Custom PC - UK (2020-05)

So what’s inside the very first issue of

Custom PC? Once you get past the

contents page, you’re presented with

Gareth’s introductory column, where he

promises a new PC magazine that doesn’t

either assume you’ve never seen a PC

before, or that you’re an IT manager. ‘We

won’t exclude people by using jargon

unnecessarily,’ he says. ‘We’ll drill down to

the roots and discover the truth behind the

jargon, and what it actually means to you.’

It’s a philosophy that we still apply to

Custom PC today, as you’ll find in our

memory feature on p76.

Next follows a lengthy news section,

which includes a column by Hexus founder

David Ross, a whole page of game news

and an interview with Crucial about the

next new exciting standard in memory,

DDR2. There’s also a whole page dedicated

to ATI’s latest Catalyst GPU driver.

Reviews

Flick to the Reviews section and you’re

immediately presented with one of the key

reasons for Custom PC’s introduction –

in-depth hardware reviews. The first review

dedicates four pages to the Voodoo PC Envy

M460 gaming laptop. The Voodoo brand

has since been bought by HP, but at this

time, Voodoo PC was an independent US

system builder headed up by Rahul Sood,

who later wrote a column for us.

Voodoo PC performed custom mods on

cases, with high-quality etching and cutting,

while also applying shiny automotive paint

finishes. They looked radically different

from the usual off-white boxes in other PC

magazines at the time. It came with a

rugged rucksack for transportation and

featured an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 GPU.

The next few pages feature reviews of

prebuilt systems, and these are a bit of an

eye-opener, as the side-on shots of the

insides are radically different from the ones

we feature in PC reviews now. Cable tidying

clearly wasn’t a key consideration at the time,

even for enthusiast case manufacturers. The

Scan 3XS-H reviewed in issue 1 is built inside

a Cooler Master Wave Master case, which

W H AT ’ S in

‘ISUUE 1’?

The Cooler Master Musketeer didn’t serve much of a practical purpose, but its analogue needle

meters looked lovely

Inside the Scan 3XS-H, which was reviewed in

Issue 1 – cable tidying was a nightmare at the time

looked fine on the outside, but had few of

today’s case features on the inside.

The PSU is mounted in the top rather

than the bottom, the motherboard has a

standard yellow-coloured PCB and there

are cables all over the place. They’re neatly

bunched together and tied to the chassis

where possible, but there was clearly no

way to easily hide cables at this time –

there are no tidy rubber-grommeted

cable-routing holes around the

motherboard tray, and there’s no PSU

shroud. Plus, the yellow, red and black PSU

cables look radically different to the

sleeved and braided cables we see now.

At this time, we were still heavily using

Molex connectors to all sorts of gear, from

fans and hard drives to cold cathode lights.

The Scan PC in Issue 1 is filled with various

Molex cables linked to splitters and adaptors.

It also features cables for both SATA and IDE

storage. The latter was a problem at the time

for cable tidying at the time, as the standard

flat IDE ribbon cables were ugly.

You could route them under your

motherboard if the standoffs had enough

clearance, but an alternative that had just been

introduced at this time were ‘rounded’ IDE

cables. These still had the bulky 40-pin

connectors on either end, but then squeezed

the wires into a bunch so it looked like a chunky

round cable, rather than a flat ribbon cable.

In terms of spec, we’ve clearly come a

long way as well. The Scan 3XS-H cost

£2,466 inc VAT, and came with an AMD

Sowhat’sinsidetheveryfirstissueof

CustomPC? Onceyougetpastthe

contentspage,you’representedwith

Gareth’sintroductorycolumn,wherehe

promisesa newPCmagazinethatdoesn’t

eitherassumeyou’veneverseena PC

before,orthatyou’reanITmanager.‘We

won’texcludepeoplebyusingjargon

unnecessarily,’hesays.‘We’lldrilldownto

therootsanddiscoverthetruthbehindthe

jargon,andwhatit actuallymeanstoyou.’

It’sa philosophythatwestillapplyto

CustomPCtoday,asyou’llfindinour

memoryfeatureonp76.

Nextfollowsa lengthynewssection,

whichincludesa columnbyHexusfounder

DavidRoss,a wholepageofgamenews

andaninterviewwithCrucialaboutthe

nextnewexcitingstandardinmemory,

DDR2.There’salsoa wholepagededicated

toATI’slatestCatalystGPUdriver.

Reviews

FlicktotheReviewssectionandyou’re

immediatelypresentedwithoneofthekey

reasonsforCustomPC’s introduction–

in-depthhardwarereviews.Thefirstreview

dedicatesfourpagestotheVoodooPCEnvy

M460gaminglaptop.TheVoodoobrand

hassincebeenboughtbyHP,butatthis

time,VoodooPCwasanindependentUS

systembuilderheadedupbyRahulSood,

wholaterwrotea columnforus.

VoodooPCperformedcustommodson

cases,withhigh-qualityetchingandcutting,

whilealsoapplyingshinyautomotivepaint

finishes.Theylookedradicallydifferent

fromtheusualoff-whiteboxesinotherPC

magazinesatthetime.It camewitha

ruggedrucksackfortransportationand

featuredanATIMobilityRadeon 9600 GPU.

Thenextfewpagesfeaturereviewsof

prebuiltsystems,andthesearea bitofan

eye-opener,astheside-onshotsofthe

insidesareradicallydifferentfromtheones

wefeatureinPCreviewsnow.Cabletidying

clearlywasn’ta keyconsiderationatthetime,

evenforenthusiastcasemanufacturers.The

Scan3XS-Hreviewedinissue1 is builtinside

a CoolerMasterWaveMastercase,which

W H AT ’ S in

‘ISUUE 1’?

The Cooler Master Musketeer didn’t serve much of a practical purpose, but its analogue needle

meters looked lovely

Inside the Scan 3XS-H, which was reviewed in

Issue 1 – cable tidying was a nightmare at the time

looked fine on the outside, but had few of

today’s case features on the inside.

The PSU is mounted in the top rather

than the bottom, the motherboard has a

standard yellow-coloured PCB and there

are cables all over the place. They’re neatly

bunched together and tied to the chassis

where possible, but there was clearly no

way to easily hide cables at this time –

there are no tidy rubber-grommeted

cable-routing holes around the

motherboard tray, and there’s no PSU

shroud. Plus, the yellow, red and black PSU

cables look radically different to the

sleeved and braided cables we see now.

At this time, we were still heavily using

Molex connectors to all sorts of gear, from

fans and hard drives to cold cathode lights.

The Scan PC in Issue 1 is filled with various

Molex cables linked to splitters and adaptors.

It also features cables for both SATA and IDE

storage. The latter was a problem at the time

for cable tidying at the time, as the standard

flat IDE ribbon cables were ugly.

You could route them under your

motherboard if the standoffs had enough

clearance, but an alternative that had just been

introduced at this time were ‘rounded’ IDE

cables. These still had the bulky 40-pin

connectors on either end, but then squeezed

the wires into a bunch so it looked like a chunky

round cable, rather than a flat ribbon cable.

In terms of spec, we’ve clearly come a

long way as well. The Scan 3XS-H cost

£2,466 inc VAT, and came with an AMD