PCF April 2007

Moses · Post by **Moses** » 28 Mar 2007, 11:17

I'm perfect.

Hman · Post by **Hman** » 28 Mar 2007, 11:26

That's what I keep telling everyone.

thEnaileDonE · Post by **thEnaileDonE** » 28 Mar 2007, 12:21

... I get more and more twitchy the more days that pass after pay day (23rd) until I finally find a copy of PCF to buy... I think as long as that happens I will be forced to keep buying the mag

As for the editor making another appearance on the forum... 8O

I think it will be in the forum and the mags best interest to align themselves more closely... synergy kind of thing if you know what I mean...

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 28 Mar 2007, 20:57

Time to leave my delayed reply.

thEnaileDonE wrote:IMHO if the mag is so bad that you can spend half your life complaining about it then don't buy it. If not then stop whining... PCF isn't part of our human rights in this country even though it is being run as such...

Actually I am a subscriber so I can't really choose if I want the issue. And now, time to review my subscription and guess what, nope, they're not getting my money, I'm going over to NAG who actually has someone that knows something about hardware.

Dust wrote:Guys I really don't think that 4 pages can spoil a whole magazine! So what if 4 pages have been repeated? I just looked at the march issue again and saw that there are 98 pages, so 98 - 4 = 94. So, it's not going to stop me from enjoying it. It's a mistake, the day one of you guys are 100% perfect, then and only then can you really complain.

It doesn't spoil the magazine, but it's just so damn sloppy. And there's quite a few other mistakes (Which we see in each and every issue)

MongwopMan wrote:Liked the watercooling article

Right, they reviewed, Thermatake Piece of overpriced bird crap, Retardedly huge Zalman Reserator (And overpriced), Gigabyte 3D Something, and that Other thermaltake thing that looks like a speaker :\ for some reason.

TT Bigwater (R2100)

Features

Single and Dual Radiator (WHY?!)
Just a CPU block (Greeaaaat

)
Crappy pump and res that will leak after usage.

Zalman Reserator II (R3600)

FOR THAT PRICE YOU CAN GET FRIKKEN HIGH END COOLING!!!! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!

It's huge, sure it's silent, but a Swiftech Apogee, Dangerden Maze 5, Swiftech pump, tubing, coolant and a dual raddie with skythe silent fans will cost less and make a teenie bit more noise.

Also just a CPU block, what's the point running it on a Quad Core if you have two 8800 ovens in your case?

Gigabyte 3D

This is the one I would also buy out of the group. Just because I couldn't get a high end kit for that price.

First of all, Single 120mm RAD, not very good.
How would thick pipes affect cooling? The radiator does the cooling down (And is pretty small as I have pointed out)
A cpu waterblock with a fan on it. Doesn't that defy the purpose of watercooling?
What the hell are those big white things in the loops, I hope not watersplitters, cause that is gonna make huge pressure drops and some parts will get less waterflow than others.
Only a CPU block, when are the okes gonna learn

Thermaltake Speaker Thing

What is the purpose of that thing? You are not going to run a high end home theatre system unless A) You want to show off, B)You have deep pockets, C)You are an Idiot. That thing is made for style, shaped like a speaker, which is incedently in your lounge. And why would you watercool a HTPC?
Then, a crappy bottom brazed cpu block, and that's it.
Price, once again you can get a high end system for that price.

And you tested the Temperatures with? Asus's software. You call yourself hardware reviewers, how accurate is those things? Thanks.

Cameron_Losco wrote:Yeah, that was a huge mistake and one that won’t be happening in the future. I can understand a number of you being angry with what happened - we are sorry for the error - but some of you have over reacted just a tad. I'm not saying that you are not allowed to be upset/angry/disappointed but lets keep it at the error and that’s it please.

In short, it was an error that should have never found its way to the printers but it happened due to a number of things, and we have learnt from the mistake. We will include the correct pages in next months issue to cater for those that don’t have Internet access, it doesn’t correct the error but it will help most.

Okay, some people might have over reacted but I think it's an utter disgrace. PCF is considered a leading magazine, but with this much errors I think it should get it's act up.

Glad to see that you will be correcting the problem

maxxis wrote:I picked up a copy yesterday.

Congrats PCF. I love this edition.

I LOVE THE COVER. Not just the hottie on it but the brilliant use of colour, contrast, layout and everything.

BRILLIANT.

So what if the pages from March popped in. **** happens.

Right, with so much errors? And I don't really see what is so brilliant in the mag, all that you are raving on about is the cover. Sure the insides are a LOT better than previous months, it isn't something extraordinary

pok wrote:got the PCF last night & damn brilliant issue. big up's for the poster lads & ladies at PCF

as maxxis said, **** happens and that nobody is perfect! again great mag!

