[billybob_jcv]

I said "CAD Jockeys" not "CAD Monkeys"...

And yes, I agree that CAD techs don't really exist anymore - which was part of my point. You might have the title of engineer, but someone still needs to make sure all the holes line-up and that all the required specs are on the drawing, and that's probably going to be a more junior engineer or an intern. One of the critical skills for any young mechanical or industrial engineer is to know Solidworks. If you are into electronics, then you'll probably be using ECAD tools like Cadence.

Most PC board design is based on the original reference design done by whoever owns the primary component in the design. For example, the vast majority of commodity-priced graphics cards are just minor tweaks on the reference designs from NVIDIA and AMD. A large number of commodity routers are based on the Broadcom or Atheros reference designs. I'll bet a company like XFX puts as much (maybe more) effort into the design of the box as they do the design of the board.

 

[214324]

This doesn't look very friendly at all. 

 

 

[ibob4tacoz]

This doesn't look very friendly at all. 

Gl and hf

 

[214324]

Realized I was looking at the wrong spec sheet for the PCIe connector (1.1 instead of 2.0) but it only required a 0.1mm adjustment so we're good. Progress:
 

 
I'm not exactly sure what to put in for the contact thickness since there's 0.10 and 0.05 mm on the spec sheet.

 

[214324]

Okay, had to go fix finger height of standard pins and shorten a few of the other pins to the 3.20mm length (break first, make last pins). The finger length in the 2.0 diagram doesn't match at all. Diagram shows 4.30mm (no dimensions but shows it touching the lower line) while specs say that the shorter pins (3.20mm) are 1.00mm shorter than the longer pins (so those are 4.20mm instead).
 
Contact height I might skip.

 

[DonutDeflector]

why is Microsoft ending Windows 7 support so soon!!! I USE THAT!!!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/07/10/microsoft-windows-7-mainstream-support/

 

[VXAce]

Anyone have experience with the Fractal Define R4? Thoughts? Thinking of getting a new case to move to, something quiet and simple, but still large enough to slap my ATX board and schitt ton of HDDs into.

 

[AxelCloris]

  Anyone have experience with the Fractal Define R4? Thoughts? Thinking of getting a new case to move to, something quiet and simple, but still large enough to slap my ATX board and schitt ton of HDDs into.

 
I'll be assembling a new computer with the R4 this week. Hopefully I'll get time to do it tomorrow. It definitely looks like it should be an easy case to use. Looking forward to the build.

 

[214324]

why is Microsoft ending Windows 7 support so soon!!! I USE THAT!!!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/07/10/microsoft-windows-7-mainstream-support/

EVERYBODY NEEDS TO STOP FREAKING THE FRICK OUT!
 
First off, Microsoft already listed support end dates as soon as Windows 7 was released. THIS IS NOT NEWS.
 
Also, there are 2 types of support, one called mainstream and the other I don't remember. Mainstream support is basically software optimization for hardware and such. The second support that ends in 2018 or 2020 is security patches and such, so we'll still get security patches, just not performance improvements.

 

[billybob_jcv]

Everyone that has ever called Microsoft for support on Windows 7, please raise your hand...

...right, exactly what I thought - no one.


FYI - it's Mainstream Support vs Extended Support.

From the article:

 

[214324]

Finally, somebody who found that chart.
 
Getting real tired of people over 5 forums freaking out about this.

 

[bowei006]

I love it actually. Shows and exposes the gullible and manufactured flaws of the people today.

Now, where is my popcorn

 

[214324]

Almost done! Now I need to do the I/O bracket and trace free areas. Big grey area is single slot component height restrictions btw.
 
I'm a bit worried that my spec sheets are out of date though. I have the PCI Express Card Electromechanical v2.0 spec sheet from 2007. Generally they don't change much (only the actual connector from 1.1 to 2.0) so this should still be usable for most scratch builds.

 

[214324]

Just put in the retention clip at the end of the connector (gold spot to the right). Time to move onto the I/O bracket.

 

[bowei006]

http://www.polygon.com/features/2014/7/16/5884227/cd-projekt-the-witcher-3
 
Nice article on CD Projekt Red and its company walkthrough.
 
What though

 The tour starts in the cafeteria. It's fully staffed and vegetarian only (with fish). CD Projekt's co-founder, Marcin Iwinski, is a vegetarian and so his company is, too. If you want meat or grease, you can go down the road, but Iwinski would rather provide something healthier for his employees.

 
This is a **** move though. Vegetarianism =! Healthy. It often times is healthy, but it doesn't mean it is.
 
And to many people acustom to a healthy diet of meats, it can be terrible to their digestive system. 
 
The 'alterntiave' of walking down the street is also hella stupid.