'Scuse the bad pun, I'm just a little peeved at the moment.
On Thursday last week, in the evening, my desktop PC died. After extensive checking and fiddling, I came to the conclusion that the motherboard seems to have died. L3 started on Friday evening, so on Friday I tried my best to source a new CPU, PSU and some new RAM (wasn't 100% sure which had died, so thought I'd nail all three, since it had to be one of them or the motherboard, which I already had a replacement for).
First, I tried Dragon, since they have a city branch at which I could have grabbed the stuff on Saturday. Their website, even after updating, still showed stock of the CPU and RAM at the city branch, and the PSU at both other branches. I emailed them, asking them to hold the stuff for me. I got a reply, saying that they don't hold the Athlon64 X2 4200+ in stock, that it has to be ordered in and that it wouldn't be in until the following week (this week). I asked about the 3800+ and 4400+, both of which were also showing as in stock. Once again, I was told they don't keep them in stock. Then, I was informed that they didn't have any of the RAM either - despite the site showing 10 the previous night, and 3 that morning (at the city branch alone). However, I was told that they had multiple units of the PSU - despite the site only showing them at other branches.
So, I rang TasTech. I asked if he had any 4200+es, and he said no, he doesn't keep them on hand - but that he could get one pretty quickly. I asked how soon (this was at midday) and he said 3pm. THREE PM. That's 3 hours, folks. I said it sounded good, and I'd be there on Saturday to get it. He said to drop him an email to confirm; so I did - and also asked about the PSU and RAM. He then replied later, saying that the 4200+ that was listed as available wasn't actually available, so I ended up having to shell out another couple of hundred for a 4400+. At 2:30pm, he said he'd be able to get the CPU and PSU in (he had the RAM) by 4:30 - TWO HOURS. A two-hour turnaround. Compared to Dragon's dismissive "next week" and not actually even offering to get one, that's bloody amazing.
So, come Saturday, Mike gave me a lift to go and pick up the stuff (thanks, Mike). We got held up by roadworks completely blocking New Brighton Road. Once we got there, everything went smoothly. I got back to L3, and assembled the PC.
I had been planning an upgrade for a while - buying in dribs and drabs as parts were available cheaply and I had money. I was intending to hold off buying the CPU until after AMD's new Socket AM2 was released, since that meant that Socket 939 CPUs were almost guaranteed to fall in price. So here we are, four days after my foreced emergency upgrade - and today Socket AM2 was released. Despite the lack of availability of Socket AM2 in NZ as yet, Skt939 prices are already falling - the 3800+, 4200+, 4600+ and 4800+ have all dropped by varying amounts.
So, thanks to the precise timing of my motherboard's demise, I was forced to shell out more than intended, a fair bit sooner than intended, just to have a working machine. Understandably, I'm not too happy, especially since AM2 was released but 6 days after the motherboard died, and 4 days after I bought the new gear.
On Thursday last week, in the evening, my desktop PC died. After extensive checking and fiddling, I came to the conclusion that the motherboard seems to have died. L3 started on Friday evening, so on Friday I tried my best to source a new CPU, PSU and some new RAM (wasn't 100% sure which had died, so thought I'd nail all three, since it had to be one of them or the motherboard, which I already had a replacement for).
First, I tried Dragon, since they have a city branch at which I could have grabbed the stuff on Saturday. Their website, even after updating, still showed stock of the CPU and RAM at the city branch, and the PSU at both other branches. I emailed them, asking them to hold the stuff for me. I got a reply, saying that they don't hold the Athlon64 X2 4200+ in stock, that it has to be ordered in and that it wouldn't be in until the following week (this week). I asked about the 3800+ and 4400+, both of which were also showing as in stock. Once again, I was told they don't keep them in stock. Then, I was informed that they didn't have any of the RAM either - despite the site showing 10 the previous night, and 3 that morning (at the city branch alone). However, I was told that they had multiple units of the PSU - despite the site only showing them at other branches.
So, I rang TasTech. I asked if he had any 4200+es, and he said no, he doesn't keep them on hand - but that he could get one pretty quickly. I asked how soon (this was at midday) and he said 3pm. THREE PM. That's 3 hours, folks. I said it sounded good, and I'd be there on Saturday to get it. He said to drop him an email to confirm; so I did - and also asked about the PSU and RAM. He then replied later, saying that the 4200+ that was listed as available wasn't actually available, so I ended up having to shell out another couple of hundred for a 4400+. At 2:30pm, he said he'd be able to get the CPU and PSU in (he had the RAM) by 4:30 - TWO HOURS. A two-hour turnaround. Compared to Dragon's dismissive "next week" and not actually even offering to get one, that's bloody amazing.
So, come Saturday, Mike gave me a lift to go and pick up the stuff (thanks, Mike). We got held up by roadworks completely blocking New Brighton Road. Once we got there, everything went smoothly. I got back to L3, and assembled the PC.
I had been planning an upgrade for a while - buying in dribs and drabs as parts were available cheaply and I had money. I was intending to hold off buying the CPU until after AMD's new Socket AM2 was released, since that meant that Socket 939 CPUs were almost guaranteed to fall in price. So here we are, four days after my foreced emergency upgrade - and today Socket AM2 was released. Despite the lack of availability of Socket AM2 in NZ as yet, Skt939 prices are already falling - the 3800+, 4200+, 4600+ and 4800+ have all dropped by varying amounts.
So, thanks to the precise timing of my motherboard's demise, I was forced to shell out more than intended, a fair bit sooner than intended, just to have a working machine. Understandably, I'm not too happy, especially since AM2 was released but 6 days after the motherboard died, and 4 days after I bought the new gear.
Currently feeling: Poor
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