BUILD FOR TOMORROW, PLAN FOR TODAY
NOT EVERY PC BUILD goes smoothly. Plenty of things can go wrong, even for
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX EMAIL was in experienced builders. We’re at the stage
my freshman year of college in now that we’re not even surprised when
1988. I attended Dartmouth, and we hit hiccups on the way to awesome
we had a system named BlitzMail. PC nirvana. If you’re prepared, and stay
Every student was granted an email calm, you can usually sort things out
address and access to the system. before they descend into frantic chaos. Like most students, I didn’t use it at
This issue we feature three (very all. It’s hard for even me to believe, different) builds, so it shouldn’t come as
but back then I was in the habit of a surprise that we had to navigate a few
writing letters and postcards. problems in their construction. I also
I vividly recall the tipping point, ended up rebuilding my main test rig, but
though. In 1re years and my first job I’ll come to why I had to do that shortly. in PC Week’s lab in 1992 to actually
The big build this issue was for our start using it. Like a lot of corporate cover feature; the gorgeous, pricey,
workplaces, email was commonly water-cooled Mini-ITX build saw plenty
used for interoffice communications. of challenging times before we even
But the volume wa989 in the middle opened any boxes. And once we did, we
of my sophomore year, I was eating hit even more issues. You can read about
lunch with a few freshmen who were our exploits in the main feature, starting
talking about how great email was on page 26, but rest assured we managed
for chatting up women. I remember to overcome all the problems to produce
being shocked at the notion that a stunning slice of computing. these guys didn’t have the courage to
When it comes to building your own pick up the phone. Little did I know. machine, timing probably isn’t as vital as
I’d be lying if I said that I took to when producing a magazine, but it still
email the next day. I didn’t. It took pays to plan ahead and be organized. You
three more years and my first job can’t allow for absolutely everything that
in PC Week’s lab in 1992 to actually could go wrong, but it’s a good idea to try
start using it. Like a lot of corporate to control as much as possible, and have
workplaces, email was commonly a plan in case something doesn’t work.
used for interoffice communications. Be patient, don’t try to rush through
But the volume was manageable; I problems, and you’ll be fine. remember going two or three hours
As for my unscheduled rebuild, without new email. That sounds this month we moved from our dingy
absolutely crazy now, but this was basement to a new open-plan office. The
the era before SPAM even existed. good news was that we had a view, the bad
As more friends started working news was that my PC tripped the power
and came online, the postcard- and sockets three times once it was in its
letter- writing days ended forever. new home. We stopped at three because
( That lab job was also awesome we figured something was wrong. because after four years of using
Of course, when you move a PC, there’s a Mac in college, I was able to get plenty that can go wrong: A component
back to PC gaming— after hours, of can shift out of a slot, an errant screw can end up causing a short, coolers can pop
course.) off, cables get unplugged…. There’s
I’ll be honest; I still love checking lots of different things that can stop a
my inbox and discovering email— machine from booting. We checked all
from friends, family, writers, of these, but that wasn’t quite what was
readers, PR people, whomever— even happening here; the machine simply
if it has become a bit overwhelming. wasn’t turning on. Between re years and my first job
Eventually, we managed to get to the in PC Week’s lab in 1992 to actually bottom of the problem—it turned out
start usingaccounts, I’ve never had that the over-the-top 1,500W PSU that
trouble keeping up. Until now. This is was powering the machine was drawing
partially what inspired this month’s more juice than the weedy extension
cover story. Over the last 18 months, cables installed in the swanky desks
I’ve begun to notice that my ability to could handle. This beastly machine was
quickly parse, read, and respond to tripping the circuit breakers even though
email just isn’t fast enough anymore. it wasn’t actually drawing that much
I need to develop new systems and power under normal load. shortcuts. I need to change my ways. The solution? Rebuild the machine
I’m curious— are you finding with a smaller power supply, of course.
yourself in the same boat as I am? And swap the chassis for a slightly
If so, what have you done to better smaller one while I was at it, because the
manage your email life? Let me know existing one was a little intimidating for
at George@ maximumpc. com. my new-found office buddies. So, I ended up with a fresh-looking machine, even
XXXXXXXXX if the innards hadn’t changed, and we
Finally, the winners of last month’s didn’t have to do anything as complex as
challenge to identify the fake Google resetting the circuit breakers (actually,
app icon. For those scoring at home, we had to do that as well). the correct answer was Google
We couldn’t have planned for this Storage. Here are the winners: Keith particular problem, of course, but we
Lucas ( who was the first correct stayed calm, checked the components,
response), Andy Man, Chris Brush and persevered to make sure we ended up with a working machine.
Gordon Mah Ung is Maximum PC’s deputy editor, senior hardware AlanDexteris Maximum PC’s executive
expert, and all- around muckraker. editor and a punish er of hardware. He’ s been atech journalist for over 20 years, and has no problem up setting the PC industry as a whole.