by some of these spectacular custom builds. Also work logs take consistent activity which some give up or get caught up with things IRL.

Just finishing up in my budget case modding but didn't take the time to make a work log. Loving it so far but suspect others could care less since its not the "mega SLI/CF sleeved cable monster case" setup.
 
I like the super fancy, stuff I'll never have or have a need for cases and setups. I also like the super simple clean setups too. Just seems to be the same everywhere I go. Few active projects and comments on stuff from a year or better ago.
 
My guess is that Haswell isn't selling very well, and less new systems are being built. A lot of case modding has been covered and done in the past few years. Maybe I am jaded, but it feels like we are coming off the hobby's prime. Bit-tech seems to attract the best quality mods/worklogs, but it too has been slowing a little.
 
Case modding used to (a dozen years ago) be done by people with skill and very few good tools. Nothing was pre-made, cases came in beige, everything had to be adapted from parts from auto and home improvement stores, and maybe only 5% of cases were ever modded. Now cases come in a rainbow of colors with windows, lights, etc, power supplies are modular and sleeved and come in more than industrial grey, optical drives come in more than beige, and even water cooling is mainstream and pre-built. Honestly, it's just Legos that anyone can do. To really go above and beyond takes lots of expensive tools that are beyond the average home builder - laser cutters, waterjets, CNC mills, spray booths, etc.
It's like custom cars - what used to be a few mods to personalize a vehicle has evolved into needing a Chip Foose level of craftsmanship to even get a second look. And for many of us first generation modders, life has caught up and the responsibilities of jobs and family take up alot of our time and finances.
 
At least for me interest in custom high end computers are going bye bye to make room for different hobbies. I just don't game like I used to thus, no realm need for a high end computer.
 
Part of it is money, part of it is there's nothing that really pushes our rigs from 2 years back leaving little reason to upgrade.
A little part for me is I'm gaming less and tweaking the engine in my truck more.
 
I tend to agree with Fenris' conclusions. Nothing saddens me more than to see a Thread with the heading " XXXXXXX Mod " and then when I click on it, I am presented with a worklog of a "mod" build that anyone with a credit card, a few simple tools and a long weekend can just toss together. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate that these guys are willing to spend a pile of money, time and such to build a very nice computer, but lets be real here. It is NOT a MOD. If I can just go down the parts list, buy exactly the same components and such, basically build the exact same rig, how can that even be considered Modding? Mod is derived from Modification. These builds have nothing modified. How did he say it? Legos? Prefect description. If there has been no cutting, one off fabrication, painting or modification done to anything, then I can't see how guys consider it anything more than an do it yourself PC kit. Last thing. I go to about 5-6 LAN Parties each year and usually have a Mod to enter at them. More times than not, the winning "Mod" is not really a mod at all. It is usually a high end SLI/CF setup that the owner has dumped a pile of money into and the "judges" are guys who simply have no idea what a real Mod is.

BTW, for many years I have been modding from my home using basic tools and still managed to build some pretty nice stuff without needing to spend a fortune on them. My Snow White Build for instance was selected as CPU Mag's Mod of the Month June 2013 http://www.computerpoweruser.com/DigitalIssues/ComputerPowerUser/CP____1306__/
 
I agree, the things we used to mod are now mainstream and much more available, so to make the level of difficulty for real modding much higher, thus more rare. It is quite sad because that used to be the most fun thing ever! Remember when water cooling was not normal at all, was a larger challenge to plan and implement? Remember when cases didn't have wire management holes and you had to be creative? Even that is something we take for granted now. Times are a changin.
 
We all need to move with the tech. My cell phone is now more powerful than my first computer. Sure, we enthusiasts build high-end stuff, but the need for that is decreasing more and more. The general market is moving more towards mobile technology like laptops and tablets, and those just don't have the same potential for modding, unless you want to water cool your iPad and paint Darth Vader on it...
 
I don't think it is particularly less popular, but a lot more things are available without the need for mods these days. It also appears the modding scene has pretty much been dominated by professionals with a lot of experience and resources behind them, not to mention sponsors. So when Joe Average paints his case and adds a fan hole, its not really something you want to post up in the same area with $10,000 scratch-built solid unobtainium machines.
 
