Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: dedalos on January 22, 2010, 04:10:02 PM
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I am getting a new PC. So, given that it will most likely come with windows 7 what is a good configuration? I am not talking minimums. Something that will let me use hi-resolution with the sliders all the way up (if possible).
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Check your PMs.
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Some specifications of the system are essential to determine what might work best for you. Here's a starter list:
CPU/Processor type and speed:
Memory type and speed:
Video type (onboard or video card):
Video Card name/model (if you have a video card):
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Dell XPS 9000 this config is around $1300 I think. (I got a good deal because the last one they sent had to be returned...XPS 8000...long story)
anywho...this has all the guts in it that their alienware systems do..but not the stupid looking case...and about $600 less.
ZetaNine........now flying at HyperSuck Speed!!
(http://i.dell.com/images/global/products/desktop-studio-xps/desktop-studio-xps-highlights/desktop-studio-xps-9000-design4.jpg) (http://3dvision-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ati-radeon-hd-5870.jpg)
Dell XPS 9000
1 317-0067 Studio XPS 9000, Intel Core i7-920 processor (8MB L3 Cache 2.66GHz)
1 317-0079 9GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz1 330-3828
1 320-7832 Dell 21.5 inch S2209W Full HD Widescreen Monitor
1 320-8404 ATI Radeon HD 5870
1 341-8518 750GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
1 421-1603 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-1412 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback
1 313-8919 Dual Drives - DVD with DVDRW
1 313-7186 Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
1 313-4514 No Speaker Requested
1 430-0682 Dell 1525 WLAN PCIe card with11n mini-Card & external antenna
1 461-8389 No Virus Protection Requested
2 Year Limited Warranty
upgrade to the vid card I got...and tell them to keep the monitor...should come in at about $1300-$1400
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/desktop-studio-xps-9000/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-studio-xps-9000&s=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~performance-deals_anav_03~~
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Uhm... I'll be the first to say it, apparently. "Like ZetaNine, you too can be on your third system from Dell in 3 months...."
Seriously, build it yourself or get a system from a good builder - folks here seem to like TilDeath (who is very very knowledgeable).
<S>
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Dell XPS 9000 this config is around $1300 I think. (I got a good deal because the last one they sent had to be returned...XPS 8000...long story)
anywho...this has all the guts in it that their alienware systems do..but not the stupid looking case...and about $600 less.
ZetaNine........now flying at HyperSuck Speed!!
(http://i.dell.com/images/global/products/desktop-studio-xps/desktop-studio-xps-highlights/desktop-studio-xps-9000-design4.jpg) (http://3dvision-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ati-radeon-hd-5870.jpg)
Dell XPS 9000
1 317-0067 Studio XPS 9000, Intel Core i7-920 processor (8MB L3 Cache 2.66GHz)
1 317-0079 9GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz1 330-3828
1 320-7832 Dell 21.5 inch S2209W Full HD Widescreen Monitor
1 320-8404 ATI Radeon HD 5870
1 341-8518 750GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
1 421-1603 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-1412 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback
1 313-8919 Dual Drives - DVD with DVDRW
1 313-7186 Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
1 313-4514 No Speaker Requested
1 430-0682 Dell 1525 WLAN PCIe card with11n mini-Card & external antenna
1 461-8389 No Virus Protection Requested
2 Year Limited Warranty
upgrade to the vid card I got...and tell them to keep the monitor...should come in at about $1300-$1400
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/desktop-studio-xps-9000/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-studio-xps-9000&s=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~performance-deals_anav_03~~
That's the computer my company replaced my old gaming station with here at work, except I got the one with the Nvidia card instead of the ATI card.
ack-ack
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Uhm... I'll be the first to say it, apparently. "Like ZetaNine, you too can be on your third system from Dell in 3 months...."
Oh STOP exaggerating ........get it right. four months.....my third system in four months :lol
seriously though...
I sent the first one back because the version of vista I had would not load 7...and at the point of sale they told me it would...so off it went......the replacement.....just got here three weeks ago......XPS 8000 ...and it was DOA because of a bad video card... (the Nvidia GT220). it actually created ancillary damage...so I sent that back as well. thus how I got a very good deal on the new XPS 9000.
