NEVER talk about overclocking to tech-support or to ANYBODY for that fact

[gradius]

I'm still have problems with my Sidewinder game pad I got a while back. It came with free tech support from Microsoft, so I decided to give them at shot at trying to fix my problem (i've tried absoultely everything I know to do and more) You have to filled out a long form and give out a lot of information, but I felt better knowing that these were some of the best guys in the buisness at doing this kind of thing. I was sure in just a few day (actually just one day) I'll get a response to my cry for help and I'd be back to playing my SNES Emulator in no time. (wait, aren't those illegal? if so, just substitute SNES Emulator for Quake 3)

Well, long story short, I did get a reply back to my tech support form, and without reading anything else about my situation, the guy closed out my case because simply because my processor was overclocked and heat HAS to be the issue here.

I know I brought it upon myself but sheesh. The processor is rock stable and has been through dozens of different tests, never a lockup or any signs of instability. I still don't know why I gave my system stats.

You know that I can't even go into a local computer store around here because I talked about overclocking to a guy that worked there?! Yeah! I went in there when it open and tried to a box of 5 Sunon 80mm that had for sale. He asked me why I needed all five, so I told him it was for a overclocking project I was doing. He immediately started lecturing me about overclocking and how I was "just gonna nuke ma computer". He wouldn't even sell me the fans and when I went back later that week, no one in the store would check me out when I went to pay for the fans so I just left.

It's crazy - is overclocking just this HUGE SIN second only to murder, adultery and creulty to animals/small children? If so, I guess I need to go visit the SysOpt confessional thread but boy, have a sinned!!

[This message has been edited by gradius (edited 06-29-2000).]

[tepo]

OC'ing is evil... Yeah, sure...
I think (450@550 in my case) that one of the reasons is the price difference between for ex. my K6 450 to a 550. Why would I pay the extra for it when mine works just fine OC'ed.
Okay, I'd buy a 550 for a reason, it could be clocked to +600...
I mean, why pay extra $$$ for something You can achieve cheeper ?

Tepo's 0,02$

Summer in Finland, one day left at work before holidays...

[Ptrper]

Hey Gradius, I know what you mean... I went to a local comp shop to try and get some hands on practice for the upcoming A+ cert. I was talking to one of the techies there and when I mentioned overclocking(these guys are pro AMD) he looked at me like I was pointing a gun at him. He was showing me some benchmarks that he ran on his Athlon 650. But you are correct. There are people around that seem to hate the thought of overclocking. I look at it this way. Overclocking is good for the industry, if we burn out our processors, then we need to go back and buy another, but these folks don't look at it that way. Oh well.

[SysOpt]

Ditto, OuTpaTienT

[tonym]

Let me guess.

The shop is about 14' x 14' and is dusty as hell, there are 25 or more PC's scattered about in differing stages of assembly and an old guy named Walt usually fixed the tough problems. Right?

Seriously, it's none of their goddman business what you want to do with the fans. And not selling them to you indicates an ignorance and a false knowledge that is most contemptible.

Any smart businessman or businesswoman would have most readily taken your money and said "Thank you very much, please come again." This should be especially true if they think you're going to fry your CPU and motherboard with that old demon Overclocking. You're a gold-mine to them if they realize the upside potential of your OOPS experiences that they know you'll have with OCing!!

So, remember this. If they show anger or fear, it's because of IGNORANCE. They've never tried it and can't visualize the fact that you can implement changes to what they percieve is a monolithic concept, the PC.

My advice, find the shop that will take your money. And if you can't find one, then use the Internet to make your purchases for now. Finally, consider opening your own progressive shop that will cater to both the plain vanilla PC folks and the other parts-starved OCer's out there in your area!

I guarantee you'd drive that crummy place that refused to sell you the fans out of business!!!


Tony

[seti]

If the guys at the shop I bought all my very first parts hadn't told me about overclocking I'd probably not be writeing this message right now. As it was the quest for OCing info that led me to sysopt. That shop went out of buisness about a year ago, hmmm.

Every other shop I've been to scince, when the topic of overclocking has been raised, I get a little sermon.

[wtp]

microsoft isn't trustable, can't believe they also charge for tech support, just like compaq and other companies.

wtp

[wyvrn]

What is the deal people have against overclocking. If you purchased the chip, you could punch a hole in it and make it a keychain, and it is noone's business to try and stop you. The shop owner sounds like a zealot, and an ignorant one at that. Those types of people are hard to sway, though. Just take your business elsewhere and don't waste your time with close-minded idiots.

