Bad Value PC Parts Everyone Loves
Vložit
- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- Check out Paperlike at: www.paperlike.com/techquickie
Today, we're looking at some computer components that are undoubtedly useful - but are they a little overrated or bad value for money?
Leave a reply with your requests for future episodes.
► GET MERCH: lttstore.com
► GET EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ON FLOATPLANE: lmg.gg/lttfloatplane
► SPONSORS, AFFILIATES, AND PARTNERS: lmg.gg/partners
FOLLOW US ELSEWHERE
---------------------------------------------------
Twitter: / linustech
Facebook: / linustech
Instagram: / linustech
TikTok: / linustech
Twitch: / linustech - Věda a technologie
But Riley, if I shove all my extra psu cables in the psu basement where am I going to shove all my rgb cable mess?!
I've got a suggestion for what to do with that rgb cable mess.
And yes, it's the one you're thinking of.
@@chrisbaker8533 remove it??
Most people should be ok with a semi modular unit, with the 24pin, 8pin CPU ready to go. The thing is the market is segmented to either extremes, so getting decent gold standard or higher semi modular units are harder than it should be.
@@chrisbaker8533 is it cutting up the extra cable length and soldering them again?
This man knows.
Titled "Bad Value PC Parts Everyone Loves" ignores the whole RGB fishtank craze
I think it's because RGB has become so mainstream it's really cheap nowadays.
I'm suprised he didn't mention custom water cooling.
@@JackD0ff it really isnt for a mid to low end system
AIGO darkflash DLC29 exists
@@nilsboer2390I was building a computer for a friend last February and it was hard to find non-rgb coolers and fans on stock in local online retailers, or the RGB ones were often the cheaper option.
One thing that can sometimes suck is if you want to just buy a computer case is sometimes it is harder to find a case that you like that doesn’t have a glass side panel.
Fractal Design Torrent Black Solid
@@DekarNLI know, they didn't have it in stock, and there was a discount for the tinted glass one so I have the glass side pannels with the outside sticker left on about a year and a half later.
Rack mount
@@DekarNL just Fractal Design in general. Seems like they're one of the short list of casemakers left that'll give you a good quality case without a glass side
@@nothingtoseehere93that may be a future project, especially as I'd like to do the running Windows and Linux at the same time.
Budget builds are an art. People want RGB, tempered glass, 3rd party cooling on the CPU.
I got a Ryzen 5 and RX 6600 gaming rig for 400 bucks. Runs everything. And im so proud of it😊
Used? Even then, that's a steal. Good for you! Which ryzen gen though?
Honestly, making budget builds and doing what you can with what you have is not only an art, but a much more difficult one than high end builds imo. I also love it way more, so much build variety, each situation calls for a different PC. I love building budget PCs for friends!
I'd love to see a video about keyboard rollover/ghosting, why it happens, different rollover layouts (like the gaming layout) and how high end keyboards avoid this issue.
And the guy with lower end keyboard still roll you over
There's an old techqiickie about that
There are a few reasons as to why it happens, usually it has to do with hardware limitations, but it can also be software being incapable of interpreting keypresses properly. Generally speaking though, the limitation usually has to do with the way a keyboard's PCB is constructed. Membrane keyboards just have a contact in a rubber dome that completes a circuit, which is how inputs are interpreted. Ghosting occurs when you have intersecting circuits, which is a limitation of the PCB. With more layers it allows for more circuits to be formed, but there are a whole lot of complications with having too many layers on a PCB.
I'm sure they've made a video on it before, if I had to make an educated guess about anti-ghosting membrane keyboards I'd assume they have the PCBs engineered in such a manner that the traces on each layer make certain common key combinations for it's marketed use (gaming, typically) cause less conflict, or 'have less intersecting circuits on important inputs'.
But I'd love to have an actual explanation myself, I'm just some shmuck with cyber security certs and a degree, so most of the 'educated guess' comes from required courses in college. Oh and by the way, technical school for that was super fun, being hands on in repairing defunct mobos and replacing microcontrollers/capacitors was my favorite part of college.
I thought the main benefit of modular power supplies was that it is easier to route and manage the cables if you can disconnect both ends.
That is why I prefer them.
I mean I prefer sleeper pcs so even that slightest bit of wire mess i dont need to tidy up in an old case then the better
no, their main advantage is being able to have way, way more outputs while also having the option to not have a bunch of useless cable lying around in the case.
SO it's definetly NOT overrated.
not to mention some capble have multiple optionnal output type like molex for thoses who still prefer the tradditionnal look of a neon's lighted PC
I built tons of systems prior to modular PSUs becoming a thing. I'm modular only now. I might use a non-modular if I'm building a NAS or Plex server just to save a few bucks, but my main computer will be modular. I've felt the pain, I'll pay a little extra for the convenience.
@@Banzai51god no my Truenas server is in a 4U rosewill chassis and I’m using an older non modular PSU. never again, it was a nightmare to cable manage and when I expand my drives I’ll be buying a modular PSU for it.
@@ereder1476 But with a case that has a bottom PSU chamber, that is largely a question of personal aesthetical preferences. And if you are willing to pay the extra 10 bucks for a modular power supply, more power to you. But for a beginner PC builder, who has to decide between the solid brand option with fixed cables and the Chinese firecracker with cable management, that's a different question. If you are only looking at power supply relevant criteria (stable voltage, headroom for power spikes etc.), the budget options with the fixed cables is usually better than the modular alternative for the SAME price (especially in the budget price range), as the manufacturers can spend the money they save on connectors on better capacitors.