See, also staring blind into the cover. ***** sure as hell does happen but cockups aren't supposed to uccur in every single issue.

Now, my venting.

Reader awards. Sadly it seems that our wonderful country knows about nothing else than what you expose them too, why not have a wider range of products for example motherboards. Or is there a policy that only advertisers and sponsors get priority as was the case with a few other mags. Best CPU? Core 2 Duo while there is Core 2 Quad? Best doesn't mean best price/performance ratio. It means best figures.

Best motherboard, 3rd place. INTEL?!?!?! Are you frikken kidding me?

Best RAM, Corsair?! And then Kingston? What about Team Extreem, Muskin, GeIL, G.Skill? Seriously, the readers need more exposure, or are advertisers and sponsors involved again?

Best modding equipment.

Intel Core 2 Duo, please care to explain that.

The readers are once again totally screwed in their heads when they voted Best new technology as Quad SLI, we all know how useless Quad SLI is. But did you tell them PCF staff?

Then the game reviews, 4-5 paragraphs, 1 and a half pages of pictures, how is that a review?

Then the AMD FX74 review, last part, Slower than E6600, don't remember a E6600 being in the mix, Q6600 yes.

Then the 8800GTX SLI Review.

Two cards featuring 768MB's of memory doesn't equal 1536MB's of memory. Not nice misleading the customers.

You didn't mention that it is the current CPU's that are holding the beasts in cuffs.

Then nearing the end you write that it isn't an investment in the future, by saying that you should get a 30" monitor first. And what graphics card are you gonna use to power that beast? a 6600GT? Nothanks. It's always the waiting game, wait for the price to drop, wait for the new tech, wait for the next ATI card. You are never gonna upgrade if you keep waiting.

Then overclocking your graphics card.

Not once you mentioned that you could loose your warrantee or destroy your card or that you won't accept responsibility for any screwups. So what if some thirteen year old goes and ramps up everything, and destroys his card? Maybe some thermal grease on the PCB over components?

Ask Luis.

Copy Paste from the UK no?

"Free Tech Support

At a price yada yada yada...

pcfhelpline@futurnet.co.uk

PCF Helpline, 30 Monmouth Street
Bath, BA1 2BW"

Seriously, why don't you get of your Quake 4 playing asses and help with technical problems?

Instead of being so stupidly sarcastic as luis actually help someone.

Then the Jackass prank on the last page, how is a single 1.5V battery and capacitor gonna do you any damage? Also a paint covered case doesn't conduct a current that small

Nice try

Well done to those who read all of this

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:20

I give mad props to the new reviewers. (Brett, Peter & Michael) They did a super job. They seem inspired. Apparently, that's all you need. Nice one dudes.

Post by **Stuart** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:34

WiK1d wrote:
Cameron_Losco wrote:Yeah, that was a huge mistake and one that won’t be happening in the future. I can understand a number of you being angry with what happened - we are sorry for the error - but some of you have over reacted just a tad. I'm not saying that you are not allowed to be upset/angry/disappointed but lets keep it at the error and that’s it please.

In short, it was an error that should have never found its way to the printers but it happened due to a number of things, and we have learnt from the mistake. We will include the correct pages in next months issue to cater for those that don’t have Internet access, it doesn’t correct the error but it will help most.
Okay, some people might have over reacted but I think it's an utter disgrace. PCF is considered a leading magazine, but with this much errors I think it should get it's act up.

Glad to see that you will be correcting the problem

My problem with this problem is that Stacey assured us in her response to the thread about last month's issue that she was virtually certain that this edition would be error free, that it had been sent and resent to the printers no less than four times as errors were detected and corrected. And then an error like this creeps in? 8O

I will be glad when I see the problem corrected, not when I hear (as we do every month, it seems) that these problems will be corrected.

Don't get me wrong: I'll still be buying the magazine, because I really enjoy it as a whole, but these last two issues have really seen errors that manifest grave unprofessionalness. (That's probably not a word, I know.)

All that being said ...

WiK1d wrote:Reader awards. Sadly it seems that our wonderful country knows about nothing else than what you expose them too, why not have a wider range of products for example motherboards. Or is there a policy that only advertisers and sponsors get priority as was the case with a few other mags. Best CPU? Core 2 Duo while there is Core 2 Quad? Best doesn't mean best price/performance ratio. It means best figures ...

Blah, blah, blah ...

Alright, you do understand the concept of READER awards, right? It's really not PCF's fault if the readers vote for Core 2 Duo as best CPU, or Intel as third best mobo. Believe it or not, not every reader of the magazine has exactly the same opinion as you on hardware.

