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-   -   OT: Worst PC Decision (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=12072)

Atrocities May 17th, 2004 08:11 PM

OT: Worst PC Decision
 
Before you read this know that it is true, as sad as it may sound, it is a true story and one that I am very ashemed of. But those of you who know me know that if I had any luck at all, it would be bad luck. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Enjoy the read and try not to laugh or cry to much.

As I begin the argues task of planning my next PC I am forced to reflect back upon the Last time I build a computer, a computer which ultimately turned out to be the worst PC decision I have ever made.

June 2001,

The Blue Box was to be the ultimate gaming computer, one that would Last me for five years. In 2001 money was beginning to become a tight commodity for me and I had to build or bust.

I opted for the build and chose my components. I opted for an MSI raid motherboard and a 1.4 Atholon CPU. I bought Kingston Ram, 512 Megs of their best DDR ram, and went with Creative Labs 5.1 Sound BLaster. To top it all off I bought a GeForce 3 video card for the bargain price of $430.00. (Ya I know, GeForce 3 cards became the missing link in NVIDIA’s universe. Oh I am sick over this purchase.)

The Atholon chip ran me $230.00, the Case $90.00, Ram $200.00, MB - $135.00, DVD & CDRW - $100.00, Sound bLaster $80.00, 80 gig WD Hard Drive - $150.00. Throw in the Intelli Optical mouse, Intel ergo Internet ready keyboard, a floppy, and the Intel Digital Sound system the grand total invested in parts comes to a whopping $1700.00.

To start off with the CPU I had bought burned up do to a bad-cooling fan within seconds of starting the system. Add another $230.00 to bill + $35.00 for a super cooler fan. Then that CPU burned up for an unknown reason. Add another $230.00 to the bill. Then the Mother board failed. Add $140.00 to the bill. Finally I get the system put together and fired up. The Hard Drive failed. Add the cost of a round trip drive to Fry’s electronics to replace it and I got off cheap. (Total $2,535.00)

Well now all things considered I am doing ok, the system is put together and time to test it. Turn it on and nothing happens. At this point I was about to cry. I called my best friend at the time but he was going through some life changing events and was unwilling to help me. So I pulled out the credit card and headed off to the local computer shop. A week later I get the call that my computer is all done. I zoom over to pick it up, pay my $125.00 bill and head home. I get home and turn on the computer only to read that I had a GeForce II card as the computer booted up. That I only had 128 Megs of Ram, and a 20 gig hard drive. I became very ill rather rapidly. I opened the case and was sickened, physically sickened at what I saw. ($2,660.00 pooof)

The computer shop, a reputable business I thought, had switched all my parts out for used inferior ones. I returned to the shop and demanded that they give back my parts. They refused saying that the parts that were in my computer were the parts it came with. I did what any person would do at that point; I called the police. I showed them the slip that outlined the parts that the computer had when I gave it to them, along with copies of the receipts, and for my trouble I was told there was nothing he could do. I was out of pocket for all of my parts, all of them. They even swapped the 1.4 AMD for a 1.0. I of course filed suite, add another $1500.00 to the bill. (Now we are up to $4,160.00)

Now out of money and stuck with a crappy machine I opted to bite the bullet one Last time and buy new parts using my credit card. At the same time I was given the novel idea to ask for my money back on the two failed CPU’s. After some diplomacy and a lot of emails AMD refunded me $460.00 following an investigation into the CPU’s and why they failed. I used that money to buy a new 1.4 AMD and 40-gig WD hard drive. Since I already had the case, mother board, and the drive bays, all I needed was a 256k DDR Ram Module, video card, sound card, and modem. I bought another GeForce 3 card, and a 128 Meg DDR Ram Dim. I opted to wait on the modem and use one of my 10/100 Ethernet cards instead since I had Broad Band. This did not include the cost of Windows 2k, which I had already bough a year before. ($220.00)

I had to take it to the shop one Last time to resolve some issues and that cost another $150.00. When I was done the computer had cost me $5,210.00. Give or take a $100.00

I disputed the cost of the shop bill on my visa, - $125.00, and the shop owner after several more missing or replaced part complaints went out of business. I never recovered my money, and the money I invested in the lawyer was for not.

