Custom Tailored PC Case?

Solution
I own 4 Compact Splash cases and the cost of just making one case out of bare EG steel was around 300USD if you include the man hours invested into making sure the measurements weren't off by inches and to make sure that the components aligned with each other then the cost of said case will go up. If you can't make your case fall into a production run of, say, 100 or more then there is no chance in hell you're seeing a 120USD for your case build.

Best build it out of cardboard and splurge the money saved on some slushy.

If you're really serious, then we can move forward or we can source some custom made chassis's for around 250USD per chassis but by the looks of your posting style, you're going to be better off buying a 50USD chassis...
i think you might be missing the point of my question, im not asking you to give me a suggestion for a case, im asking if there is anyone who can MAKE a case that is by my own design. yes/no and who?
 


I do not know of any company specifically, but from my earlier comment...describing exactly what you want, in full, may be harder than you think.

Just as an intellectual exercise, what is it about current cases that do not meet your expectations and wants?
 
I haven't finished drawing it yet, but frankly I don't care that much about the layout aside from its going to be to the right of my monitor under the top of the surface of the desk, so the window will need to be on the rightside of the tower, but here is what I'm trying to go for:

PRICE:
$120 or less

TYPE:
MicroATX Mini Tower

FANS:
2x 120mm (toprear/bottomfront)
or
2x 140mm (toprear/bottomfront)

COLOR:
Black
or
Black/Red

POWER SUPPLY:
No

SIDE PANEL WINDOW:
Yes

FRONT PANEL USB 3.0:
Yes

MOTHERBOARD FORM FACTORS:
Micro ATX

EXTERNAL 5.25" BAYS:
2 exactly*

EXTERNAL 3.5" BAYS:
1 exactly*

INTERNAL 3.5" BAYS:
0 exactly*

INTERNAL 2.5" BAYS:
1 exactly*

FULL-HEIGHT EXPANSION SLOTS:
4 exactly*

HALF-HEIGHT EXPANSION SLOTS:
0 exactly*

*
It's an OCD thing, it irritates me to no end when there is unused and/or lack of space.
The exact number of spaces AND parts for them must match each other perfectly.
Also why I'm not comfortable pulling drive bays out of a tower, the area they once covered becomes unused.
 
Your description above is not nearly enough for someone else to make it to your satisfaction.

How to proceed:

1. Obtain a good CAD application. Autocad, Rhino3D or similar.
2. Spend a few hundred hours getting familiar with the application.
3. Draw out, on paper, a general layout
4. Decide how you want all the panels connected. Rivets, bolts, brazing, welded
5. Decide on a material. Steel, alu, plastic, some combination
6. In your CAD application, draw each individual panel.
Screw holes, attach points, panel thickness, ATX standard for the PSU, motherboard, I/O panel, cooling vents, etc, etc.
7. Refine and redo it dozens of times, until you are satisfied.
8. Find a shop, either local or online, that can cut those panels out of your chosen material
9. Discover what file format they require
10. Redo #6, because the engineer tells you that is not workable.
11. Pay lots of $$$
12. Receive and assemble.

I estimate a year of dedicated work, minimum.


EDIT: Add Step 13: Cry when the actual airflow through the case is not even close to what you really need.
 
Agreed, with a price range of $120 or less no one is going to even fire up their cnc machines. A few places that might, mountain mods which works with base cases and allows you to customize how you wish with various fan placement, acrylic, solid panels, metal etc. They offer custom fabrication starting at around $750.

https://www.mountainmods.com/

Another who has the tooling to do it would be someone like Bill Owen over at mnpctech if he's not in the middle of one of his own projects. Chances are his prices wouldn't be much different.
https://mnpctech.com/

Even if looking to do the work yourself, by the time you get your hands on an io shield/back panel and some acrylic sheets or aluminum panels you'll probably be looking at $100+. The bit commonly sold for making 120mm fan holes in materials typically cost $20-30 for just the hole saw bit. Long story short a custom case from scratch isn't a budget friendly venture.

 



Thanks for these sites, i'm about to check what the prices would be for a case for me haha
 
To give you an idea of costs, I was looking at 3 pieces of folded zinc coated steel, about 1.5mm, 2 notches, in corners and 3 folds each, really relaxed tolerances easily done on a press break, probably no more than 15mins of work, supplied cad drawings. They still wanted in excess of £100 each, this was to fit the bottom of a chicken roost to hold the waste materials, needless to say, didn't go for it.

Multiply your budget by a factor of 10, and you have a chance.

Additionally with only 2 fans, 1 input, 1 output you won't have enough airflow. Suggest you learn from people that have actually built and tested cases, and buy one, keep looking, relax into the case.
 
I own 4 Compact Splash cases and the cost of just making one case out of bare EG steel was around 300USD if you include the man hours invested into making sure the measurements weren't off by inches and to make sure that the components aligned with each other then the cost of said case will go up. If you can't make your case fall into a production run of, say, 100 or more then there is no chance in hell you're seeing a 120USD for your case build.

Best build it out of cardboard and splurge the money saved on some slushy.

If you're really serious, then we can move forward or we can source some custom made chassis's for around 250USD per chassis but by the looks of your posting style, you're going to be better off buying a 50USD chassis and call it a day.

Going through all your posts, have you looked into the Coolermaster N200 chassis? There is a reason why you have a small negative space at the front before the motherboard/GPU.

USAFRet forgot one other factor, you will loose a lot of resources(time, money, energy and ofc your brain matter) due to prototyping. When you've been involved in custom/scratch build cases then you're going to appreciate that nothing comes close to 150USD even after a large production run is achieved. Oh right there's also the cost of painting the cases depending on the choice of material can be susceptible to rusting.

If you're hell bent on getting things done then you'll see 6 months of rigorous 24/7 toiling to achieve acceptable end results or 1.5 years(at least) if you go by with 8 hours a day.
 
Solution
Reading your post again, I don't see why this is so difficult. You are still looking for a rectangular box, I had thought you had some Star Wars design or something, surely some vendor has the box of 98% what you need, some of them sell several version of the drive cages with just the amount of slots needed.

If empty space bothers you, have you notice those high-end Mobos' they come with covers, just like the engine compartment of modern cars, so you don't have to see all the wires, chips and what not, surely you can fabricate some covers yourself, just don't block air flow.
 

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