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Build your own or talk to TD. Lots of people use TD, building your own is fun as well!
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Thank you
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Wow, I misread that post again.... I thought you had a computer on the way and wanted suggestions for software configurations so you could run it top-speed. My apologies.
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That's a sweet looking Dell. I'd like to know the PS make and model and the MB specs.
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Dell XPS 9000 this config is around $1300 I think. (I got a good deal because the last one they sent had to be returned...XPS 8000...long story)
anywho...this has all the guts in it that their alienware systems do..but not the stupid looking case...and about $600 less.
ZetaNine........now flying at HyperSuck Speed!!
(http://i.dell.com/images/global/products/desktop-studio-xps/desktop-studio-xps-highlights/desktop-studio-xps-9000-design4.jpg) (http://3dvision-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ati-radeon-hd-5870.jpg)
Dell XPS 9000Not a bad system but the warranty stinks. 2 Years ? Well most memory makers back their memory lifetime, most mother boards again lifetime, WD enterprise drives 5 years, Intel processor 3 years, Graphics cards 3 years to lifetime. Have a problem with the system, talk to someone that is reading a screen, most likely never even had their hands most of the systems they "support". Try asking them about the setting for AH. It seems like a nice system but from your previous post about cost and whats included, you paid to much. I compaired a Dell with a system shipped a few days ago... they charged 650 hundred more.
My buc two fifty.
TD
1 317-0067 Studio XPS 9000, Intel Core i7-920 processor (8MB L3 Cache 2.66GHz)
1 317-0079 9GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz1 330-3828
1 320-7832 Dell 21.5 inch S2209W Full HD Widescreen Monitor
1 320-8404 ATI Radeon HD 5870
1 341-8518 750GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
1 421-1603 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-1412 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback
1 313-8919 Dual Drives - DVD with DVDRW
1 313-7186 Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
1 313-4514 No Speaker Requested
1 430-0682 Dell 1525 WLAN PCIe card with11n mini-Card & external antenna
1 461-8389 No Virus Protection Requested
2 Year Limited Warranty
upgrade to the vid card I got...and tell them to keep the monitor...should come in at about $1300-$1400
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/desktop-studio-xps-9000/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-studio-xps-9000&s=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~performance-deals_anav_03~~
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""...Dell XPS 9000Not a bad system but the warranty stinks. 2 Years ? Well most memory makers back their memory lifetime, most mother boards again lifetime, WD enterprise drives 5 years, Intel processor 3 years, Graphics cards 3 years to lifetime. Have a problem with the system, talk to someone that is reading a screen, most likely never even had their hands most of the systems they "support". Try asking them about the setting for AH. It seems like a nice system but from your previous post about cost and whats included, you paid to much. I compared a Dell with a system shipped a few days ago... they charged 650 hundred more...""
I absolutely concur with all of that TD. Dell makes big money on warranties ... thus the reason they don't extend the manufacturers warranties...at least that's my take. because this was my third system....in four months...I got it for a song... I ordered what equates to roughly $1500 worth of stuff for the final price of $785.00 plus tax....so I feel good about what I got for the money...and I plan on extending the warranty..but being a long time customer..I know that if I wait 6 months..they will call and offer the same warranty for fifty cents on the dollar. ;) ...at least...they used to do that. their phone/tech support? agreed. it sux on ice.
ps...the only thing I was bummed about was they don't offer what I saw you do...relating to power supply...I wanted a 750..got a 500.
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they gave it to you for 785$ but are you counting what you spent on the prior 3? seems like your payin more then the thing is worth. just my take on it.
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""...Dell XPS 9000Not a bad system but the warranty stinks. 2 Years ? Well most memory makers back their memory lifetime, most mother boards again lifetime, WD enterprise drives 5 years, Intel processor 3 years, Graphics cards 3 years to lifetime. Have a problem with the system, talk to someone that is reading a screen, most likely never even had their hands most of the systems they "support". Try asking them about the setting for AH. It seems like a nice system but from your previous post about cost and whats included, you paid to much. I compared a Dell with a system shipped a few days ago... they charged 650 hundred more...""
