Not a very professional build

[gunnerdibble]

PC Specialist built this for me but after about 3 weeks (it took over a month to be delivered) in my possession, I decided to add more memory. So I purchased 16 GB (2 x 8) from Amazon. When I tried to install the sticks (X 570 motherboard) I could not use the slot nearest the H80i v2 head due to the USB plug making the memory slot inaccessible (see photo). I Know that the H80i v2 head should have been installed with the socket at 6 o.clock instead of at 3 o'clock, but it seems, the builder didn't agree. I also paid extra for the ''ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND'' so if I try to move the head round to the 6 o.clock position, will it mean that I'll have to remove the compound with ISO alcohol and reapply ''ARCTIC MX-4''? I have neither products which I suppose will cost me yet more money (about £20)

 

[steaky360]

Hi @gunnerdibble its worth raising this issue with PCS directly, as while they do occasionally monitor the forums they don't see every post and this may get missed by them. They will appreciate the feedbcak as it could impact future builds also. If you get in touch with them directly regarding this you'll definitely get a response.

Obviously as you say, you can make the change yourself if you would like too, it certainly won't void any warranties etc. Just out of curiosity, was the remaining paste not included in your welcome pack (maybe not, but possibly worth a check).

Saying that, hopefully @moosEh or one of the other PCS Staff will see this and reply.

 

[gunnerdibble]

I have and am in direct contact with PC Specialist concerning this build. And no! The remaining paste was not included with the welcome pack. I'll need ISO alcohol too...

I spent £970 on this computer which did not include GPU, mouse, keyboard, or monitor. I have been offered to have it picked up, and sorted out or, I should do it myself...Umm! If you brought a car where you could only change the offside left tyre by removing the body panel because someone on the production line bodged the build, I'm sure that you would be annoyed at the suggestion that you the customer have been advised to do such.

The other thing is, that this simple build took over a month before it was delivered. Do I take a chance on sending it back to the factory in the hope that it will take only 'some days' to be sorted and delivered back to me rather than 'some weeks'?

So, you see, Yes! I'm bloody annoyed that such a simple upgrade of memory in a product that took over a month to be delivered has been thwarted by poor build practices. Why has the builder installed the 'head' of the cooler contrary to what is instructed in the H80i instruction booklet in both picture and printed form?

 

[steaky360]

It is entirely understandable.

For what its worth, I wouldn't expect it to take too long for an RMA to be processed as these are seperate from the build queue/times as far as I am aware.

Did they have any response other than 'we can take it back and fix it'? I'd expect they should have taken a note to discuss with the build teams to prevent such an occurence again in the future?

 

[gunnerdibble]

This was the last e.mail that I received in the past hour:

''
Thanks for your reply.

The cooler has to be taken off and the mounting bracket has to be refitted. Would you feel comfortable doing this? If so, there should be an instruction manual for the cooler in your welcome pack.

If you don´t feel comfortable doing this, then we will collect your system to install the cooling properly.

Please let us know how you would like to proceed.

If we can assist you any further, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Many Thanks ''

I had sent them four detailed photos of the problem too. I also copied and pasted my last to you a few minutes ago to show them exactly how I feel.

 

[Grumpywurzel]

While i completely understand your frustration, everyone is ordering system more than ever and PCS are trying to do the best job that they can in the circumstances. "Most" systems only use 2 out of the 4 RAM slots, so maybe the guy/girl that assembled this for you didnt expect you to need the extra slots???

TBH if I were you, I would have a go at rotating the head around without removing it from the CPU. Saves the time wasted waiting for the RMA

 

[Deleted member 17413]

They have a whole team of builders, you probably just got one that wasnt as experienced as the others so didnt think of the positioning

 

[gunnerdibble]

While i completely understand your frustration, everyone is ordering system more than ever and PCS are trying to do the best job that they can in the circumstances. "Most" systems only use 2 out of the 4 RAM slots, so maybe the guy/girl that assembled this for you didnt expect you to need the extra slots???

TBH if I were you, I would have a go at rotating the head around without removing it from the CPU. Saves the time wasted waiting for the RMA

''didnt expect you to need the extra slots???'' Umm! Well, I for one did and it's very common to need four slots because they are specifically for... memory cards. And I'm sure that the Builder could understand the instruction manual which is both in picture and in print form. Perhaps there was a reason for why he mounted it the way he did, which may well give me the same problem...Remember, PCSpecialist recommend and list the compatible parts and cases.

