Quite disappointed with the service I have received with PC Specialist (RESOLVED)

[phil0sophy]

*FINAL UPDATE NOW PC IS BACK WITH ME*

Ok here is my final update on my PC now it is back...


Not only is it running at 4.6ghz but it is extremely cool and quieter it seems, I played battlefield 3 for around 3-4 hours last night and core temps did not even hit 78 degrees.

I must say I am extremely impressed with PCS, whilst initially when I first sent my PC in for RMA it could have been handled a lot better in terms of keeping me updated and also I was obviously disappointed to receive my PC back in the same condition.

I must say this time it has been nothing but extremely professional and they have provided me with a fantastic service, I was updated every step of the way, the turn around on the RMA was quick and efficient and my PC is now back and running better than it was the first time it was sent out to me.

I want to give a huge thank you to Jack and everyone else who worked on my PC and really let you know how much I appreciate fixing this matter for me and resolving it, it shows you care about giving your customers a good service and you work quick to address any issues they have.

Very impressed


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



*UPDATE ON RMA*


Just a quick update on matter regarding my PC.

Whilst the first time I sent back the PC for RMA left a lot to be desired, this time it has been nothing but fantastic.

I have been fully updated every step of the way because of Jack, and the fault report for the RMA was clear and concise, my cpu is running at 4.6 ghz and my ram now at 2133mhz which I am extremely pleased with and after 4 hours of a high load stress test and 16 hours of a burn in test the temps maxed out at 86 degrees which is brilliant considering how hard the stress tests push the cpu and how far they are away from real world use so I imagine gaming now will leave me with really suitable temperatures for sure.

Anyway the PC has been dispatched so once I receive it I will write my impressions on it after a few days gaming and let everyone know how it is doing, but as for now I am very impressed with the way my complaints have been dealt with and think PCS and Jack in particular has handled the situation fantastically.

So thank you very much and I cannot wait to get the beast back in action again.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________





I purchased a PC with the following specs back in March:

Case CORSAIR GRAPHITE SERIES™ 600T WHITE MID-TOWER CASE

Overclocked Intel® Six Core i7-3970X (3.5GHz @ max 4.8GHz)

OC Settings Show/Hide
AI Overclock Tuner: XMP
BLCK Freq: 100
Turbo Ratio: 48
By All Cores: 48
Internal PLL OverVoltage: Enabled
Mem Freq: 1600MHz
EPU Power Saving: Auto
Load-Line Calibration: Auto
VRM Freq: Auto
Phase Control: extreme
Duty Contorl: Auto
CPU Current Capability: Auto
CPU OverVoltage: Auto
CPU Manual Voltage: 1.45V
DRAM Voltage: 1.65V
VCCSA Voltage: auto
VCCIO Voltage: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage: Auto
PCH Voltage: Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
CPU Ratio: Auto
Intel Adaptive Thermal Monitor: Disabled
Intel Virtualization: Enabled
Intel SpeedStep: Enabled
Turbo Mode: Enabled
CPU C1E: Disabled

NOTE: OverClock settings are configured by PC Specialist. They are here for your reference should you ever reset your BIOS.

Motherboard ASUS® RAMPAGE IV EXTREME: INTEL X79, SOCKET 2011, R.O.G

Memory (RAM) 32GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST QUAD-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (4 x 8GB KIT)

Graphics Card 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 690 DUAL GPU - 3 x DVI-I, 1 x mDP

2nd Graphics Card NONE

3rd Graphics Card NONE

Power Supply CORSAIR 1200W PRO SERIES™ PLATINUM AX1200i DIGITAL MODULAR PSU (£239)

Processor Cooling Corsair H100 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£89)

Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Fan Controller AeroCool Touch 2000 LCD Touch Screen 4 Fan Controller + 2 x Front USB


Now needless to say this PC set me back over £3000 but just two weeks ago my CPU started overheating and under-performing, within 5 mins of using prime 95 or running any intensive program I found my PC hitting temps of 90 degrees.

So I called up PC Specialist and spoke with numerous people trying to fix the problem, we tried down-clocking to no avail and during this process I found out that my RAM was also not performing at the optimum speed (clocked at 1600 instead of 2400 even though in the notes it had said different)

After numerous back and fourths I sent it in for RMA, and here is where the problem lies, My PC is now on it's way back to me, in the notes there is only mention of the PC having to be down-clocked to keep the temps below 80 degrees but no other detailed information such as what speed it is now running at etc.

I spoke with someone via live chat who told me that after replacing the cooler and replacing the thermal paste the only option was to downclock it to 4.1 ghz, then when I called to try and confirm this I was told that "We would not know the information on what the clock speed is because we test the pc's we have numerous on the bench and I doubt we would be able to get hold of that information" which obviously is conflicting information is it not?