I absolutely concur with all of that TD. Dell makes big money on warranties ... thus the reason they don't extend the manufacturers warranties...at least that's my take. because this was my third system....in four months...I got it for a song... I ordered what equates to roughly $1500 worth of stuff for the final price of $785.00 plus tax....so I feel good about what I got for the money...and I plan on extending the warranty..but being a long time customer..I know that if I wait 6 months..they will call and offer the same warranty for fifty cents on the dollar. ;) ...at least...they used to do that. their phone/tech support? agreed. it sux on ice.
ps...the only thing I was bummed about was they don't offer what I saw you do...relating to power supply...I wanted a 750..got a 500.
I bet you their support is better than hp's, chatted with them and explained my problem, they not only 1: told me to do something I have already tried, but 2: just re-phrased the problem I had described and told me what was wrong, and also 3: could not really understand anything past their guidebooks.
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Considering they pay pennies on the dollar from there suppliers sense they mass purchase there parts, at $785 they still made a bundle, there's a bunch of AHer's that build PC's.
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they gave it to you for 785$ but are you counting what you spent on the prior 3? seems like your payin more then the thing is worth. just my take on it.
this will be my third in 4 months, so it's a prior two...and those two were credited in full once returned. the ONLY cost was me paying UPS $10 each time to pick them up at my home because my old *** is too lazy to drive them to a UPS store. ;)
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Considering they pay pennies on the dollar from there suppliers sense they mass purchase there parts, at $785 they still made a bundle, there's a bunch of AHer's that build PC's.
I'm ok with that. happy enough with my deal that if they made good jack...I'm OK. afterall...we're not communists here.
AHer's who build systems. NOW I know. I never came into this forum before...and originally came in here just to check on what people were saying...if anything...about my video card.
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I'm ok with that. happy enough with my deal that if they made good jack...I'm OK. afterall...we're not communists here.
AHer's who build systems. NOW I know. I never came into this forum before...and originally came in here just to check on what people were saying...if anything...about my video card.
You will love, and you will utterly hate that graphics card as of right now. The card is SWEET, but the drivers are still buggy and have quite a few problems, I can't use a wirbelwinds cannons with weapon effects on with that card, but my 8800GTS didnt have much of a problem with it.
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I was looking at the pic of your card and it looks like its a AMD based card ( i can see the AMD logo) with a ATI logo going into a Intel board with Intel CPU is there going to be any conflics as far as the mixing of Intel and AMD?? on performance, i always thought AMD worked closer with Nvidia. :headscratch:
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I run intel and an AMD GFX card...no conflicts at all...
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I was looking at the pic of your card and it looks like its a AMD based card ( i can see the AMD logo) with a ATI logo going into a Intel board with Intel CPU is there going to be any conflics as far as the mixing of Intel and AMD?? on performance, i always thought AMD worked closer with Nvidia. :headscratch:
No, Intel chipsets and ATI cards work fine together. If there's any pairing "rules" you want to stick to these days, it's to pair NVidia chipsets with NVidia cards, if you have intentions of doing SLI.
<S>
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No, Intel chipsets and ATI cards work fine together. If there's any pairing "rules" you want to stick to these days, it's to pair NVidia chipsets with NVidia cards, if you have intentions of doing SLI.
<S>
On Friday (about 5 mins before FSO launch - sigh), my graphics card crapped out taking the primary PCIe-16 slot on my motherboard with it (actually - it could have been the other way around). Anyway, long and short of it was I spent Saturday morning making an unexpected trip to the local toy store (AKA Fry's).
After a few false starts due the rushed need to get back up and running and lack of the usual research, I ended up with:
Core i7 860 ($280)
Asus P7P55D Pro Motherboard ($180)
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 ($140)
XFX 5850 Black Edition ($355)
WD Caviar 1TB Disk ($109)
Win 7 Home Premium Upgrade ($119)
Total $1183
Those prices are more less on a par with NewEgg which is usually about as cheap as I can find, so I'm thinking ZetaNine's price for the Dell is not that bad given they are throwing in more memory, a better graphics card, case, dvd drives, fans, monitor etc etc. Plus he doesn't have a bunch of skinned knuckles now.
