this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2026
348 points (99.4% liked)

PC Master Race

22629 readers
656 users here now

A community for PC Master Race.

Rules:

  1. No bigotry: Including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
  2. Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
  3. No NSFW content.
  4. No Ads / Spamming.
  5. Be thoughtful and helpful: especially when new beginners have questions.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Basically just the CPU fan, case, and PSU (if you're lucky). If someone can figure out how to get Doom running on just those 3 things, young people will be able to ascend.

all 45 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 6 points 51 minutes ago (1 children)
[–] JelleWho@lemmy.world 4 points 40 minutes ago (1 children)
[–] adjectivenoun@lemmy.world 1 points 19 minutes ago
[–] beejboytyson@lemmy.world 1 points 31 minutes ago

At this point I'm expecting doom to run on ball on string attached to cup

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Maybe thats because anything from Noctua has always had stupidly high prices.

[–] Jump365@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yeah this, there's cpu coolers for half the price that cool better now.

[–] StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

You may know this already. The reason Noctua fans are so much quieter is because they spin more slowly and blow less air, so even low priced, entry level fans are more effective. They literally sell a lower performing, if well engineered, fan for a premium price mostly because of hype and brand recognition.

[–] Donebrach@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Shut the fuck up you little fuck. They’re gonna be upping the price to $90/ fan blade and also firing all the people who make the damn blades if this gets out.

[–] naticus@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago

I just had to buy a replacement 9800X3D yesterday because the previous one from early 2025 fried Saturday night. I paid $10 less for the new one, was very surprising. This post caught my attention because I had to remove and reinstall my Noctua cooler.

[–] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 4 hours ago
[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Noctua coolers are already pretty expensive and not the pinnacle of cooling tech any more. If they went up in price, I think people would just go with a different brand. Like Thermalright, which "borrows" from Noctua's designs but are a fraction of the cost. You can even get them in that ugly brown and off white color scheme.

Getting Doom to run on just 3 coolers would be pretty awesome, tho.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

i mean, lets face it.

Unless you are overclocking, a Hyper212 will do almost the same same job, for 20-30 dollars, that a 120-190 dollar Noctua HSF will do. and the couple of degrees of difference you might have sure as fuck aint worth the 6x price increase.

and lets be real, if you are overclocking..why keep it always on? the CPU probably already boosts to those overclocked speeds under load anyway, so why add the extra stress and shortened life?

20 years ago I would understand why. 20 years ago I overclocked as well, because you got actual, legitimately, daily use improvement out of it.. But with modern CPUs auto-overclocking themselves with boost (And it being under warranty to boot), I just don't see the point anymore for everyday use.

[–] generic_computers@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Don't jinx it! /s

Also, I'll jump on the Noctua fan train, love their stuff. I also recommend Be Quiet fans.

[–] Kind_to_Everyone@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 hours ago

Be Quiet fans have been great for me. Six years of silent cooling, and given prices, a few more to go.

[–] story@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 hours ago

i bought it when the falcon guide told me to in 2012, thought it didn't work, bought another, got BOTH to work, and my setups have been cool ever since.

[–] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 24 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Cases are a bargain these days because no one has a use for them

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 6 points 8 hours ago

They are also heavy and large, so expensive to move around and store.

[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 14 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah because I could never afford a Noctua fan in the first place.

[–] RustySharp@programming.dev 13 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

They're also close to buyitforlife territory. Mine is >15 years old (1st gen i5!). The AM4 mount would've been free if I had the original receipt. But alas, I had to fork out $10 cause I was too dumb to have taken a photo of it back then.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

All but the cheapest fans these days are buyitforlife material. The only thing really gonna fuck up a modern fan is epic amounts of dust binding up the ball bearings. And many fans these days use a newer magnetic type system where there isn't even any physical contact being made to wear anything down.

[–] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I've been using Arctic fans. Are Noctua fans super amazing in comparison?

I built a CR Box fan too using 5 Arc Fans, but seen builds with Noctua fans to make it super silent.

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 1 points 12 minutes ago

I also use Arctic fans, and they're by far the quietest, best-performing fans I've ever used. Equivalent Noctua fans are like 4-8 times more expensive, so unless they can also give handies or something, I can't imagine them actually being worth the price.

[–] PeanutBrain@lemmy.world 7 points 8 hours ago

I sent an email with a picture to them of the CPU and NH-D14 I got and they sent me AM4 kit for free. I bought the cooler used and use it still to this day.

[–] bl4ckp1xx13@lemmy.dbzer0.com 70 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (3 children)

I mean many modern cases have circuitry in them, such as RGB controllers or PWM fan hubs.

Let me remind you the requirements for DOOM modders to get DOOM running:

  • Circuitry (optional)
[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 18 points 10 hours ago

I vaguely remember reading that they have literal ARM cortex chips in some of the most modern case RGB controllers

If we can get to an SPI and connect some kind of display, it's conceivable that we could run DOOM, right?

[–] AnalogAllamma@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago

I feel like the military intelligence industry community conspired to introduce RGB components so that windowed PC cases would become industry standard, thus making it easier for them to power up any PC that is connected to a power source via BIOS bypassing line of sight technology.

[–] myyass@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Okay this will probably sound dumb, but has anyone ever tried to use this in tandem with a liquid cooling system?

[–] SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)
[–] kahjtheundedicated@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

No idea what he’s on about, but now I’m imagining a loop running to like four NHD-15’s bolted to the top of a case. Like using those with waterblocks mounted to them instead of normal radiators.

Why? Fuck if I know, but it’d be funny

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 1 points 17 minutes ago

All the hassle and risk of running a complicated custom loop plus all the noise of a fan based cooler?! Sign me up!

[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Noctua was expensive from the start already 😁

Fantastic fans though.

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

They're expensive, but also the only manufacturer now making high-end 80mm fans with PWM.

[–] adjectivenoun@lemmy.world 1 points 13 minutes ago

I believe Be Quiet! also sells such fans. I've been a fan of their stuff for a while, mostly because it's black (matching my color scheme) and secondly because it's cheaper.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

And awesome warranty and customer support. Plus free mounting upgrade kits if you upgrade your CPU

Edit: the upgrade service:

https://www.noctua.at/en/forms/mounting-kit

I used it once, and I received the new mounting hardware without any issues

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 23 points 12 hours ago (1 children)
[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world 6 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I am not an actual fan I am a human. But I do like their products !

[–] Klear@piefed.world 7 points 10 hours ago

Not an actual fan? This is not OnlyFans?

[–] tough_cookies@lemmy.cafe 7 points 11 hours ago

It's the only thing keeping me cool.

[–] ArfArfWoof@europe.pub 9 points 12 hours ago

hell yeah. got myself a new case, psu and a shitload of fans to prepare for my future graphics card upgrade. when the prices drop. a few years after the bubble pops.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Also peripherals like DACs, monitors and such.

[–] Sludge@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Thank God the prices of dacs and other audio gear hasn't gone crazy... Yes they're already expensive a lot of the time, but I couldn't bear to pay a 200% premium when upgrading audio gear

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

Yeah. Honestly the margins on some of that stuff is already kind of crazy.

[–] saltnotsugar@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Bought a new pc today. It’s just a case packed with fans but it looks TIGHT.