[geeks] value of PIII PC servers

[nate at portents.com]

> I was upgrading the RAM in the linux box the other day, and I
> noticed that the fan had burned up and died on this card as well.  Now,
> the
> first one I can understand, because the card was flaky to begin with and I
> did quite a bit of gaming.  But this thing shouldn't have been generating
> nearly enough heat to kill the fan.

Fan quality has just gone downhill the last 5 years.  They're all made in
China, and they're nearly all bad quality now.  Even Panaflos are made in
China now, not Japan.

Out of 40 new systems in the last eight months, over 16 have had to have
their motherboard chipset fan replaced (Asus motherboards in every one). 
Some right out of the box.

I have simply learned to not trust fans on any PC equipment at all anymore.

- Nate