And that is coming from a guy who uses a 180 Euro power supply with modular cables.
Another one on modular power supplies... EVGA changed the pinout on theirs on the SAME SKU... that bit some people in the butt when they sent them in for "repairs" and got replacement units. Used their old wires, fried their shit.
Cool, one more thing for me to be paranoid about. Note to self: ALWAYS replace PSU cables
oh no, it gets worse.
One guy who I heard this story from, he was EXPLICITLY told to not ship his wires because they will not give them back.
which highly implies that he should use the same cables... for the same model number PSU
they had fried components because of this
@@nocturn9x This is why when I buy a semi-modular PSU I label the box with the unused cables to what PC it went with so I don't get them mixed up, as I usually go with Corsair and their boxes don't change much, but you never know if they change one thing it could screw ya over.
@@shirothefish9688 Whilst it does not really excuse EVGA, that report has now been officially responded to by EVGA saying that it was absolutely a mistake their end and they have an internal policy that *should* never have allowed a PSU with a different pinout to be sent back. They knew about the potential issue and had an internal policy so it wouldn't happen, and then that policy was ignored. As I say, doesn't really excuse it as they should never have changed the pinout on a PSU with the same model number, but at least explains it.
@@samhobday1274 if that weren't the case, I'd be worried.
But it is good to know. they release anything on the why they havev2 pin configs in the first place?
Outside of having less noise, the most positive thing I've ever heard about membrane keyboards is that "if you get a good one they're almost as good as a low end mechanical keyboard".
Yet those high end membrane keyboards end up costing the same if not more as those budget mechanical ones.
The best impact of value in my opinion is "how much it impacts your life", and as someone that uses his keyboard a lot the little impacts add up very quickly.
Membrane keyboards are not quieter. I don't know where this consensus comes from, that's totally just biased opinion.
It's just that mechanical switch keyboards intentionally make it louder to type on. I have never seen any membrane keyboards that don't make a ton of bad rattling noises.
@@maozedowner5915 blue keys, it comes from blue keys.
Afaik they're the most common as well.
@@Olav_Hansen There are a ton of switches in this world, not just cherry switches. Cherry MX blues have a sound emitting mechanism that intentionally make loud click noises on pressing down.
Cherry switches are also the worst among all available options, it makes a lot of unwanted noises like spring ping or metal flap ping, so they do get loud in a bad way.
Good quality switches eliminate those unwanted noises, leaving only bottom out and rebound noise, which is considered good. There are also silent switches with actual foam inside the switch which makes them completely silent but at the cost of foamy typing experience.
@@maozedowner5915 yet at the point that you're talking "good quality switches", the price being high starts to become a talking point again rather quickly. At price match to better membrane keyboards (40-50 bucks) you're not getting anything fancy, and most keyboards at that point have got blue switches in them, cherry or otherwise. And most of the other switches in the segment aren't really quiet either.
I have almost every mentioned part:
- modular PSU - actually it was the cheapest option made by non-blacklisted manufacturer
- mechanical keyboard - best low profile keyboard I've ever owned
- aio water cooling - air coolers are so ugly it's worth to pay $30 extra
LED fans - I was just stupid to pay extra for them
Also about air coolers...they arent cheap everywhere, basically for a price of cheapest double tower cooler i could get (not from some sketchy chinese seller) i could already get 240 (both around 50 USD) with good reviews from somewhat trustworthy company, and just for 10 extra there was 360 from same manufacturer, for quite power-hungry system that i was gonna overclock, but by some reason it just refuses to run above boost clocks (not even full 4.8 that some cores should do by default, just regular 4.4 boost on all cores and not a step above).
Every region has its own prices. In Poland cheapest tower cooler is 99 zł while single fan water coolers start at 259
Honestly, I like the look of air coolers, the space near the cpu just looks so empty with a liquid cooler there. I know I'm in the minority with this opinion though lol.
So how about the MOST UNDER-RATED computer accessory. Prescription Glasses.
Even with "20/20" vision, prescription glasses make more of a difference to me than jumping from a 100dpi to 240dpi monitor at my standard 30" view distance.
Milage may vary based on your eyes, but hands down the best monitor upgrade I've ever made was correcting my own eyes.
Once upon a time, we waited for computer tech to rise to a point where they match humans ability to use them... we have past that point and now must improve ourselves to match the limits of our technology.
Cyborg up boys.
I mean, uh, yeah, if you have bad eyesight get glasses. That's not a computer-specific thing.
@@karlhendrikse that's the thing, I've 20/20 vision... it isn't bad.
Makes me think many others would benefit. I only wear them for gaming and night driving
Prescription glasses: GPUs for your eyes.
@@gasracing500020/20 is just the standard for "normal" visual acuity, so once this threshold has been reached better acuity is not tested for. But for young people with good vision it is not uncommon to see as good as 20/10 vision (twice as high resolution). But then again visual acuity cannot identify all problems with vision and you can have 20/20 or better vision but still need corrective glasses just because your issues cannot be found using that test.
@urgay1992 paid $140, got some insane eye exam with lazer scans and all types of bizarre tests. Doc said there's nothing wrong with your eyes.
We did the corrective lens test and after I could read the manufacturer print under the last line, he wrote me the prescription.
