PC died......

[KelliH]

Sounds bad ass to me. I'm jealous.

 

[HappyHillbilly]

Sounds bad ass to me. I'm jealous.

Kelli summed up all of my thoughts quite well.

Being on dial-up it takes a bit for Fauna to load. When I clicked the reply notification link in my mailbox & the page started to load a drum roll started playin' in my mind, adding to the anticipation of your post. Ha! Ha!

I don't know anything about the company but I think you made good decisions on your parts.

Something really wrong inside of me just craves the latest and greatest in performance.

You know what that means, don't you? It means that you're human - perfectly normal. I'm typically frugal, and/or practical, but crave the latest/greatest tech. Oohhh, the mental torment I go through every tme I build a new system for myself or family.

The only thing that I might've done differently would've been to add a 3rd WD Velociraptor for more RAID options. But, that leads back to my previous statement of wanting versus needing. Those drives are the closest you can get to scuzzies (SCSI) without the hefty price tag. They're awesome!

You should be OK with the Vista 64-bit since it appears that the majority of your hardware is compatible with it. Whatever you do, DO NOT compare it to XP or any other OS while using it. If you approach it as a completely new OS that you're gonna have to get used to & not compare, nitpick, you will most likely be fine.


As for VM wanting to wipe your HD, yeah, that's par for the course with too many PC techs. It's so much easier for techs to wipe a HD clean & start from scratch. That's the very last thing that I do or recommend. I generally lose money spending more time sifting through everything looking for the problem. But, sometimes wiping it clean is a necessary evil. I'd stick to my guns of not letting 'em wipe it clean, for now, at least. If this was the first time you've had problems with it it'd be a whole different story.

Glad you got some of the monkeys off your back. Keep us posted on the VM & I'm anxious to see what you think about the SSDs. I'm anxious to test 'em but it will be awhile before I get a chance to.

Catch ya later!
Mike

 

[WebSlave]

I might have spoken too soon.....

After filling out the order form on their website, I had to fax in a signed credit card authorization form for payment. They apparently lost the first one, so I had to do that again. Now they are saying that my physical address is not listed on the credit card (I have my billing address at my post office box), and are balking at that. Hell, I have had that credit card since 1993 and purchased literally a thousand or more items using it in that fashion.

This crap is beginning to really piss me off. What is with businesses wanting to make a potential customer jump through hoops just so they can have the privilege of doing business with them?

So, apparenlty I'm back to the drawing board. Or maybe something is just trying to tell me to quit this computer crap altogether. Certainly the signs are all pointing in that direction. All I need now is for this older system of mine to crap out on me. Going to be one hell of a mess of computer parts down there on my shooting range, I suppose..........

 

[HappyHillbilly]

Send 'em a picture of you wearing a cat burglar's mask, holding your credit card so it's legible, while standing next to your house number (physical address).

It's not uncommon for companies to question PO Box versus physical address but it sounds like they're going to the extreme. I'd tell e'm to to figure out how to accept your money if they want it, or else you''l go somewhere else.

Heck, I had less hassle having something shipped to a different address (to my mom, in another state).

I know it's a pain but you should be able to get your credit card company to add your physical address to verification records.

And the saga continues............

Catch ya later, Lucky!
Mike

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

well that's because these financial institutions went and got themselves into a bind by loaning out money without checking people's backgrounds. Then they found out the government may not be able to bail them out. So now they're going to take all the precautions that they should have been taking in the first place.

It's better, they are cautious and check you out rather than accepting any card without checking and have it be a stolen card.

 

[WebSlave]

well that's because these financial institutions went and got themselves into a bind by loaning out money without checking people's backgrounds. Then they found out the government may not be able to bail them out. So now they're going to take all the precautions that they should have been taking in the first place.

It's better, they are cautious and check you out rather than accepting any card without checking and have it be a stolen card.

I believe in my case, this is a policy of the company I was trying to buy from, and not the bank at all. It got to the point where I started thinking that if trying to place the order and get that system shipped to me was being so darn tough, what was it going to be like if I had to get warranty service done on it in case of a failure?

I'm REAL big on omens lately, and they were all being red flags thrown onto the field.

Newegg has a CyberPower unit that looks pretty decent, for a stock off the shelf PC. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229071

Doesn't have all the options I want, but the base case, mb, processor, RAM would be what I would order anyway. I'll see if they will do a few upgrades inhouse. Otherwise I can add the few options I would want after I get it if I want to. From what I have seen, Newegg is good to deal with. And I have purchased from them before without any associated crap concerning the credit card.

