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Over the years, there have been quite a few innovations for PC builders that have become

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very popular, but can sometimes be of questionable utility.

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So at the risk of talking smack about things you know and love, here are our picks for

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a few different kinds of gear that, while not useless, you might want to think twice

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about to see if you're really getting good value for money.

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Remember, overrated doesn't necessarily mean bad.

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First off, the modular power supply. Now the big advantage of the modular PSU is that it's supposed to help you keep your

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system tidier as you can plug in only the cables that you're going to be using.

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Makes sense, but that doesn't mean you should automatically go drop extra money on one.

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For starters, that modular functionality costs the power supply manufacturers more to implement,

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and that cost is passed on to you, the consumer, as Corsair or whoever else isn't exactly

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running a charity. But even if money is no object, a huge number of computer cases these days have power supply

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basements, which you can easily use to hide any extra cables on a non-modular PSU.

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And did you even know that although the power connectors on various PC components are standardized,

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the ports where the modular cables connect to the power supply itself aren't standardized?

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Meaning you have to be very careful if you're buying third-party cables or trying to reuse

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ones from a different PSU. You could easily damage your poor components this way.

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So unless you have a case without a power supply basement, you may just want to save

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your money and opt for a simpler, non-modular unit instead.

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Speaking of cases, let's talk about the acrylic side panel.

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If you want to see through case, acrylic is marketed as a more affordable option to tempered

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glass. And bonus, it's more lightweight and doesn't have quite the risk of shattering like tempered

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glass does. So why are we including it in today's episode and calling it overrated compared to the more

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expensive tempered glass? Unfortunately, acrylic is far easier to scratch than tempered glass, and I'm not talking easier

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to scratch with a rusty nail, I mean you can scratch acrylic while cleaning it with a freaking

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paper towel. And to make things worse, you're going to need to clean your acrylic panel, as it tends

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to attract dust more easily than tempered glass does. The one point acrylic does have in its favor is that its lighter weight and shadow resistance

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make it better for a PC that you're hauling around often, as long as you're careful about

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the scratches. But if you're just leaving your PC in one place most of the time, it might be worth it

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just to pay a little extra for tempered glass. Next, we're going to tell you about a component that actually affects performance.

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Or maybe it doesn't? Punch custom PC into Google images and the search results will almost exclusively show

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you water-cooled systems, many of which feature AIO closed-loop coolers you can buy off the

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shelf. And AIOs have become a bit of a default feature for folks building a mid-to-upper-range PC,

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but are they necessarily the best option?

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The main benefits of AIOs you typically see people talk about are better cooling performance,

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lower noise, and nicer aesthetics. But that better cooling performance may not end up being very consequential to you.

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A good quality air cooler should allow your CPU to hit its max frequency on stock settings,

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as long as you're not running your system in some kind of abnormally hot room.

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Turns out the house on the side of the volcano was really cheap for a reason.

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Now if you're overclocking, AIOs will generally allow you to push your system a bit harder.

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But if not, keep in mind that AIOs can be more annoying to install due to having to

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screw the unwieldy radiator in from the other side of your case, it's possible for the

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pump to be noisier than an air cooler with a well-made fan, and AIOs have more parts

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that can fail on you. Bottom line is that you shouldn't feel like you have to get one unless you have a specific

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need, or you just really like the way they look in your case compared to an air cooler.

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And finally, let's really give some hot takes about the mechanical keyboard.

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That's right. There seems to be an attitude out there that the more common membrane keyboard can cheapen

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an otherwise nice setup. But mechanicals aren't necessarily superior to membranes in every case.

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So much of the argument in favor of mechanical keyboards comes down to how they feel when

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typing. And it's perfectly valid to prefer the feel of a rubber dome switch on a membrane board.

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Although some mechanical keyboards can give you tactile and audible feedback so that you

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know when you've actuated a key, this isn't ideal for everyone, especially if you prefer

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a quiet environment or others around you find all your click-clacking distracting.

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And Doug's mad again.

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And for gamers, there are certain switches that actuate very shortly after you press

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them down, which theoretically helps you react to game events more quickly.

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But there's a good chance you may not notice this unless you're a super competitive player

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of specific genres. And many people have complained that these speed switches have led them to make more

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errors when typing. Doug can tell you all about that.

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Of course, we have to mention that quiet mechanical keyswitches do exist.

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And that mechanical keyboards do tend to be more durable than their membrane counterparts,

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setting aside everything we just talked about. But since more basic keyboards are such cheap commodity items, it's probably a better

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idea to just buy whatever kind of keyboard feels good on your little thingies, with the

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point being that mechanical does not automatically mean better for you.

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And to be clear, there are some nice keyboards that use membranes.

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Some have very good build quality and features like water resistance.

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And there are even some high-end laptops like MacBooks that use membranes to protect the

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contacts from debris. Are there any other popular items for PCDI wires you think are a little overrated?

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Let us know down in the comments or scream at us if you disagree with our takes.

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But scream nicely, please. And it's so nice of you to get to the end of this video, haven't watched the whole

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thing, eh? Wow! Hey, you liked the video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it, check out

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our video on computer parts that disappeared completely. Comment with video suggestions and don't forget to subscribe and follow.

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To TechWiki. Alright, that's all for me, I'll see you later, bye!