I was skeptical about paying so much for the exam, but it was worth every penny in the end. Ordered the glasses online for $10 a pop.
I'm over 40, so maybe this is a better tip for us old folks and not the younglings.
Bought a AIO 2 years ago... Never installed it. Still sitting in my wardrobe.
sad, i bought an AIO and it sat on my shelf for about 4 months until i found a case that fit it, cos it's arctic liquid freezer II with its 65mm of clearance requirement, but after i installed it i enjoyed a weekend of undervolting, overclocking and benchmarking a fresh windows install
Is it just chillin‘ in the wardrobe?
@@DakuHonoo well my case was a bit similar at first then many things happened and now I'm married so 😂
@@bkohnen LMAO.. True
@@bkohnennah they only chill when they plugged in
3:38 you should add "smaller profile" to the list. Big air coolers overhang the RAM slots. At best, they make swapping ram difficult, in many cases they force you to use low profile ram, which could even end up costing you more than using air cooling might save.
4:46 the biggest argument for mechanical keyboards is actually NKRO (N-Key rollover). All mechanical keyboards have NKRO as a consequence of how they work, meaning that any combination of simultainious keys should function. Rubber dome boards do not. Many rubber dome boards will only support 2KRO, meaning that there are some combinations of 3 simultaneous keys that will not function. While gaming, you may need to hit combinations of up to five keys at a time (example: sprint+jump+forward+right+use), and you won't know when you buy a keyboard which combinations will work and which won't, let alone which ones you might need in the future. Most Gaming membrane keyboards are a little more robust especially when it comes to WASD+some other nearby letters, but that's still no guarantee.
your first point.
I literally had to slot my ram into the second channel because it overhands about 5mm too far to be usable.
It's not a huge issue, cuz I'm running a 2x16 setup, and any performance loss for using channel 2 instead of 1 is negligible
but for people who, say, are running an older kit and a kit they upgraded into for a 2x8+2xY setup
could be a big slap.
And NKRO is the sole and exclusive reason why I want a mechanical keyboard, but I simply don't have the funds for that kind of extravagance and like quieter keyboards.
He mentions how you could only notice changes in key response if you are a pro in most cases, but when I changed to a mechanical keyboard, the most noticeable change was how much driving the car in CyberPunk was compared to my old membrane keyboard. It made the whole experience more smooth and responsive.
for mechanical switches, I'm pretty sure they are usually rated for 50-100 million keystrokes, compared to the 5 million for a membrane keyboard (if I found accurate sources). on top of that, hotswap keyboards don't cost too much, mechanical is much more repairable. I'd say over time(a lot or time but still) if you keep using the same one mechanical will eventually be cheaper overall, I mean it's like 40-50 bucks for a decent (small, like 60% up to 75% for the price) one with hotswap that would last way longer than membrane and could easily be upgraded/fixed with new switches or keycaps. I'd argue the fact mechanical keyboards last so long might give them more value factoring in the whole lifespan, especially if you like the feel/need the nkro.
@@shirothefish9688 Mechanical keyboards have come down in price quite a lot. You can get some decent ones in the sub 50€ range
@@118Shadow118 indeed they have.
But I'm a cheap bastard about peripherals.
Like, 15 USD is my keyboard and mouse (each) for the last 7 or 8 years.
Never going back from mechanical. Bought a custom hotswap keyboard-like controller for gaming, too. Fast silent switches make all the difference. Tekken and rhythm-game player.
wtf its the real vospi omg
I really hate those front panel connectors...
Bro's spitting facts
Hallo hugo
They always don't work. It does not matter if you buy a cheap no brand case or a Lian Li O11 Dynamic.
@@triadwarfare And yet mine always do. Have you tried flipping the wires downside-up? Some of those little buggers are very particular about that.
@@NobbsAndVagene And can find replacements online as well.
Funny. Non-modular bronze-rating power supplies are normal, but anything over that is really rare. Anything gold, platinum, or titanium would probably be fully modular anyway.
Idk, there is a lot of modular power supplies...that are rated below bronze or not at all, but at this point you should probably look somewhere else for one.
Something to note about keyboards is that mechanical ones almost always let you press any number of keys at the same time, while the cheap ones ten to be limited on that factor.
For example cheap dell keyboards don't let you press "W", "shift" and "space" at the same time, limiting your ability to sprint jump, something I learned the hard way.
Wow, I knew some keyboards were worse than others but that is pretty bad
This is not a mechanical versus membrane difference. Look for keyboards that advertise "n key rollover" to find ones that let you press any combination of keys simultaneously.
@@urgay1992 NKR membrane keyboards are usually more expensive than entry level mechanical keyboard with nkr
@@Liminal.Headspace yeah, true nkrl membrane keyboards are scarce, but 6+ key rollover keyboards can be found for about 15€ which is still cheaper than the cheapest mechanical keyboards I could find, starting at 24€
@@urgay1992 True, but I'd say that's 10 Euro well spent. There's no discussion that mechanical is superior to membrane in every possible way. They only place where membrane is still king is the medical field, for pretty obvious reasons.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I would not use liquid cooling myself. When you're getting into the price range where it would make even a slight difference, you're getting to the price where I would not want to risk the components because it didn't pop a hose on correctly or I mixed metal types. I will just deal with a slightly louder fans then have liquid damage weighing on the back of my mind.
