Modding Boot Camp pt 2 – Budgeting

or “How Long is a Piece of String?”

… about 18” (45cm) in my opinion, but the question of just how much a modded rig is going to cost is open to interpretation, and subject to a huge number of variables too.

The first variable is what you’ve already got in the way of components and tools – if you’re a dedicated tool collector and you’ve already got a working PC that you want to pimp out, then it’s obviously going to cost a lot less than if you were staring with a blank workbench.

A big issue is just what you want to do to your rig. If you’ve got fairly modest ambitions (like having a window of some sort, an couple of blowholes, a few pretty lights & a single colour paint job), it’s obviously going to work out cheaper than having moulded “turbine” intakes & getting the attack on Pearl Harbour airbrushed on to your case.

This leads me on to the next variable – how skilled/talented you are. If you’re good with an airbrush, an intricate paintjob will only cost you the materials (& possibly tools), but if you have to farm it out, you can either get it done on the cheap & not be happy with the result, or you can get it done properly. Good airbrush artists charge all the traffic will bear (& then some) … because they’re worth it, frankly.


This is by no means a definitive list, but it does cover a lot of this you need to think about when it comes to answering the question “how much is this going to cost me?”.
I’ve put the costs in £, but things being what they are, you should read £ as $ if you’re in the US of A.


PC Components

… meaning a motherboard, CPU, heatsink, RAM, hard drive(s), floppy drive, optical drives (DVD-ROM, CDRW, etc), PSU, etc. I’m not going to attempt to cost the actual PC components – this depends far too much on what you want the rig to do. For example, the parts for a basic email/surfing machine could well cost less than the video card in an uber gaming rig.

You can always ask for opinions here in the PimpRig forums



Case

I’ve already covered what I think you should be looking for in a case in an earlier article, so the question here is how much is a case that gives you what you’re looking for going to cost you? It could be £20, or as much as £150, depending on whether you get an ugly beige end of line case from a computer fair, or a shiny new Lian Li from a high street retailer.


Tools

Dremel/Rotary tool: very useful to have for the odd bit of very delicate grinding or cutting, but the wrong tool for blowholes & 99% of windows. Prices range from £20 to £100 – but check out the replacement cost of reinforced cutting wheels & any other attachments you’ll be using too.

Jigsaw: the best tool for 99% of windows (& for cutting plexi). Get one with a pendulum action as it’ll cut a lot faster. Prices: £20 & up.

Holesaws really are best thing for cutting your case for intakes & blowholes. Apparently there’s something of a worldwide shortage in steel at the moment (I’ve also heard the say regarding cheese, which isn’t relevant, but the hell ), which means that you can never really be sure what grade has been used on your case – you may end up with one where the metal is tougher than your average holesaw.
For this reason, I wouldn’t buy ordinary HSS (high speed steel) holesaws, but instead plump for cobalt alloy cutters instead. They cost a lot more though – c.£10 for a 76mm holesaw (for 80mm fans), c. £11 for 86mm (for 92 mm fans), or £14 or so for a 102mm saw (for 120mm fans), + plus another £9 or so for an arbor for it.

Drill bits are a must if you need any holes in you case (for mounting fans & handles, for example); I’d go for a 19 piece set (1mm to 10mm in 0.5mm increments) in either HSS (c. £6), titanium (c. £10), or if you’re feeling really flush, cobalt alloy (c. £30).

A drill to drive those bits & holesaws would be useful: mains powered units always have more balls than cordless (unless you’re looking at a really expensive cordless model), and although a single speed drill with a 3/8ths chuck will probably do, one with a 1/2" chuck, variable speed and hammer action is one likely to be useful for other jobs, so although you can get something that’ll be ok for as little as £20, I’d be more tempted to look at something for £40 (Bosch’s PSB650W for example) or above.
A pillar drill will help no end with making sure any holes are cut/drilled straight, but their narrow throat may mean you can’t get that hole where you want it, if it’s in the middle of a big panel. A radial drill press gets round this, but is a bulky, expensive bit of kit.

Unless you’re using black heatshrink (where the soot from a lighter won’t show), a hot air gun (aka a “heat gun”) is a must: £11 and up.

Don’t forget an extension reel (£10) and an RCD (£7) for all those power tools.

Files: very useful for tidying up the occasional bit of errant metal cutting, a basic plastic handled set containing a flat file, half round, & round (rat tail) file starts at £7; a needle file set (typically 10 pieces for £2 and up) is very useful for finishing.

Unless you’ve already got something suitable, a cheap folding lightweight workbench is a necessity: prices start at around £9. G-clamps (for holding panels down during cutting) are around £5 each for 6” clamps.

A £3 wire cutting/crimping tool is almost as good as more expensive, specialised tools.

Specialist PSU pin removal tools make the job of sleeving a whole lot easier, but at £12 or so each (and you need up to 6 different types) it’s an expensive proposition. CaseArts make a 4 piece set for £25, which is more like it (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1997.html).

I wrote about tools in more detail just over a year ago, so you might want to check out these articles too: Power Tools ; Metalworking Tools ; Wiring Tools ; Multimeters ) .


