ANTONY LEATHER’S
Customised PC
Case mods, tools, techniques, water-cooling gear
and everything to do with PC modding
MODDING / OPINION
I
t’s strange to think that I’ve
been a part of the Custom PC
team for more than half its
life now. I was the team’s modding and
water-cooling expert when I first
arrived, and those segments of the PC
enthusiast scene were very small
niches back then. When the financial
crisis hit over a decade ago, I wondered
if they would survive, given the sorry
state of the PC market. With general PC
sales declining, we’ve had years of grim
reading, but it’s actually really looking
up for enthusiasts.
The PC modding and water-cooling
scene has become huge over the past
few years. Modding competitions
with budgets of tens of thousands of
dollars are commonplace. Meanwhile,
professional modders number in their
thousands and the water-cooling
scene has never been bigger. In fact,
using my favourite form of cooling is
now easier than ever – there’s a bigger
array of parts and manufacturers than
ever before, and it’s also safer.This is incredible given that I feared
for their longevity just a few short years
ago, but it’s clear that these areas are
now seen as essential parts of the PC
hardware market. They’re used by
companies to promote their products
while enthusiasts are more aware of
modding and water cooling than ever.
The scrap between AMD and Intel also
looks set to continue for several years
at least, with the blue team yet to get a
handle on the situation. This means that
more and more power will be available
on the desktop PC for less cash than
before, so the need for exotic cooling isn’t
going to wane.
Basically, it’s a fantastic time to be an
enthusiast, and while dealing with so
many product launches every year is
exhausting, I still get a buzz reviewing
the latest hardware and seeing how best
to cool it. This year I’ll also be dishing out
more video content on these topics, as
well as general hardware discussion, on
the new Custom PC YouTube channel at
custompc.co.uk/YouTubeThe water-cooling
and modding boom
I’ve enjoyed
building some
outlandish
PCs, and the
modding and
water-cooling
scenes are now
more popular
than everANTONY LEATHER’S
Customised PC
Case mods, tools, techniques, water-cooling gear
andeverythingtodowithPC modding
MODDING / OPINION
I
t’s strange to think that I’ve
been a part of the Custom PC
team for more than half its
life now. I was the team’s modding and
water-cooling expert when I first
arrived, and those segments of the PC
enthusiast scene were very small
niches back then. When the financial
crisis hit over a decade ago, I wondered
if they would survive, given the sorry
state of the PC market. With general PC
sales declining, we’ve had years of grim
reading, but it’s actually really looking
up for enthusiasts.
The PC modding and water-cooling
scene has become huge over the past
few years. Modding competitions
with budgets of tens of thousands of
dollars are commonplace. Meanwhile,
professional modders number in their
thousands and the water-cooling
scene has never been bigger. In fact,
using my favourite form of cooling is
now easier than ever – there’s a bigger
array of parts and manufacturers than
ever before, and it’s also safer.
This is incredible given that I feared
for their longevity just a few short years
ago, but it’s clear that these areas are
now seen as essential parts of the PC
hardware market. They’re used by
companies to promote their products
while enthusiasts are more aware of
modding and water cooling than ever.
The scrap between AMD and Intel also
looks set to continue for several years
at least, with the blue team yet to get a
handle on the situation. This means that
more and more power will be available
on the desktop PC for less cash than
before, so the need for exotic cooling isn’t
going to wane.
Basically, it’s a fantastic time to be an
enthusiast, and while dealing with so
many product launches every year is
exhausting, I still get a buzz reviewing
the latest hardware and seeing how best
to cool it. This year I’ll also be dishing out
more video content on these topics, as
well as general hardware discussion, on
the new Custom PC YouTube channel at
custompc.co.uk/YouTubeThe water-cooling
and modding boom
I’ve enjoyed
building some
outlandish
PCs, and the
modding and
water-cooling
scenes arenow
more popular
than ever