This. 1000 times this. I'd rather have a fan fail than a fitting. Worst case I spend 20 bucks on a new Noctua fan instead of trying to explain to Amazon (or whoever else) why I'm trying to RMA my AIO _and_ also contact the manufacturer to get my GPU replaced because their product took a dump on me
Reading this after my Cooler Master AIO of 3 years blew a hose off the pump and sprayed my motherboard and GPU.. haha..good times.
Most loops have non conductive coolant
plus good noctuas make less noise than most aios
Or... you could say having water on your system adds some adrenaline to spice your life!
Yes i have WC system (like 3y already), yes I'm still scared everyday
I'd love to get an optical keyboard. I've seen one (on LTT) that's programmable on depth for signal actuation. It would be great to have a "performance mode" with minimal press to act, and a "writing mode" with longer travels
You can actually get a few of these for less than you might think. I wouldn't call them cheap, but the quality ones can often be cheaper than a bespoke mechanical that so many people consider budget-range these days.
The Z20 from EVGA comes in at $60 on sales. I wish I could recommend this keyboard more, but unfortunately it's a slab of quality hardware kneecapped by the need for usb3, buggy firmware and non modular parts (permanent cable, soldered switches).The volume knob is really smooth and fun to play with, though!
There's also the Tecware Phantom Plus, the Armageddon Enterprise, the Corsair K100 and the Keychron V5, for offerings you can find under usd$100. But I'm not rich enough to try all of them out on a whim.
More expensive offerings like the RoG Strix scope and Razer Huntsman are out there, but they're rather overpriced with limited modularity (in Razer's case, proprietary switches despite having hotswap). If you're okay with used, Razer Huntsmen seem to have a strange knack for ending up on the aftermarket, often at half of the original price. No idea why that is.
while its true that mechanical keyboards arent a must-have, what i would recomment is a illuminated keyboard. little is more annoying than having to look for a light when wanting to type something in the dark, and you arent a touch typer
and no, a keyboard with lights doesnt need to be rgb, a simple single colour keyboard will do the trick
I find the light from my monitor is plenty
Unless you're in your 60s or in single-digit age, then you really should learn to touch type.
an different layouts to switch between also dont exist
and everyone has a job in front of the computer and spends 16h a day at it
I have 13 different modifier keys set up on my keyboard (including ctrl / shift / alt / win).
Every key can do something different when different combinations of those 13 modifiers are held down.
What _I_ want is a display inside the keycaps so I can physically see what is where sometimes.
There are *over 700,000* possible key combos, and while I'm sure some of those are physically unfeasible, that's besides the point. I'm certainly not _using_ all of that, but there's also *_no way_* I could memorize that map.
RE: membrane keyboards. If you type a lot, the contact pads eventually wear out, and it doesn't even take that long. Eventually, you have to hit the keys like you despise them or something, if you want them to register consistently. It's not an issue of cost per se, but running to buy a new keyboard when a deadline's looming and then getting used to it is a big annoyance. Mechanical keyboards are a lot more robust in this regard, and IMO that alone is well worth the price of admission.
Modular power supplies can be a lifesaver for EPS12V when building a system with a big air cooler. Connect to the motherboard first, bend it how you want it, then drop the EPS12V through its appropriate hole in the case as you lower the mobo onto its standoffs.
I’ve had my mechanical keyboard, since I worked at Braman BMW, and I bought it secondhand from a buddy of mine for dirt cheap like Over 10 Years Ago. It was even cheaper than a new keyboard.
The benefit of metal.
Keep in mind, I haven’t typed on my keyboard (really) in quite a long time.
My landlords know I’m super quiet .
I hardly type at all, save for maybe playing fallout
Personally I'd always go for a high-spec air cooler just for the reliability and peace of mind. The only thing that can happen with an air cooler is that a fan fails, which overheats and throttles my CPU until I buy a relatively cheap replacement. On the other hand, an AIO can have one of the fans fail, the pump fail, leak coolant over your stupidly-expensive GPU, grow bacteria inside it due to bad coolant (have seen it happen on unopened AIO's), and probably something else I'm forgetting. That is a minimum of 4 points of failure against 1. And don't get me started on custom water cooling, at that point you have to enjoy spending hours tinkering with your setup every time you want to change anything or something goes wrong.
RGB. Like, why did we as a community decide it's a must for every gaming PC? I don't want to stare at my case, I want to play videogames!!
So do something cool with it? If you put enough WS2812Bs together, you can make a dot matrix display. I put three strips on my desk around the monitor so I have a poor mans AmbiLight. There's more to computer RGB than single coloured strips and fans.
There's nothing wrong in having a choice.
I said to myself that I wouldn't get RGB but funnily enough, my case was the same price with or without it, so I got it. The GPU has it embedded, my CPU fan has it since the RGB version was only a couple bucks more, and it's essentially resulted in an RGB build...that I never enable.
So many people like RGB, and LEDs are so cheap, it sometimes makes sense for parts makers to just put RGB on everything rather than make an RGB and a non-RGB version.
@@Richie_P And you know what? If you don't want to use the RGB,,. don't connect the RGB cable.
Buuut. There's an insane premium on things with LEDs, like twice the price for a non-RGB one.
