Tablets and laptops might be eating into personal computer market share, but the venerable PC is still very popular in all sorts of circles. From gamers to editing professionals, there's still an enormous demand for powerful systems, but the popularity doesn't end there.
People love customising their PCs too and have gone well beyond the usual spray painted and water-cooled machines. So-called PC modders have been creating some of the most incredible PCs you've ever seen, many of which can rival any customized car you’ve seen in terms of eye-candy. All kinds of people get in on the act, and I've seen carpenters, metalworkers and 3D printing experts all create incredible PCs. Every month I take a look at some of these mad machines and I've picked several of my favourites to show you that have wowed me in May.
First we all have to bow down to the winner of Cooler Master's Case Mod World Series competition - the biggest PC modding competition around, which ended recently. The winner is a project called Black Templars, which the owner, a modder who goes by the name Modder CROW, has styled to his concept of Marvel's War Machine character.
The case, which is Cooler Master's own CM 690 II, has been extensively modified from head to toe. It uses very modest hardware compared to other PCs I've included this month - a testament to the fact that an awesome PC mod doesn't have to use expensive, cutting-edge hardware.
Modder CROW used a variety of techniques to create a weathered look and the attention to detail is incredible. He first sprayed the various components then brushed them with silver to make the PC appear like it's been through a war zone. You can see how it was made on Cooler Master's forum.
Next up is guitarhero23 - also known as Travis Simpson, who pointed me at his water-cooled PC called White Metropolis. This stunning PC uses a case made bt US company CaseLabs called the Mercury S5 along with an Intel Core i7-4790K processor and 16GB of RAM.
For games, it uses an Nvidia GTX 970 and sports over 3TB of storage space too. Of course, the PC is all about that gorgeous water-cooling system. The coolant is made by UK-based manufacturer Mayhems, with this particular shade called Blue Berry, although Travis has added a dab of its Ocean Blue dye too.
The water-cooling components include hardware made by companies such as EK Waterblocks, Bitspower and XSPC. A lot of work has gone into customizing the components too and Travis has created an in-depth log of his work, which you can see over at Overclock.net.
Superman fans rejoice - you'll love this next project, aptly titled Man of Steel. PC modder MegaSkot, who comes from Serbia, has created a custom case for the PC using steel and kitted the interior out with some of the fastest hardware around.
The PC sports an Intel Core i7-5820K processor, two Nvidia GTX 970's in SLI, 16GB of memory and 500GB of solid state flash storage, with a Cooler Master 1000W power supply powering it all.
The whole Pc is water-cooled using components from EK Waterblocks and certainly looks like something from Superman's arctic Fortress of Solitude, and even includes memory crystals like those used in the movies. If you'd like to see how Man of Steel was created, you can see it on bit-tech. That's it for this month, you can see my galleries of more incredible PCs in my articles The 20 Most Amazing PCs Ever Made and The 30 Most Incredible Customized PCs of 2014. Feel free to comment below or let me know your thoughts on Twitter - @antonyleather.