Man, this is all just wearing me out.......

 

[Southern Wolf]

I order ALL my parts from www.newegg.com and have for the last 5+ years. I normally build a new computer every 2 years or so.... and its about time for me to do it again

You cant go wrong with newegg.

 

[WebSlave]

I wouldn't mind building my own one of these days, but time is a real issue, especially now. Heck, I'm not even sure I will have the time to unpack a new computer and wring it out right now.

Been reading about CyberPower and they don't seem to have a good reputation. I've asked Newegg about who the warranty is covered by on that system they are offering, but no response yet. They did get back to me to tell me that they don't offer upgrades on those systems, so that leads me to believe they are probably just drop shipped from the manufacturer.

Heck, I even emailed a local outfit in Tallahassee claiming to do custom PCs last night. Have I heard back from them? No...... For everyone talking about the economy being bad, I sure don't see many people scrambling trying to get business. Maybe everyone is hoping for a bailout, so why bother? Heck, where do I sign up for a bailout? I would love to be able to just chuck everything and sit on my porch watching the grass grow and pick up a fat bailout check for not bothering taking care of my business...
Man, I'm going about this ALL WRONG.........

 

[Southern Wolf]

I can understand the time constraints....

I have found the most time consuming part is loading all the software... I can normally build one in a couple hours... but installing and updating the software.... well there is a whole nuther ball of wax right there.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

Maybe everyone is hoping for a bailout, so why bother? Heck, where do I sign up for a bailout? I would love to be able to just chuck everything and sit on my porch watching the grass grow and pick up a fat bailout check for not bothering taking care of my business...
Man, I'm going about this ALL WRONG.........

It does look that way at times, don't it.

I just dropped one of my best CC's due to them changing rates on my FIXED rate card. They said their reason was the economy. (economy. That's short for, "we're stupid") So they tripled the rate. I said "see ya". I just ain't a gonna play. I'll give my money to the people who want to work with me.

Well, I hope you get it all worked out. So many obstacles has to be getting pretty annoying by now.

 

[WebSlave]

Heck, I REALLY don't know what to do at this point. Velocity Micro has replaced the memory and upgraded it to a different model and manufacturer. Also replaced both RAM modules... Still beating up on it to see if any other problems show up.

Sent emails to two local computer shops about building me a custom system and never heard back from either of them.

With the online custom builders, it appears there is at least one stumbling block issue with every one of them.

Probably best to just go live in a cave somewhere for a while....

 

[HappyHillbilly]

Velocity Micro has replaced the memory and upgraded it to a different model and manufacturer. Also replaced both RAM modules... Still beating up on it to see if any other problems show up.

So, VM said the RAM in your PC was bad?

Sent emails to two local computer shops about building me a custom system and never heard back from either of them.

I called a pretty big outfit over a week ago to get prices on hats for our Little League baseball teams. They called back yesterday. Didn't you say something earlier about omens?

I haven't had time to look at that particular CyberPower PC, but I remember that in general they were considered "fair" at best. They've had some good ones but appear to have trouble staying in the game.

Did you give up on that one PC mfg with the credit card physical address vs PO box hassle?

Bailouts - I just got this in my e-mail yesterday:

BAIL EM OUT! ????

"Heck, back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it.

They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey!"

Hang in there! Better times are only years away.

 

[WebSlave]

I've had head banging involved with every company I have taken a look at over one thing or another. I'm thinking that maybe AVAdirect (the one I had the physical address/p.o. box issue with) is the better of the bunch. The only issue I really had with them is I had finally reached the end of my rope and finally just snapped......... I mean they had a signed authorization from me, and talked to me on the phone several times. It would be a simple matter to match up the phone number with my physical address to verify it. I mean, COME ON! It's one thing to be cautious about things, but why throw a bunch of roadblocks in the front of a customer? But I did call my credit card company and got that address thing straightened out. Just haven't quite decided to eat crow yet and contact them again.

As for the memory cards, here's the message I got from the tech on 02/25..

Here is what happened as of yesterday. Your current memory sticks ran memtest for 2hrs 18min before it locked up. At that point, I decided to replace both of your memory sticks. I replaced them with a newer version of the corsair ddr3 1333mhz memory. Then I started running memtest again and as of this morning, memtest is still running and has been with both modules installed for 18+hrs without any failures or hiccups. I will let it continue testing throughout the rest of the day just to be sure. I do not have an official list of compatible memory for this board from evga, but I have sent a request off to my contacts to see if I can get this. I have no doubt though that our memory is compatible with the 790i FTW board.