^ thats basically what I was thinking
And its now a requirement to watercool and use acrylic and all ek plexi blocks and ETC
Only real modding done anymore is by people who are sponsored and get free parts
or have $$$$$ flying out their asses
Also the cases you are modding today probably cost more than the beige cases you used to hack up.
materials are probably thinner and less "solid"
There are only a handful of people that make custom PCs
an ever smaller group of them who actually know what parts to use
and then an even smaller amount of people with the tools even even smaller with the money
basically its because we are a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a subcommunity that is quickly being made more and more obsolete by big companies
the mod everyone seems to do these days is sleeving your wires to match your motherboard and then EK waterblocks


I am doing a from scratch enclosure that will hopefully look like http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...atube_-_Black_Delrin_34012.html?tl=g30c97s166
hacking up a 55gallon drum dropping a 15k btu AC unit in it
and huge radiators attached to an eclectic mic of waterblocks
DTsniper, MIPS R4E nickel, 3 dc2 680 ek blocks. I need one more 680 block
so far one rad and its a TFC xchanger 360 . can't decide on 420 480 or 360 I need 2 more
then 3 aqualis resevoirs and probably 2 flojet pumps
tygon plasticizer free 1/2ID/ 3/4 OD

and formodding I am putting a bunch of leds around the top of the plexi window on the top. Give the edges a frost effect. then arrange all the w/c components in a symmetrical fashion
and put my dimastech hard v2 ontop of a small table above the a/c unit




then i am gonna turn a toaster oven into a desktop PC!
 
Could try http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/

They are still picking back up after having major downtime. There are several works in progress there.

Also, I know over at TBCS, there is more activity in the modding section over peoples winter/cold seasons as they have more time. Usually in the summer, they don't want to be stuck in the house/garage.
 
I am sick of sponsored mods

the folks who built the minecraft mod for their kid, and the borderlands box, that is the shit

really disappointed beserker gang stalled
 
I like to mod still. I feel like PC modding is dying. Same as you. How do we FIX it?
 
Modder said:
I like to mod still. I feel like PC modding is dying. Same as you. How do we FIX it?
Click to expand...

People lost interest in simple mods, and everyone only pays attention to the big sponsored mods.

I posted a mod I did a year or two ago, where I modifed a Cosmos 1000 case to fit a 3x140 and 3x120 radiator. Got only a few responses here, and no responses at all on OCN.
 
OCN is a joke. One thing I've started doing that works well is use social media. people look at things casually. They don't want to spend half an hour anymore digging through a wroklog to see what you're doing. Find a few people on Facebook that mod PCs and snap a few pics now and then. You'll be amazed at the community there is.
 
Once upon an time all computer cases were beige or black, didn't have windows, and were just purely functional. Back then a mod stood out. I remember when I went to a LAN party in Washington DC in 2001 that had about 2000 people (it was called RECON 2000). People traveled from all over the US and Canada to get there and went for three days, so it was a pretty big event. Of all these hardcore gamers, there were about five "modded" cases there so the mod contest was canceled. Of the "modded" cases, only mine and another guys had any significant work done. So back then, mods were very unique, I spent half my time at the LAN talking to people who would see my case and want to talk to me about it. Compared to what's available now, it looks like the product of a blind epileptic with a rusty saw and a sugared-up toddler with a rattle-can of paint, but back then it was shockingly different. And not a single modded part was bought from a computer store (or even existed for that matter).

Now, my Corsair C70 has a window, handles, comes in three colors, has a sleeved, modular, color matching power supply, bezel matching optical drive, mobo that matches the interior color, Corsair all-in-one water cooler, color matching SATA cables, color matching trim rings on the fans, and a built in smart fan controller on the mobo (ASUS Sabertooth). The build quality is far above anything I could hope to do at home and it only took me about an hour to put together. The good news is that the modding community spurred manufacturers to make this stuff for us and everyone else, but at the same time we now have lost that uniqueness. Now to stand out it just takes too much effort and money. Occasionally I'll build something to meet a specific need - about a year ago I built a wood case for a HTPC with an ITX mobo to see how small I could make it, but it doesn't look as professional as the guys with the tons of equipment, time, and sponsors and I just don't have the OCD to do the fit and finish work of those top-tier mods.
 
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All my mods have to be approved by congress... so I haven't done a lot of modding recently.

But seriously, I've thought the same thing. Seemed like when I started on these forums (with the purpose of showing my "snapple" gateway case mod) the worklogs were rife with great mods. Not so much anymore. A lot of the "worklogs" now are just pictures of people putting their stock stuff together. Laaaame.
 
