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MAXIMUMPC JANUARY 2005120
Red food coloring and UV reactive dye give the
custom water-cooling system the appearance
that it’s pumping with blood.
THIS MONTH: Andy Crawford’s Mirage
A
true power user isn’t con-
strained by convention.
Just ask Andy Crawford,
who dared to build a computer
that’s equal parts Mac and PC.
That’s right: two complete sys-
tems considered by many to be
at odds with each other living
side-by-side in a single,
albeit very roomy, case.
What’s more, each system
runs its native OS, an
emulator of its neighbor’s
OS, and Gentoo Linux for
a thoroughly comprehen-
sive computing experience.
But clearly, Mirage is
about more than a bunch of
OSes. It took eight months
of planning and constructing
a full-scale prototype for
Crawford to get all the hard-
ware details just right. With
the final mod, he went all out
with aesthetic extras: stealthed
optical drives, sleeved cables
and wires, mirrored overlays,
elaborate lighting, etched cir-
cuitry—all of it done with his
own two hands.
Stair-stepping the front of the case are
eight hard drives (seven dedicated to the
PC), flanked by red LEDs that are wired to
a custom pattern controller.
Andy Crawford’s Mirage
who dared to build a computer
that’s equal parts Mac and PC.
That’s right: two complete sys-
tems considered by many to be
at odds with each other living
side-by-side in a single,
albeit very roomy, case.
What’s more, each system
runs its native OS, an
emulator of its neighbor’s
OS, and Gentoo Linux for
a thoroughly comprehen-
sive computing experience.
But clearly, Mirage is
about more than a bunch of
OSes. It took eight months
of planning and constructing
a full-scale prototype for
Crawford to get all the hard-
ware details just right. With
the final mod, he went all out
with aesthetic extras: stealthed
optical drives, sleeved cables
and wires, mirrored overlays,
elaborate lighting, etched cir-
cuitry—all of it done with his
own two hands.
Under black light, the
motherboards and
videocards glow with
UV reactive circuitry,
thanks to a .99 cent
pack of Bic Fluo pens,
a steady hand, and
lots of patience.
Switches across the front of the PC
control various fans and lights, the
monitor, and a tachometer up top,
which measures CPU usage. The large
red military switch controls the water-
cooling and Peltier systems.
“I have a little mantra about
modding my cases: noth-
ing goes untouched,” says
Crawford. Not even his CRT,
which houses two red cath-
odes for added effect.