To top it off, the computer has never run right. I has been plagued by oddball shut downs resulting in sever reinstalls of the OS. The insult to injury over the GeForce 3 card will always be an open wound. Any one who knows about video cards knows what I am talking about.

If I were to take this system and part it out now, I would only recover about $200.00 for that is all this system is worth.

I have never told any one about this because I am so embarrassed by what happened. Needless to say I will never make these kinds of mistakes again. When I do opt to build my new system, I will not fall prey to the same sickening things that I fell prey to here.

Without a doubt this experience was the worst PC decision I have ever made in my life.

[ May 18, 2004, 15:27: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

Raging Deadstar May 17th, 2004 08:28 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
Woah, that's an incredible piece of Bad Luck!

But don't worry about it, at least you have the guts to own up to this mistake, many people i know would hide in shame http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

You took a gamble, it never paid off. Of course, if you had just bought a new pc, if you could afford it, you might have attempted this in the future. You've gained Insight and Knowledge at the price of material wealth and some pride http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

And this still doesn't beat Ruathas Drunk message froma few months back http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Atrocities May 17th, 2004 08:38 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
I missed the Ruatha message. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

What really hurts is that a month after I finally built the system, all the prices for all the parts dropped by over half. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif Just in time for TribesCon too.

[insert]
quivering upper lip
[/insert]

[ May 17, 2004, 19:39: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro May 17th, 2004 08:41 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
Good Gawd Man! That's terrible and depressing. You should do what I do. Order it Online then tell the wife your getting a second job to pay for it. That leaves her very little time to get pissed.

Was the store Pacific Solutions?

Karibu May 17th, 2004 08:43 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
Well, I have built up my computers 2 or 3 times and they all worked out well. My latest buy was a whole CPU (first time I bought it as one buy), which has proved to be unstable for unknown reason. However, it works and my experiences are minor compared to yours. You have my compassion compeletely. It makes my problems seem quite bearable.

Atrocities May 17th, 2004 08:52 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
Quote:

Originally posted by EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro:


Was the store Pacific Solutions?

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">No, it was not.

Do you recall the store PC Hiedens? It was in Hillsburo (sp) and it was a great location to pick up parts. To bad it went under. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Enu is ok, but they are a bit arrogant. They are the ones who I bought those AMD chips from. They were very helpful in getting my money back over the bad chips. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Frys Electronics is what I would call Ferengi Distributors Inc. You get what you pay for, buyer beware.

[ May 17, 2004, 19:54: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

Ragnarok-X May 17th, 2004 09:11 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
well, thats quite a story. Really bad luck. More like a chain of bad luck events. I have to admit i never had ANYTHING that comes close.

There is just one thing i can tell you: Luck always balances out, so most propably you are going to have a lot of good luck in the next time (weeks, years, whatever) !

Raging Deadstar May 17th, 2004 09:17 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
Atrocities, If any diety exists and shapes the future of the cosmos we've determined one thing from this story...

He's a MOO3 Fan http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Atrocities May 17th, 2004 09:21 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
Quote:

Originally posted by Raging Deadstar:
Atrocities, If any diety exists and shapes the future of the cosmos we've determined one thing from this story...

He's a MOO3 Fan http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">LOL Very true

And thanks Rag-X http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

dogscoff May 17th, 2004 09:31 PM

Re: OT: Worst PC Decision
 
I've built a few PCs over the years, but always from bargain second hand parts. The trick is to know someone else with more money than you who upgrades often. then blag all their castoffs for a low price/ a few beers. Sure, you don't get up to the minute hardware, but it'll run se4 nicely and you'll be able to save your pennies for the occasional killer graphics board/ ram upgrade.


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