[akaBruno]

Don't ever admit to any changes you make, especially w/ phone support. The lazy asses are looking for an excuse to hang up. The guys in your local shops are almost as bad, because they don't want to deal w/ your headache or their own. It's called pass the buck.

That may sound unfair, and be a generalisation of tech support. But so many are like that. Just to be on the safe side , PLAY DUMB, and be polite. You'll catch more flies w/ honey.

Bruno

[gradius]

Here's the pickup slip I got when they first opened up and I brought my new system in. Abit BM6 motherboard with a Celeron 366 (not overclocked). All the components came in within 2 days, so I set it up without any problems. I heard about it opening up from a friend so I decided to take my system over there for a test to see if they were legit. I slipped the only 32MB DIMM chip out of its slot just slightly and swapped IDE cables so pin1 was in the wrong place. The system didn't boot, but gave a few beep codes.

I brought the system in and told him I just bought the computer off the internet and it didn't work. I wanted him to fix it. He told me it would be a day or two and he'd call me back when it was done. Two days later I get a call saying the computer works just fine and I should come and pick it up. I didn't get enough time to get over there before they closed that day, so I called back to see if I could go tomorrow. The answering machine service (which before they didn't have, you just called and someone picked up) just happen to be the Bitware VoiceMail service software that was on MY COMPUTER! They didn't even bother to change the default messages either.

I went first thing the next morning to pick my computer up. I asked the guy what was wrong with it and he told me, and I quote "The BIOS chipset on the motherboard was bad so we replaced it with a new one." Righhhhtt... I didn't see any signs of sodering. The board looked exactly like it did before (with the exception of the DIMM/IDE) He didn't metioned the RAM or IDE cables but handled me a bill for $60. He said that's how much the chip/labor was. I asked him about the answering machine service and he said, "Oh yeah, we saw you had the same software on your computer. Do you ever use it?" I didnt even know where to begin with this guy. I just asked him where I went to check out. Needless to say, I've tried my best to tell EVERYONE I know not to go there for any reason.

The only reason I went back to get those fans was because they had a huge sign that said $$$COMPUTER SALE$$$ outside the shop. You also have to remember at the time I was only 17. I mean, I'm 18 now (Dec 19th is my bday) but I guess it's the idea that no one that young can know that much about computers. It works the same with my the Network Admin at my old high school. He HATED me. Anytime someone had a problem with a computer in the lab/home/whatever they'd ask me instead of him. (i'm not bragging, just showing this as an example)


Hey tonym: No kidding about the description of the shop. It's EXACTLY like that.

[This message has been edited by gradius (edited 06-29-2000).]

[oblivion]

gradius
You mean to tell us that you did this just to see if they would charge YOU????? WHat have you been smoking man??????? THat was not smart.............unless I missed something

[gradius]

There are only 3 computer shops around here. I do ALOT of running around everyday fixing or upgrading people's computer because a friend of a friend of a friend said I could fix it. Many times (especially since I rarely get paid but I LOVE doing it) I tell people to send their computers to a computer repair service in Raleigh (about 30 miles away) that I have only have positive experiences with (Warp Computers). But since it's kind of far away, most people just want it fixed then so they can get back to using it. That's why I wanted to see if this new shop in Selma was any good. It was the only way I could think of to see how legit these guys were without going up to the shop and going "Duh.. you guys gonna rip people off or not?" I don't mind losing the money. I just don't want to tell people to go there and for them to get ripped off.

By the way, I've changed my major to computer science. I must be a nerd or something because I am actally looking foward to all of my computer clasees!

[This message has been edited by gradius (edited 06-29-2000).]

[OuTpaTienT]

So I'm curious, did you pay them the 60 bucks? And if so, why? Considering they didn't perform the task they claimed, you should not have paid a cent. And you should have called them on it!

You should also have thrown in something about that computer belonging to one of your clients that just happens to be a lawyer.

[Ptrper]

Aw man, Gradius, you're my neighbor!!! And I know exactly what you mean!!! Selma, NC??!! Not to rag on your town, but man, I thought that it was just a town that I would miss if I blinked going down I-95... Anyways, I don't know what it is, but folks here in NC are very OC prejudiced. Its like they're taught that its a no no to OC your puter from grade school. And Raleigh is no better!!! Oh well, can't wait to get back out to CA on saturday...

[BBA]

So...do they not like hat rods either there?

I had a girlfriend in Raliegh once...seemed like a 'anything goes' kind of place...what changed?