I really haven't done much modding, so I'm not sure how much weight my theory will carry.

Anyway, before my first mod I had been eying doing it myself because what I saw what you could do with some simple tools was eye opening. For my first mod (silverstone sg02) I spent hours on planning and eventually modding (painting, drilling, cutting, etc.). I did spend more money then I would have liked though, heh.

I am very proud of my work, and I found the whole experience very rewarding and educational. With that being said, a big project is not something I would want to do again. So, after I got it out of my system, I guess I was just done with it?

The reason I bring this up is I wonder if more people didn't have the same experience. They saw all of these people modding, banged some mods out for themselves, realized how much work it was and just didn't want to move forward.

That said, you dedicated modders out there make some terrific stuff that I really like looking at. Keep it up! :)
 
Fenris_Ulf said:
Case modding used to (a dozen years ago) be done by people with skill and very few good tools. Nothing was pre-made, cases came in beige, everything had to be adapted from parts from auto and home improvement stores, and maybe only 5% of cases were ever modded. Now cases come in a rainbow of colors with windows, lights, etc, power supplies are modular and sleeved and come in more than industrial grey, optical drives come in more than beige, and even water cooling is mainstream and pre-built. Honestly, it's just Legos that anyone can do. To really go above and beyond takes lots of expensive tools that are beyond the average home builder - laser cutters, waterjets, CNC mills, spray booths, etc.
It's like custom cars - what used to be a few mods to personalize a vehicle has evolved into needing a Chip Foose level of craftsmanship to even get a second look. And for many of us first generation modders, life has caught up and the responsibilities of jobs and family take up alot of our time and finances.
Click to expand...

I couldn't have said this any better even if I wrote it myself, you hit the nail right on the head. I ran a large modding site for 5 years and eventually modding just died and people's general interest just faded. Once in a blue moon you see some original content being generated but for the most part a large portion of mods now a days are people buying pre-made parts and putting them together versus the genius of creating the parts and materials from scratch. Real life does catch up for most of us who were part of the old school generation of modders, we have families now and our priorities have changed.
 
Definitely have to agree with what Fenris said. These days it's just too easy to pick up most (if not all) of what you're looking for through various retailers, and you can get a fairly nice looking case with good components and airflow put together (assuming one has the money) in less than a weekend.

Not that I'm complaining though - I had a lot more time (and a garage I could work in) ten years ago when I first tried modding, and the cases on the market today fit most of my needs fairly well.
 
There's a few reasons, at least relative to me personally.

1. Now that I'm married with 2 kids and a house, I have no time or money to spend on huge projects like I used to. If you want a shock to your system, go back to Newegg's history page and see how much you used to spend on computers. It's amazing how much money went to PCs that now goes to fixing up things in the house.

2. No one cares about the hand made, "small-scale" mods. People want to see the huge, sponsored builds with waterblocks on every little piece of the computer; with CNC cut custom chassis that .001% of the population has the skills to make on that kind of machinery, with quad Titans and 37 radiators. Your little window and fan mount you've made are chicken shit compared to these beasts, and that's a little sad because that's not how it started. It seems like in order to get noticed you need a shit ton of hardware and *SOMETHING* CNC'ed or laser cut.

3. Kind of related to #2... it's very hard to do something unique that has never been done before. When people have been saturated with the same thing 1000 times, it loses its luster and people stop paying attention. It's increasingly hard to push the envelope, especially if you don't have access to the tools I mentioned above.

4. You can buy nearly everything pre-modded already. Pre-sleeved cables, modular PCs, cases with painted interiors, windowed side panels... a lot of times there's not much left and people don't want/need to make any extra effort.

My 2c...

EDIT: I just reread my post and in some spots it sounds like I'm lumping myself in as one of these people, and that's totally not the case....

I'm lamenting the trend where the "bigger/super expensive" mods where everything is CNC cut and waterblocked all over with $5K+ of hardware get the focus. I'm not saying *I* feel small mods are uncool/worthless, but rather that the majority of people feel that way, which sucks because that's not how modding began and it takes credit away from the guy with an idea working with hand tools in his garage.
 
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Maybe with 3D printers, the modding community will evolve some more.
 
