Overview / Usage

This project is an entry to the PC Mod Level-Up Challenge. My experience with PC building is somewhat very new and recent, but I'm not sure I would call myself a novice, beginner, or inexperienced. I've never thought of actually building a PC from scratch until exactly a year ago, but I think my dad let me take apart a spare computer to see how it worked and put it back together around 1993 or so when I would have been 6. So tinkering, modding, and improving PC's has just been second nature to me as much as reading or making a sandwich!

When I got "the bug" and started ordering parts (I gleefully preordered an 11900k with overnight shipping like it was a hot record from my favorite band or the latest and greatest game release) after months of meticulous planning, I was initially in way over my head. But I set some pretty lofty goals for my first build attempt, and ended up producing a pretty cool Portland Trailblazers themed build. Not content with this, I jumped in to what I thought would be a few minor changes like changing the theme and adding another SSD.

I was very wrong. One thing led to another and another and another. I've now got one of the largest cases on the market (Fractal Define 7 XL) which I've managed to make feel like a SFF build with the complexity of all the features I've tried to fit into it. I had started with an AIO on my 11900k, but soon added a basic custom loop to cool my 3090 FTW3 (which I spent a month of my life trying to track down at MSRP). Then I ditched the AIO and added a regular block to the CPU. Then I was unhappy with the lack of active backplates for the 3090 given it having VRAM overheating issues, so I went nuts and adapted a RAM cooler to work as a custom backplate cooler.

Threw in a distro plate which had zero instructions and became a trial by fire. There are 22 fans now. There are two pumps and 4 radiators. They all would have been in the case but when one of them didn't fit as expected, I decided to rig up an external setup. I've been living, breathing, eating, and sleeping PC building every day for the past year. The best part is, without getting too dark and going too deeply into it, I am not in any way exaggerating when I say that discovering this passion saved my life this year. So, I'm very new to this, but very experienced and advanced in knowledge. What I'd like a chance to work on is modding and working outside of the box (well, outside of the case to be honest).

Another thing I took to as a kid was playing guitar. I was in bands and on tour a few times from high school through college, and while I have some physical issues presently that don't allow me to play, I still see a lot of things through the lens of the hardware involved with the music world. Upon hearing about this contest I thought about how it might be fun to take an old Marshall or similar brand amplifier, and fit it with all the proper computer components to make it what I feel is a very unique themed build.

I am unfortunately a VERY bad artist in terms of drawing or even photo-shopping things together. I've always struggled with visual art and making it come together to describe what I'm trying to do. But for whatever reason I've always been very adept at model making, and honestly this PC building journey is the first time my artistic visions aside from making music, have come together as I imagined. So you'll have to bear with me as I attach images and use a lot of words to explain what I'm trying to do.

Methodology / Approach

The case/base of the project will be a discarded shell of a Marshall, Fender, or similar amplifier. I have one in my possession that could work, but I feel like I would want more space to work in so I would be targeting something with a 2x12" or 2x10" speakers in the cabinet.

The trim of the amplifier would be altered to be black and Intel blue, with the logo of the manufacturer replaced with an "Intel Inside" logo. The dials on the amplifier would have the "Volume", "Tone", "Gain" knobs modified to read things like "Alder Lake", the speed of the CPU, the speed of the RAM, the name of the GPU (apparently a 3070) and the dials would all go up to "12900k" instead of 10.

The mesh of the amp which previously covered the speakers would instead be replaced with radiators. The size and number of radiators will vary based on the amp I procure for the project, but will very likely be either two 360mm or 420mm rads with fans only on the inside. The PC would be contained within the back of the amp, which are always open for sound quality reasons. The motherboard would be mounted on the "ceiling" of the amp.

All RGB would be in the blue Intel color theme. RGB would be fairly minimal so as not to detract from the theme, but would be just present enough to make it pop.

As it is a water cooled build, it would actually feature two custom cylindrical pumps. The pumps would be shaped like the old fashioned tubes used in these amps to get the coveted analog sound. As tubes have a filament in the center, these would as well. This is a fairly uncommon feature to have an LED within the blue liquid, but it would be there glowing just like a real tube amp. The RAM will be modded to look like humbucker pickups as seen on a Les Paul.

The water cooling hoses would be soft rubber to mimic a guitar cable, with the silver fittings custom modded to look like the connectors on them. All of the cabling inside would be a mix of the intel blue along with guitar style cables. A small LCD screen inside would play images of fretboards and famous guitarists playing with the PC performance statistics overlayed.

Here's the super crazy part. By matching a separate functioning speaker cabinet that would be isolated from the PC portion to prevent vibrations becoming a massive issue, the amplifier would still function if you plug a guitar into it. The goal would be to retain the original function of the amp, while building a computer inside of it, and making the whole thing Intel/12900k themed.

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Technologies Used

All of the hardware supplied by the PC Mod Level-up Challenge, a used amplifier and cabinet, custom made cabling and cooling hoses, custom made pump reservoirs, radiators, custom blue trim and lettering, lcd screen, additional fans, and custom modded parts.