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good stuff man........let us know how it's working. it sounds sweet.
I cannot help but wonder how my system is going to respond to aces high...my headset and my stick... I keep having this fear something is not going to gel...drivers...hardware...I dunno. I think I'm more freaked about the 64 bit thing that he W7 thing. I guess I'll know in a few weeks. I saved my aces high settings backup...which is now going on three months old. (and from a machine with an XP OS) I assume that's Ok to load once I DL aces high, yes?
I also assume I load my stick and headphone drivers BEFORE I load Aces High, so the game detects them on set-up, yes? it's been a LOOOOOOOONG time since I did this...and if feels like forever since I jumped into aces high. I know it will all come back to me in 30 minutes...but sitting here right now typing this...I honestly cannot recall how to start a freakin GV and get it into gear. lol
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^ W7 runs great w/AH and 64 bit.
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good to hear.
the two weeks I had it temporarily on vista......I was having to reinstall CH fighterstick and headset drivers almost every day.
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Even a Dell with great hardware .....still has a Dell Bios . That in itself would be a deal breaker . Not only does it make upgrading a nightmare ... it keeps you from getting the most out of the hardware you paid for. Does dell still run their own bios on the video cards they install too? I remember trouble shooting a 9800 pro awhile back and discovering how different a Dell 9800 was from a retail 9800.
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Even a Dell with great hardware .....still has a Dell Bios . That in itself would be a deal breaker . Not only does it make upgrading a nightmare ... it keeps you from getting the most out of the hardware you paid for. Does dell still run their own bios on the video cards they install too? I remember trouble shooting a 9800 pro awhile back and discovering how different a Dell 9800 was from a retail 9800.
everything things proprietary with them.......so I would imagine the answer is yes.
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Cruddy BIOS is definitely one of the downsides of Dell. Not really an issue unless you plan to overclock though.
I wouldn't worry about the Windows 7 thing. I was running final 64 bit release candidate on my old machine for about 6 months with no problems using a combination of CH and Saitek gear.
New machine is up and running. Haven't had a chance to start OC'ing it yet to set what it'll really do, but on stock settings everything is ticking along nicely. Only issue I've had so far was needing to do a BIOS update on the motherboard to get my iPhone to sync with iTunes - apparently its a well known problem with the P55 chipset.
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TD I find your comment to be the height of hypocrisy since you don't actually offer any warranty at all on your systems that I'm aware of.
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I can't say for certain yet I believe he honors the manufacturer's warranty and will replace the broken hardware.
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TD I find your comment to be the height of hypocrisy since you don't actually offer any warranty at all on your systems that I'm aware of.
LOL...should probably let TD handle this himself but hopefully he has enough self respect not to get in the gutter with you...I'm guessing you never bothered to ask him about the warranties...might have been better than displaying the severe hoof in mouth syndrome.
Now TD goes beyond what I would, and even I either keep the receipts/warranty info or give them to my customers and tell them what the warranties are...if there is a problem before the warranty expires, I deal with getting the replacement parts...just looking at all of the people who have made any mention of his systems and service, I doubt there has been any real problems like you would get trying to talk to some make believe tech support in Costa Rica or India named John.
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TD I find your comment to be the height of hypocrisy since you don't actually offer any warranty at all on your systems that I'm aware of.
Maybe he doesn't offer a warranty himself, but he goes pretty far as to make sure a computer that has any of his components in it is working properly. I got a processor and case from him, and when I had a problem he spent a good 2 or 3 hours on the phone with my stupid arse tryin to figure out the problem.
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LOL...should probably let TD handle this himself but hopefully he has enough self respect not to get in the gutter with you...I'm guessing you never bothered to ask him about the warranties...might have been better than displaying the severe hoof in mouth syndrome.