I sympathise with most of your post, but I reckon your venting about the reader awards is a little overboard.

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:36

I might have gone a bit overboard, but isn't it PCF's job to enlighten people out there that there's actually other manufacturers available besides their advertisers/sponsors?

Moses · Post by **Moses** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:48

Why wasn't killerbyte introduced as a reviewer in this edition? Was he introduced in March already?

Moses · Post by **Moses** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:53

WiK1d wrote:
Then the Jackass prank on the last page, how is a single 1.5V battery and capacitor gonna do you any damage? Also a paint covered case doesn't conduct a current that small Nice try

Induction coil? What current?

Post by **Stuart** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:53

WiK1d wrote:I might have gone a bit overboard, but isn't it PCF's job to enlighten people out there that there's actually other manufacturers available besides their advertisers/sponsors?

True, but wouldn't it be fair to say that ... let's take the mobo as an example ... Asus, Gigabyte and Intel are the three mainstream boards used by PCF readers? (I think it was those three who earned top spot; I don't have the magazine on hand right now.)

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:57

Moses wrote:
WiK1d wrote:
Then the Jackass prank on the last page, how is a single 1.5V battery and capacitor gonna do you any damage? Also a paint covered case doesn't conduct a current that small Nice try

Induction coil? What current?

I know that is a possibility, but from what I can see on the Pics there is a little PCB, a 1.5V battery and a cap. What do you mean what current?

Moses · Post by **Moses** » 28 Mar 2007, 22:07

I suspect the majority of people voting chose the brand that they themselves owned, vs the brand they thought was best.

Post by **Stuart** » 28 Mar 2007, 22:33

Moses wrote:I suspect the majority of people voting chose the brand that they themselves owned, vs the brand they thought was best.

Probably.

Post by **Tel** » 31 Mar 2007, 08:23

When I browsed through the April issue of PCF, I immediately noticed the Downloads section was the March issue's section. My first reaction was "oops". To miss out a whole section of the mag is a pretty big mistake for a national magazine. But...

Reading Cameron's and Stacie's response, it seems to be an honest mistake. It was mentioned that the final PDF sent to the printers was the incorrect one and I can understand how this could happen.

Example file names:
PCFApril_1.pdf
PCFApril_2.pdf
PCFApril_3.pdf

PCFApril_3.pdf was probably the correct one, but 2 was sent by accident. Possibly a combination of finger trouble, stress, pressure, and possibly because of how bad the March issue was (to be honest, the March issue was very bad), there was extra pressure on the guys to get it right for April.

I haven't read any other complaints, so it's looking good so far that Stacie has kept up her statement that April will be perfect (except this the big one

).

I'll go with maxxis statement too. **** happens. All you gotta do is hope that these accidents won't happen again.

@wikid:
You have valid points, but seriously, the reader awards are exactly that, reader awards. PCF does enlighten users of the most easily accessible items in the South African market. It is not their job to friggin' tell them about every little piece of equipment that can be modded and where to get them from.

You must also remember that PCF's target market is not the high-tech-uber-hardware-geek (that you think you may be), but the general public. It's only a platform to inform users and techies about general hardware and software that is available. That's what they are, a general magazine about PC hardware and software. So the items they review will be the most easily accessible to the general public because the general reader does not want to bother about intense modding and specialised parts. He/she wants plug-and-pray

. It's always been that way, since the days when you were still wetting your bed.

Compare PCF to Mens Health for instance...Mens Health will show you basic exercises to build muscle or cardio or whatever, they don't go into intense detail about exactly what to do and eat and how many times to fart. If you want that, get a personal trainer or one of those gymming magazines. It's a platform for one to explore more if they are interested. This is what PCF is.

markman · Post by **markman** » 31 Mar 2007, 09:46

There are gymming magazines,what will they think of next?

SoulBlade · Post by **SoulBlade** » 31 Mar 2007, 11:11

WiK1d wrote:Then the game reviews, 4-5 paragraphs, 1 and a half pages of pictures, how is that a review?

This so far my biggest gripe. What's the reasoning behind it? Readers wanted more screenshots? I'd take the reviewers words far more seriously then screenshots. Images should compliment a review. Not overwhelm it to a summary.

Review ARMA AA (And preview STALKER) is more or less what I want. (Not quite as much though. I started reading PC Gamer since 1999 - They gave some pretty nice reviews.)

