Shuttle XPC manages 2nd rank
 Oliver König smiles brightly. No wonder that he just came second in the category „Most spectacular PC“ at the German Casemodding Championships („Deutsche Casemodding Meisterschaften“) with a Shuttle XPC. But why do case modders like him bank on Shuttle XPCs?
„My decision was easy,“ explains Oliver König, alluding to his choice of a Shuttle XPC Barebone SN25P, since he was looking for a PC supporting socket 939 processors and featuring the nForce 4 Ultra chipset. As a PC fan, König had a detailed idea what the PC should be like: A Small Form Factor (SFF) PC! Since his living room is already occupied by one of these, König had special plans for this one. A modding project was supposed to take away a lot of his leisure time in the future: „I don’t really like those big grey boxes, they’re too boring. Since I’m a big fan of 3D shooters such as Battlefield 2, I needed something in military design,“ continued Oliver König.
Instead of only adding the necessary components to the Shuttle XPC Barebone, König completely redesigned his Shuttle machine. He cut out pieces of the barebone’s side and modelled windows. One of the sides now features coverings of hardened plexiglass, sheets of metal and an antenna. The other side was modified differently. The F.u.b.a.r. letters are illuminated and he also used openings for ventilation. The front panel was added camouflage perforated plates giving it the real military looks – power and reset buttons were replaced by old-looking toggle switches. „On the upper side I managed to integrate two folding carrying handles for an easy transport,“ explains Oliver König. Since he also mounted a swivel arm on the rear side of the PC that carries a mini TFT display with touchscreen, this modded SFF PC goes even beyond the capacity of the Shuttle XPC Carrying Bag!
In order to put the finishing touches to his redesign project, he managed to give the case military and camouflage colours by airbrushing it. Well, how long did it take him to set up a PC like this? „I put 60 hours of work in this project,“ says König proudly. But these efforts were now rewarded by obtaining the 2nd rank in the category „Most spectacular PC“ at the German Casemodding Championships („Deutsche Casemodding Meisterschaften“). No wonder that he is now hungry for more trophies and surely will compete in more championships.
Take a look at the F.U.B.A.R Shuttle XPC here: www.ccc-butterkneter.de |