Newegg's PC building service

[Qqmike]

Newegg's New PC Building Service Might Hold Stock on Rare Components Behind Pre-Assembly Paywall

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ne...a84e7dc248cdb6

Read that a few days ago and not sure what to think about it! I think it applies to rare, high-end components, but there seems to be some uncertainty about the program. I was not aware of the other PC building services (not inexpensive, either).

The good news, to me, is that the PC DIY market seems to be alive and well, as it always has been among gamers. Part of the fun is assembling your own. I call it "connecting connectors." It is actually a bit more than that, especially with extreme customizing, or even basic customizing (like adding a simple USB port bay to the front of your case). The hard part being in the spec-ing of the right and best components and then hoping to find a vendor at a decent price.

I've done 3, planning the 4th now. Here's my "pro-tip" (LOL):
It's the CASE, stupid!

Don't need a high-end case. But get one that allows you to work comfortably, conveniently, and most importantly, a case that will not slice your fingers into shreds. Even Lian Li has an affordable, low-end in its product line that works well.

[oshunluvr]

Well, if you want a case that won't cut you...

Costs about $150 though. Here's mine currently:

[Snowhog]

For the curious (like me). This is a ThermalTake Core P3 SE Red Edition case.

[oshunluvr]

Thanks Snowhog, I should have included that. I love the look of it but my primary motivation was reducing the number of needed fans for noise reduction. Other than the PSU, there's only 2 fans behind the radiator that run really slow so are barely audible. At the time this pic was taken, the GPU was new and not yet water cooled.

[GreyGeek]

My only foray into the DIY desktop was around 2003. Too show off the desktop I bought a case that had a plexiglass side and a string of blue LEDS around the edge of the plexiglass for illumination. My next computer was a Gateway laptop with an 18" display.

[Qqmike]

@ GG: now, that is the RGB technology, permeating deeply into various components.

@ oshunluv & snowhog ... it looks like those cases are open to ambient air. Not a problem? What about the school of thought saying the case should be closed to the outside, the air inside fully controlled for optimal cooling? I'm not advocating here, just questioning. I have noticed -- at times -- that if I remove my clear panel for awhile, it lowers temps. But what if ambients are too high? Cool-looking cases, though! Price is OK. Anything under, say $200, is OK in my book. I shoot for around $100 or slightly less. I would not want to pay above $250+ though for a PC case, not without good reason, and for mainstream, there is not good reason.

[jglen490]

I've built a few Desktops. Nothing serious, WRT gaming, just good solid PCs. In my experience, air must move inside the case and air must move from the outside to the inside and back to the outside. 2 x 120 mm fans on the front, one on the back, plus the PS fan, the GPU fan, and the CPU fan. The CPU has a fan and not water cooling because my gaming is very close to zero. With the decent quality fans, and good sized openings not much noise at all. The ceiling fan in the bedroom is louder. Fans don't have create hurricane force winds, just move cooler air in and warmer air out. That and keep the filters/screens clean.

As a part of air movement, having good cable management is very important, so a case that provides space for cable management is critical.

[GreyGeek]

This thread got me curious about the state of DIY laptops. I found this site:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/diy-la...r-own-notebook

It wasn't what I thought. They are using Rasberry's, iPads, mini-what evers and getting cute by using pizza boxes as the frame, and other nonsense, like requiring a 3D printer to make some components. For the price of a decent 3D printer one could buy a couple Chromebooks, or more. Desktops are standardized in slots and forms, etc., but laptops have never been. That is a direct result of proprietary components.

[jglen490]

Yep, DIY WRT to laptops is a hard exercise. With desktops, DIY and custom solutions are fairly easy, just because of the form factor. You can fund some very small FF desktop cases that do impose limitations on components, but with laptops, it's pretty much the nature of the beast. Some laptops have been made to allow swapping in better CPUs, and RAM on most is fairly flexible. Adding USB connections is impossible on laptops, except with external hubs.

It's all in the form factor.

[oshunluvr]

@ GG: now, that is the RGB technology, permeating deeply into various components.

@ oshunluv & snowhog ... it looks like those cases are open to ambient air. Not a problem? What about the school of thought saying the case should be closed to the outside, the air inside fully controlled for optimal cooling? I'm not advocating here, just questioning. I have noticed -- at times -- that if I remove my clear panel for awhile, it lowers temps. But what if ambients are too high? Cool-looking cases, though! Price is OK. Anything under, say $200, is OK in my book. I shoot for around $100 or slightly less. I would not want to pay above $250+ though for a PC case, not without good reason, and for mainstream, there is not good reason.

"Moving" air does not equal "Cooler" air. Actually, a fan slightly increases the temp of the air due to kinetic energy (friction between the air molecules). PC cases are meant to hide and protect the components. Cooling fans are required because the trapped air inside the case is a higher temp than the ambient surroundings. Proper airflow through a case is important to exhaust the trapped hot air. "Controlling" the airflow is important so you can move as much ambient air through the enclosure as possible but that does not mean the air in the case is ever cooler than the air in the room. That's literally impossible unless you introduce air conditioning directly into the case. I have done that in the past - there's an A/C vent under my desk and I simply set my PC case over it and turned all the case fans to blow outward. The tower case had a fan opening on the bottom so it worked well. Obviously, I moved the case during the winter. No need to blow heated air into it!

By effectively having no case enclosure, the "case" air temperature is more or less the temperature of the air around the PC and is always a lower temp. than the air trapped in any enclosure. Your experience with removing the side demonstrates this. I am relying on strictly convective airflow to cool the RAM and other components as only the CPU and GPU are water cooled. There are some motherboards out there that have water blocks built in to cool the motherboard components but they're quite expensive and of questionable value. RAM waterblocks are available, but I've yet to experience a need. If I felt it necessary, I could add fans that blow directly on the RAM or other mobo. parts but no need to do that has arisen. The PC runs very cool as-is. My setup does have 2 140MM fans behind the radiator but I invest in quiet, high-volume (rather than high-speed) fans so they are barely audible.

There is actually a major advantage to the fan-less (nearly) set up I have - Absolutely NO dust bunnies. The semi-annual opening of the case and vacuuming out the dust collection is a thing of the past. A disadvantage might be that I can't set my beverage down on top of the case, lol. But since it's under my desk I wasn't doing that anyway.

[jglen490]

O.K., physics wins, and moving air also means moving heat. Generally, it is desirable to move heat away from the heat source and bring (relatively) cooler air to capture more heat, etc.

[Qqmike]

@oshunluvr Your explanation makes sense.

If I felt it necessary, I could add fans that blow directly on the RAM or other mobo. parts but no need to do that has arisen.

... which might also support the idea of just aiming a $15 fan WalMart Honeywell office fan in the direction of an open PC case, I guess to move the air flow, again using convection, as you mentioned.

The dust bunnies are an issue, too, no matter how clean you (try to) keep your office/surroundings.

Well, OK, it makes sense. As I mentioned, and as you noted, if I remove the plexiglass side now and then, the temps drop dramatically.

OK, good. Thanks.

[Qqmike]

(input needed, website issue)
If you guys press the What's New button (upper left of screen), do you see this post and my other posts in this thread?

[jglen490]

Sorry, Qqmike, I didn't see the new stuff for this thread.

[Snowhog]

I do.