These 5 PC upgrades cost pennies to 3D print instead of buying

If you have a 3D printer sitting idle, it's time to put it to work. Your PC gaming setup can be made so much better by printing instead of buying off-the-shelf parts. Here are five things that you should definitely 3D print before you ever consider buying.

GPU Support

Don't let your GPU sag

As the years go on, GPUs keep getting bigger and bigger. I'm honestly surprised with how big and chunky modern graphics cards are—especially without coming with any kind of support. That's why I 3D printed my own .

My RTX 3080 12GB is definitely a beefy card, and it sagged for quite a while before I actually 3D printed my support. It only took an hour or so to print and has worked great ever since.

I have my desktop on the ground, not my desk, because it's so large. So, my GPU support is fairly boring. However, there are quite a few fun models out there to print. Take Atlas, for instance. This unique GPU support looks like Atlas is holding the weight of the world on his shoulders, which might not be far from the truth depending on what GPU you have.

Cable combs/guides

Why pay for cable combs when you can just print them?

A cable managed PC is a happy PC —at least, that's what I tell myself. Years ago, when I was building PCs professionally, I spent way too much time managing desktops. My boss always told me to build the PCs faster, but I couldn't ship a desktop out that had messy cables.

We saved cable combs for our higher-end systems, however. Cheap desktops got cheap zip ties, while expensive systems got proper cable management and organization systems.

Had we had a 3D printer in the shop, I would have fully stocked drawers with cable combs of all sizes that only cost pennies to make. While I couldn't do that a decade ago, you definitely can now. 3D printable cable combs are easy to find and fast to print.

There's no reason that your cables shouldn't be neatly organized if you own a 3D printer.

Drive mounting brackets

Sometimes a custom solution is the best solution

While traditional hard drives aren't quite as commonplace as they used to be, there's still a good chance you might need to mount a 2.5- or 3.5-inch hard drive in your case at some point. 3D printing can definitely help out with that.

Some cases only come with one or two drive mounts, and you might need five or six. In that case, there are prints like this one to six adapter for Node 804 (and similar) cases. Really, it'd work for just about any case as it's just a side mount that screws into six SSDs to hold them spaced apart, with the bottom SSD being screwed into the case like normal.

There are all sorts of other drive mounting brackets on MakerWorld, so do check it out if you need to mount a drive in a specific spot.

Headphone stand

Who wouldn't want a Batman head holding their headphones?

You probably have headphones at your desk, so where do you put them? Well, with a 3D printer, that's no longer a problem, as there are a number of solutions you can make for just a few bucks.

While off-the-shelf headphone stands or hangers can cost $10 or more, printing your own is often far cheaper and way more customizable. Take this cactus headphone stand as an example. You can use multiple colors to add extra flair to it, and it's also multi-functional as it can hold headphones, a watch, and a few other odds and ends in the base. Or, there's this single-purpose but amazingly designed Batman mask that is perfect for your headphones.

Another route you can go is an under-desk headphone hanger , which is something I plan to print sometime soon for my setup as I work on organizing my office more. Regardless of which route you pick, your headphones shouldn't just be sitting on your desk if you own a 3D printer.

Replacement PCIe slot covers

Just print a replacement PCIe slot cover instead of leaving the slot open

We've all been there. Those PCIe slot covers are so easy to lose. I'll pull a slot cover to install a PCIe device, and then, if I remove the device, the slot cover is nowhere to be found. So, I just leave the slot open with nothing covering it. At least, that's how I've always done it in the past.

One of the best parts about 3D printing is that there are simply so many models available online that have already been designed by someone else. Take PCIe slot covers, for instance. I just jumped on MakerWorld and found dozens of designs where any one of them would easily fit my system.

Plus, with 3D printing, the slot covers you make can have any type of design you want on them, instead of just the boring old options you'd find on Amazon.

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3D printers truly make any hobby better

Regardless of what hobbies you're into, 3D printing makes it better . I use 3D printing with my laser engravers, my CNC, for photography, gaming, organization, you name it. I love that I can take a roll of plastic, melt and squeeze it through a nozzle, and have a finished product come out the other end. 3D printing is wildly awesome, and I couldn't imagine not having a 3D printer in the house at this point.