- Building The Aperture Science Computer Case in 2026
- 31 Mar 2026 01:25:55 pm
- Last edited by TheLastMillennial on 31 Mar 2026 01:43:20 pm; edited 1 time in total
Ever since I was 13 and first played Portal, I thought the PC case in the game was the coolest case in the world. The sleek unibody case, the futuristic orange glow behind the front grill logo, the side fan cutout, it all looked awesome! When I was around 17 and getting more interested in building a computer, I discovered someone had already made the case way back in 2007!
If I had money I would've bought that case because there's nothing quite like it. The Alienware Auorus cases do come pretty close but it's not quite what I'm looking for. Of course, this meant I had to do it myself.
There are a few things I wanted to improve on from the existing project.
When Portal with RTX was released, a remastered version of the PC case made it much more grounded in reality. It also affirmed my suspicion that the top curve was always meant to be perfectly smooth. When I found the game models available for download a few months ago, it made planning my own PC case much more feasible!
Instead of strictly adhering to the looks of one model or the other, I decided to do my own take on what a modern case would look like. The features I wanted were:
I didn't want to build the whole case from scratch since that would've taken years so I decided to modify an existing case. I decided to go with a DeepCool CH360 WH since it was small-ish, had a massive front intake, a side intake, and was already the shade of white I wanted. I found a used one for $40.
After receiving the case I started putting all my new fancy parts in so I could get an idea on how to actually modify the case. My specs are:
It turns out the front grill completely detaches from the case which gives me a huge variety of options for attaching a custom front grill. However, I didn't know how to make a front grill, or anything with precision. Normally I'd hand cut with wood, but this project called for a level of perfection I didn't have the patience to achieve with wood. I finally decided to give CAD a try, and boy I'm glad I did. I'm using OnShape and the files are shared to the public here. I started with figuring out a general shape. It ended up being a lot taller than I expected, but still manageable.
Once I had the general shape figured out, I tackled moving the IO. This involved a lot of sitting down and figuring out CAD. Thankfully I only had to use basic shapes and lines to make a new housing for the IO and it only took 2 attempts to get right! The IO PCB had a useless tab on it I snipped off and it was the only part of the case I had to modify.
I also 3d printed the top curve and the whole front bezel so I could see how the final product would look. Using only one layer of black screen for the grill wasn't nearly dark enough for me, but I realized simply adding a second layer made it much better. I took a brief break from CAD to paint the Aperture Science logo on the side of the case. I laser cut a stencil out of cardboard and used Behr Citrus Orange spraypaint since it was the closest off-the-shelf color match I could find to the orange I pulled from the 3D model's texture. Next time I think I'd use a vinyl cutout but this turned out pretty decent.
I made some adjustments to the CAD such as adding pegs so each print would perfectly fit into eachother. I then needed to finalize how I wanted the parts to be made. I originally imagined the parts would be 3d resin printed using a service like JLC3DP. However, each part was over $50, shipping was over $100, and there was a risk that the parts could arrive warped. I then considered CNC milling at least the front grill but for various reasons (including the thin-ish sides flexing risking poor form), this didn't end up being feasible either. Finally, I decided to use plain old PLA 3d Printing. Using $40 of filament and both a Bambu X1C and A1 mini, I got everything printed in 24 hours.
Now I had the tedious job of spending a week on-and-off sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, and painting my parts until all the seams were (mostly) gone.
Finally, I got to the point of final assembly! I made an error in my CAD with the grill cutout so getting the screen to stay in place became challenging. I ended up solving it by printing little friction inserts to keep the screen pinned in the tiny groove. I added insulation to the top shell so there wouldn't be any chance of heat from the PC warping my 3D print. Finally, I routed the top IO cables outside the case so they could reach the top IO cutouts.
With that said, I'm not quite "finished" but I'm plenty far enough that I can finally use this case daily! Here's my work so far!
There's still parts I need to complete.
I'm really happy with how it's coming along! Let me know if you'd do anything differently! 😁
If I had money I would've bought that case because there's nothing quite like it. The Alienware Auorus cases do come pretty close but it's not quite what I'm looking for. Of course, this meant I had to do it myself.
There are a few things I wanted to improve on from the existing project.
- 1. The top curve doesn't flow perfectly with the rest of the case. Although this follows the original game model, I always had the impression the curve was intended to be perfectly round but Valve ran out of polygons.
2. There's no groove at the top of the case like the game model
3. There's no accessible front/top IO. I plan to daily this case and I primarily keep my computer on the floor next to my desk. This means top IO is very important to me.
When Portal with RTX was released, a remastered version of the PC case made it much more grounded in reality. It also affirmed my suspicion that the top curve was always meant to be perfectly smooth. When I found the game models available for download a few months ago, it made planning my own PC case much more feasible!
