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Pol
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Unread postby Pol » 26 Sep 2014, 12:14

Hmm, there is wind tunel in the PSU. If something fall here (usually cable) it may start to create noise between tunel, cooler and the grid. Verify by eyes, with help of flashlight.

It may be also just effect of cooler aging, which is fairly normal for cheap coolers. (No slide bearings.)

Try to dust of cooler's blades and the grid - use some brush/toothbrush, eventually and very carefully vacuum cleaner or tube with compressed air. Sometimes if the particles are heavy (not just dust) the cooler itself become more noisy.

Try to change pc case position from vertical to horizontal and vice versa, that may help to acoustic.

Or add one more cooler to start sound mixing alchemy. In that case you may combine more coolers but they must sound together well. In that case expect that you end with several new coolers instead of one but the final sound will be good.

In Europe we prefer Noctua fans, that's not necessary, you may try some better Scythe (Kama Flow 2 ?) and place it close to psu fan. Best to pc case exhaust, directly under psu.

It' also good to have PC hidden under desk table, remember that all these noise tests are measured within some distance and that is at least one meter, usually more. It's a little dirty business talk.
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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 26 Sep 2014, 17:50

Pol wrote: Try to change pc case position from vertical to horizontal and vice versa, that may help to acoustic.
Tilting the case made it quieter. Not sure what that means.
Pol wrote: It' also good to have PC hidden under desk table, remember that all these noise tests are measured within some distance and that is at least one meter, usually more. It's a little dirty business talk
I read that placing the pc on the floor (especially carpet) compared with on desk makes it accumulate dust faster and dust may make fans louder. Is that true?

At any rate, I am applying for warranty with company, but it will take about 2 weeks for my pc to be functional again. :(

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Unread postby Panda Tar » 26 Sep 2014, 17:57

For personal reference, all my PC fans started buzzing louder and louder due dust, or because it had something on its fan that would require more effort to make it spin - as if there was a lack of lubricant, if you know what I mean.

In my notebook, it makes a louder noise when some running APP requires more from the video card and the processor, like a game. When I stop playing, the 'noise' subsides.

All in all, you should first clean it. Probably the accumulated dust can generate enough friction that can be giving the odd smell you're talking about. Always a possibility.
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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 02 Oct 2014, 22:52

Well, it seems like I can either get my psu replaced and it will only cost me shipping costs or I can get a refund for $85. I'm not sure whether I should get it replaced or I should use the refund money to get a different power supply. Can you guys recommend something of equal or greater quality at around the same price?

My power supply is this one:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4063 ... wer_supply


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Unread postby Pol » 03 Oct 2014, 17:27

In both cases warranty sounds mighty. And certainly is best to return existing PSU and get a tougher one.

However, from these parameters is not obvious which one is and remain more silent.

The price tag is dubious, for this price you usually not get quality 750W PSUs ..but 600W is a little better story and still enough for you. The question to ponder is, do they lie about performance and keep quality or they do lie about something else or eventually the did it right?

Let me to point you to silentpcreview.com as silence is your main interest. :)
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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 03 Oct 2014, 18:05

Thanks Pol. I think I will choose this one; after rebate is $15 more than my current one. http://www.microcenter.com/product/4297 ... wer_Supply

I also saw this one, but the numbers seem very suspicious. :|

http://www.microcenter.com/product/4078 ... wer_Supply

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Unread postby Pol » 03 Oct 2014, 19:25

mr.hackcrag wrote:Thanks Pol. I think I will choose this one; after rebate is $15 more than my current one. http://www.microcenter.com/product/4297 ... wer_Supply

I also saw this one, but the numbers seem very suspicious. :|

http://www.microcenter.com/product/4078 ... wer_Supply
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?na ... 6&reid=380

Passed, good choice! :)
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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 04 Oct 2014, 17:46

