Newegg.com has selected three outstanding winners in its new monthly Case Mod Competition. Sixty-two PC hobbyists' cases were judged by editors of popular PC sites on the basis of five factors: creativity, arrangement/neatness, artistic, functionality and "WOW" factors.

The winners for August are:

* First Place - Bronco Mod by Richard Sherman of Alda, Nebraska

* Second Place - ZX6 by "Fastback" of Long Beach, CA

* Third Place - by Zachary Hydusik & Richard Irish of Monhegan, Maine

Judges for the first competition were composed of a panel of industry experts; Kyle Bennett, Editor-In-Chief of [H]ard|OCP.com, Dan Turner, President of FiringSquad.com and Christiaan Allebest, Tech and Game Guru at EntertainmentAlmighty.

"I was incredibly impressed with the quality of submissions for this case mod contest," Dan Turner said. "All the entrants worked very hard and had great hardware. Congratulations to the winners who clearly are passionate about their PC's."

"The first place-winning Bronco Mod is unbelievable," Howard Tong, Vice president of Marketing, Newegg.com said. "Richard scratch-built the frame and body of a miniature Ford Bronco which looks just like the real thing. Pop open the hood and a display is underneath it, with a keyboard in the engine compartment. It really fits our stress on creativity and craftsmanship in this contest."

Based on the overwhelming response to the contest in its first month, Newegg.com will continue to eagerly accept submissions on a monthly basis. Official rules, detailed judging criteria, and submission details and entry forms for the case mod competition.

The hobby of case modification, altering a computer for artistic purposes or to get better performance, can involve changes such as painting the case, adding neon lights and installing translucent windows or adding additional fans and water cooling for those hot overclocked processors. Each month $575, $450 and $275 Newegg.com gift certificates will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners, respectively.

Jason's Comments: I like mods, but I have no creative ability to do anything like that at all.