And I kina expected Supreme Commander taking up at least 4 full pages. The I noticed it. Advertisments growing like weed all over the place.

unr3al007 · Post by **unr3al007** » 31 Mar 2007, 21:14

I wonder if NAG's readers complain this much. I have read more than 40 PCF mags and noticed most errors. My reaction? Oh well, accidents happen. Nobody's perfect, besides, it didn't have any effect on the arcticles or overall greatness of the mag, so why in blazes should I complain?? I love every inch of PCF *and the models* and only if there is a VERY serious error, like half the pages being blank or something, I will complain. For crying out loud do you people never make mistakes? I know I do. Some bigger than others. Just read the mag and frown at the little mistakes. Thats what I do, and then forget it the next page. The content of the mag is good enough not to have me bother with every little mistake there could be! Some people must simply be bored to death... Nothing else to do but read PCF and now the errors keep cropping up. Get a girlfriend. Or a hobby...

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 01 Apr 2007, 03:06

Ok I think someone should explain how CDC (capacitor discharge systems) work to you WIKID...

actually i won't cos some monkey will build one. basically you store a charge in a huge capacitor and discharge it across a trnsformer or coil and sparky sparky... thats all i'm saying,

However the EMI regardless of paint on your case will stuff up your circuitry... beleive me if those things play havoc with the sound on celphones when people are chatting and you are making sparks, they will do alot worse to your PC and also that voltage spike...

Errors happen... yes they shouldn't and they annoy me but so what... Stacey and Co are trying their best... I have seen worse errors in UK mags i subscribe too...

Thanks for the great poster, and the awesome demo

keep trying
Dave

Post by **Stuart** » 01 Apr 2007, 07:58

unr3al007 wrote:I wonder if NAG's readers complain this much. I have read more than 40 PCF mags and noticed most errors. My reaction? Oh well, accidents happen. Nobody's perfect, besides, it didn't have any effect on the arcticles or overall greatness of the mag, so why in blazes should I complain?? I love every inch of PCF *and the models* and only if there is a VERY serious error, like half the pages being blank or something, I will complain. For crying out loud do you people never make mistakes? I know I do. Some bigger than others. Just read the mag and frown at the little mistakes. Thats what I do, and then forget it the next page. The content of the mag is good enough not to have me bother with every little mistake there could be! Some people must simply be bored to death... Nothing else to do but read PCF and now the errors keep cropping up. Get a girlfriend. Or a hobby...

And seven incomplete articles in last month's magazine do not constitute a major error? We obviously have very different definitions of the term!

I realise we're not talking about the March issue any more, of course, but the point is that the (considerably fewer) complaints about the April issue have only arisen because Stacey claimed, after last month's errors, that this magazine would be virtually error-free.

I agree that Stacey and co. do a fantastic job overall, but as happy as you are to overlook glaring errors, so some of us may feel as if pointing them out may actually gain the ear of the powers that be so that change is affected.

This is not Telkom we're talking about, after all.

@ topazchyld: Good to see you joining the community! Hang around a bit; we promise we'll be nice to you. Except, of course, for the odd complaint in the monthly PCF mag thread.

roguemat · Post by **roguemat** » 01 Apr 2007, 17:18

Im a subscribed member and got it in the post but NO POSTER!! Got the disc and everything but i want da poster!! What can I do?
PCFormat...are you listening?

Thanks.
Matt

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 01 Apr 2007, 17:20

You can get mine...

not

unr3al007 · Post by **unr3al007** » 01 Apr 2007, 19:22

@ WiK1d and @ schase those errors mentioned are annoying, yes. And they shouldn't happen, yes. But the team is working on improving the mag, so leave them be! Intel sure made a few errors in the past, but currently they are on top. Same goes for AMD, who will get to the top again, in the ever-turning wheel of tech-improvements. My point is that whichever way you look at it, show me a PC magazine in print that can be had for R40 and is better overall than PCF. There simply is none. You cannot even COMPARE SACM and NAG, the former being utterly pathetic in my opinion and the latter being mostly a gaming mag, like GEAR. With some hardware reviews here and there. PCF is simply in a league of its own. And I hope it stays that way.

SoulBlade · Post by **SoulBlade** » 01 Apr 2007, 19:34

It seems this whole thread is just a matter of opinion.
NAG is, from the time I bought them (2000), a better mag than PCF in my opinion. They go more in-depth with hardware reviews and have more detailed games reviews (PC - I don't care about the mobile section)

Most errors I can gladly ignore, but I will air my voice about big ones.

And don't get me wrong. I love both PCF and NAG for what they are.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » 01 Apr 2007, 20:27

I heard a rumour NAG was being discontinued. True?

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 01 Apr 2007, 20:27

Actually, NAG is a lot better now. Since Gouhan is reviewing for them. And not some dude who thinks he knows everything.