Now TD goes beyond what I would, and even I either keep the receipts/warranty info or give them to my customers and tell them what the warranties are...if there is a problem before the warranty expires, I deal with getting the replacement parts...just looking at all of the people who have made any mention of his systems and service, I doubt there has been any real problems like you would get trying to talk to some make believe tech support in Costa Rica or India named John.
:aok
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TD I find your comment to be the height of hypocrisy since you don't actually offer any warranty at all on your systems that I'm aware of.
I offer the manufactures warranty. Memory Lifetime, Enterprise hard drives 5 years, PSU's 3 to 5 years. Motherboards 3 years to lifetime and I warranty my build for 1 year. So please do not comment on things you have no clue about.
[EDIT]
I give a lot to the AH community and its players with my time, free parts to guys who cannot afford parts to make the game run, troubleshooting systems in which I didn't even sell a single part at no charge but still get on the on the phone for hours to try and help, or the numerous emails asking questions about upgrades etc. Or the person who scraped for months on end or longer and needed me to spec out a system he/she would build because they could not afford my build fee again not making a penny but doing it to help someone out.
So please, until you actually have real firsthand knowledge of my business dealings, refrain from comments.
TD
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As of the last time I checked (your website appears to be down currently) you offered no written warranty of any kind. Since you operate as a custom builder consumer end user warranties technically don't apply. Feel free to post a link or copy of your actual written warranty here and I'll certainly comment. As for Lew's issues you know the reality, a happy customer might tell 1 person but an unhappy one will tell a hundred. Simply consider me one of the hundred or more...
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As of the last time I checked (your website appears to be down currently) you offered no written warranty of any kind. Since you operate as a custom builder consumer end user warranties technically don't apply. Feel free to post a link or copy of your actual written warranty here and I'll certainly comment. As for Lew's issues you know the reality, a happy customer might tell 1 person but an unhappy one will tell a hundred. Simply consider me one of the hundred or more...
Yes the site is down with a note since I am heading to Haiti to volunteer for 4 months there on Monday. But what you did not mention about the site being down are the instructions about emailing warranty@tdcomputersystems.com. For all that have had warrany work done by me I do not need to prove myself to anyone least of all all you Sir
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TilDeath,
Enjoy your time with your family as you get ready to leave, ignore Humble as he, obviously, still has an axe to grind.
I salute your upcoming efforts, keep your nose clean over there too!
Strip
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Yes the site is down with a note since I am heading to Haiti to volunteer for 4 months there on Monday. But what you did not mention about the site being down are the instructions about emailing warranty@tdcomputersystems.com. For all that have had warrany work done by me I do not need to prove myself to anyone least of all all you Sir
4 Months? A Big :salute to you, sir! If that dosen't show that you actually care about people and their hardships then I don't know what does! humble, maybe you should try to stick to your BBS name, you don't own or have stock in TD computers, so you have no right to be nitpicking or degrading them.
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:salute TD see you soon.
semp
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Simply consider me one of the hundred or more...
I think you're outnumbered here...
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Humble, I don't know what got your pickle this time. First it was the Airbus vs. Boeing argument, now you're convinced TilDeath is out to make a quick buck.
In your own statement you acknowledged that TilDeath has the resources to honor manufacturer warranties. You are correct in that they cannot be transferred, yet TilDeath can exchange the broken equipment for another piece of hardware in-stock, then send the broken hardware to the manufacturer to get it replaced.
You know he has the ability to make warranties, and you know how easy it is to make a quick swap with customers. For whatever reason you simply find it fit to flame another respectable member of the community.
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I offer the manufactures warranty. Memory Lifetime, Enterprise hard drives 5 years, PSU's 3 to 5 years. Motherboards 3 years to lifetime and I warranty my build for 1 year. So please do not comment on things you have no clue about.
[EDIT]
I give a lot to the AH community and its players with my time, free parts to guys who cannot afford parts to make the game run, troubleshooting systems in which I didn't even sell a single part at no charge but still get on the on the phone for hours to try and help, or the numerous emails asking questions about upgrades etc. Or the person who scraped for months on end or longer and needed me to spec out a system he/she would build because they could not afford my build fee again not making a penny but doing it to help someone out.
