On Sat, 2006-03-04 at 22:42 +1030, Tim wrote: > Tony Dietrich: > >>> 2. One fan failure (at 14months). > > Tim: > >> Ones that run constantly or only now and then? Some PC fans have > >> surprising short lives, and that's not due to faults, but how long the > >> manufacturer expects them to work for. > > Tony Dietrich: > > Constantly .. that machine just happened to be my own office system! And > > since I tend to use that to test stuff, AND it wasn't switched off over the > > entire 14 months (AFAIR) I wasn't too surprised .. leaving a system doing > > batch compiling and test runs for entire weekends does kinda send the fan > > wild. > > According to some specs that I've seen, some fans are only rated to run > continuously for about 18 months. That may be fine for many home PCs > which spend more time off than on, but no good for servers. Even more > so if they're fans that can't be easily replaced (e.g. ones that are > bonded in as part of a CPU block or the graphics cards, or deeply > embedded in the PSU brick). I think server fans ought to be standard > models, though long-life, easily replaced, and using ducts to the parts > that need directly cooling. > > > Seriously .. I suspect that one reason I (and James Wilkinson, see rest of > > thread) get good systems from 'local' builders is that in the UK ( I have no > > idea what its like in the rest of the world) we can walk into a local builder > > and spec exactly what we want built. I can tell my builder "I want ASUS mb, > > nVidia video, XXX memory, etc, etc" .. and if I don't get it, I don't pay, > > and I don't use that builder again. > > I can do that here, but only from quite limited choices. If I wanted > specific parts that they didn't have, I'd have to buy them directly from > some supplier, if I could find one, not from a shop. They won't deal > with anything else, and will give you all sorts of excuses about why. I > really don't beleive that they couldn't buy anything that I could, nor > that they can only buy parts in quantity. And that's if I just want > parts to build a box. > > On the other hand, if I was to get them to build me a box, it's quite > common for you to choose a 128 meg video card, a 140 meg hard drive, but > they'll pick the particular parts, and they may well be different from > what they told you while you were negotiating the package. Sometimes > that's because they found what you wanted to use didn't work with each > other, sometimes it's because they'll just do whatever they want to. Vote with your $. Only buy from those who will build it as you specified, and have a written build spec so they cannot just make a change without your written approval. I have never had the problem you describe, but then I have always been firm in my specifications. Their excuses are just that - excuses! Unless the customer (you) holds them to the specs agreed upon they can easily modify things.
