OK. Plan is to buy a new AMD Athlon64 3200+ w/ the new 90nm core, the Asus A8V Deluxe, some more ram, and a new case. Looked Newegg over and saw they had good prices on all of the above items. Since there is a KNOWN issue with the A8V and the new Winchester cores, I figured I would call ahead and see what they had to say about it. This is how the conversation went:
ME: Yes, I am ordering the AMD Athlon64 3200+ w/ the new 90nm core and the Asus A8V Deluxe to run that chip, and I need to make sure that the motherboard has at least the 1007 BIOS on it because it is needed to run the machine. Can you find out which BIOS the motherboards you have on them?
HIM: Well sir, we are not able to get that information to you. We try to ship out only the most recent version of the hardware, but we don't know which revision is in which box.
ME: Well, could you have someone look on or in the box to see which BIOS it has on it. I believe it is stamped on the side, and there should be some sort of way to tell which revision it is.
HIM: It is impossible to get someone from shipping to do this, as we have multiple shipping locations across the United States.
(This already sounds like they are getting too big.)
ME: Well, I am buying the chip, the board, some ram, and a new case, maybe you could have someone test it before you ship it out to see what BIOS it has on it, and that they work together.
HIM: We cannot do that as that would have us assemble the computer for you. The shipping people cannot do that.
ME: OK, I understand that, what happens if I order the board, and it gets to me, and its not the correct revision, what happens then?
HIM: Well, at that point you can send it back to us and we will make sure that you get the correct updated version.
ME: If you could do that, couldn't you just check it before it was sent out in the first place. Lets just pretend I already received it, realized it wasn't the correct version, and sent it back, and now you are going to find the correct one and send it to me.
HIM: (finding humor in this) No, unfortunately we would have to go thru the whole process of shipping and returning before we would make that sort of commitment.
ME: So what you are telling me is that I am going to spend nearly $500 in your store, and you will try and send it, and weather or not I get what I am asking for is unknown, and the only way Newegg will fix the problem is if we go thru the whole process of shipping, return, and re-shipping, all because you have too many shipping points to take 2 minutes to find out if the correct part is going to be shipped out the first time. It's basically a crapshoot, correct?
HIM: (pause to think, I guess) Yes sir.
ME: Thank you, I appreciate your honesty and patience. Have a good day.
At this point I don't know if I am going to make my order or not.
-R
ME: Yes, I am ordering the AMD Athlon64 3200+ w/ the new 90nm core and the Asus A8V Deluxe to run that chip, and I need to make sure that the motherboard has at least the 1007 BIOS on it because it is needed to run the machine. Can you find out which BIOS the motherboards you have on them?
HIM: Well sir, we are not able to get that information to you. We try to ship out only the most recent version of the hardware, but we don't know which revision is in which box.
ME: Well, could you have someone look on or in the box to see which BIOS it has on it. I believe it is stamped on the side, and there should be some sort of way to tell which revision it is.
HIM: It is impossible to get someone from shipping to do this, as we have multiple shipping locations across the United States.
(This already sounds like they are getting too big.)
ME: Well, I am buying the chip, the board, some ram, and a new case, maybe you could have someone test it before you ship it out to see what BIOS it has on it, and that they work together.
HIM: We cannot do that as that would have us assemble the computer for you. The shipping people cannot do that.
ME: OK, I understand that, what happens if I order the board, and it gets to me, and its not the correct revision, what happens then?
HIM: Well, at that point you can send it back to us and we will make sure that you get the correct updated version.
ME: If you could do that, couldn't you just check it before it was sent out in the first place. Lets just pretend I already received it, realized it wasn't the correct version, and sent it back, and now you are going to find the correct one and send it to me.
HIM: (finding humor in this) No, unfortunately we would have to go thru the whole process of shipping and returning before we would make that sort of commitment.
ME: So what you are telling me is that I am going to spend nearly $500 in your store, and you will try and send it, and weather or not I get what I am asking for is unknown, and the only way Newegg will fix the problem is if we go thru the whole process of shipping, return, and re-shipping, all because you have too many shipping points to take 2 minutes to find out if the correct part is going to be shipped out the first time. It's basically a crapshoot, correct?
HIM: (pause to think, I guess) Yes sir.
ME: Thank you, I appreciate your honesty and patience. Have a good day.
At this point I don't know if I am going to make my order or not.
-R