Ack! I bought this monitor 1.5 years ago for $400 and power supply failed which cost $60 to replace. Now it's being sold for $128. :mad:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/3847 ... ed_monitor

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Unread postby overall » 04 Oct 2014, 18:05

kind of annoying problem oiling fans sometimes help i had bit of same problem with my graphics card but i fixed with this arctic its bit big so i need to put it to PCIe 2 slot what i have read it wont have much nothing on performance lost...

http://www.microcenter.com/product/4078 ... wer_Supply yes this is very good specially if you're looking for new power supply on your vacuum cleaner x)... yea.. next model of this probably crates small black hole inside your pc...

http://www.microcenter.com/product/4297 ... wer_Supply 10 years warentty is kind of nice

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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 10 Oct 2014, 19:44

Working with Corsair warranty is not fun. :mad:

After I submitted my ticket, it was written that I would get a response in 2-3 days. It took a week for my RMA to be processed, however, they wanted to replace my psu, despite the fact that I explicitly wrote I wanted a refund.

I talked to live chat help and after 40 minutes of pushing for them to honor the refund, the representative said he would put in a request to the manager and I would get a response in 2 days.

It's been 3 days and no response. I talked to live chat help again and he said I would get a response "sometime next week." To make matters worse, he implied I wouldn't get a full refund due to policy that they charge 10% usage cost per year. I explained that I purchased my psu before that policy came into effect and it shouldn't apply to my warranty and the response was to make a challenge to the manager, which will probably take even more time.

Finally, he said I would have to pay shipping costs to send the psu back to the company. The warranty implied I could send it back to the store, but they seem keen on me sending it to them directly.

I'm starting to see that warranties are kind of like a scam in that the time it takes to remedy the problem and extra costs that go with it are really frustrating.

EDIT

Worst case scenario, it would cost $18 for me to ship it to them and they would deduct another $9 for the "usage fee." It would take 2 or more weeks for me to get the check of $85 (which is actually $58 after all my costs are applied). And there is still a possibility that my refund request may not even be accepted by the manager.

Here is there warranty page, except my warranty enclosed with psu doesn't include the 10% usage fee stuff. http://www.corsair.com/en-us/support/warranty

Any advice?

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Unread postby Pol » 13 Oct 2014, 18:11

I am afraid that shipping fee cannot be avoided when using warranty directly from Corsair.

The rest can be, you may insist but prepare for time spent. Certainly there is no (legal) ground to deduce any usage fee and they were already slower than what they promised in response, you may remind them that and require compensation. (Cannot use computer, too noisy, have sensitive ears.. :devious: )

There is no doubt that if you require product exchange, for another product with the same or higher cost, they would be more willing to make a better (warranty) deal.

Perhaps a best alternative is to check microcenter warranty condition. If the warranty apply in general terms, there may be a way to solve it, via e-shop customer service.

As not knowing USA customer rights I don t see where to aim you. In our, small europian country (CZ) we have following rights.

If the unit is found to be faulty within first six months from the date of purchase, customer have right to say how it will be solved. Shop must comply on its own expenses. (Note that is theory, sometime you need to use some more arguments to make it work. Also we do differ customer and entrepreneur - who is having completely different options.)

From six months to two years, faulty units would be returned to shop and they must accept it. It s however on the shop to decide if the unit will be repaired, swapped or they return the money.

Some shops offer extended warranties (over two years, above the law requirement) and they usually deduce usage fees.

At some moment it may happens that your product is out of shop warranty but it still covered by manufacturer warranty. As this is warranty promised by manufacturer, the solution is in their hands.
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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 15 Oct 2014, 20:01

Well, they took 10% off what I paid regardless of my protest. :( Oh well, better than nothing and this ordeal is now behind me. Good riddance. And now I have a better power supply for a difference of about $50.

