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  1. Hardware
  2. PC Cases

Build of the Week: Back to the Mod

Features
By James Davenport published 28 September 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 1 of 13
Page 1 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 2 of 13
Page 2 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 3 of 13
Page 3 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB

Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 4 of 13
Page 4 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 5 of 13
Page 5 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 6 of 13
Page 6 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB

Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 7 of 13
Page 7 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 8 of 13
Page 8 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 9 of 13
Page 9 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 10 of 13
Page 10 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 11 of 13
Page 11 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB
Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 12 of 13
Page 12 of 13

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

This week, modder Marc Molella tears apart an old case and brings it into the future with an impressive retrofitted Delorean build. What struck me about this mod in particular wasn’t Molella’s take on classic pop iconography, but his deliberate, self-limiting build process. Even though the Delorean, dubbed “Back to the Mod”, is very much car-shaped, a significant portion of its pieces come from the original case itself, just cut, bent, and assembled in a completely different form.

Back to the Mod may not be a beastly build, but Molella gave Modders Inc. a compelling reason for performance restraint:

“When I create a project of this level, I like to have a solid depiction of what my final goal is, and as always with modding, I am sure there will be hiccups and revisions along the way. This project is going to focus on the mod, not the hardware that is inside. Yes it will be fully watercooled, and have some nice components inside, but I do not want the components to take away from the reason we are all here, and that is to create awesome mods!”

Anyone with enough money can build a stupidly powerful PC, which is why a build like Back the Mod so easily catches the eye. Craftsmanship and creative use of hardware will always impress more than slapping together an $3,000 obsidian monolith.

Nice job with the build, Marc. Check out some footage of his process and his detailed build log for more information.

Back to the Mod components

Motherboard: MSI X99 Xpower
CPU: Intel 5820K
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB 3000MHZ
GPU: MSI GTX 970
PSU: Thermaltake DPS 850W
SSD: G/Skill Pheonix 120GB

Cooling: Bitspower full cover motherboard and GPU blocks, Hardware Labs GTX 360 Radiator, Primochill Dual Tone Rigid Revolver fittings, Primochill PETG, D5 pump, Koolance reservoir, Thermaltake Riing Fans

Page 13 of 13
Page 13 of 13
James Davenport
James Davenport
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James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles. 

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A picture of a Terracotta painted Fractal Terra case
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Hyte's booth at Computex 2025, where it showed off brand new colourful PC cases.
Hyte lowers prices for PC cases in the US after hiking them in response to Trump's tariffs, but innocent weebs are still paying the price
 
 
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The vault hunter and Zane look, intrigued, at the sight of something off-screen in Borderlands 4.
In the 16 years I've played this series, Borderlands 4 is the first entry that's made me want to do post-game grinding—Gearbox just needs to fix its dang Wildcard Missions first
 
 
A close-up of Strelok's face in Stalker.
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