Some early drafts of how the cover for Custom PC could have lookedPeople started looking at ways to get more
performance out of their PCs. The standard
heatsink and fan setup wasn’t powerful
enough if you wanted to get the most
performance out of your CPU, and we started
seeing primitive water-cooling setups based
on aquarium pumps, as well as extreme
coolers based on refrigeration units.
Meanwhile, a rebellion was brewing against
the horrible off-white colour of PC cases.
The original beige colour of PC kit might have
looked fine in offices and schools, but it looked
horrible in the home. To make matters worse,
it would gradually become more off-white and
progressively yellow as time progressed. To
put this into perspective, nobody’s TV or hi-fi
equipment was off-white at this time – just
computers, alarm clocks and interior walls.
Enthusiasts started spray-painting their PC
off-white cases with automotive paint, and
case manufacturers such as Cooler Master
and Lian Li began producing silver aluminium
cases. A modding community also sprang
up around VIA’s EPIA platform – a new mini
motherboard standard dubbed mini-ITX,
which featured an underpowered VIA CPU,
based on the technology acquired when VIA
purchased Cyrix. There was a rush to squeeze
an EPIA board into various household objects
and toys, and ‘PC in a ...’ became a theme. We
featured one in a toy car in Issue 1.A new magazine
Various websites had sprung up and taken
notice of the new trend in PC hardware
enthusiasm, from Tom’s Hardware in the USA
to Hexus and bit-tech in the UK, but magazines
were still generally stuck in the off-white,business-focused
past. Gareth Ogden
pitched an idea to the
top folks at Dennis
Publishing – a full
magazine that took
PC Pro’s Extreme
section mainstream.
It wouldn’t be a catch-
all PC magazine that
covered everything
PC-related, but a
specialist hardware
enthusiast magazine.
There would be no printer or software
reviews, and it would be able to dedicate
several pages to a graphics card review if
necessary. Meanwhile, the style and design
would need to distance itself from the
business-like approach of so many other PC
magazines. It needed to look and feel more
like a dynamic lifestyle magazine you’d have
in the lounge than a text-heavy doorstop
you’d find on an IT manager’s desk.
The reaction was positive but cautious, and
so began several months of exploring and
experimentation under the codename ‘Project
Hotrod’. Focus groups were assembled,
component and PC manufacturers were
consulted and a boatload of market research
was conducted. During this time, James
Gorbold (who is still with us on p114) was also
recruited into the fold, after previously editing
PC Magazine in Dubai.
Custom PC was nailed down as the title,
and the next step was to settle on a style.
Many cover designs were trialled, some of
which are shared in this feature, but eventuallyIssue 000 featured
32 pages of repeated
content to bulk up
the size, and was
taken to trade shows
to promote the idea
of the magazineA REBELLION WAS
BREWING AGAINST
THE HORRIBLE
OFFWHITE COLOUR
OF PC CASESSome early drafts of how the cover for Custom PC could have looked
People started looking at ways to get more
performance out of their PCs. The standard
heatsink and fan setup wasn’t powerful
enough if you wanted to get the most
performance out of your CPU, and we started
seeing primitive water-cooling setups based
on aquarium pumps, as well as extreme
coolers based on refrigeration units.
Meanwhile, a rebellion was brewing against
the horrible off-white colour of PC cases.
The original beige colour of PC kit might have
looked fine in offices and schools, but it looked
horrible in the home. To make matters worse,
it would gradually become more off-white and
progressively yellow as time progressed. To
put this into perspective, nobody’s TV or hi-fi
equipment was off-white at this time – just
computers, alarm clocks and interior walls.
Enthusiasts started spray-painting their PC
off-white cases with automotive paint, and
case manufacturers such as Cooler Master
and Lian Li began producing silver aluminium
cases. A modding community also sprang
up around VIA’s EPIA platform – a new mini
motherboard standard dubbed mini-ITX,
which featured an underpowered VIA CPU,
based on the technology acquired when VIA
purchased Cyrix. There was a rush to squeeze
an EPIA board into various household objects
and toys, and ‘PC in a ...’ became a theme. We
featured one in a toy car in Issue 1.A new magazine
Various websites had sprung up and taken
notice of the new trend in PC hardware
enthusiasm, from Tom’s Hardware in the USA
to Hexus and bit-tech in the UK, but magazines
were still generally stuck in the off-white,business-focused
past. Gareth Ogden
pitched an idea to the
top folks at Dennis
Publishing – a full
magazine that took
PC Pro’s Extreme
section mainstream.
It wouldn’t be a catch-
all PC magazine that
covered everything
PC-related, but a
specialist hardware
enthusiast magazine.
There would be no printerorsoftware
reviews, and it would beabletodedicate
several pages to a graphicscardreviewif
necessary. Meanwhile,thestyleanddesign
would need to distanceitselffromthe
business-like approachofsomanyotherPC
magazines. It needed tolookandfeelmore
like a dynamic lifestyle magazine you’d have
in the lounge than a text-heavy doorstop
you’d find on an IT manager’s desk.
The reaction was positive but cautious, and
so began several months of exploring and
experimentation under the codename ‘Project
Hotrod’. Focus groups were assembled,
component and PC manufacturers were
consulted and a boatload of market research
was conducted. During this time, James
Gorbold (who is still with us on p114) was also
recruited into the fold, after previously editing
PC Magazine in Dubai.
Custom PC was nailed down as the title,
and the next step was to settle on a style.
Many cover designs were trialled, some of
which are shared in this feature, but eventuallyIssue 000 featured
32 pages of repeated
content to bulk up
the size, and was
taken to trade shows
to promote the idea
of the magazineA REBELLION WAS
BREWING AGAINST
THE HORRIBLE
OFFWHITE COLOUR
OF PC CASES