- Portal: https://models.spriters-resource.com/pc_computer/portal/asset/466802/
Portal with RTX: https://models.spriters-resource.com/pc_computer/portal/asset/343594/
Instead of strictly adhering to the looks of one model or the other, I decided to do my own take on what a modern case would look like. The features I wanted were:
- 1. A groove at the top of the case like the original model. I can hide easily accessible top IO here.
2. A front grill that looks like the RTX model.
3. Front grill lighting like the original model.
4. A side grill that looks like the original model
5. A perfectly curved top like the RTX model.
6. A lit power button on the front grill.
7. A section for future use like the two black buttons on the RTX model. I think a period-accurate use for these buttons were a 'restart' and 'turbo' button, but personally I have no use for those so I'll leave it empty for now.
8. Minimal physical alterations of the case. Undoing screws is OK but cutting metal is not.
I didn't want to build the whole case from scratch since that would've taken years so I decided to modify an existing case. I decided to go with a DeepCool CH360 WH since it was small-ish, had a massive front intake, a side intake, and was already the shade of white I wanted. I found a used one for $40.
After receiving the case I started putting all my new fancy parts in so I could get an idea on how to actually modify the case. My specs are:
- Ryzen 9 9700X (I value more cores and don't need the overpriced X3D variants)
32GB 6400MHz DDR5 (I got this while RAM was ridiculous, but not insane)
RTX 4070 TI Super (Least expensive 16GB Nvidia card! My video editing software requires Nvidia)
Gigabyte B850M GAMING X WIFI6E (Affordable, mATX, plenty of RAM slots and PCIE.
1 TB SSD (I have a NAS for extra storage)
It turns out the front grill completely detaches from the case which gives me a huge variety of options for attaching a custom front grill. However, I didn't know how to make a front grill, or anything with precision. Normally I'd hand cut with wood, but this project called for a level of perfection I didn't have the patience to achieve with wood. I finally decided to give CAD a try, and boy I'm glad I did. I'm using OnShape and the files are shared to the public here. I started with figuring out a general shape. It ended up being a lot taller than I expected, but still manageable.
Once I had the general shape figured out, I tackled moving the IO. This involved a lot of sitting down and figuring out CAD. Thankfully I only had to use basic shapes and lines to make a new housing for the IO and it only took 2 attempts to get right! The IO PCB had a useless tab on it I snipped off and it was the only part of the case I had to modify.
I also 3d printed the top curve and the whole front bezel so I could see how the final product would look. Using only one layer of black screen for the grill wasn't nearly dark enough for me, but I realized simply adding a second layer made it much better. I took a brief break from CAD to paint the Aperture Science logo on the side of the case. I laser cut a stencil out of cardboard and used Behr Citrus Orange spraypaint since it was the closest off-the-shelf color match I could find to the orange I pulled from the 3D model's texture. Next time I think I'd use a vinyl cutout but this turned out pretty decent.
I made some adjustments to the CAD such as adding pegs so each print would perfectly fit into eachother. I then needed to finalize how I wanted the parts to be made. I originally imagined the parts would be 3d resin printed using a service like JLC3DP. However, each part was over $50, shipping was over $100, and there was a risk that the parts could arrive warped. I then considered CNC milling at least the front grill but for various reasons (including the thin-ish sides flexing risking poor form), this didn't end up being feasible either. Finally, I decided to use plain old PLA 3d Printing. Using $40 of filament and both a Bambu X1C and A1 mini, I got everything printed in 24 hours.
Now I had the tedious job of spending a week on-and-off sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, sanding, filling, priming, and painting my parts until all the seams were (mostly) gone.
Finally, I got to the point of final assembly! I made an error in my CAD with the grill cutout so getting the screen to stay in place became challenging. I ended up solving it by printing little friction inserts to keep the screen pinned in the tiny groove. I added insulation to the top shell so there wouldn't be any chance of heat from the PC warping my 3D print. Finally, I routed the top IO cables outside the case so they could reach the top IO cutouts.
With that said, I'm not quite "finished" but I'm plenty far enough that I can finally use this case daily! Here's my work so far!
There's still parts I need to complete.
- 1. The mount for the floating logo is quite crooked currently. I plan to replace the screws in the mount with adjustable magnets.
2. The lit button isn't done. I added a foam placeholder in its place. I suspect I'll use a mechanical keyswitch for this.
3. The RGB needs to be changed to just orange.
4. The side intake doesn't resemble either 3D model. There's not enough space inside the case to add even a low profile fan. I don't want to block the holes which would be necessary to make it look like the original model. I was thinking of simply painting a grey circle where the RTX model has an intake, but I think that'd just look out of place. If you have thoughts please let me know!
I'm really happy with how it's coming along! Let me know if you'd do anything differently! 😁