So please, until you actually have real firsthand knowledge of my business dealings, refrain from comments.
TD
Very cool . I know how tough it can be helping people over the phone ..... Takes forever . Stay safe in Haiti <S>
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See Rule #4
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Humble, I don't know what got your pickle this time. First it was the Airbus vs. Boeing argument, now you're convinced TilDeath is out to make a quick buck.
In your own statement you acknowledged that TilDeath has the resources to honor manufacturer warranties. You are correct in that they cannot be transferred, yet TilDeath can exchange the broken equipment for another piece of hardware in-stock, then send the broken hardware to the manufacturer to get it replaced.
You know he has the ability to make warranties, and you know how easy it is to make a quick swap with customers. For whatever reason you simply find it fit to flame another respectable member of the community.
My comment was specific to the warranty issue, here is TD's comment....
Not a bad system but the warranty stinks. 2 Years ?
I am unaware of any written warranty provided my TD. He quotes the end user warranty given by each vendor. Please call Intel and tell them your considering having a 3rd party build out your system and ask them if the 3 yr "box warranty" on the CPU is in effect. They will tell you that in the event it fails you need to contact the builder. To the best of my knowledge this is the same on all components when a 3rd party builds the system. TD made this comment not me so all I'm doing is asking exactly what his warranty is. I am unaware of ANY major manufacturer that honors an end user warranty for a system built by a 3rd party system builder. Thats why everyone from Alienware to Digital Storm Storm offers a clearly defined warranty policy.
As a comparision here is the website for Digital Storm, IMO easily the best custom builder in the country today...
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/ (http://www.digitalstormonline.com/)
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My comment was specific to the warranty issue, here is TD's comment....
Not a bad system but the warranty stinks. 2 Years ?
As a comparision here is the website for Digital Storm, IMO easily the best custom builder in the country today...
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/ (http://www.digitalstormonline.com/)
yet, I and lots of other people still trust TD. try calling digital storm see if they can help you on stuff that you dont buy from them. actually e-mail or call anybody else. Actually call any manufacturer see if they're as easy or eager to assist you. I have called td several times, he always answer the phone and he never started by asking me for my product information to verify if my warranty was still valid. but to give digital storm the benefit of the doubt I'll call tomorrow and ask them to help me trouble shoot my system. I build this system with parts from TD and newegg and for some reason it wont connect to the network sometimes, not sure why. Cant call TD since he's not available for the next few months, but we all know that he would have helped no questions asked. From the day I decided to build my computer all I heard was that he was the best and his customer service was second to none. I still believe that and will get my next system from him, whenever he gets back.
semp
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thats what Lew (Silat) heard also. I won't rehash old business here but in the end the only warranty you can rely on is the written one since I know for a fact that for whatever reason he didn't take care of at least one customer. I only brought this up since he commented. Now that he did I hope he'll clarify exactly what his warranty is. To the best of my knowledge if you call any manufacturer and specifically tell them your buying a machine built by a 3rd party they will tell you that you have no end user retail warranty. If 99 other people have been "taken care of" how would you feel if your the 1 in 100 that got the short end of the stick. Given that history when I saw TD's comment I specific to another vendors warranty it was reasonable to ask him what his is.
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See Rule #4
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thats what Lew (Silat) heard also. I won't rehash old business here but in the end the only warranty you can rely on is the written one since I know for a fact that for whatever reason he didn't take care of at least one customer. I only brought this up since he commented. Now that he did I hope he'll clarify exactly what his warranty is. To the best of my knowledge if you call any manufacturer and specifically tell them your buying a machine built by a 3rd party they will tell you that you have no end user retail warranty. If 99 other people have been "taken care of" how would you feel if your the 1 in 100 that got the short end of the stick. Given that history when I saw TD's comment I specific to another vendors warranty it was reasonable to ask him what his is.
