Fulgrim Posted March 19, 2013 Belial said:... I use an ordinary vacuum cleaner and toothpicks. Take the GPU out, 10 minutes of dislodging the dust from the heatsink with a toothpick, then 10 more minutes of the same for the CPU heatsink without even removing it. Have to be careful with using a vacuume cleaner. If you and the vacuume are not grounded properly there is a chance it will fry your hardware due to the amount of static electricity generated by the vac. Also I would switch to canned air due to the fact that you typically clean out a case faster. hardcore_gamer I'd cut all ties with that shop and report it to the Better Business Bureau equivalent in Iceland. Posting a warning on the craigslist of Iceland might be a good idea. The best thing you can do is attempt to warn people about the scam the shop is pulling. 0 Share this post Link to post
Archy Posted March 19, 2013 Also vacuums can cause the fans to spin so fast that they become dysfunctional. Be very careful with any device that blows out, or sucks in air; it can save you from burning up your fan. 0 Share this post Link to post
GreyGhost Posted March 20, 2013 Belial said:I use an ordinary vacuum cleaner and toothpicks. Take the GPU out, 10 minutes of dislodging the dust from the heatsink with a toothpick, then 10 more minutes of the same for the CPU heatsink without even removing it. A small paint brush and a reasonably healthy pair of lungs do the job for me. @hardcore_gamer - you're being scammed, I recently installed a GeForce GTX 650 in my 4 year old desktop without any drama. 0 Share this post Link to post
SyntherAugustus Posted March 20, 2013 hardcore_gamer said:GeForce GTX 560 Ti That card definetely doesn't need to be replaced anytime soon. I own that thing and I can say it kicks ass for the price. Of course, this is the ASUS one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425R I've owned it for a year and it still cools itself nicely. 0 Share this post Link to post
Belial Posted March 20, 2013 Archy said:Also vacuums can cause the fans to spin so fast that they become dysfunctional. But that's part of the fun :P 0 Share this post Link to post
Maes Posted March 20, 2013 Satyr000 said:Also I would switch to canned air due to the fact that you typically clean out a case faster. While on tech support/PC repair, we preferred using an electric blower for this job -it's cheaper for longer jobs, and it doesn't have the static buildup issues of a vacuum cleaner (though, unless you use metal tubes and bring them directly in contact with the case, there's no problem: just use a plastic extension). The only advantage of using a vacuum (along with a brush) is that you can do the job indoors, while if you plan on blowing dust around.... For "longer jobs" I mean PCs so dirty that they blow out a CONTINUOUS stream of dust from the case for a good minute or two. A bit uneconomical to use canned air for that amount of dirt ;-) I also had access to a compressed air tank + compressor, but the stream of compressed air has too low a volume to be effective on very dirty cases: it's only OK for spot jobs and finishing touches, not for cleaning a case from start to end. About fans, if you end up having to clean a PC that thoroughly, I suggest performing a preemptive lubrication of all fans. 0 Share this post Link to post
hardcore_gamer Posted March 20, 2013 I took my PC to another shop in my town earlier today and told them the whole story. I then asked them to check out my PC to see if the stuff that those other guys said is actually true. I haven't gotten a reply from them yet, but I probably will either later today or tomorrow. Hopefully the results will be interesting... 0 Share this post Link to post
bimlanders Posted March 26, 2013 hardcore seems a lot like me. I don't remember my specs off the top of my head, the name of my video card, and I don't keep papers/receipts. However, you're apparently being screwed and if I were in your situation, I would wait for my computer to die, eventually, and buy a whole new PC from a different retailer just to spite the scammers. 0 Share this post Link to post
fraggle Posted March 27, 2013 Instead of just switching to a different shop, a much better thing to do in future would be to build your own machine. You'll save a lot of money, it's not very difficult and it can even be kind of fun. Just buy the components individually and put them together. There's the added advantage that you'll probably learn a lot about how your computer works, which is always a good thing. 0 Share this post Link to post
Nomad Posted March 27, 2013 exp(x) said:You're being scammed. Replacing a GPU fan is incredibly easy and cheap. I'm seconding (thirding?) this. Even just replacing the video card itself would only run you between $75 and $200 for a decent/better-than-decent card, which is certainly far less than replacing the whole rig. 0 Share this post Link to post
DoomUK Posted March 27, 2013 fraggle said:Instead of just switching to a different shop, a much better thing to do in future would be to build your own machine. Indeed. It's nice to go out and buy a whole pre-built system which you can bring home, plug into the wall and immediately play with, but the convenience of this is eclipsed by the benefits of assembling it yourself. 0 Share this post Link to post