Haven't heard any status from VM about my computer after that, so I don't know what is going on at this point.

I kind of wish I had the time to build my own system. Probably would be fun in a masochistic sort of way.....

 

[HappyHillbilly]

Sounds like VM may finally be lookin' that thing over like they should've to begin with. Yeah, reformatting the hard drive like they first wanted to would've really fixed the RAM issue, huh?

How long after you got it back that last time was it before it started actin' up? Didn't they replace or upgrade the RAM that last time? As many times as you've had to ship that thing back and the e-mail & reviews you've given about it, they're probably making dang sure that thing is right this time. I know I would be.

Unless you could really use another high-tech PC I'd probably wait it out - wait to get your VM back. I know you're leery about it, and I probably would be, too, but you should have it back about the same time it would take to get a new one delivered to your door.

I kind of wish I had the time to build my own system. Probably would be fun in a masochistic sort of way.....

Yeah, when you "have time," do it - you'll enjoy it. But to build one when you're in need of one, and with everything else you've got hangin' over your head, "Nuh-uh!"

Catch ya later!
Mike

 

[WebSlave]

Well, if I were expecting to get a 100 percent working system back from VM, waiting it out would most certainly be the best thing to do. But unfortunately, I'm not that optimistic any longer. So do I get a new system in the pipeline now, or wait till the VM system comes back, falls on it's face yet again, and THEN order one?

Actually I could use two high end systems around here. When working with video files, it pretty much ties up the entire system pretty much, since I don't want to chance corrupting a video file by doing much else. So having a secondary system (this one I am on now is just too slow to take seriously any longer...), would help in that I could be doing something else at that time. Not that I want to spend that kind of money right now, but with the potential of losing data that is spread across this old system and that VM system, I'm just not comfortable risking that sort of loss. Yeah, I have backups, but you rarely test backups until you REALLY REALLY need them. And if you find out that aren't any good, you are pretty much up the creek without a paddle.

This old system I'm using now just is not going to run forever, so I had better get cracking backing things up to another system. I sure would hate for it to die right when I am finishing up my taxes and suddenly find EVERYTHING went down the hopper on me.

 

[HappyHillbilly]

I can understand your concerns about your VM system. As far as I'm concerned, you're definitely justified to be concerned.

I wish I knew enough about AVAdirect to give you some kind of suggestion or recommendation. Had you asked me about a VM system before buying the one you did I probably would've given it decent marks. I still feel like your VM system isn't par for the course for the company's reputation, but it goes to show the 'ol Ford/Chevy debate. Sometimes you get a good one & sometimes you don't. I'm still a hardcore Ford man, though.

I'll try to dig up some info, reviews, etc, on AVAdirect and give you the links to let you decide for yourself. Check out some of the big gamers forums for some input/info. I'm sure you've already looked around some, at least, but keep digging.


Not to get too far off topic but I meant to say something about Richard's (crotalusadamanteus) comments earlier about his CC company raising interest rates. I've seen some really silly moves by people/companies that go to show why they're in the financial hardship they're in.

Our local Little League voted to increase registration fees by $10 this year, PLUS, eliminate the $15 price break for families having 2 or more kids playing. I raised quite a fuss and informed them that this definitely wasn't the year to be doing that. Me & one other self-employed person voted against it while all the cushioned-job holders voted for it. I was fit to be tied. I told 'em that I was NOT going to charge my community that much, and I haven't. I told my parents that the league price is $$, pay what you can. We had a better turnout than the other communities and still got enough money to pay for uniforms & expenses. Some people just don't get it.

OK, sorry 'bout that! Back on topic.........

Later!
Mike

 

[WebSlave]

Well, I got back in touch with AVADirect. They just seem to have the best selection of options for a system. I'm thinking about going with a SSD for Drive C, and going SAS instead of SATA with the data drive (two 300gb 15K rpm Fujitsu drives in RAID 0). I've always been a big fan of SCSI, and I believe SAS just works better with streaming video than SATA does. I didn't realize that SAS had taken the place of SCSI, and rarely see it offered on custom systems, so I never thought much about it.

Still no word out of Velocity Micro about my system. Last I heard they swapped out the RAM modules and were testing it, then nothing...... Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but do you think people just go out of their way to piss me off?

 

[HappyHillbilly]

I didn't realize that SAS had taken the place of SCSI, and rarely see it offered on custom systems, so I never thought much about it.