I use EVGA, OCZ, PC Power and Cooling, NZXT, Gigabyte... and a few other vendors. EVGA requires you to register your product for the warranty to come into effect. If does not matter who built the system unless it is like Digital Storm, Cyberpower etc they will only warrant the product for I think 2 years... I buy from a distributor, as long as you register the MB GPU it has its full warranty 2, 3, lifetime, Interesting you say call Intel they ask who the maker is, you tell them a generic they will then ask for the CPU serial number which will show if it is a retail or system builder, they do not tell you to go to maker unless its a Dell etc because they do not want to interfear with their warranty, all Intel retail boxed CPUs come with a 3 warranty period NO EXCEPTIONS which are the CPUs I use. If you use a system builder CPUs 90 day warranty period no exceptions. Intel warranty the same for everyone me you or Dell Warranty is Warranty. retail or system builder. OCZ does not require you to register your memory, have a problem call then set up RMA and your good to go. Again LIFETIME warranty.... none of this business about go to the builder. This all started over a OCZ psu that failed and Lew called me I told him to call OCZ which he did They arranged for a replacement with LEW not me. I got involved when OCZ did not have the original PSU in stock, I stepped in and got him a PC Power with a higher wattage at no additional cost to Lew. You guys keep saying warranty THERE IS THE WARRANTY. The problems all arouse when Lew called and said the PSU does not work with the build. Then shipped it UPS. All in all I stand behind my build to be free of defects in workmanship for one year. If anything fails within the first 30 days I pay shipping both ways after that I will pay shipping back to customer but they pay to me or the part that is defective can be swapped out by the buyer, their choice (which Lew made). No one else has ever had a problem with warranty work or customer service. For those of you who want to see how my warranty works check with Skullman, Dragon, Pollick, DustyR or Delirum. Here is my warranty word for word.
Warranty
TD Computer Systems will not accept a sale until this document is Digitally signed. This means You must save this document and resend it as an attachment to warranty@tdcomputersystems.com . The sending email address must match the email address provided to us for billing purposes.
Build
• TD Computer Systems warranties the workmanship of the build for one year.
• Upon receipt of your new system inspect for damage and a working system. If there is a problem we will at our expense pay to ship the system back to us for repair, or arrange for local repair at our expense. This is valid for 30 days after receipt of your new system.
Component Failure
• TD Computer Systems does not state or imply any warranty on the components used in our Builds, this is left to the manufacture of the faulty component. In most cases this is a better warranty then other builders/manufactures.
• TD Computer Systems will cross ship a faulty component with credit card security provided we have the component in stock.
• Shipping of faulty component to TD Computer Systems or the manufacture is paid by the system owner. TD Computer Systems /manufacture will pay return shipping on components only unless otherwise stated.
TD
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Thank you for posting.
1st I can only relay what I was told by Intel. My comment was not specific to you but generic for any third party "custom build". Basically I was told that if I was asked for a receipt and it was via a 3rd party that I would need to contact them for any warranty replacement. That may very well mean that you would simply need to make the swap as the purchaser of record. I understand that Lew's system came with a problem related to a faulty heat sink on MB (which certainly is not your fault per se) and that both you and Lew tried to fix it in place. The PS issued cropped up later and Lew paid to have the box shipped back. It was damaged and you submitted a claim via UPS to cover the damage. In the end Lew paid you roughly $1000 US plus shipping to repair the computer. You sent the computer back to him as a stock unit with no over clocking.
So at the end of the day I am left with serious questions specific to two area's. I completely understand that the ability to guarantee any part works for its projected life span is beyond your control (or any other builder). In the end all you can do is replace it. So I in no way "blame" you for either the initial issue with the MB, the failure of the original PS or the need to substitute another similar (or better) power supply. Since all this drama with Lew occured during the 1st year and Lew paid to ship the system back to you why would you return the system to him in a "stock" condition or try and charge him $250 (my recollection) to "re-tweak" it? This would seem to fall under your 1 year "workmanship" warranty. Lew paid for everything as per your quote and covered the cost of shipping as per your warranty.