Graf Zahl Posted March 27, 2013 DoomUK said:but the convenience of this is eclipsed by the benefits of assembling it yourself. What benefit? I did it twice and it was the least reliable systems I ever had. These days I shop at stores that custom build computers. My last one wasn't even more expensive than a prebuilt one with the same capabilities but I was able to choose much better parts. 0 Share this post Link to post
DoomUK Posted March 27, 2013 Graf Zahl said:My last one wasn't even more expensive than a prebuilt one with the same capabilities but I was able to choose much better parts. But still more expensive than if you'd built it yourself, I'll wager. Unless you know of a very charitable computer shop which assembles PCs for free. Saving hundreds of pounds/dollars/euros should be enough on an incentive to build your own system, as the procedure is so simple that I assembled my first gaming PC before I even knew what every part did. It's unfortunate that you ran into problems on more than one occasion, but hardware can be faulty regardless of how you come by it. 0 Share this post Link to post
printz Posted March 27, 2013 Satyr000 said:Have to be careful with using a vacuume cleaner. If you and the vacuume are not grounded properly there is a chance it will fry your hardware due to the amount of static electricity generated by the vac. Also I would switch to canned air due to the fact that you typically clean out a case faster. Fuck, I have no grounding connection in my apartment. Stupid communist architects. 0 Share this post Link to post
hardcore_gamer Posted March 27, 2013 Ok, I just got a call from the guys at the second place I sent my Pc to at last. What a load of bullshitters the other guys were... Not only was there zero reason to replace the PC, it wasn't even the graphics card that was making the noise. It was the CPU fan, and they told me they would replace it for roughly 4 thousand Iceland kroans (about the third of the cost for a full priced video game in Iceland). Afterward I can just pay them and go home with my Pc and continue using it... Yea, I am never going to that other place ever again. 0 Share this post Link to post
GreyGhost Posted March 27, 2013 hardcore_gamer said:What a load of bullshitters the other guys were... ...it wasn't even the graphics card that was making the noise. It was the CPU fan Bullshitters and/or incompetent. Either way, I wouldn't go back there. printz said:Fuck, I have no grounding connection in my apartment. Stupid communist architects. Not even the kitchen sink or bathtub? 0 Share this post Link to post
Graf Zahl Posted March 27, 2013 DoomUK said:But still more expensive than if you'd built it yourself, I'll wager. Unless you know of a very charitable computer shop which assembles PCs for free. Saving hundreds of pounds/dollars/euros should be enough on an incentive to build your own system, as the procedure is so simple that I assembled my first gaming PC before I even knew what every part did. It's unfortunate that you ran into problems on more than one occasion, but hardware can be faulty regardless of how you come by it. The major difference being, if a prebuilt system doesn't work I can go to the store and have it repaired on warranty. If I build it myself I'm out of luck. I may be lucky to find the faulty part but if I don't I'm screwed. It all depends what it all costs. My last system was custom built out of stock parts and the whole thing cost me mayve €80 more than having it built myself - and that's without the increased shipping fees I would have had to pay for the single parts - not to mention the time needed to assemble it all. 0 Share this post Link to post
kristus Posted March 27, 2013 Uhm, Shipping fees for hardware is usually flat rate from my experience. Meaning. If you order an entire computer worth of parts, your shipping is pretty much negligable. And you still got warranty on the hardware even if you assemble it yourself. Also, if a part do go bad. It's usually pretty easy to point out where the problem lies and go and replace it. 0 Share this post Link to post
printz Posted March 27, 2013 kristus said:Also, if a part do go bad. It's usually pretty easy to point out where the problem lies and go and replace it. How do you know it's a specific component, and not the motherboard itself, that is damaged? 0 Share this post Link to post
Enjay Posted March 27, 2013 I'm with Graf Zahl. I also used to always build my own PCs but the way things have gone, there is very little difference financially between buying the parts and assembling things myself versus specifying the parts and getting a company to build the machine for me. A guy I know who used to run a small business making custom PCs gave up last year because he was unable to produce a spec-for-spec machine anything like as cheaply as the bigger customer-specified suppliers can. There is also peace of mind in knowing that if it goes wrong, all I have to do is send a quick email to the supplier and they will sort out an appropriate solution rather than me having to diagnose and repair things myself. That being said, the last fault I had on a PC I did diagnose and repair myself because the warranty was out. 0 Share this post Link to post