When the PC first came out to me it was performing stable at 4.6Ghz and barely going above 75 under full load and I know from numerous websites and experience that this cpu is more than capable of being stable with the cooler I use at 4.6ghz.

So I guess my questions are as follows.

Why is nobody at PC Specialist able to give me a clear answer on what my PC's overclock settings are now it's being sent back to me? If I receive the PC and it is at a lower clock speed than it was when it first came out to me I will be very disappointed and will feel like more could have been done to get it at a higher stable overclock (bear in mind it was at 4.6ghz and performing perfectly for 2 months)

And my second question is why were the notes on my RMA fault report so vague and not include more information about what the problem actually was.

In conclusion I spent a lot of money based on good reputation with you guys that you have obviously built up for good reason, however my experience has been one of the buck being firmly passed around and from person to person with no clear indication on what is happening and being told that I have to except lower performance because you are not capable of making the PC perform as it did when you first shipped it to me?

I know many will say I am complaining about a minor hit in performance for stability, but I paid money for an overclocked system one that I know is more than capable of being stable at a higher clock setting than 4.1Ghz with the cooler I have.

So can anybody from PC Specialist give me an indication of what my settings will be when I get it back and if it is 4.1ghz now explain to me why it is not possible to get it running stable at 4.6ghz like it was when you first sent it out to me?

Many Thanks

Justin.

 

[keynes]

I would be as disappointed as you are. The reason why you may get conflicting information is probably because you spoken to different people/departments which is not an excuse. I'd suggest raising this issue to customer complaints and see if you can get a positive feedback to your problem.

 

[steaky360]

I agree with Keynes, its one thing to maybe accept a reduce in performance for stability, but it would be good to get a good reason as to why... Fingers crossed you get a decent resolution!

 

[phil0sophy]

I would be as disappointed as you are. The reason why you may get conflicting information is probably because you spoken to different people/departments which is not an excuse. I'd suggest raising this issue to customer complaints and see if you can get a positive feedback to your problem.

Thank you for your suggestion Keynes that is actually a great idea I will do that now.

 

[phil0sophy]

I agree with Keynes, its one thing to maybe accept a reduce in performance for stability, but it would be good to get a good reason as to why... Fingers crossed you get a decent resolution!

The reason was "unfortunately we could not get it performing stable at anything higher than 4.1ghz" (that is if it is running at 4.1ghz considering numerous people do not seem to have an idea what it is running at now) this which I already know is false information as it was before for over 2 months performing perfectly at a much higher clock speed, and judging from over 5-6 websites with the exact same specific setup and cooling system 4.6ghz is more than achievable without cracking the 80 degree mark.

I hate to sound like a complainer with more money than sense, but I just feel like the reason this system has been downclocked is not because its incapable of being at a higher clock speed but because the effort has not been put in to get it there, and the reason I feel like that stems from the lack of information I have received about it.

 

[phil0sophy]

I would be as disappointed as you are. The reason why you may get conflicting information is probably because you spoken to different people/departments which is not an excuse. I'd suggest raising this issue to customer complaints and see if you can get a positive feedback to your problem.

Just curious how do I raise this issue with customer complaints, I cannot see an area on the website for complains procedures?

 

[steaky360]

I think you just Ring/email the usual address.
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/terms/

11 Complaints about our Service
11.1 We hope that you will not have any complaints about our Services however if you do have an issue please contact us at [email protected] and we will do our best to respond within 5 business days

 

[keynes]

Just curious how do I raise this issue with customer complaints, I cannot see an area on the website for complains procedures?

I would suggest sending an email as well as giving them a call requesting customer complaints department/head of complaints.

 

[phil0sophy]

Email sent, will update the thread with the response I receive hopefully I can get to the bottom of this, I am dreading receiving my PC tomorrow or the next day and finding out that my ram is again running at 1600 instead of 2400 and now running at 4.1ghz instead of 4.6 like it was before and then having to send it back again to get it running at higher clock speeds, I have already been without it for over a week now

 

[JakAttack]

I'm sorry to hear you had the issues with the system.

We have dispatched your machine today for you.

There are specific reasons we don't have the exact overclock settings used on a machine, mainly because every machine can be different, although we may use the standard overclock settings the settings actually used on a finished product may differ, overclocking is not an exact science, as it would require the abilities of the CPU, RAM and motherboard to be exactly the same across the board.

Although I agree that the way your overclock done could have been done a bit more informatively.

When an overclock doesn't work at a higher speed, we drop the speed, for this reason alone we advertise the overclock speed as a maximum, and not a guarantee.

We have two departments, customer support, and a complaints department.

