My review

I'm posting a new review because my last thread was deleted. I placed the order for my system on September 3rd over the phone and everything went smoothly. A couple of days later I received a phone call that the video card which I had ordered (285) was from a defective batch. I was given the option of switching to a 275 or waiting for more 285s to come in. I chose to go with a 275. When I received my computer, it was DOA. I reseated everything as I was instructed, still nothing but a dead black screen. I was utterly disappointed. A helpful tech asked me to move the vid card to a different slot. When I did that, it worked. I moved the card back to the original slot and got the same dead black screen. The tech concluded that this was a motherboard problem. It seemed to make sense since the card worked in one slot, but not the other. Unfortunately, this meant I had to send the computer back to DS for repair. I packed it up and shipped it out again. I wasn't sure what to expect during the repair process. I was led to believe that I would receive e-mail updates throughout the repair process similar to what I received during the build process. This was not the case. I never received any confirmation that my computer arrived. The only e-mail I received was after the repair had been completed. It informed that the video card had been replaced and that the system was repacked and ready to ship out. I was alarmed that the motherboard had not been replaced so I placed a phone call to tech support to get more info. I had to try several times because I got the "heavy call volume" message. I finally spoke to someone in tech support who informed me that the video card had indeed been replaced and that the computer had passed all the tests. I have to admit that I was worried about this, but what could I do? I finally got my computer last night. I was very nervous when I hit that power button, but to my surprise it booted up properly. I have no idea what was going on with the previous video card. How it could work in one PCI slot but not another is beyond my knowledge. However, the new card works fine so I guess it wasn't a motherboard problem after all. I'd like to note that my motherboard is an EVGA LE and the initial graphics card I received was an XFX. They replaced the video card with an EVGA card which works fine so far. Also, when I unpacked my computer last night I noticed that the accessories box was still unopened so I still had the old cd and manuals from the XFX card. The EVGA manuals and disc were not provided to me. Overall, I'm fairly satisfied. It's very disappointing that I placed my order on September 3rd and didn't get a working computer until October 14th, but I understand that these things happen. My only complaints are that I wish someone would have spoken to me via phone or email once they receieved the computer back for repair and that they would have given me the manuals, disks and accesories that were included with my replacement EVGA card. I will update this review once I have more time with my new computer. So far it looks great and I'm excited to use it more.

So far, so good. Seems the new video card is holding up. I'm very happy with how my computer is working so far. No complaints on the finished product. I just wish that they would have done a little something to make up for all I went through and how long I had to wait to get a working computer. I'm still trying to figure how it was possible that my initial video card worked in one slot but not another. If anyone can explain to me why that happened, I'd like to understand it.

A few more pictures...

Call me crazy, but I don't think that was a very good cable management job on the last pic . . . :\

Thanks guys.

@Agnt, it would have been fine to leave the wires where they originally were and just remove those plastic drive trays if you are not using them, and store them somewhere else for the time.

Agnt, shoot me an e-mail with your order number. I will have the manual and disk sent for your EVGA video card.

Its my name @digitalstormonline.com

We are launching a new customer reviews based system soon, and once it's ready we will be more than happy to move your review into it.

I am sorry about your concerns about the 'wire job' for your replacement system. Looking closer at the pictures, it appears that the technician did route the cables to hide as many as possible (CPU 12v, 24-pin ATX, optical drive SATA and power, an even the cold cathode light at the bottom); but, what it apperas is that the extra cables were zip tied together for future upgrades/easy access for the customer in the technicians eyes. Usually we hide all of the extra cables, and this was most likely a misunderstanding from a new system builder that joined our team.

If you would like us to re-wire your system, let us know, we'll be more than happy to issue a pickup and cover all shipping costs.

EDIT: After speaking with the customer, he moved the cables out because he did not want the extra wires inside the hard drive when he received the system. I thought it came wired that way.  Our QA inspectors are very analytical when it comes to the builds that leave our facility, and I was about to have a meeting with him in regards to this.

Edited by Alex - 27 Oct 2009 at 12:06pm

Understood, I thought it came wired that way.  Our QA inspectors are very analytical when it comes to the builds that leave our facility, and I was about to have a meeting with him in regards to this.

No problem. As long as your happy with your new system; our mission is accomplished.