Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

Why can't we just use screws?

Thats what I am using now. After my push pin failure and almost the loss of my CPU I decided I would not go through that again and bought a Zalman cooler that screws in.

That thing is not going anywhere.

Crunch

[[21CW]HIVictim]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

I hate pushpins. I have no problems getting them on or off, but they never fit 100% correctly. I am a strong believer that if a heatsink doesn't have a backplate to force pressure onto the CPU from the heatsink, then the heatsink is not doing its job well enough. I actually saw a review online about a guy modified his stock intel sink with a bolt-thru kit and lost 10C load temps.

Pushpins are a great convenience because you can change a CPU and never take the motherboard out of the case. However, the people that are bothered by the thought of removing the motherboard almost never change their CPU anyway. I personally think its a waste of good cooling potential.

Quality > Ease ... in my books...

[=98=]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

I doubt a bolt through kit caused a 10c drop alone, but it does increase cooling performance for sure. It does apply more pressure on the CPU which is why I always buy/bought a backplate kit.

[Danny_HR]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

I love to mess around with my hardware.

I would never buy a prebuilt computer cause that would destroy the fun i have assembling it. :)

Plus, i don't think having money makes it any less stupid if you spend much more on a prebuilt machine when you could save 100-200$ if you do it yourself. :)

[[21CW]HIVictim]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

I doubt a bolt through kit caused a 10c drop alone, but it does increase cooling performance for sure. It does apply more pressure on the CPU which is why I always buy/bought a backplate kit.

I suppose not. Granted initial tests were with the stock goop that Intel slaps on stock. Who knows what he used for TIM afterwards.

[Kallum765]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

I think I'd be tempted to by a pre-built machine only if I was dropping big money, for example on something like a HP Blackbird or one of Scan's watercooled 3XS systems. Being able to buy a PC that comes pre-overclocked and with custom watercooling yet is still covered by a full warranty is worth the extra cost in my opinion.

[=98=]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

If I had the money, I would purchase a Scan 3XS system. You can define your own hardware and slightly modify how you want it to look. With so much high end hardware, it's nice to have it in your hands working.

[AlecJ32]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

....If I had enough money, I'd probably switch to the UltraSPARC platform, which isn't a build-it-yourself kind of deal.

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: Would you buy prebuilt if you had the money?

With regards to pushpins, i know what AB is saying in comparison to the old pre 754 system of attaching the heatsink, what where they thinking? I mean those things where a total minefield and it was so easy to damage a CPU by incorrectly mounting them.

Pushpins are still a total pile of balls though. Especially on larger heatsinks with them like the ninja and the ACF where you have to reach under the HSF to push them in :/ total crap! The AMD mouting system is far better in my opinion but nothing wil beat a proper bolt through kit. They are usually a pain in the arse to install at first but once its done everything is so much better.