If you have exhausted the customer services department's options (may I remind you you don't have your RMA back yet!) which are phones (0844 499 4000), livechat (through website) and email (either use the webmail feature on the website, with it's own complaints department), or email on [email protected].

For an official complaint, to be used when a all customer service options have been explored, you can contact them by emailing the enquiries email address with the header as COMPLAINT, or you can send a letter to the address on the contact us page.

If the issue has not been addressed by the customer services department yet the complaint will be delegated back to them.

 

[phil0sophy]

I'm sorry to hear you had the issues with the system.

We have dispatched your machine today for you.

There are specific reasons we don't have the exact overclock settings used on a machine, mainly because every machine can be different, although we may use the standard overclock settings the settings actually used on a finished product may differ, overclocking is not an exact science, as it would require the abilities of the CPU, RAM and motherboard to be exactly the same across the board.

Although I agree that the way your overclock done could have been done a bit more informatively.

When an overclock doesn't work at a higher speed, we drop the speed, for this reason alone we advertise the overclock speed as a maximum, and not a guarantee.

We have two departments, customer support, and a complaints department.

If you have exhausted the customer services department's options (may I remind you you don't have your RMA back yet!) which are phones (0844 499 4000), livechat (through website) and email (either use the webmail feature on the website, with it's own complaints department), or email on [email protected].

For an official complaint, to be used when a all customer service options have been explored, you can contact them by emailing the enquiries email address with the header as COMPLAINT, or you can send a letter to the address on the contact us page.

If the issue has not been addressed by the customer services department yet the complaint will be delegated back to them.

Hi Jak thank you for the response.

My problem however is that I have not even been informed as to what state my PC is being sent back in terms of what the current overclock and ram settings are, one person via customer support has told me its being sent back at 4.1Ghz another person via customer support has told me it is impossible to find out what the final overclock settings were because they were not wrote down and then an email I have received shortly after is showing the final settings at 4.8ghz but the ram running at 1600 mhz.

So I am getting three different answers to one question and as you can imagine I am quite confused by this.

I also realise and respect the fact that overclocking is not an exact science however when looking around the internet at setup's identical to mine and looking at the capabilities of the motherboard the cpu and the cooler that I purchased from you the thing that stands out is that it should be more than stable at 4.6ghz and not going above 80 under full load (like it was when you first shipped it out to me at 4.6ghz and it was stable for months then)

With that being said it makes me feel like there may be flaws in the way the systems are stress tested or that they are being rushed due to time constraints so downclocking the system is an easier way than finding what the problem was in the first place for overheating and actually getting it to run at a higher speed stable like it was when I first received it, now I only feel this way due to how uninformed I have been throughout this whole process so I am of course assuming the worst, so maybe you can clear this up for me.

I have sent the content of the original post to the enquiries email so after I have received a response I will update further, also once I receive the PC back I will update the thread with my settings.

I just feel like the process of how you guys delegate information to customers about settings and RMA's has room for improvement because I am now fearing the worst and the fact that I am going to be disappointed when I receive my PC back because it will be running with less performance than it was when I sent it or when I first received it.

The big question will be if it was stable for two months at 4.6ghz when I first received it why would that not be the case this time?

 

[phil0sophy]

So I received my pc back today, it is as I feared, my 2400 mhz ram is AGAIN clocked at 1600mhz and my processor has been dropped back from 4.6ghz to 4ghz I cannot understand how you managed to send out my pc working at 4.6ghz and it barely ever going close to 80 degrees for over 2 months to now suddenly barely being able to get it to run under 80 degrees at 4ghz, it seems to me like more could have been done here and what I have now got back is a PC that is performing slower than it was a month ago.

Not only that but I have had no adequate reason why this is when many other people who have little to no experience manage to clock there system to 4.6ghz stable and even you guys managed to do it when I first got the PC sent out to me.

I am really hoping for a resolution to this I fear its going to require me sending it back in once again as last time we upped the clock speeds and ram over the phone it became extremely unstable and I have yet to hear back from the email I sent.

Just very disappointed, I mean even at 4ghz it is going above 80 with prime95 without even using my gpu and with the cooler I have that is just too high in my opinion.

 

[steaky360]

Just a suggestion, but check the H100 is in performance mode and not quiet mode etc and that the fans attached to the radiator are plugged into the heatsink (and the heatsink is subsequently plugged into the motherboard). I find it unlikely that this has been missed by yourself and PCS but you never know...

Might help with the temps!

 

[Yamikotai]

Not only that but I have had no adequate reason why this is when many other people who have little to no experience manage to clock there system to 4.6ghz stable and even you guys managed to do it when I first got the PC sent out to me.