 

[deanparkr]

Quite right! One of the reasons we choose PCS is for the expertise and to avoid slap dash builds like that.

It is unfortunate but PCS's offer of picking up the system and re-fitting is the best they can do in the circumstances. Perhaps some small component upgrade on FOC basis for the trouble would be good customer service.

I would share your concerns about the RMA time though. I had some trouble placing an order recently. Was promised call backs which never happened. When you call PCS it is a 50+ minute wait right now. My impression is that PCS are too busy and too overwhelmed at the moment that I didnt have confidence moving forwards with the order as was too concerned about more "issues" happening that would take too long to resolve. No doubt Covid-19 is playing a big role here. Limiting PCS's capacity and/or increasing demand.

In your situation I would be asking PCS for firm timescales should you be sending the machine back via RMA.

 

[SpyderTracks]

''didnt expect you to need the extra slots???'' Umm! Well, I for one did and it's very common to need four slots because they are specifically for... memory cards. And I'm sure that the Builder could understand the instruction manual which is both in picture and in print form. Perhaps there was a reason for why he mounted it the way he did, which may well give me the same problem...Remember, PCSpecialist recommend and list the compatible parts and cases.

I do think you're absolutely right to be dissapointed with this, the CPU heatsink is clearly not mounted the way it's supposed to be and a skilled builder would have known that instantly.

It's completely understandable that anyone would require the spare RAM slots to add further RAM, if not immediately then as an upgrade further down the line.

Well done for raising it with PCS.

I would personally send it back for an RMA, something at this level, although not too difficult to do oneself, is probably worth getting the manufacturer to do it just for security in the long term.

I would expect PCS would treat this as a high priority fix and would get it through quickly, but they would confirm that to you in writing before accepting the RMA I would expect.

 

[gunnerdibble]

Thank you all for your most interesting replies. I think that I'll return the computer because I'm worried that the builder put the H80i 'head' on the way he did because he had trouble fitting it in its proper position, though if that was the reason then he should have communicated the problem to the powers that be and ask me to select a different case.

 

[ubuysa]

I'm in agreement with @SpyderTracks above. You're right to be disappointed and you're absolutely right to make a fuss about it. Whoever built that screwed up (actually it seems they screwed sideways instead of down, but that's beside the point ).

People make mistakes. They shouldn't but they do. PCS need to know every time a builder makes a mistake so that they can ensure it never happens again. Always forgive a first mistake, but never the second.

Personally I think you're wise to send it back.

 

[gunnerdibble]

At the very least I would request the MX-4 paste be sent out, if you wanted to attempt it on your own, but sending back is likely the best solution.

But yes, I would be annoyed as well at that. Even if it wasn't obviously connected in the wrong orientation even the most basic of foresight would show that's not right.

Has your system been struggling for RAM? Just strange to order double 3 weeks after ordering rather than getting it over 2 slots to begin with (2 is actually better than 4 and makes more sense to do at the beginning). Just curiosity getting the better of me

No, I was going to get 32gb or even 64gb ( I also do huge amounts of picture and photo editing apart from heavily modded gaming) in the first place but I had convinced myself that all I really needed at the moment was 16gb, so I ordered 16gb, but the other day I decided to get another 16gb anyway to give me a comfort zone. In a way, It's a good job that I did try fitting more ram because it highlighted this problem. Better I found out now rather than months in the future...

 

[Scott]

If you're sending back it may be worth considering asking PCS if they can upgrade to 2x16GB at the same time (and pay obviously), returning the Amazon RAM.

That would leave you the option of adding a further 2x16GB in the future. As I say, 2x16GB would always be preferred over 4x8GB.

 

[moosEh]

Sorry I didn't get chance to look at the forums yesterday but I see the Customer Care team have already arranged the return with you.

Again we apologise for how this was sent to you and if you are willing then I would like you to PM me your order number so I can look into this from my side.

 

[RichH]

Sadly humans make mistakes.
One has been made
How they deal with it is the real test - please keep this thread updated

 

[gunnerdibble]

Sorry I didn't get chance to look at the forums yesterday but I see the Customer Care team have already arranged the return with you.

Again we apologise for how this was sent to you and if you are willing then I would like you to PM me your order number so I can look into this from my side.

But these are the correspondence that I have had with you people at PC Specialist with the latest being the last on the list below together with my response.

On sending the photographic evidence of the problem, I got this reply on Thu 23/07/2020 16:13 :

Dear Paul *******

Thanks for your reply.