I like to see big and small mods/builds. Sad that people tend to often be jealous instead of just enjoying the work of others. Don't worry about what others do, just do what you enjoy.
 
Also agreeing with Fenris. But also it used to be that you HAD to mod to get better airflow, room for some coolers, and a decent looking case though. Now, for better or worse, there are tons of very, VERY, nice stock cases that can be bought for a lot less than it would take for the average modder like me to build. Modding out of necessity is gone for the most part, its just the more elite modders left that do things most of us don't have the time, money, talent, or sponsors for. My modding was at worst ghetto and at best barely acceptable for public viewing. And I think I am pretty much in the majority.

I love seeing some of the artistic builds out there, but with cases like the NZXT 210 Elite costing about $30-40 bucks on sale (often), and many quality cases under the $100 price point, I think many of us have given it up. Its not economical to mod cases yourself anymore. Nothing really needs to be modded now unless you are generating art.
 
Direfox said:
Also agreeing with Fenris. But also it used to be that you HAD to mod to get better airflow, room for some coolers, and a decent looking case though. Now, for better or worse, there are tons of very, VERY, nice stock cases that can be bought for a lot less than it would take for the average modder like me to build. Modding out of necessity is gone for the most part, its just the more elite modders left that do things most of us don't have the time, money, talent, or sponsors for. My modding was at worst ghetto and at best barely acceptable for public viewing. And I think I am pretty much in the majority.

I love seeing some of the artistic builds out there, but with cases like the NZXT 210 Elite costing about $30-40 bucks on sale (often), and many quality cases under the $100 price point, I think many of us have given it up. Its not economical to mod cases yourself anymore. Nothing really needs to be modded now unless you are generating art.
Click to expand...

I think a really awesome build even if you do not have to mod anything is great. The newest trend is water-cooling hard-lines. Do you consider that modding even if you buy the unbent lines which are designed for this purpose?
 
I understand everyone's points. I know that personally I have no time. Being a single dad with a 50+ an hour week job a house to take care of etc... Time and money are a big thing. I always enjoyed looking at the crazy stuff people were doing. Even if it was something minor. Taking a stock, plain beige or black case and doing something amazing with it was always cool to see.

These are all valid points, just saddens me to see things in the state they are. I figured there would always be someone new to replace the "old timers" (yeah had to use the term lol) I guess it just isn't the case.

Thanks for all the replies.
 
DarthBeavis said:
I think a really awesome build even if you do not have to mod anything is great. The newest trend is water-cooling hard-lines. Do you consider that modding even if you buy the unbent lines which are designed for this purpose?
Click to expand...


That is a good point... I have always considered Modding to be something done to the actual case itself vs. 'builds' which encompass everything. Not sure what the real definition is though, thats just my take on it.
 
Direfox said:
That is a good point... I have always considered Modding to be something done to the actual case itself vs. 'builds' which encompass everything. Not sure what the real definition is though, thats just my take on it.
Click to expand...

I laugh at people arguing the issue or other issues like what constitutes amateur vs pro modder. :p
 
Fenris_Ulf said:
Case modding used to (a dozen years ago) be done by people with skill and very few good tools. Nothing was pre-made, cases came in beige, everything had to be adapted from parts from auto and home improvement stores, and maybe only 5% of cases were ever modded. Now cases come in a rainbow of colors with windows, lights, etc, power supplies are modular and sleeved and come in more than industrial grey, optical drives come in more than beige, and even water cooling is mainstream and pre-built. Honestly, it's just Legos that anyone can do. To really go above and beyond takes lots of expensive tools that are beyond the average home builder - laser cutters, waterjets, CNC mills, spray booths, etc.
It's like custom cars - what used to be a few mods to personalize a vehicle has evolved into needing a Chip Foose level of craftsmanship to even get a second look. And for many of us first generation modders, life has caught up and the responsibilities of jobs and family take up alot of our time and finances.
Click to expand...

great explanation right there
 
Yep, perfectly put. Modding used to be done out of necessity. You wanted to watercool? You wanted better aircooling performance? You wanted a window? You had to break out a dremel or a jigsaw and some safety goggles.

Now it's done as art - guys doing high-end mods with themes, nicely done paint jobs, etc. There's still small mods being done - people custom painting accent pieces or doing some custom cabling and such - but these are almost strictly cosmetic and not done for performance reasons.
 
Unless you're the1stCav, that guy has a lot of radiators.
 
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