Painting Supplies

Assuming you’re going to be doing some painting, you need to budget for primer, paint, clearcoat (if it’s a metallic paint), wet ‘n’ dry paper, & possibly masking tape. Just how much that’ll cost will depend on the type of paint you’re using – if it’s a fairly standard automotive acrylic aerosol, it could be as cheap as £3 per can (so two cans each of primer, paint & clearcoat = £18, + a few extra £’s on abrasives), but if you want a more exotic colour it’ll be a lot more … especially if you farm the job out.

If you’re not planning on painting, but are planning on cutting a window and/or blowholes, touching up the cut edges looks a lot better than using edging strip – plan on making a trip to your local hobby/modelmaking shop & spending a few £’s on some small pots & a couple of brushes (Tamiya acrylics are excellent for this purpose).



Modding Bits

Finally! Onto modding bits. Just what you need will depend on what you’re planning, but may well include:
* cable ties (£1 - £5);
* sleeving (kits are ok, but tend to be short on heatshrink; £8 per kit + a lot more on extra heatshrink);
* fans (£3 - £15 each);
* fan grilles (£2 - £10 each);
* lights (typically cold cathode tubes & invertors at around £10 each);
* case handles (up to £20 a pair);
* castors (£4 a set & upwards);
* acoustic matting (£15 for enough for a case);
* bay devices (like a baybus for fans/light control; £20 each or so);
* Plexi/Perspex/Acrylic sheet for windows (I paid £12 for a 2’ x 4’ sheet of acrylic);
* replacements for the front panel HD/Power LEDs (c. £2);
* rounded IDE & floppy drive cables (£5+ each);
* etc (£whatever).



Other Bits

There’s bound to have been things I’ve missed out from my lists (post scriptum: car body filler, for a start – doh!) (post post scriptum: sealant for fixing in windows – double doh!), especially if you’ve got something obscure or new in mind …

Something you may not have thought of is wood. Really – for clean cuts through plexi & thin case panels, you really can’t do better than sandwiching the piece to be cut between two thin bits of plywood, so a sheet of medium quality 6mm to 8mm board should be on your shopping list too.
An 8’ x 4’ sheet should cost no more than £10 – I know you’ll probably end up throwing it all away, but IMO it’s better than bending a panel or messing up your plexi. Keep some of the scraps (or make some ) for clamping things down – your average G-clamp will put quite a dent in a case panel when it’s done up tight enough to do any good.

Safety goggles are a Good Thing too.



How Much?

It is possible to turn out a great modded rig armed with nothing but a couple of cans of paint & some abrasives, LEDs & gothic tat that you had lying about … but I’ve got say I’ve never found PC modding a cheap hobby. The “cheapest” rig I did was about £120, the most expensive was around £500, that’s just on the mods – ie. not including the computer hardware. On the plus side, that’s peanuts compared to the cost of car & bike modifying … £300 on a headlamp, anyone?

Hopefully, adding up what your potential mods are likely to cost hasn’t put you off. If the final figure is a lot higher than you’d initially thought, you do have a couple of options:
* compromise, i.e. buy a cheaper case, or instead of going for that professionally sprayed £200 a pint chameleon paint, do it yourself with a standard metallic.
* build now/upgrade later, e.g. it could be that you could live with an old graphics card for a while & upgrade later.

At least you know what it’s likely to cost you (remember to add it a healthy percentage to cover bits that didn’t make it to the first list) – the only thing scarier than adding up the potential cost before you start is adding up the cost after you’ve done all the mods, and realising that it cost twice as much as you thought it would

Great write up there johnny ....but ill ask this here cause i dont wanna start a new thread and i know its been posted before but cant find it.
What about a sodering iron (or gun) ,wattage ,tips ect would you suggest?

Damn, that was a nice write up JE. Flounder, I would recomend a 30watt soldering iron from RadioShack which is around $10. The standard tip is crap, but it'll get the job done.

Quote: Originally Posted by flounder405 Great write up there johnny ....but ill ask this here cause i dont wanna start a new thread and i know its been posted before but cant find it. What about a sodering iron (or gun) ,wattage ,tips ect would you suggest?

I'm not a soldering guru by any means ... In fact I struggle to get mediocre results on fairly easy joints
I think for the sort of soldering I do (putting resistors on LEDs, the occasional butt splice {hur hur }, connectors, etc), a cheap 25-30W "beginners" mains powered iron with a fine flat point is fine, & should cost £5 - £10 (so $5-10).

edit: looks like Spectrum has the same idea

Nice article Jonny, and you even went well past the minimum word count......

Great article Jonny, though I just can't keep track of what my modding costs. For one, I think it'd scare the crap outta me. Sure, I try to get the best prices on supplies and come up with creative uses for cheap materials, but since mods tend to change so much during the course of the work, I can't see myself saying,"No, that piece of hardware/electronics/bling is $4.72 over budget, so I'm not taking it all the way". Yes, a ballpark figure is a good idea to prevent a project from drying up and left unfinished due to lack of funds, but I just tend to come up with more creative solutions when the pennies stop flowing, and avoid the extreme silly-expensive gear.

Whatever the cost may be, I look at it as the price I must pay to feed my muse, and I'd much rather my spare funds go to something that keeps me sane, entertained, learning and young, rather than paying it to a psychotherapist.