Welcome
Custom PC Issue 196
EDITORIAL
EDITOR
Ben Hardwidge
[email protected]
FEATURES EDITOR
Edward Chester
[email protected]
MODDING EDITOR
Antony Leather
GAMES EDITOR
Rick Lane
CONTRIBUTORS
Gareth Halfacree, K.G. Orphanides,
James Gorbold, Mike Jennings,
Phil Hartup, Richard Swinburne,
Rys Sommerfeldt, Tracy King
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Julie Birrell
PHOTOGRAPHY
Antony Leather, Ben Hardwidge,
Brian O’Halloran, Fiacre Muller,
Gareth Halfacree
PUBLISHING
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
Russell Barnes
[email protected]This magazine is printed on paper sourced from
sustainable forests. The printer operates an
environmental management system which has been
assessed as conforming to ISO 14001.
Custom PC magazine is published by Raspberry Pi
(Trading) Ltd., Maurice Wilkes Building, St. John’s
Innovation Park, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DS.
The publisher, editor, and contributors accept no
responsibility in respect of any omissions or errors
relating to goods, products or services referred to or
advertised. ISSN: 1740-7443.DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME The information in
this magazine is given in good faith. Raspberry Pi
(Trading) Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for
loss, disruption or damage to your data or your
computer that may occur as a result of following or
attempting to follow advice given in the magazine.
If things do go wrong, take a break.D
espitebeing 42 yearsoldandhavingenough white
bodyhairtostartworryingthatI’mturning into the
WampafromTheEmpireStrikesBack,managing
excitementis stilla problemformewhenit comestoPC
building.I’ma bitlikea five-year-oldrippingopena chocolate
wrapper– I wantmynewgearupandrunningnow– I don’t
wanttohavetospenddayssettingit upproperlyfirst.
However,takingyourtimemakesthedifferencebetween
havinga neatandtidybuild,anda boxfullofmessywires, as we
showyouinourmasterclassonp76.It meansyoudon’t block
yourcase’sairflow,andthatyoucaneasilyaddupgrades in the
future.I’vewrittenbeforeabouthowmuchI lovetheprocess of
tidyingcableswhenI actuallyputmymindtoit,andI heartily
recommendthatyoudothesame– allowforsomeproper
planningtimewhenassemblingyourPCbuild.
Knowingwheretopluginthevariousplugsandcomponents
is animportantpartofthePC-buildingequation,butthere’s no
substitutefortakinga coupleofhourslookingatallthe cables
withyourCPUcoolerandpowersupply,checkingthem with the
socketsandheadersonyourmotherboard,andplanning how
you’regoingtoroutethem.
Onceyouknowthatallyourcoregearworks,clearyour work
area,andreallythinkabouteverysinglecableandwhere it’s
goingtogo.Onceyou’vedonethat,youalsoneedtothink about
thelogisticsofconnectingandroutingwhichpartsand when to
doit.Forexample,if you’reinstallinganall-in-oneliquid cooler
intheroof,it willblockaccesstothetopcable-routing holes, so
you’llneedtorouteanycablesthroughthoseholesbefore you fit
theradiator.
Sometimesinstallationinvolvescarefulcoordination, while
youthreadcablesthroughholeswithonehand,andhold your
radiatoroutofthewaywiththeother.Inmostcases,it involves
havingtocarefullyworkouttheorderinwhichtofitsome of
yourcomponents.Planit alloutstepbystep,placebyplace, and
youshouldbeabletoconstructa smartPCwithminimal
swearingandcutfingersintheprocess.
Takeyourtime
DESIGN
criticalmedia.co.uk
HEAD OF DESIGN
Lee Allen
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Ty Logan
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SUBSCRIBERS
EDITIONISSUE 196EDITOR
BenHardwidge[email protected]
@custompcmag/ FROM THE EDITOR