Extended warranty for computer parts, worth it?

cheezies

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 8, 2003
Messages
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I recently purchased a bunch of parts and built myself a new rig. My friend working at the store recommended a extended warranty for both the motherboard, graphics cards and speakers. In the product dies within the warranty period, a new replacement (non-refurbished) is given. They also provide same-tier product replacements (e.g. 580 GTX would be replaced with a 680 GTX if 580 GTX is not available).

In regards to the speakers, I've decided to go with the warranty after reading numerous comments about heat issues and blown capacitors. I'm still choosing not to exchange them for the Corsair SP2500 because I preferred their sound signature.

Extended warranty prices
ASUS GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (2x for SLI) - $98.99 CAD each (4 years)
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z - $66.99 CAD (4 years)
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 - $32.99 CAD (4 years)

In the past I've owned a Geforce 2 GTS, Radeon 9500 and 9800 Pro. They all ran fine until I sold them, didn't have any problems. However, I'm not sure if video card reliability has gone down the drain since then. I do plan on doing quite a bit of overclocking, benchmarking and number crunching though.

What are your thoughts? Any suggestions or recommendations?
 
I don't think extended warranties are worth it, just ensure your parts come with a 3 year warranty. Paying for an extended warranty very seldom makes sense when you usually end up selling/upgrading before then anyway.
 
I don't think extended warranties are worth it, just ensure your parts come with a 3 year warranty. Paying for an extended warranty very seldom makes sense when you usually end up selling/upgrading before then anyway.

+1
Reputable companies will replace at same tier level if product is no longer manufactured and product is under warranty. Considering the abuse I have put my stuff under (heat, dust, sand-Iraq is rough on stuff) I think if parts are gonna fail due to defects, they do it early in life.
 
if you have a prebuilt server, you wont be retiring it at the end of the standard warranty period, and its mission critical - yes...
otherwise - no....
 
For the GPUs and motherboard, not worth the money for the extended warranty.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my post! I think I will pass on the warranties considering the motherboard and graphics cards all come with a 3 year manufacturer warranty already.
 
I don't think extended warranties are worth it, just ensure your parts come with a 3 year warranty. Paying for an extended warranty very seldom makes sense when you usually end up selling/upgrading before then anyway.

+2

Things like Hard drives (storage), Monitors, and Speakers if you like to push them hard, I can definitely see the usefulness in extended warranties though.
 
They have their purpose in life, not at that price with products that typically have at least a three year warranty.

150 for 3 years of accidental coverage on a 1500 dollar laptop? Yes.
100 for 3 years of walk in on a 700? It's my sister, so yes. Now I don't have to do it.

100 for 4 years of coverage on a MOTHERBOARD? Heeeeeell naw.
 
They have their purpose in life, not at that price with products that typically have at least a three year warranty.

150 for 3 years of accidental coverage on a 1500 dollar laptop? Yes.
100 for 3 years of walk in on a 700? It's my sister, so yes. Now I don't have to do it.

100 for 4 years of coverage on a MOTHERBOARD? Heeeeeell naw.

I would even question the 150 for accidental coverage...a lot of common accidents only kill the screen, and a DIY replacement of that is ~$100.
 
Extended warranties are "luxury" items. If you want to save money, don't get them. If you want to spend money, get them. If you're an a-hole who thinks the store should cover your item beyond the manufacturer's warranty, buy the extended warranty.

For me, extended warranties are a stupid wast of money. Parts already come with a one year (minimum) to life (e.g. memory) warranty, which allow you to get free replacements from the manufacturer. If a part fails after a year, I'm happy to upgrade, rather than go through the hassle and delay of getting a warranty replacement. In reality, parts rarely fail and most warranty claims are over good parts, and I don't want to subsidize the ignorant by buying more warranty coverage than I'm forced to.

It's the job of store employees to recommend extended warranties. I would hope they're smart enough to understand that the reasons they're told to do this is just corporate propaganda, and so they wouldn't make this recommendation to a friend. But, some week-minded employees actually are drinking the kool aid (when they grow up, they'll vote for the Republocratic party).

On second thought, I don't buy parts from stores that have extended warranties.
 
I would even question the 150 for accidental coverage...a lot of common accidents only kill the screen, and a DIY replacement of that is ~$100.
$150 for accidental coverage is a steal man. Yes a DIY replacement may be $100, but that's not always the case. Plus there's the issue of your time and effort being spent on replacing said LCD screen. In addition, some people tend to break their laptops (i.e my sister) multiple times and that accidental coverage pays for itself after that second accident. Hell even pays for itself after the first accident.
 
I have to agree. $150 on accidental damage for 3 years is really cheap and depending on what you use your laptop for could easily pay for itself.
 
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