Conspiracy Theory by Bob Skelton
Robert Skelton’s project takes design cues from the early 60’s, when the space race was in full swing and the conventional limitations of design at the time were almost literally out of this world. Modifying an Alienware case, he has built a system based on an EVGA Classified III motherboard with GTX 480’s in TRI-SLI.
Modder: Robert Skelton
Personal Website: Google+ Page
The Featured Build: “Conspiracy Theory”
Words from the modder:
Imagine what the world would be like if the personal computer had been available in 1962. The jet age was ending and the space age had begun. Automobiles shed the tail fins but not all at once. And too much chrome was never enough. So here is the all new for ’62 Conspiracy Theory PC, after all, can anyone be 100% certain about anything from the 60’s? EVGA Classified III board and 480gtx cards. G Skil RipJaws 1600 RAM 12gb. The faceplate is a modified Visionman piece the rest is stick built from laminated/riveted aluminum stock. Plus a couple of left over sheet metal scraps for the floor and top. Power supply and HDD’s are hidden.
Everyone has a story of what got them into Modding. What or whom got you into Modding? Where do you get inspiration from?
I have never been able to leave well enough alone; my first car for example. It started out a nice near stock ’68 Camaro. Soon it became a 400 hp Camaro, then 500 hp, then 700 hp. It is the same with computers. The Conspiracy Theory’s performance is ranked 15th out of 616.000 PC’s tested with the Ashampoo WinOptimizer benchmark. Note the top 10 CPU’s used in the top 1000 rigs. Not a Xeon to be found. They seem to work OK for me.(x5650@ 3.8 ghz), but then what do I know.
Where do you get your inspiration for your mods?
When some expert says “it won’t work right”. “Nobody does it like that”. “Too much work etc”. Hells Bells! Without a little thinking outside the box now and then we would still be wearing loin cloths shivering in caves.
What were the thoughts behind this particular featured mod? Why did you do it the way you did in this mod?
The forgotten years of design. When JFK said “to the moon we go”, some of the most experienced engineers and designers went to work in aerospace related fields. Kind of leaving the young guns holding the bag so to speak. As a result 1960-64 had some really bitchin’ designs and some really strange cars came out of Detroit. Pontiac 421 SuperDuty Catalina. Cool! Buick Invictor? WTF is that!? By ’65 the young guns got it dialed with the Mustang, and GTO’s that stole the show. But just imagine stomping on the gas and kickin’ a ’61 409 Impala SS with the Powerglide into “passing” gear @ 65 mph….There is no substitute.
What do you think was the most difficult part of making the mod?
Hiding the HDD’s and Power Supply. The solution I came up with was to make it float or levitate 3/4 of an inch. Some of the principles pioneered by Yuri Geller and his spoon bending work of the 70’s have been used along with some good old fashioned smoke and mirror effects.
Did it turn out how you thought it would?
Frankly I had no idea of how it would turn out. As you can see there isn’t any automotive theme used here. Just design concepts used not only on cars but toasters, blenders, buildings and furniture of the time all seemed to have that early sixties funky-forgettable look that never really caught on. Look at Billboards top 40 and the Oscar winners of the day. I don’t think they knew how any of their stuff would turn out either. Although I’m sure they would have shitloads of things to change if only they could.
Is there anything you might have wanted to do different? How much time did you spend on the mod?
Spend less time. Trial and error takes forever. 400-500hrs easy. “If it’s not done twice…It’s just not done”
Do you have another project in the shop or in the planning?
Yes. How about an EVGA Super Record-2 Classified board in a Mid tower case? It can be done. (and has).
Thank you for agreeing to an interview Robert and we are looking forward to seeing your next creative project.