It's a small price to pay to permanently have better quality of life when upgrading and just overall cleanliness
Acrylic glas can also easily break, but not entirely shatter. I had to mod my InWin 707 to have a proper glass instead of the previous acrylic version... was hell of work, but worth it.
strong disagree with first point. first, those towers with psu basements are awful. its almost impossible to fit hands and work in those. second, modular psu are amazing and its crazy to think about going back to fixed cable setups
Super fast SSD's. Unless you work with 4k video files on a daily basis, are you REALLY going to notice a difference between 2000mb/s and 5000mb/s?
high quality 4k60 video files have a bitrate of less than 100mbps
I got an 850W modular psu cheap without any leads. I couldn't find leads on line except custom leads & when i saw the price i thought don't be silly. But i found cheap extension leads for another psu. Armed with a voltmeter, soldering iron, wire cutters & knowing what voltages go where i got it sorted out. I know you must never randomly plug different leads into a modular psu but if you are tooled up & know what you are doing you might find a way out.
4:50 and I took that personally
1:35 Joke's on him. I have a completely black aluminum side panel.
Lol, the amount of hedging Riley did about mechanical keyboards-he knew he was poking the bee's nest.
To be clear: he's right-my favorite keyboard is still a Gateway OEM membraney boi from the early aughts. But for day-to-day productivity and gaming, I'm still almost always going for the precision and tactile feedback of a Brown switch (if not one of the Pandas).
Brown switches ftw!
my oldest computer part/peripheral is the dell keyboard that came with a pre built bought almost 20 years ago i've gotten new pcs, mice, graphics card, monitors but I'm still using this old probably 5 dollar keyboard the wsad is basically gone but every time i try those mechanical keyboard i hate the sound.
Feeling swole rn on my K55 they showed in the video 😏
Gonna be honest, I hate mechanical keyboard noises - coming from laptop gaming, where they are so smooth to press and quiet to type on by comparison.
I can't do browns, they're in the middleground that I don't like. For common switches I like greens and grays or reds and silvers.
But I swear I'm the only person who likes greens/greys. They're my fav to slap in hitbox/leverless controllers and what I use in my work keyboard.
>Types "Custom PC" into Google
>Second click is AI generated trash
3:20
Mechanical keyboards are more durable? My 2008 DELL RT7D60 begs to differ as it has been hit with a hammer by a few 7 year old family members playing in my room when I was away, it has also been used since around 2008 up to about 2019 in an office space every single day, now I have been using it for programming, gaming and writing stuff for school. I am yet to have had a single issue with this keyboard and so has anyone else who has used it in these 16 years that it has existed. It can also read my ID card since it has a built-in smart card reader, important for accessing my "digital stuffs" that Croatia puts behind reading your ID on your PC.
Same, these things just refuse to die.
Good insights on the modular PSU and acrylic side panels. It's always important to weigh the value-for-money aspect, especially for PC builders on a budget. Surprising point on mechanical keyboards. Personal preference really plays a big part.
Awesomely explained , actually learned a couple of things , thank you Riley ! ✌🏻
Modular power supplies always seem a bit pointless to me, "only the cables you need to use" somehow usually ends up being most of them, often every single one.
On RGB, I have paid extra to get parts WITHOUT lighting, this "RGB everything" needs to stop.
on keyboards though, i must disagree, decent n-key rollover mechanical keyboards are as low as $25 now on aliexpress, and i do run into the rollover limit on membrane keyboards on occasion. wrong place to save a few dollars.
I would agree on expensive keyboards in general though, more money wont make them magic, but "mechanical" isn't automatically expensive anymore.
I will admit - I bought a modular power supply for my first PC build. I also made some other decisions of questionable value. I absolutely left some performance per $ on the table with a few things on that build.
However... I deliberately chose some more expensive parts to make my first time build go way smoother.
I was so glad I had a modular supply for my first time building. It made it very easy as a novice builder. Now that I have experience, I would skip the modular cables and go straight for the "normal" PSU's. But I do not regret my decision, because for me it was a necessary step.
Dont buy new PSU unless you plan on using your old computer btw. These thing can easily last a decade, especially if it some nice one from high tier on PSU list.
I had an acrylic panel probably 10 years ago. I used the buffer I use for my truck and the same wax on it... never had any issues after that.
Heck, they power cables may not be compatible with themselves (see latest news about a guy who toasted his SSDs because the manufacturer told him to keep the old cables).
Small form factor ITX builds.
Cases more expensive. Parts limited and more expensive. Hard to build in. Bad cooling.
And what do you get for all that? Bragging rights. "Woohoo! My PC, that sits in one spot where there is plenty of room for a mid-tower, is smaller than yours!"
At that point, could just get a laptop. But there is some very cheap mATX cases that are very small too, but they are MUCH cheaper. In short - ITX obsession makes no more sense then zero (visible if we dont count GPU) cables mobos, its just pure aesthetics.
I love my Corsair iH100 v2 AIO as it keeps my PC so cool that even under heavy load I never exceed 50C. This results in the rest of my really silent fans never going above 40% RPM. All this accumulates in the near-silent running of my PC. Most of the time my PC idles at 11C.
It's so quiet in fact that my girlfriend at home has no idea I'm remoting into my desktop at home to play video games when work is slow. I turn off the monitors(before I leave for work) and remote in using Parsec for low latency gaming with her none the wiser.
another downside of mechanical keybs that rarely gets talked about is the double-edged sword of low activation force. if you like to rest your fingers on the keys when not typing you find that the whieght of your finger limp is enough to press random keys!
i refuse to believe that there is any sane person on this planet that prefers the feel of membrane over even the cheapest switches. If they do exist, i want them banned from product testing
don't forget the KCAS :D
-We are gonna help you get the most for your money.
