Should I be worried?


  1. Posts : 42
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit RTM
       #1

    Should I be worried?


    Hello again fellow enthusiasts!

    Recently I have had some pretty horrid luck. My apartment was broken into and they trashed my setup, making off with my 47" monitor and my wife's laptop, damaging my 15" monitor, and causing all sorts of havoc on my main gaming rig. I thought I would turn to these forums to seek some advice, guidance, and opinions on a few things.
    My main concern is with my rig of course, since the others will obviously be replaced or at least some reimbursement will come my way. All of the components were unplugged from the back of the tower, I assume violently since there is mud on the back of my PSU and on the PSU cord likely caused by a stomping motion. My top GPU is now very...wobbly...when seated in the motherboard but not screwed in to the case and it now hangs down at an angle, where it used to mirror the bottom GPU and was a nice snug fit, even without being screwed in. The monitor was plugged into this GPU and it wouldn't suprise me if the culprit ripped the monitor cables from the back to cause this. The SLI bridge was also loose but easily slipped back on. That's the first thing I noticed when doing my inspection.
    Secondly, after powering on my PC, it had an interesting boot up sequence that I had never seen before in the 11 months I have owned it. It was a variation of the standard bios boot sequence read out that I had disabled long ago and replaced with the motherboard logo screen. Similiar yet different. I wish I could be a little more specific but bear with me when I claim that the sequence and order of the system specs was skewed about and in a different order than I was accustomed to seeing and have since then never seen again. Now it boots up with the read out I recognize and I haven't seen that wierd read out since the first initial booting of the PC after the burglary.
    The third thing I noticed was that my system time had been reset, back to sometime in 2009 when I'm sure the motherboard was manufactured. This was fixed easily by me and hasn't reset again so I'm not too worried about it, it just confirms that the tower took a beating and that the battery was probably jostled a bit.
    The fourth thing I noticed was that the PC shut down on me after running for about 10 mins after the initial start up. Not a crash to desktop (was loading an application), not a reset, but a complete and abrupt shut down. I pushed the power button again and booted up the PC for a second try, this time getting the wonderful boot up option for safe mode due to a bad shut down. Yay....
    Alright, onward! I popped open task manager and as I went through my rounds of checking e-mails and trying to load up all of my wonderful games and apps, and I noticed that one of my processor cores was repeatedly getting maxed out or running a higher load than the other three, even while idling. I don't remember this being the case before the burglary either so I added it to the growing list of concerns.
    The last thing I did was I loaded CPU-Z to verify that the read outs on my hardware were correct. Where I had received my PC w/RAM clocked at 1600mhz, it now showed a disappointing 1333mhz. I understand that the default settings for DDR3 motherboards is 1333 but this particualr motherboard was running my RAM at 1600 just fine before all of this happened and now, well, I'm not 100% sure how to get it back to those settings.
    Now I spoke to my insurance agency and they asked me to get an assessment. Took it to a local chain called Intrex Computers, paid $90, and three days later they handed me back the PC and said it was fine. They claimed the wobbling was normal and that any performance issues were driver related, and then went on to explain how power surges can damage a PC and tried to sell me a battery back up. The tech then claimed that even though the RAM was 1600mhz and the MoBo could handle 1600mhz, that they could only verify that the RAM was running at 1333mhz properly and that anything more was O/Cing the system and out of their hands. I held my tongue when he tried to explain that previous assessments had landed them in court and that if it wasn't major or instantly apparant damage, they didn't note it anymore. I am not happy.
    What to do now? Having booted up this PC on an almost daily basis for the last 330 days I feel confident that the system is struggling where it once whistled. The boot up sequence seems to be 3-4 secs longer than it was before this happened. My system just feels...sluggish, from loading Windows to running applications. Should I seek out a specialist? Contact the company that custom built the PC (Cyberpowerpc) 11 months ago? The manufacturer of each part?
    Throw some thoughts or comments out here please
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,686
    Windows 8.1 Pro w/Media Center 64bit, Windows 7 HP 64bit
       #2

    You may want to call Cyberpowerpc and see what they can do for you. Since it is a custom build they should be able to get it back to specs. Worst case would be you shipping it back to Cyberpowerpc and have them repair it and insurance pay the bill.

    Jim
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 42
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit RTM
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Well the parts are all still under warranty so I'm probably going to send the motherboard and one of the GPU's back to their respective manufacturers after I get a second assessment from someone who specializes in gaming PCs and who is willing to visit me. It really irks me when the manager explains that unless there is substantial physical evidence to suggest a part would not work that they merely run an unpatched benchmark application and then give it their stamp of approval. They didn't even open the friggin case...
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 983
    10 x64 | 7 x64
       #4

    Side question; so you have renters insurance? hope your agent is prompt. Not to burden you worries but how was your apt. broken into and can you do something to help prevent this happening again.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 42
    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit RTM
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Aye, our apartment complex requires renters insurance and we use State Farm. The adjuster assigned to our claim has about a 48 hour delay in communication because, and I qoute, "We are experiencing a surge of claims due to volatile weather in the southeast recently." The thief/thieves forced entry through a window but about 3 months ago they kicked open the door to my neighbor's home so I don't think a charlie bar would assist in detering these individuals. Roughly 3 homes have been broken into every week in a 10-15 mile radius where we live currently. We should be closing on our home by the end of this month which will see us relocated to a much nicer neighborhood. If this would have happened 25 days later than it did, it would have been someone else's problem.
    After speaking with the adjuster about the concerns I had with how my set-up was disassembled and roughed up during the burglary, she asked that I take it to Best Buy for an assessment. My experience with their Geek Squad has been...not so good in the past so I chose a local chain of computer stores called Intrex Computers who 'supposedly' specialized in custom built PCs. They are so afraid of getting dragged into a court battle with Big Insurance however that they refuse to actually open the case, instead using an unpatched version of Novabench and CPU-Z to test the machine.
    Even after I pointed out that the top GPU seated on my MoBo is angled oddly while the bottom GPU sits as snug as RAM, they continued to argue that everything was fine. The technician sat there and said that as long as it was secure when screwed in, everything was fine and as intended. He said that gravity would naturally pull on the GPU when unscrewed and cause it to lean. When I asked why the bottom GPU didn't do that he answered he didn't know. There is about 2 inches difference in gravitational pull between the two GPUs. No Physics major here but gravity shouldn't cause the top GPU to sit at an almost 45 degree angle when seated firmly. 85 I could see, maybe even 80, but 45-50 degrees?
    When I confronted the manager over my concerns she couldn't confirm that the technician even opened the case, instead saying that something that in-depth usually isn't done during an assessment. Unscrewing the case door and performing a visual inspection of the parts is too in-depth? Dang, what did I just shell out $90 for? I already had CPU-Z on my machine thank you and they kept the machine for over 72 hours...
      My Computer


 

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