Obsessive Computer Modding

AndyWarhol

What is it with computer nerds these days with all these fancy UV lights, cabling and elaborate cooling systems???

What really annoys me about people who fork out loads of cash for cooling (liquid/massive heat sinks) is that there really is no big performance advantage. It's such a contrived industry designed to target such computer nerds. Installing a liquid cooled processor cooling system will probably give maybe 2-3% more processing power (in terms of clock speed) and what domestic user (after all these products target the consumer, domestic user) could possibly need such optimum performace? Even if you did need such performance, you'd only have to wait about 3 months for the latest processor to come out and you'd be sorted.

Processors are designed to operate off the heatsink/fan they come with and should they begin to heat up, they'll just throttle off speed. No domestic user uses 100% of the processors resources 100% of the time and it's just plain silly forking out on cooling!

Endurance Man

Why do people tune there car engines and stick body kits on them? Why do model builders spend hours to get the model looking perfect. Why do ..............the list goes on, its called a hobby .

Endurance Man

PS: If you can clock a P4 to 4gig on aircooling you get a noddy badge , water cooling is there for a reason if done correctly!
My p4 3.0ghz would get up to 64C if i played games for a long time,that is a bit to warm. I invested in a very simple wc setup and now i dont go above 48 after many hours. For me that is money well spent,

Ri_Nollaig

like endurance man said it is basicly a hobby and judging by the amount of sites where u can get modding stuff, a popular one
as for "liquid/massive heat sinks" cooling, oem's r generaly louder and i think u get more then 2-3% when u overclock a cpu from 2.4 to 2.8 and who can affort to fork out for the fastest processor every 3 months? mine is about 18 months old and still going strong

WizZard

AndyWarhol wrote:

What is it with computer nerds these days with all these fancy UV lights, cabling and elaborate cooling systems???

I give up?? You tell me.
Now I've question for you.
What is it with people who have to rubbish other peoples hobbies to feel good/better?

AndyWarhol wrote:

What really annoys me about people who fork out loads of cash for cooling (liquid/massive heat sinks) is that there really is no big performance advantage.

Tripe.

AndyWarhol wrote:

It's such a contrived industry designed to target such computer nerds. Installing a liquid cooled processor cooling system will probably give maybe 2-3% more processing power (in terms of clock speed)

I've gotten that kind of increase by breathing across my CPU to be quite honest.

AndyWarhol wrote:

and what domestic user (after all these products target the consumer, domestic user)

No they don't. They target enthusiast users.

AndyWarhol wrote:

could possibly need such optimum performace? Even if you did need such performance, you'd only have to wait about 3 months for the latest processor to come out and you'd be sorted.

So you should throw money at things to make them run faster?

AndyWarhol wrote:

Processors are designed to operate off the heatsink/fan they come with and should they begin to heat up, they'll just throttle off speed. No domestic user uses 100% of the processors resources 100% of the time and it's just plain silly forking out on cooling!

Go look at a physics book, then see what overclockers/tweakers are trying to achieve. Then come back with arguments.

maidhc

AndyWarhol wrote:

What is it with computer nerds these days with all these fancy UV lights, cabling and elaborate cooling systems???

Not sure if this is meant to be a troll or not.

Personally I think modding a computer is a waste of time and money, just as I think modding a car is. Thus I use plain boring Dell computers to get me through my days work, and drive home in an equally plain and even more boring Ford car.

Having said that some people like working with fancy computers and driving home in in a Civic/Corsa/Integra type-R modded and chipped within an inch of its life. Do they get their work/play done faster: NO. Do they get home faster: NO! But hell its their money, and its their choice. Its no more stupid that paying green fees and wasting a day at golf.

Ri_Nollaig

WizZard wrote:

No they don't. They target enthusiast users.

forgot to comment on that actually
yes they ONLY market to enthusiast! mainly cuz the average user wudnt even no that a computer needs to b cooled nevermind the huge selection of ways to to do it. generaly high end graphics cards ( especaily SLI ) r only sold to enthusiasts, were else wud there b a market for the budget cards like 6200/x300 if the mid to high end where for sell in standard dells etc

unklerosco

maidhc wrote:

Not sure if this is meant to be a troll or not.

Personally I think modding a computer is a waste of time and money, just as I think modding a car is. Thus I use plain boring Dell computers to get me through my days work, and drive home in an equally plain and even more boring Ford car.

Having said that some people like working with fancy computers and driving home in in a Civic/Corsa/Integra type-R modded and chipped within an inch of its life. Do they get their work/play done faster: NO. Do they get home faster: NO! But hell its their money, and its their choice. Its no more stupid that paying green fees and wasting a day at golf.

very well said.... threads over

Endurance Man

very well said.... threads over

LOL, i think the OP has run off to hide in a dark corner .

ShiverinEskimo

Picked the wrong forum really didn't he??

Although saying that, he could have picked the teaking/modding forum...evidently, he's not THAT brave..

Yook

I agree with watercooling because it serves a practical purpose, but all the other bells and whistles (stripes of LED's on RAM) are a bit obsessive.

nadir

ricing ftw,

If you dont like it, don't do it, but for some of us it gives us a thrill, quit with the negative vibes.

Khannie

Well....I'll throw in my 2c.

The 2-3% comment is pants. As wizzard pointed out (very humourously), that kind of performance increase is easily achieved without adding any extra kit.

I have heaps of fans in my PC. The reason is that I like to keep it cool and keep noise down (speed variable fans). I have no need to overclock as yet, but if / when I do, having a low ambient temperature is a great starting point.