It's bad that they haven't explained this to you, but no CPU is identical. Even two CPUs from the series and with the same model number can be radically different in terms of how well they can OC, because of the slightly turbulent results when manufacturing and binning them (these are the most complex machines mankind has ever made - they're not always perfect).

This is the reason that the overclock given is a maximum rather than a guaranteed. It's possible you've just got one from the lower end of the curve and it didn't handle being run at 4.6GHz for two months very well.

 

[tom_gr7]

what steaky said.

i'd also give it a thermal paste change, get some Noctua stuff and it on there.

In fact, I'd probably get some compressed air give the system a massive blitz, remove the H100 from the system, Clean out the rad - probably got loads of dust in even after a few months.

What kinda cooling setup do you have in your case? how many intake and exhaust fans? it maybe a collection of minor things thats causing the cpu to run hotter. Such as

- It's OC'd already so extra heat there
- thermal paste change, might be too much or too little. I would of guess PCs would check this, but i dont work for them, so im just guessing.
- dust build up on in the case and the rad - gonna reduce cooling massively.
- could be a faulty fan that hasnt been spotted - you cant actually see the h100 fans. so could be that.
- could be lack of cool air getting to the h100, or even hot air trapped inside the case - only exit being through the H100 rad or the other exhaust fan.
- The h100 could be slightly faulty - not uncommon.

That would be my guess,, just a collection of little things that causing high temps. i doubt the hardware (mobo, cpu/ram) is faulty

edit - If it was my rig, I'd check to see if the h100 was faulty or one of the fans not running properly.

 

[phil0sophy]

what steaky said.

i'd also give it a thermal paste change, get some Noctua stuff and it on there.

In fact, I'd probably get some compressed air give the system a massive blitz, remove the H100 from the system, Clean out the rad - probably got loads of dust in even after a few months.

What kinda cooling setup do you have in your case? how many intake and exhaust fans? it maybe a collection of minor things thats causing the cpu to run hotter. Such as

- It's OC'd already so extra heat there
- thermal paste change, might be too much or too little. I would of guess PCs would check this, but i dont work for them, so im just guessing.
- dust build up on in the case and the rad - gonna reduce cooling massively.
- could be a faulty fan that hasnt been spotted - you cant actually see the h100 fans. so could be that.
- could be lack of cool air getting to the h100, or even hot air trapped inside the case - only exit being through the H100 rad or the other exhaust fan.
- The h100 could be slightly faulty - not uncommon.

That would be my guess,, just a collection of little things that causing high temps. i doubt the hardware (mobo, cpu/ram) is faulty

They told me the thermal paste has been changed and the h100 has been changed from the looks of things to the h100i from what I can see, case looks dust free, I have one big front fan, one small at the back, 2 small on the side and two small on the top.

Also on an added note this overheating issue originally started when I called PC's about my ram speed only running at 1600, so I was told to go into bios and change it to xmp mode, once that happened thats' when the overheating issues started.

Not happy at all, even now running at 4ghz after it has been in for RMA it is running far too hot, 83 degrees on prime without running my gpu, with it I am looking at close to 90 again and above.

Did you guys at PC's even stress test this? Or did you just add a new cooler reapply thermal paste and lower the clock because that's what it seems like from what I am seeing.

 

[phil0sophy]

So just ran furmark and prime 95 to stress tess for 10 mins and every single core apart from one went above 90 degrees, unacceptable, I have had the pc home for 30 mins and already it is showing signs of overheating, just playing a game is taking it into the 90s, seriously it feels like this PC was not tested whatsoever and I had to wait over a week to get my pc back with a new cooler but still doing the same damn thing it was before?

Was it even tested?

 

[tom_gr7]

What kinda temps do you get when the system is idling? or if you have just turned it on?

Also, Try running HWmonitor to observe the cpu temperatures. What software have you been using?

mate, just to add. DO not run furmark... its really bad for gpu's.

 

[phil0sophy]

What kinda temps do you get when the system is idling? or if you have just turned it on?

Also, Try running HWmonitor to observe the cpu temperatures. What software have you been using?

mate, just to add. DO not run furmark... its really bad for gpu's.

i turned it on around 20 mins ago, Idle I am looking at 54-58 degrees I was just using HWmonitor to monitor the usage, it is basically doing the exact same thing it was before, so obviously it has not been stress tested whatsoever from the looks of things.

Also on the furmark subject I was just trying to get a real gauge of the temps I will hit while gaming, but I just fired up battlefield 3 and a few other games and was hitting above 90 anyway.

The entire service has been extremely worrying to say the least.

 

[tom_gr7]

I'd suggest dropping the Overclock completely to see what the temps are like then, both at stock Idle and stock speeds under prime 95 load.