The cooler has to be taken off and the mounting bracket has to be refitted. Would you feel comfortable doing this? If so, there should be an instruction manual for the cooler in your welcome pack.

If you don´t feel comfortable doing this, then we will collect your system to install the cooling properly.

Please let us know how you would like to proceed.

If we can assist you any further, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Many Thanks

********* ** *****

Then I got this: 24 July 2020 12:06

Good morning,

Thanks for your reply.

We can send you some thermal paste. To remove the old paste, you would only need to wipe it off with a kitchen tissue.
If you would like to send us the system, we will prioritise it on the RMA queue, nonetheless it could take around 8 – 10 labour days to be sent back to you.
Please let us know how you would like to proceed.

I later replied: Sat 25/07/2020 20:51

''Dear ********,

I have been pondering the situation and if you did send me the Arctic m4 thermal paste and I attempted the job myself, and If I still managed to fail in rectifying the mistake, would I still be able to send the computer back to you without violating my warranty and not incur any charges?

Kind Regards''




And I received this: 27 July 2020 08:03

Good morning Paul,

Yes - opening your case would not invalidate your warranty at all.

If you damage any of your components in the process, however, your warranty would be voided.

With kind regards,
***** *******

I have sent this in return: 27/07/2020 08:50

''I know that opening the case will not invalidate my warranty, especially as I have already attempted to fit memory and I have already installed a graphics card.

And so in effect, if I damage a component that you suggest I attempt to adjust through your company's incompetence, my warranty will be void? Even though you have suggested that I rectify your mistake? And that you have offered to send me a tube of Arctic XM-4 paste and a suggestion that I could use it along with a tissue? Now I'm getting rather annoyed. I have also purchased a tube of said Arctic XM-4 paste from Amazon at a cost of £7.99 because I thought that perhaps you would give me the go-ahead, I could save you and me, time with the posting of the 'XM-4' and I could feel confident in that if things did go wrong, you would still pick the computer up and rectify your 'bad build' for me. Perhaps I should ask for the computer to be sent back to you for a full refund? ''

 

[ubuysa]

And so in effect, if I damage a component that you suggest I attempt to adjust through your company's incompetence, my warranty will be void? Even though you have suggested that I rectify your mistake? And that you have offered to send me a tube of Arctic XM-4 paste and a suggestion that I could use it along with a tissue? Now I'm getting rather annoyed. I have also purchased a tube of said Arctic XM-4 paste from Amazon at a cost of £7.99 because I thought that perhaps you would give me the go-ahead, I could save you and me, time with the posting of the 'XM-4' and I could feel confident in that if things did go wrong, you would still pick the computer up and rectify your 'bad build' for me. Perhaps I should ask for the computer to be sent back to you for a full refund? ''

Notwithstanding the fact that your PC was assembled improperly, I think you have three options....

1. Send it back for an RMA and allow PCS to rectify their mistake. You'll be without the PC for the minimum of the 8 to 10 labour days they're estimating. They are saying they'll prioritise it for you.

2. Remove and replace the cooler head yourself. The issue here of course is ensuring that you don't damage anything in the process. I think it's clear that they will take it back for an RMA if you attempt the repair yourself but are unable or unwilling to complete it for some unexpected reason, provided you don't damage anything. I think that's quite reasonable.

3. Return it for a full refund.

 

[Scott]

It really depends on how malleable the paste is. It is a grease though, so alcohol would always be recommended to remove any residue. I've used cheap vodka in the past so alcohol to hand is fine.

 

[Deleted member 17413]

Yeah, wiping it off with tissue paper isnt exactly professional.... alcohol based solvent is best, cotton wool buds or something and very carefully clean it.

Im feeling this guys pain too atm, I had to deal with the wiring job done on mine which was an absolute mess.
Took me 2 hours to put 2 SSD's due to how its been done, they GLUED the RGB and commander pro units to the case and where they put the commander pro they used one of the SSD bays (rather than the huge amounts of free space that it could of happily sat in in the front)
and fitted it so it was tied to a spare SSD cradle and blocked the 2nd SSD from also being used.
When I write my full review up i've got pictures of all of this....absolutely ridiculous that I would have to spend hours trying to unpick the mess, and for something as simple as adding a SSD in.

You can tell the whole thing was rushed, no care taken at all in how the excess wires were dealt with, just tied the whole thing up round the back out of view.