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Arioch

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 5, 2004
Messages
472
I was wondering if anyone here recently ordered a PC from Overdrive PC and how long it took, including what their quoted build time for you was. I am also curious to hear from anyone that has ordered from them in the last week or so and what they quoted the build time at.
 
Both times we ordered from them, it was 4-5 weeks. Besides the price tag, definitely the biggest drawback to buying from them. With the performance we get out of their machines, though, it's worth it.
 
Well they must have a lot of orders right now because I was told that I would not get mine shipped out till next week, which is the second major delay from them. I guess the "ends justify the means" so to speak but it is a bit disheartening to read that someone at resellerratings.com ordered their PC on the same day as I did, December 14th, and got their's last week already.

I don't mean to come off as overly disgruntled or whiny but I had hoped I would have gotten it by my birthday, which was on the 12th of February. In a couple weeks I have to start taking training classes to learn how to run the software that runs some of the new surface mount placement machines at the company I work for, so my free time will be almost non-existant for a month or so.
 
Yeah, two months is a little crazy - I'd be climbing the walls.

I know that Vista is wreaking havoc on a lot of integrators because of driver and licensing issues, so that might be part of the delay, especially since they're a smaller integrator.
 
I'm in the same situation, and I'm starting to get pretty annoyed. I ordered on Dec 6 and it has yet to ship. I've called a few times and it never ships when they say on the phone.
 
I ordered my PC with XP Pro so Vista issues should not be holding me up. I think they may have gotten more business than they can handle it seems. I remember how shocked I was when I was quoted a build time of 4-5 weeks originally but now that seems short when I am already about to double that time.
 
why dont you get them to upgrade you to vista home premium or ultimate? im sure theyd do it considering the wait, and that would save you the trouble of upgrading later :)
 
Well I ordered a SLI system and the drivers for Vista are not that great at the moment. Besides, that would just give them an excuse to delay my order another month probably.
 
Last week I emailed Mario and was given a decent response back and was told to expect my system to ship this week. On Sunday, I got a call from Aaron telling me that I needed to remove my Audigy soundcard from my 680i-based system due to instability issues and use onboard sound for now since they apparently don't have a fix for this problem.

I am aware that people are having sound issues with X-Fi cards and that Creative has always been notorious for less-than-stellar drivers but I have never heard of widespread problems with it affecting the rest of the system. I have a hard time justifying paying for a high-end system like I am and then using onboard audio, even if it is better than what has been offered in the past. At this point my options are get the system without a soundcard and then install a soundcard myself which kind of defeats part of the purpose of getting this system premade and tested, or get a refund. They told me I could wait for a fix but who knows how long that will take and I am already on my 9th week of waiting on this system.

I just wanted to share my experiences here for others to take note of.
 
^^ how is that their fault? its a VERY widespread problem, and they arent the only ones hit by it...
 
Well I wish there was another option for SLI as it appears 680i motherboards are still causing issues for a lot of people. Maybe I should just get a different motherboard and use one video card.
 
0mega said:
^^ how is that their fault? its a VERY widespread problem, and they arent the only ones hit by it...
Click to expand...

because, when someone orders a system there is an expectation of proper operation. that is it is expected that the components listed in a fixed configurator or assisted by a professional such as misha, mario or any sales executive that the quoted system with operate. one purchases systems this way with the expetaction that they have been tested and not that the consumer is the guiniea pig.

if there is/was a problem, it should have been caught up front, not 9 weeks down the road. if it was known up front, he could make other plans, such as finding a builder that had conquered the problem or chosen other components that dont cause the problem or even resolved himself to use the onboard subsystem.
 
Well Leon at the OPC forums posted this link from a huge thread at Creative:

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=76653&view=by_date_ascending&page=20

I give these guys credit for being honest - I just wish I had known about this sooner but I suppose they were hoping Creative would have a fix at this point. I will go ahead and get the system and use the onboard sound for now while I research other sound cards or see if Creative ever addresses this issue. Even with the build delay I can say these guys have always been available to talk to and I never got the sense I was being rushed to get off the phone or being told stories about what was happening there. With games like Crysis on the horizon I prefer to keep a SLI solution as that game will probably need it along with a multiple core CPU. I will share with you all my experiences with the onboard audio and the system in general when I get it.
 
Arioch, I feel your pain, especially as last year I went through this same exact thing with my VM machine. I had video cards in SLI mode and an Nforce 4 motherboard. Totally ruined my new machine moment as every game snapped, crackled, and popped, and at the time the X-Fi was a brand new card and VM wouldn't believe me. Creative and Nforce with SLI video just don't like each other.

Before I even ordered my OPC I was a little leery about the 680i because of Nforce. I had told myself I would never buy an Nforce chipset but I let myself get swayed by all the 680i previews. In any case, I was NOT going SLI, which I just felt was more trouble than it was worth, anyway. With only the one video card, I have not had any SCP.

If I were in your shoes, I personally would have dropped to a single card solution and kept the X-Fi, but that's me. The 8800 GTX is a great card and by the time it showed signs of struggling, I'd just get the next best single card solution. I know your machine is looking to ship any day now, but doesn't OPC have any Audigy ZS cards they can try in there (that worked for my VM in SLI, for what it's worth)?
 
Well I decided to email Mario about why mine was taking so long, and he sent me a tracking number back ;) will post pics in next few days.
 
mket said:
if there is/was a problem, it should have been caught up front, not 9 weeks down the road. if it was known up front, he could make other plans, such as finding a builder that had conquered the problem or chosen other components that dont cause the problem or even resolved himself to use the onboard subsystem.
Click to expand...

Agreed, which makes me wonder about OPC's internal hardware testing/validation procedures. It's obvious they put a lot of effort into their "hyperclocking" but something like this slips through? I know no company can validate their systems based on the thousands of possible add-in cards or extras a user might put in there, but if it's an option they include on their own builds, it should be fully validated and tested.
 
Well I got my new PC last week and it is running solid so far. It even has the X-Fi Fatality gamer card I wanted installed. The wiring in the case is immaculate and I love the look of the black Stacker case with the blue leds on the case fans. They have the CPU overclocked to 3.3Ghz on my system but they did call me to tell me that I could have it at 3.4Ghz but that it would be a lot louder, which I assume meant the fans would be running faster to help keep it cool. I decided the performance loss from the CPU would be negligible at the high resolutions I run at. So far I have Oblivion (with a ton of mods), FEAR, and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic installed and this system runs those flawlessly.

I know one of the complaints from the last HardOCP review was the way the CDs are packag. Well OPC addressed this my putting them all in a nice black attache case that has the logo on it and a calculator and notepad in it. The Windows sticker is still on the back of t he case but I honestly do not see where else to put it that would not detract from look of the case. I just simply wrote the numbrs down in the notepad in the attache case.

In summary, if OPC can get their build times back down which they are now apparently doing then I strongly recommend them to a buyer of a high end quality PC. I will look them up again in a few years when its time for the "next big thing".
 
Arioch, so glad to hear your machine finally arrived and is all you expected and then some. The wait time is a bit crushing, but as Mario has posted at the OPC forum, that hopefully will be ironed out. New technology, particularly in reference to the quad core, brings new challenges, and you gotta admire a company that will get it right before it ships to you (despite that awful wait) rather than run you through the wringer afterward fixing something that should have been caught beforehand.

I know you had initially been concerned about having to use onboard sound as opposed to the X-Fi. What changed to allow you to use the X-Fi?

Your machine cosmetically looks the same as mine...the black case with the blue lights. It's absolutely gorgeous. I've had mine for a month and a half now and it still doesn't fail to amaze and delight!
 
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