Anyway, it can get a bit obsessive sometimes, but I think it looks ok (though I'm a double-standarder on this one...think mod'd cars look crap).

Mr. CooL ICE

There are at least two types of modding - cosmetic modding and performance modding. Cosmetic is a waste of time IMO, moreso for PCs (unless youre a regular at LAN parties) because not many people are going to see it, and with cars, it doesnt matter how many thousand you spend on a new bodykit, everyone knows youre driving a corsa. But the performance is more important for computer enthusiasts than drivers. For games (more graphical detail and smoother framerates) and developers (code compilers, etc), a CPU running faster than anything commercially available is an advantage.

Sparky

yeah the image is for the lan parties, just a led light and uv reflective gear for me, but im all about the preformance.
Dub is id say one of boards serious modders, and it gives him pleasure to mod his pc and showcase it, whats wrong with it?
afterall his trophy is us going wow. Would you rather him sit at home watching the tv or doing some hobby stuff, to occupy himself. If you hate modding dont come here then.
But reading between the lines id say your jealous.
My 2c aswell.

Creamy Goodness

i don't mod as i don't have the skills, but i don't care how they spend their money if they spend their money doing something they enjoy then fair play to them.

some mod's can look great it's normally the simplistic mod's that look nice to me.

as said above anyone who builds a pc these days get one of them noisy fans with one and they try to minimize noise to the minimum, i think this is one of the main reasons for modding.

nadir

I like cosmetics too, I like stuff to look nice in general.

tba

A fundamental difference exists between the cosmetics applied to a PC and its asthetic value. I personally believe in a simplistic approach to modding, stealth drives, matt paint, neutral colours etc. The bells and whistle approach is wanton additions.

djmarkus

AndyWarhol wrote:

What is it with computer nerds these days with all these fancy UV lights, cabling and elaborate cooling systems???

What really annoys me about people who fork out loads of cash for cooling (liquid/massive heat sinks) is that there really is no big performance advantage. It's such a contrived industry designed to target such computer nerds. Installing a liquid cooled processor cooling system will probably give maybe 2-3% more processing power (in terms of clock speed) and what domestic user (after all these products target the consumer, domestic user) could possibly need such optimum performace? Even if you did need such performance, you'd only have to wait about 3 months for the latest processor to come out and you'd be sorted.

Processors are designed to operate off the heatsink/fan they come with and should they begin to heat up, they'll just throttle off speed. No domestic user uses 100% of the processors resources 100% of the time and it's just plain silly forking out on cooling!

Not a popular one ted,


I Watercool 2 systems, one of which is a 2.8 P4 o/c'd to 3.6ghz, hardly "2-3%", I'm defenatly saving money by buying a P4 2.8 at €60 and OCing to a processor worth €250, and the watercooling system cost me under $100 on ebay.
I like the computer to look good, so i stuck dual UV cathodes in(€12) and a bit of UV reactive fluid into the watercooling system(€7), hardly spending my life savings on making something look a bit better am I?

So, you my freind are talking complete cow shíte.

Endurance Man

OP was last seen heading south towards Africa , our tracker dogs have his scent.

Altheus

There's a huge leap between aesthetics and trying to achieve the best performance for a specific budget.

Cold cathode lighting, fancy casing, UV reactive crap, skull grills etc.

Now they're for ****.

Endurance Man

There's a huge leap between aesthetics and trying to achieve the best performance for a specific budget.

Cold cathode lighting, fancy casing, UV reactive crap, skull grills etc.

Now they're for ****.

Your calling most users of the comp forum **** :cool: , bit lame of you dont you think.

Altheus

You tell me. I understand a clean setup, or something truly unique.

I prefer making my PC work faster than making it look like some mechaninja Christmas tree.

The Real B-man

cant beat the lights im thinking of working on a knight rider rig soon

Endurance Man

You tell me. I understand a clean setup, or something truly unique.

I prefer making my PC work faster than making it look like some mechaninja Christmas tree.

There is a big difference between a christmas tree and 2 white chathodes :rolleyes: . I do think some people can go a bit overboard with the lighting but to call them **** is stupid, you need to watch what you say about other people!!

Lord Oz

For some people the lights on their computer are their only source of Vitamin D.

bus77

Whenever I see case modding, I can't help thinking about that bible parable about the people worshiping the Golden Calf.

Altheus

I don't think implying that somebody who spends a huge amount of time in front of their PC, and making their PC look pretty, may masturbate a little bit more than your average bloke, is a mistake.

The word 'inadequate' comes to mind.

I shall continue to tar people with a large brush. kthnx.

Altheus

The Real B-man wrote:

cant beat the lights im thinking of working on a knight rider rig soon

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Knight-Rider-Lights_W0QQitemZ8002589748QQcategoryZ72240QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

There you can get started tommorow :P

gline

2-3% preformance increase is sh**e, more like 30% + if done properly. Personally i onlike moddin/tweaking pcs for preformance and dont really like all the coulered cathodes and uv. But thats personal opinion, if you like it then thats fine, do it. It is a good hobby i think and very practical as you get to use what you have created everyday.. not like i dunno building a model plane or something where it sits in a corner most of the time. If your hobby gives you some thrill and you enjoy doing it, then its good for you. So I think the OP is talking crap... probably a DELL user

One thing i will say.. i dont like ppl who buy all the cooling in the world but dont actually have a bog how to use it or overclock, my advice there is read up on it before you take the plunge