-Awesome. This will help me save a few bucks.
-First off. The modular PSU.
*Grabs pitchfork*
Water cooling does not make sense in normal PC setups. You still have fans. It can look good if done right, but then you have to go all the way and water cool the GFX also which is far more complex because those cards do not have a standard cooler. Water makes sense in compact setups where you need to transfer heat to some other location, because there simply is not enough space to dissipate the heat right where the CPU is located.
While I like mechanical keyboards after picking up an inexpensive one a few years back, it wasn't a huge deal to me and I still like membrane keyboards. I have no issue with how they feel. I can go back and forth without issue. The thing I do like about mechanical is the custom aspect and being able to replace switches on a per-key basis or change switch style completely if I want. But mechanical keyboards are definitely something a lot of people don't need to focus on, especially with cost as a main factor.
While it's true that mechanical keyboards may not be the best for everyone, if you don't plan on taking your keyboard with you a lot, it's most likely the better option. You do have to try it for yourself though as you may have different preferences. There is theoretically also the option of optical but that's not really that much different for the average pc user.
"It's perfectly valid to prefer the feel..." Let Us stop you right there Riley. *No,* it is not.
How did you not mention rainbow puke RGB
Because RGB gives +10 Agility, duh
Because RGB is life?
In a company, within a closed, shared workspace with up to... let's say ten people.
A clicky-di-clack blue switch keyboard.
After ten minutes either you get kicked out of there or the keyboard.😂
That's like with the odd colleague, who can't speak silent on the phone.
(A wider, open workspace with more people is no fun, the sound runs dead too fast.)
You can get quiet switches for a mechanical keyboard.
people just tend to like/make the louder ones way more
@@shirothefish9688 Here is the point: •
You are here.
Questions?
@@wiedappIf I missed the point, I would appreciate you explaining it instead of being a prick about it.
Not everyone sees everything through your eyes.
I was merely trying to provide a solution to the problem you seemed to be presenting.
@@shirothefish9688 Oh boy...
As we say: Do you go in your cellar for laughing?
Nah, it's probably my concept of humour, as usual...
@@wiedappCoulda saved us both some time by saying you're not willing to help me learn.
Good day, señor.
One case against membrane keyboard though is it usually does not comes with NKRO, I used to recall Microsoft used to sell a gaming keyboard thay featured 20-KRO on their membrane keyboard and it was revolutionary
Also agree about air coolers vs. water coolers! In my opinion (as a person who has built and sold 1000+ PCs), a good air cooler has many advantages: no possibility of leaks, virtually no maintenance, cools the hardware around the socket as well as the CPU itself, cheaper, and can look just as good if you get the right model.
High end motherboards dont increase the computers performance at all, unless you are a complete power user that needs the absolute fastest m.2 speeds.
Only thing I got an AIO for is because the size of GPUS make it so hard to remove them with a bulky cooler Like the NHD15
Linus, whoever wrote the bit about keyboards, find them and fire them immediately! jk ofc. I’m a hobby programmer and for a long time my requirements for keyboards was
1) have keys
2) not be sticky from soda spills
3) have printed letters on keys (optional)
When I walked into a store and tried the mix mechanical with tactile switches for the first time, i had arrived, right there, in the store. I hope nobody saw my facial expression.
The only area membranes dominate is price. I prefer full size keyboards and they are expensive af. With bluetooth and lights, and all the fancy stuff, way over 100€ easy. Meanwhile a membrane with those features, 32€
As a representative for the terrible cable management club, I wouldn`t buy a non-modular power supply, as I already struggle making my PCs look somewhat presentable.
My computer case has only steel side panels effectively hiding all the cable mess and dusty air coolers.
They should actually regulate PSU manufacturers to use standardised connectors
For mechanical keyboards, having n-key rollover matters to me. When playing on a membrane keyboard I always run into that issue when playing keyboard only games. Not very common, I'll admit. But still matters to me.
I usually need all cables that come off the power supply, and then often need to use splitters to connect more HDDs. A basic supply comes with a minimal set. They might have an extra floppy connector on a 4 inch spur hanging loose, but who cares about that.
A membrane keyboard lasts a long time if you don't abuse it. I once had a bright idea to oil a sticky key with machine oil. This caused the membrane to swell and stop working. I pulled keys out of another keyboard and replaced the arrows that had worn out from friction.
New keyboards of any kind often have different layouts that are not compatible with musicle memory.
AIOs are handy if you get a budget one due to just needing to air blast the radiator with compressed air is alot easier than taking the fans off and trying to navigate around the cooler with a compressed air can in my experience and yup noise too
If I need a simple looking yet powerful PC for doing my work, it's really hard to buy one without any glass side panels nor RGBs
Bought a used Razer Deathstalker in 2016 and it holds up to this day even after the big hot cooking grease incident...
I grew up with a MacBook under my grubby little fingers and I cannot stand these high rise key caps one bit, so I wanted a backlit low profile keyboard with a Numpad, which was difficult to find then and is even more so today. I might end up buying all the used old Deathstalker keyboards I can find and hoard them. If one kicks the bucket, I get the next one.
Acrylic sucks. Sure, it won't shatter... but a small hit it takes, it can bend or even break in two.
Riley sounding like the mooses at the end of Brother Bear killed me!!! 😂😂😂
Do i have to take the bodies out of the basement before i put the extra cables in there ??
