If you want your PC to look like it was pulled right out of an alternate 1930s, then there’s only one person you can go to: Jeffrey Stephenson. The case modder has produced everything from servers within ancient radios, gaming systems in toasters, and office PCs within clocks — with more polished walnut than you can shake a stick at.
And now he’s done it again, with the SkyVue.
If you’ve heard of Stephenson before, then there’s no need for an introduction, but in case you haven’t, he’s won multiple mod-of-the-year awards from a number of publications, been featured often in magazines, and has been exhibiting his work at shows for over a decade. Stephenson is modding royalty at this point.
So the fact that he’s just finished his latest build is certainly worth drawing attention to. Much like his previous designs, the SkyVue is a flash to the past, using influences from 1930s skyscrapers to craft something truly unique.
Related: Think your PC is packed with midi-chlorians? Think again.
The exterior of the SkyVue build is made from sapele, an African wood most commonly found in flooring and musical instruments, which was layered over the top of a birch plywood frame. It looks incredibly smart from the outside, but is no slouch inside either.
Hidden beneath that polished wooden shell, is a smart looking matte black array of hardware. It uses a Gigabyte GA-Z170N mITX motherboard, Gigabyte GTX 960 graphics card (attached with a riser card to make it fit correctly), 16GB of Corsair DDR4 memory, a Kingston HyperX Predator 240GB M.2 SSD, and a secondary Corsair Neutron XT 280GB SSD.
Power-wise it uses a 300W Silverstone SFX PSU and is tentatively listed as sitting within a Silverstone LC-02 HTPC case, but at this point I think it’s safe to say it’s in the SkyVue chassis.
All of this is water-cooled to keep the system cool and quiet, as despite being quite a towering piece of equipment, it’s very compact and wastes no space.
For those of you reaching for your wallets however, hold fire, as Stephenson does not sell his systems on, as impressive as they are. If you’d like to help him out, though, you could like his Facebook page though; we’re sure he’d appreciate it.
