The majority of PC items that are released are scrutinized to some extent, but frequently, many of them are released and discontinued with little to no debate.

However, when a product does resonate with customers, it sticks like old thermal paste, particularly if the reaction is unfavorable. Regarding PC goods, not all publicity is created equal, and because these five designs were so divisive, aficionados will never forget them.

12VHP Connector

The 12VHP is more of a standard than a product in and of itself, but it’s hard to overlook because of its tight relationship to the RTX 40 and 50 series cards. Nvidia started adopting the 12VHP connection with the 40 series in an attempt to simplify power distribution to their cards; although the standard was in place before to that, it wasn’t widely used until these cards were released.

In addition to requiring a new power connection or dongle, this was dreadfully unstable, which led to a series of disastrous failures on RTX 4090 cards soon after they were released. The most likely cause of these failures would be a little bend in the connection or a failure to firmly seat it. Although standard PCIe 6 and 8-pin power connections may and do melt, they appear to fail far less frequently when used normally. When the 5090 was released, the identical series of melting incidents would take place. With a poorly constructed connection and Nvidia operating these GPUs so close to the higher end of the 12VHP cable’s rating ,You wind up with a lot of unhappy customers and melted plastic.

GTX 970

When the GTX 970 first came out, it received a lot of good reviews. It was praised for its affordability, low temperatures, and high efficiency, but soon after its debut, Nvidia would face backlash. After consumers claimed that the cards would never surpass the 3.5GB threshold, suspicions were raised about the advertised 4GB total useable VRAM buffer. It turned out that Nvidia had been inflating the 970’s specifications, and the issue wasn’t limited to VRAM. Additionally misreported were ROPs and L2 cache, which were modified before to release.

Strong criticism followed, and eventually a class action lawsuit led to a settlement in which Nvidia agreed to pay GTX 970 buyers $30, which they said reflected the performance difference that buyers believed they would be receiving at the time of purchase.

NZXT H1

Having long been a popular brand in PC hardware, NZXT ventured into ITX small-form-factor PC boxes with their H1. It was quite compact, and in terms of total footprint, it looked more like a router than a PC case. A PCIe riser, which is necessary for cases of this size and shape, was included with the case to enable the graphics card to be placed vertically.

Regretfully, this riser—which was produced by NZXT—was defective. Furthermore, it was seriously flawed rather than only slightly flawed. The PCB was mounted to the case using a metal screw, however NZXT neglected to provide the necessary shielding on these screw holes, therefore if a user were to take the riser off and put it back on, they would wear away portions of the PCB. This might lead to a 12V short circuit to earth, which could start a fire, along with the way NZXT wired the riser itself. Although NZXT made an effort to address this problem by offering nylon screws that wouldn’t short, the case was ultimately legally recalled.

2013 Mac Pro “Trash Can”

A long-awaited update to Apple’s Pro computer series was the 2013 Mac Pro. Its black, cylindrical design earned it the unofficial nickname “trashcan” from both admirers and detractors. It had an Intel Xeon E5 processor and could be set up with up to two AMD FirePro D700s, giving it incredibly outstanding workstation capabilities. Apple’s thermal design decisions, which relied on a single fan to draw air through the top of the chassis, gave the Mac Pro its trashcan appearance.

The Mac Pro and the rest of the Pro series were horribly neglected by Apple following its release, which left them largely inactive until the next Mac Pro was released. In fact, you could buy one of these until 2019, when Apple entirely revamped it and adopted a much more traditional approach to both the device’s appearance and its upgradeability.

Intel’s Raptor Lake Architecture

The core of Intel’s 13th and 14th generation CPUs was Raptor Lake. The 13th Gen was well received when it was released, receiving praise for both its good gaming capabilities and reasonable pricing. It did have thermal difficulties, a problem that would recur throughout Raptor Lake’s existence.

Reports of customers experiencing unpredictable crashes and shutdowns under specific types of load on the K SKU of CPUs started to appear shortly after the release of the 14th Gen CPUs, which were an upgrade from the 13th Gen. What was once thought to be a problem with the GPU drivers was subsequently verified by Intel to be a CPU problem. The problem was found to be associated with the irreversible deterioration of a certain silicon component, which was made worse by heat and voltage, even though they were never recalled. Adam Conway of XDA was unable to utilize his computer when his 14th Gen i9 deteriorated to such an extent.

Not all bad designs are created equal

In most cases, a bad design decision might have a very small negative impact on the user experience. Even while items like the trashcan Mac Pro are quite innocuous, the worst designs are those that are so essentially defective that they are unable to perform as intended under typical operating conditions. I hope that these errors have been learned from, whether it’s a cheap PCIe riser or a malfunctioning component hidden deep within a silicon tile.

Disclaimer:

This article is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It highlights publicly documented issues and user-reported experiences related to specific PC hardware components. The content is not meant to defame, criticize, or mislead about any brand or product. All trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. The information presented reflects general knowledge at the time of writing and may change over time. We strive to maintain accuracy and fairness in all reporting while remaining compliant with Google AdSense content policies.