That was my second power supply fail in one month. The first failure was from my monitor's power supply which cost $60 for a new one. I'm scared of power supplies now. :S

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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 22 Oct 2014, 22:56

When my viewing very dark colors on my monitor, I've noticed green blinking squares in one area of the screen. Sometimes the area where the squares are moves. Any ideas what's causing this? I've read it could be gpu problem or monitor problem.

I'm leaning towards gpu problem because I think it only occurs when I run games. On the other hand, one time I inserted the dc connector from power supply to monitor in the wrong direction and I heard a high pitch tone which could have caused some damaged to monitor. :S

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Unread postby Angelspit » 23 Oct 2014, 13:17

You may be required to pay shipping and handling charges, as well as any applicable tariffs, duties, taxes, or other fees. Corsair may, at its discretion, provide new or equivalent-to-new refurbished parts in good working condition, or repair or replace the hardware returned to Corsair.
"May" be required? They should have used a "will" here, because we'll end up having to pay for sure. And yet we might receive refurbished parts in return...

My RMA for Corsair RAM made me realize that there are still benefits in buying components in store. If you end up with a faulty product, it's much easier to get a refund instantly, rather than go through a lengthy RMA process with some fees involved.
I'm on Steam and Xbox Live.

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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 24 Oct 2014, 02:17

Angelspit wrote:
My RMA for Corsair RAM made me realize that there are still benefits in buying components in store. If you end up with a faulty product, it's much easier to get a refund instantly, rather than go through a lengthy RMA process with some fees involved.
There's still a problem though. Stores give you a short time frame to return (for me it was 30 days) and the only way to return it after that is if you buy the extended warranty which was offered to me at $20-30 and only covered 2 years. Either way, they'll make you pay unless your lucky enough to have your product break in the first month... wait a minute... ;|

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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 21 Mar 2015, 10:56

Hey, Pol, you still around?

What power source would you recommend for a "Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Tri-X OC 3GB DDR5 384-bit"?
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Unread postby Pol » 21 Mar 2015, 19:31

Yea, well some quality one. :D

Honestly they do recommend 750W, as for brands EVGA, Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, Rosewill, Thermaltake (not only)... and not in exact order, use as guide jonnyguru.

It's going by model lines not by brand so much today, look for reviews.

I don't know, there are some cases when better Fortron or Cooler Master can almost do it too, means Aurum (Pro) and Silent Pro (M2?) series.

You may cross check with hardwaresecrets.com

The one with which ended mr.hackcrag EVGA Supernova 750W G2 is superb. However I see your problem, as PSUs from USA do not tend to be cheap these days, if they ever were in some parts of Europe - as your and mine as well.

You may try Thermaltake Toughpower 750W. Thermaltake is from Germany, the only other choice is Fortron. But regarding quality it's overpriced.

The third choice is to obtain something simple, like Zalman and upgrade it yourself. Never did it, just to mention, cause I know people who are doing that, for extra fee of course.

I should mention Delta if you can grab one. They did thousands of them for DELL, the trouble is that in that case they have usually non standard dimensions, being a bit bigger. The advantage is the price obviously.

And yes, you may go risky just with 600W PSU, it may work well and long or not, it's a little wild card. I don't know exact wattage of this card, perhaps you may google it. :devil:
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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 07 Apr 2015, 12:54

Well the person i was asking for went with a 700W one, hope that's not a problem...


Also, i'm looking to get a cheap-ish laptop for word processing and net-browsing... Something under 500$ (even though that's still a lot since the $ went up so much lately).
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Unread postby GreatEmerald » 07 Apr 2015, 19:23

A Chromebook? :)

I'm looking at laptops too, but in my case it will be used for both gaming and number crunching, so it'll need to be a bit of a beast. Likely something from Dell, because they have OK AMD hardware and Linux support.

Also, I got a task to set up a multimedia workstation so two branches of my mother's company could talk to one another. That means getting two webcams, a router, and setting up CentOS to deal with all that (including SSH and VNC, and possibly a video server to use cameras for security monitoring). Fun times!


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