If I was in his situation I'd feel exactly like he does. He paid you a fair price, happened to get a system with multiple problems (not blaming you) and finally decided to pay the cost of RMFing it at his expense (with your consent) for you to swap the parts out. No ones fault it got busted up in shipping further. So at the end of the day with all the parts as well as almost $500 to you in labor (via the UPS settlement) covered you can't even be bothered to reload the bios settings for him?. I've built 100+ systems and I KNOW you wouldn't have lost a dime at that gross $$$ amount for labor resetting his bios. There is the heart of the issue in my mind. You do all this stuff for free but won't take care of a guy who did in fact buy your system, did pay to RMF it, did pay for all parts and significant labor (again do to another shipping damage issue).
My understanding is after all was said and done and you had been paid in full for the labor charge (while the system was still in transit) all Lew did was ask you to walk him thru resetting the bios and you told him it would be another $250. Please fell free to correct any errors in my understanding of the above.
I'd never have revisited this until you brought up the warranty issue but based on my understanding of the facts (as outlined above) you did Lew wrong. He paid you over $2000 for his system and covered all the hardware & labor to repair/reinstall everything from the OS up do to the damage and you couldn't be bothered to treat him right. So how do I reconcile this with all your "I do good" comments when you didn't treat a longtime vet here who not only paid you everything you asked for but actually recommended you to numerous others.
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Denholm,
As a side note my "Airbus vs Boeing" argument is a very real issue. Sadly we are losing fundamental airman-ship skills at an alarming rate. One needs to look no farther then Skully's comments to congress or the tremendous increase in commercial hull losses to do poor plane handling. We are in for a horrific surge in the accident rate over the next decade do to over-automation on the flight deck. While both of the major manufactures are at fault the drive to a "smarter" cockpit is very much airbus driven. I found it funny that airbus had to issue a memorandum regarding the erosion of "basic airman-ship" skills as a CYA. Do you realize that many ATP rated pilots with 2000 hours in type have less then 50 total "hand flying" hours (in current type rating) and are uncomfortable/potentially incapable hand flying takeoff/"non precision" approach. We very nearly had another major accident last week when an Air France 777 made a very high speed Rejected takeoff (161 knts) do to improperly failing to engage the autothrottle. Now the decision to alter the SOP's to turn off the autothrottle while taxiing is due to a 747 jockey who accidentally touched of his TOGA (max power) switch while in the takeoff cue...almost causing a major set of wrecks.
This is compounded by the stark reality that the AT will not engage in the event of improper configuration over a certain speed. At least 4 fatal accidents can be traced to improperly configured planes (no or improper flap settings) over riding an AT failure to engage. So any of you who have this old illusion of the PF/PM sitting up in the pointy end reading the check list and then the PF manually pushing the throttles is just wrong. In fact due to all the overall absurdly low level of pilot competance many major airlines actually forbid the take off roll if the AT fails to engage. In this case the plane got 1500 ft down the runway before the PF advanced the power and then past 200% of the 80 knt decision point of configuration before rejecting the take off.
I'd venture to say that less then 1% of the "new breed" (less then 10 yrs) are comfortable/capable of hand flying a segment and most major airlines not only discourage it but many forbid it. So if things go south up north the guy driving the bus may be doing it "for real" for the 1st time ever outside the simulator.
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See Rule #4
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I want to comment here. Lew is a good friend so I am not partial or unbiased. However I did not bring this up to raise an old issue. My question was specific to the question of warranty once TD commented that the Dell warranty was weak. As of the last time I looked TD had no specific warranty 411 on his site at all. TD's response to my query puzzled me since if he does warranty "the workmanship of the build" for 1 year I'd assume that if a MB or HD failed within the year he'd replace the parts and reinstall the system for you IF you paid to ship it back to him...or give you help over the phone to reconfigure the bios. So is this a change as a reflection of the issues Lew had or is this how it's been? Further if someone bought a system today and had a PS failure (as an example) that fried the MB would TD send the system back stock or "re tweak" it?
To be honest TD's response raises more questions, I'm glad that he actually posted his warranty information for all. Since I do know that TD was paid his full "rack rate" ($135/hr?) to rebuild Lews box why was the bios not configured as per the original build. Is this specific to bad blood (for whatever reason with Lew) or an indication that in the event of a major failure getting the machine "re-tweaked" will cost you extra? Thats a question that was never answered earlier...