You $ee why, now, don't ya? $$$$ Nice move, though!

Go on & order me one like you're getting - I'll put the check in the mail somtime this year........., or next.

Yeah, SAS has been around on servers for about 3 years or so but today's price doesn't reflect it. Don't look for it to anytime soon, either. Even traditional scuzzies have held their price pretty good but has dropped some.

...do you think people just go out of their way to piss me off?

Uhh........, take a look at your avatar and ask that question again.

At least it sounds like..........; nah, I'd better not say it. I'm sure Murphy is reading this.

Hang in there, Lucky!
Mike

 

[WebSlave]

Well, last week I ordered a system through AVAdirect. Here's what I ordered:

• INTEL, Core™ i7-965 Extreme Quad-Core, 3.2GHz, LGA1366, 6400 MT/s QPI, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm, 130W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
• THERMALRIGHT, Ultra-120 eXtreme 1366 RT CPU Cooler, Socket 1366, Aluminum
• ARCTIC COOLING, MX-2 High-Performance Thermal Compound, Non-Electrical Conductive
• ASUS, Rampage II Extreme, LGA1366, Intel® X58, 6400 MT/s QPI, DDR3-1800MHz (O.C.) 12GB /6, PCIe x16 SLI CF /3, SATA 3 Gb/s RAID 5 /7, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW /2, ATX, Retail
• CORSAIR, 12GB (6 x 2GB) Dominator XMP PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz CL9 (8-8-8-24) 1.65V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
• eVGA, GeForce® GTX 295 576MHz, 1792MB GDDR3 1998MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDMI, Retail
• OCZ, 250GB Apex Series SSD, MLC, 230/160 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 3 Gb/s, Retail
• WESTERN DIGITAL, 1TB WD Caviar® Black™ (WD1001FALS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB Cache
• RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
• SEAGATE, 300GB Cheetah 15K.6, SAS, 15K RPM, 16MB Cache, 3.5-Inch
• SEAGATE, 300GB Cheetah 15K.6, SAS, 15K RPM, 16MB Cache, 3.5-Inch
• RAID, RAID 0 (striping), min 2 hard drives required
• HIGHPOINT, RocketRAID 2640x4 SAS/SATA 3 Gb/s RAID Controller, 4-port, Levels 0/1/5/10, PCIe x4, Full-height/Low-profile, Retail
• SABRENT, CRW-UINB Black 65-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB
• LG ELECTRONICS, GGW-H20L Black 6x/8x/24x BD/DVD±RW/CD-RW Blu-ray Disc™ Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, Retail
• COOLER MASTER, HAF 932 (RC-932-KKN1-GP) Black Tower Case, EATX, No PSU, Steel
• CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
• THERMALTAKE, Toughpower, 80 PLUS®, 1000W Power Supply w/ Modularized Cable Management, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Quad +12V, Quad SLI Ready
• MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM
• SERVICE, Use Name from Billing Address as OS Login
• SERVICE, OEM System Recovery (bootable CD/DVD only)
• SERVICE, AVADirect System Binder
• CUSTOM GAMING PC, Platinum Warranty Package (5 Year Limited Parts & Lifetime Labor Warranty, Express/Priority Service)
• SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)

Drive C will be the SSD.
Drive D will be the two Seagate SAS drives in RAID 0.
Drive E will be the 1TB Caviar drive

They are estimating 3.5 weeks before it will be built and shipped.

In the meant time, the Velocity Micro system came home with a new motherboard and new RAM modules. For some reason the system is running the processors now at 3.0 ghz whereas they used to be running at 2.93 ghz, so not sure what happened. But Murphy's Law finally struck and shipping damage resulted with this trip. The hard drive bay came loose one one end and bent up the case and the mounting panel on the bottom. So far everything seems to be working after I put a few cable ends back in place. But still I'm pretty aggitated about it. I've hereby named this system as "Jonah". Basically just been running diagnostics and stress tests since it got here. Ran MEMTEST for 25 hours straight without any problems. And the hard drive exercisers and video card stress tests are passing as well. I dunno, maybe they finally fixed it. For now, anyway. But I'm not cancelling my new system. It's going to be a LONG time before I trust that VM box at all... I really don't need two high end computers here, but I really do need one RELIABLE one, so I'm covering my bases.

Maybe I can get my taxes finished up before April 15th after all....

 

[bradleymoore]

and i remember being so excited when we got our 286 w/ 2mb ram.