Machine Home: The Final Chapter

[thistlechaser]

Hopefully, anyway.

bricriu suggested asking for a printout of the test results (so I could google and see what's up), but red flags went way up when I was told they couldn't do that. I took my machine and ran! (For what it's worth, he said the motherboard was fine, but stuck to his story of the graphics card being on its last legs.)

Once home, I set it up on top of my desk instead of under, but this doesn't work out. While the fans aren't loud anymore (though there still is a difference between running WoW and not), the fact that it's six inches from my ear means it seems even louder than before. I want to keep it off the floor though, it will get less dusty and will be way easier to clean.

For some odd reason, all my settings were gone when I finally booted back up. (Probably like losing all my radio stations in my car when I needed a new battery.) My display was dark as heck, looked horrible -- I'm still fiddling with things to try to get them set back correctly.

Debating on what sort of review (if any) to leave on Yelp. The guy was very nice, though they did take longer than they said it would. The issue is mostly fixed, but there's the whole up-sell thing.

Alas, I still have a credit of $30 or so with them, which he said would cover the install of the new graphics card, if/when I want that done. IF I need a new one, I'll likely just buy one and maybe let them do it, assuming they can do it the same day. (Yeah, I know it's easy to do, but it really makes me nervous to do things inside my computer myself.) No option for a cash refund, since it was through Groupon.

So: Woot! *hugs computer* Never leave me again!

Comments

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

You should NOT have lost all your settings, and the dark display makes me suspect that they were fiddling around trying to make you think the graphics card needs replacing. I say do not take your computer back to them, even with the $30 credit!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Arg! That thought crossed my mind.

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Totally agreed here - its a computer. It is made to be deprived of power then start up exactly the same as before. They definitely tweaked your settings, and whether malice or moron, I wouldn't take the computer back.

Get canned air, unplug the computer, and blow all the dust out. If the gfx card dies, just do the install yourself. It really is simple. Unplug a power connector, unscrew the card from the case, and pull.

Also, if your fans really are that hideously loud, you can replace them with quieter ones. It isn't hard - all but the CPU & GPU fan use a standard 4 pin connector.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

They're pretty darned quiet now! But I'm going to keep on top of cleaning with air, yeah.

[bricriu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, unless they had some sort of oddball diag program that reset settings, someone was fiddling with them.

It is possible that it was something benign though; they might have adjusted settings to make things more readable on their own monitors.

Either way, though, someone was fiddling with settings they shouldn't have been fiddling with, and if they did need to fiddle for diagnostic purposes, they should have restored your settings when they finished.

[bricriu.livejournal.com]

Oh also, try rearranging your desk.

The fans usually seem much louder if they're blowing right at your face. :D

I just get used to fan noise and now feel weird when I don't hear it. That said, my machine has...offhand...I think eight fans, including the graphics card, processor and power supply fans.

After awhile, it just becomes background white noise.

[giftofarthas.livejournal.com]

^ My computer is on my desk now. The fan noise just kinda fades after awhile cause I got used to it.

[bricriu.livejournal.com]

...and then you notice the weird, dead, deafening silence when the computer isn't on...

[giftofarthas.livejournal.com]

That is so freaky. I power it down for a cleaning and IT'S TOO QUIET OH GOD.

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

My old computer sounded like a jet turbine starting up and when I finally got around to assembling my new one I put it up on the desk and powered it on and was like "Wait...I fucked something up the fans aren't working!" No, they were working, I just couldn't hear them so it was freaking me out.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hee!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh god, yes. That freaked me out so much yesterday! My apartment was way too silent, it was horrible!

[bricriu.livejournal.com]

The only time I notice my fans now is when the machine first wakes up, as one of the fans has a bearing that's going and it GRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLSSSSSfor about five seconds before running normally. :D

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm going to try shifting it to the end of my desk. I didn't want it there in case of earthquakes (California and all), but better that than driving me insane with the noise!

[sahn.livejournal.com]

If I felt like being an ass, I would have pressed them about the video card issue. "Can I have a printout of the test results? Oh, I can't? Ok, then can I see the test results? Oh, that's ok, you don't have to give me a copy, I just want to see what tests you guys run and what the results were. I can just look at them on the computer screen. You can't show that to me? Umm... then what's this test called. Maybe I can find it online and run it myself. Oh I see. It's not the kind of test you can actually run. So... how do you know my video card is on it's last legs? What kind of behavior were you seeing?" Etc.

I've dealt with enough tech support type stuff and personally I've found the most useful question when someone says something is broken is "how do you know?" or some variant of that. And then you can go from there. In fact, I think it's more useful than something like "what's broken?"

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That's a good idea. I really just wanted to get out of there, so I was happy enough that he didn't do a hard sell and just accepted my 'maybe later' answer.

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

Personally, I wouldn't get involved with Groupon anymore. They look like they're going to crash & burn financially.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh that's not good. I have one more left to use, will have to use it ASAP! ($8 for $16 of food, so no major loss if it goes poof.) Too bad really, it's a fun setup.

[wow-hazmat.livejournal.com]

In the process of setting up my loaner monitor (I love my boss, for reals), K decided to give my wailing banshee computer a THOROUGH cleaning. Whisper-silent now. I CAN HEAR SOUND EFFECTS IN WOW. :D

Goddamn if it didn't improve my FPS, too.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

HA! I had the same thing with sound effects, too! "...did they just add a sound effect for that in the last 24 hours?"

And yay borrowed monitor!