It depends, do you like a spicy basement?
Those Cherry MX Speed/Silver switches are terrible. My old keyboard had those; it was a nightmare. None of my friends could use it without mistyping constantly.
But then I upgraded to a Roccat Vulkan TKL Pro with switches with nearly the same, short actuation length, and it's fantastic. Everyone can use it without mistyping. Optical or mechanical, it matters not. So uhh... just stay away from Cherry MX Speed, I guess. They were a mistake.
i know a Dota 2 pro player who is using a generic Dell membrane keyboard in tournaments and casual use. i think that goes to show that the peripherals doesnt really matter, skills issue is the culprit most of the times.
Never having played DOTA I don't know just how key centric that game is. But the big letdown for most membrane keyboards is the Key Rollover. A lot of them have 6-key rollover and sometimes they have combinations of keys that can't be detected at the same time. Most mechanical keyboards will however have n-Key Rollover which means that any amount of simultaneously pressed keys will be supported. Now if there aren't all that many simultaneous keypresses needed then the choice between membrane and mechanical is really only depending on feel and personal preferences. And yes there are high quality membrane keyboards made with excellent pressure mapping and low sound. They are just not as common as they were fifteen to twenty years ago. I remember Keytronic making office keyboards with membranes where the pressure was changed depending on which fingers would be using the keys. So as I remember it the space bar was rather heavy as it was used with your thumb. The keys you use with your pinky and long finger were also a bit heavier than the ones you use the ring fingers for. The ones you use the little finger for was the lightest to press. All of this to make it easy to type a lot of text in a day. Oh and the space bar was slightly conductive and connected to the ground so you would not build up static electricity charge while sitting at the computer.
You'd didn't even mention the advantages of membrane keyboards over mechanical? Beyond water resistance and quieter. How is it included in "bad value parts".
I sorta disagree on the on the Modular power supply. It really depends on the premium you are paying. Yes there are pitfalls you need to be careful of, but it is far from an appearance thing. It is easier to route, and when troubleshooting. . . good god my current one needed so much troubleshooting(other than a dead on arrival motherboard it ran fine for a couple months and then I was digging back in there every other week it seemed like). I basically had to dissemble the thing, fix it and then it would run for a week or two then I needed to do it all over again. I shudder to think what it would have been like if I had a wad of 10,000 cables shoved into a rats nest in there, that I had to deal with everytime I pulled everything out. I do not miss a rats nest of cables shoved into a basement/bay whatsoever.
So if it is a small premium I would say it isn't a bad value. If you are paying double or more then definitely no, just deal with the rats nest and such. Not sure exactly where I would cut the small premium but 10% more would be quite acceptable in my opinion.
5:01 regarding mechanical keyboards, there are layouts you may want like tenkeyless with full size keys (not including height, so low profile mechanicals are also valid here) that aren't available or easy to find in membrane format, at least not without small keys. Trust me, I tried. As far as quiet keyboards, you can get silent switches (even cheap silent switches. I'm using outemu silent gray which you can get 110 for about $20 or less) and they can actually be quieter than a membrane keyboard. Trust me, I brought one with silent tactiles to my office and waa super worried it was going to be too loud. I found out I have the quitest keyboard on the entire floor and everyone else is using microsoft or logitech membrane keyboards. Some even have chiclet keys and my keyboard is still quieter. Though, if you're a snob for how the switches feel, you likely won't like silent switches.
The only upside to membranes is the cost. That is literally it.
Cases with tempered glass can be found so cheap these days, there is absolutely no point to acrylic.
True. Its more like you have to search FOR acrylic, not glass (and good luck finding something with good airflow and full metal).
I don't normally comment on Rileys videos but I liked everything about this video, because I have recently built a pc with a non modular psu, a tempered glass side, a tower fan and a membrane keyboard and I've been happy with all of it, thanks man 👍
I'm one of those weirdos that prefers a membrane keyboard. Mechanical ones feel strange to me, like someone built a Rube Goldberg machine for typing. Give me a quick short press with a slight give when it actuates and I'm happy.
the first time I got to know a mechanical keyboard is from my cousin's, my instant reaction is "how can you stand this let alone like it?!"
Maybe a scissor switch keyboard or a low-profile red switch keyboard would be more your speed?
People who use laptops hate mechanical switches because of the travel. Low profile mech switches solve that
i cant stand how loud most mechanical keyboards are, the constant loud click clacking is really distracting when gaming
@@tonin7228 Add silencing O-rings to the switches =)
I actually prefer acrylic side panels especially if I need a side mounted fan for a cooling purpose due some component that's oversized for proper airflow. Acrylic is easy to use a dremel tool on for the fan cutouts where as tempered glass you have to use oils/resins with backing plus diamond tips to make the same cutouts and then be very careful on the torque of the screws securing the fans. For keyboards my arthritis hands prefer a soft membrane and easy key push. Hard to find mechanicals with a soft push though there are a few out there but they cost a lot more then the standard cherry ones.
1) Modular PSU - Can take it or leave it. If the case has a exposed PSU then completely modular is the way to go for aesthetics
2) Acrylic Side panels - It damn near impossible to find a decent quality case without any windows. And the cases that don't often times are most expensive for some assinine reason.
3)AIO coolers - Completely pointless either you need a full custom system with graphics card and cpu both. Or the noise difference between a tower CPU cool and GPU are going to be negligible even on the budget end of the spectrum of coolers.
