found drama

My battle with The Computer Store From Hell ends today with what I’d like to consider a stalemate but am not too insecure to admit is really a loss on my part. “You’re outside of the return dates now so we can’t process the exchange on the power supply.” *le sigh* I want to think that I’m better off but know deep down that I got screwed. The case looks sharp, I’m just stuck with a 200w power supply that I’m still convinced will surrender to the seraphim at any time.

In the interest of extending this poor bastard machine’s live as much as possible, we have enacted a few kind measures on its behalf:

1. That new case. The case looks good and is a huge improvement both aesthetically and functionally over its original Dell box. (Yuck!) This at least gives it adequate mounting points internally and ever so much more breathing room. PLUS that window looks dope.
2. Replaced the CPU heatsink. Realized through all of this that the Dell method of cooling the CPU is a little (er?) unusual. Rather than hook up a standard heatsink-with-fan, they drop an aluminum (!?) heatsink directly on top and then toss it under this shroud/channel that terminates in an 80mm fan out the back. The PC has lasted 5(?) years now so I doubt it did too much damage but it did seem a little on the odd side. Anyway, the shroud/channel method was dependent on a mounting bracket built in to the old Dell chassis… So while we still had the aluminum heatsink there was no fan to suck that heat away. So we did it a favor and got a good olde-fashioned copper-based heatsink-with-fan and dropped that on there.
3. COOLING FANS!! I’m assuming that Dell’s shroud/channel thing was intended primarily to cool the CPU but given the 80mm fan… Well, I don’t know how it was sucking hot air out but I’m sure it was supposed to. At any rate, with that fan now quite gone, it became necessary to replace it. With an 80mm Antec fan with blue LED. Sick.

And as this computer rapidly becomes analogous to a hot-rodded ’68 Dodge Charger that requires constant “love and affection” just to keep it on the road. *ahem* With that in mind, what’s left to complete the analogy…?

• Well, wouldn’t hurt to start with a new power supply. (Do I talk about anything else?) I was thinking something along the lines of an Antext TrueBlue 480w though something like this or even this would suffice.
• And as long as we’re talking power… You have to admit this is strikingly cool…:
  
• Then of course we would want to re-cable the innards.
• Add another light or two. To give it that cozy, “my computer is cooler than your computer” feel to it.
• And then wrap it up with a new case badge to represent.

sidenote: while trolling good ol’ thinkgeek, we did have one question: is that thing cable ready? or should I just shoulder mount my satellite dish now and get it over with?

Currently Listening: Photek “Solaris”

About Rob Friesel