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Ars Technica has published a new "Bargain Box Guide" for April 2014. As I'm looking through this I poked my nose over at Tom's hardware System Builder, Q1 2014: The $750 Gaming PC. Am I completely off my rocker? How do either of these qualify as a "budget build?"
I can consistently build systems (without monitors or OS) for far less that these systems and get a quality build that will work for several years of service. Am I just cheap or have I just been broke for too long and can't fathom the expense?
Do you still build systems or have you only purchased factory built units? How would you approach your design differently?
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(Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday April 07 2014, @01:01PM
one upon a time a fan (other than in the psu) was only needed if you where doing something stupid like overclocking heavily
I have to go a long way back to a time there wasn't a fan on my CPU. I remember CPU fans on socket-7 motherboards, certainly my PII-300 (Slot-A) had a fan, I think there were fans on Pentium 100s too. I think you have to go back to the 486 era to get rid of CPU fans on ibm-compatible pcs.
Now I did have a shuttle PC which had a single fan for the CPU and case, using pipes to the outside. That machine didn't have a PSU fan, just a big external brick.
(Score: 1) by Aiwendil on Monday April 07 2014, @04:00PM
I started with computers in the 386-era, so I got to see a few "bare" systems, heatsinks was accepted as a neat - but heavy - solution, fans never really got past the "How about NO"-stage.
My previous desktop was a P6 Tualatin 1.3GHz (TDP 37W) and my current is a Intel D252MW (mini-itx board with integrated cpu) both of which run without a fan (excepting in the psu)
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday April 07 2014, @06:00PM
Well yes, my 286 had a strange hard drive and CD rom connector and an AT keyboard connector, I'm fairly sure it still had a fan in the power supply, something that's not needed now.
You went from a fanless 486 straight to a Tuatin? The last 486 came out in 1995, and I believe had a fan. You didn't have anything between them?
Getting a fanless system in the late 90s would be pretty much impossible
(Score: 1) by Aiwendil on Monday April 07 2014, @09:32PM
Hmm, I might have had a PII in between, didn't have a PI, and my 486 was the reason why I started to abhor fans (incidently also last time I ever got a non-intel-cpu for x86). The 486 ended up with a hefty downclock and oversized heatsink.
Hmm, now when my memory is jogged, I do remember one setup I can't recall the specs of where I basically had the cpu-heatsink wedged to the psu-fan-intake with just a small silicon shim in between.
But in general - yeah, I tend to skip 2-3 generations of CPUs and also get CPUs very close to their end-of-line (normally due to this being when they finally start to get decent)