4) Mechanical Keyboard - Yeah I'm not going back to dome keyboard anytime soon. Mechanical Keyboards are just more enjoyable. And as someone that grew up on typewritters and bucklespring keyboards, Mechanical Keyboard with a tactile feel and noise improve my typing by over 40 words per minute.
Riley: Modern cases often have psu basements-
*Me reving up my powerdrill, circular saw and anything else to yank that shit out*
Routing cables from the front back to the power supply is so much easier IMO than the other way around. Also custom length cables (I don't use, but they're definitely an option) simply aren't an option with fixed cable PSUs.
I guess RGB is not on the list because it's not overrated, just plain useless.
Even with modular PSUs the "PSU basement" gets busy with excess cable. I'd absolutely not go back to fixed wires even with plenty of space, it turns into cable spaghetti far too easily and makes fishing out that cable you suddenly need when making changes a PITA. Also how much easier they are to do cable routing when both ends can be unplugged.
Totally agree the AIO and keyboards though. While I've always preferred clacky keyboards so I love mechanical, but I've never really had a problem with membrane keyboards either.
As someone with a case that has a acrylic side window, I'm pretty sure I scratched it by breathing near it.
The best thing you can do with a modern high end Intel CPU is getting a contact frame, I run a 240mm aio on my i9-13900k, 35c idle, 65c gaming, and 80-85c during long computations where I am truly utilizing every core. The loop never gets too warm(edit) id get the same temps with a good air cooler, I just don't have the space cuz my GPU is a ridiculous size. ( Yeston rx7900xtx Sakura) And it is vertically mounted
i get the same temps with air
@@Primimimimimimimi i would too if I had an air cooler. I have a huge GPU so I had to get an aio cuz no coolers would fit with my GPU
@@Primimimimimimimi my point was the contact frame, the aio was a space saving measure cuz my case has a tucked in spot that hides the radiator
@@Primimimimimimimi also got a ridiculous deal for the aio, it was 70$ on a Amazon lightning deal, and an appropriate air cooler wouldn't fit, plus I saved a bunch of money. Just got lucky is all
@@BeyondReasonableClout 70 quid for an AIO is a steal. Glad you got lucky
Modular PSU's not only have the benefit of less clutter - less cables improve airflow. I don't consider it bad value unless you are trying to shave every cost possible. But that really about what is more ideal vs good or bad. I will agree that modular cabling should be standardized.
Acrylic not only scratches easily, it will discolor if exposed to UV (like near a window) for any prolonged period of time. It does come down to the type of acrylic, but in general it scratches and discolors.
I would say if you are running 13th/14th gen Intel processors - water cooling is necessary. They run too hot. In fact, I would argue that delidded versions of those processors should likely have been the default given it's the only "real" way to run at acceptable temps (below 90C at full load).
membrane better than mechanical? Really guys? How low can you sink?
1. Membrane doesn't mean quiet.
2. Membrane doesn't mean cheaper.
3. Membrane usually has lower quality keys. Especially lower end.
4. Replacing a cheap keyboard every 3 months is just bad for the environment. Spend the money on one good keyboard.
Sure if you like mushy keyboards you can still go membrane, but for most people it's always the worst option.
TBH my main reason for getting the modular ones instead is that I also want as efficient of one as I can afford, and that typically ends up being fully modular by default.
No glass nor acrylic, I have a regular plastic window.
Also, scissor switch (Cougar Vantar) gang!!
100% agree with the acrylic panel, i had a case with one, and it scratched badly before i could even finish my build!
Totally agree on modular power supply. There's almost always a good place to hide cables. Plus, you don't lose the cables that modular power supply users don't attach.
1:35 IMO it's not acryllic but rather "see-through" cases that belong in the overrated list.
Bad value not listing RGB strips ?
*Visible confusion*
Should have made this an April fools joke. The cpu is overrated you don’t need one.
I still find it weird that I am on the minority side that loves membrane keyboard thanks to my laptop, I have an awesome experience with it.
Which makes me sad that whenever I try to buy membrane keyboard locally, either they are not as good as my laptop have or they didn't exist (instead I got many many membrane keyboards for laptop replacement)
Tempered glass or acrylic side panels??? What's wrong with metal? I don't think computer innards are particularly attractive, not even those tackied up with rgb. As long as the computer case gets good ventilation and I can access parts of it I need to, the more inconspicuous the better.
Mechanical for gaming is a must...
I bought mine for $40 black switches and man it's good.
4:30 I have some older oem membrane keyboards (ibm's are nice) that I actually like to type on better than my mechanical keyboard. There is indeed a lot more to it than just mechanical or membrane.
If you get a non-modular PSU but want custom cables, you can also get customized extensions instead :) I think how "overrated" they are depends on the build -- some of those PSU basements aren't big enough for all the extra cables of a non-modular, especially a high wattage one that's longer [altho most of those tend to be modular anyway]
Glad you brought up keyboards. Because it does seem like all mechanical keyboards are non ergonomic. So why get shamed for preferred membrane keyboard that is in the shape you like?
mechanical keyboard: the brown switch has tactile feedback before bottoming out. therefore, if you are already used to it, you can type without bottoming out. therefore, in my case, I feel lighter force needed to type, it's easier and less taxing to my fingers.
but beware of the cheap mech, some of it had a really bad key force distribution. lighter force on the middle, but significantly harder on the edge, which defeats all benefits I think.