BigBadBeef
Active Member
I am a graduated computer tech that went into welding career. I did it because back in the days there wasn't as much money in it as it was in metalwork.
While I don't regret it, I still love computer work, thus I pretty much get requests to build/maintain/repair computers all the time... for a reasonable price of course!
That being said, I for all means, don't treat it as a business, thus I don't patronize my customer... if that word even applies. Whomever brings their computer, if I find signs of it not being cared for, he will get an ass tearing from me, scaled with the level of abuse I find on it.
Thus I have a local reputation of being described as "he's an asshole, but he's the foremost authority for pc hardware related stuff... and he's cheap!".
That being said, my pc fixing adventures have encountered a new low when dealing with those who reach out to me. I got a call from an unknown guy who got a number from someone whom I helped prior and was his friend (you know how it goes).
So the guy was an architectural engineering first grader, who bought an RTX 4080 and a waterblock for it. Its broke. Bring it over I said. So he comes over with the card, I take it apart and slap a cooler on the core so I can see if it boots. It doesn't. The core is shot. What I found odd that the cooler was dry as a pepper.
Then he told me. He said that the stock cooler was too big for his micro-atx case so he bought a waterblock, thinking he could aircool it.
A grown man, in early twenties, an up and coming architectural engineering student, a field of study not to sneeze at, thought he could aircool a waterblock on a card which sells 40% above MSRP in my country!
I... was... stunned! I didn't even feel angry. I felt pity. A guy who thought he knew better than a company who invested billions of dollars into cooling the thing wants to be an engineer!
In the end, I put him in touch with a guy in austria who collected a few donor cards whose warranties were void due to... "similar reasons". He soldered a new core on the card and got it working again. I also had my cousing 3D print a ryzer stand for him so we mounted the card outside the case. The whole thing costed him half as much as buying a new one. And that is him being lucky we even managed to find him a core and an expert to change it.
This is a new low in the people I've had to deal with. Worst above all, I don't think he learned his lesson. Its just a matter of time before he'll pull another stunt like that, not necessarily with computers.
Jaka, you told me you use Linux. In case you're in these forums under a different name- don't call me again. This was one time only. I won't encourage the likes of you with this ass covering, even for money. My services are reserved for those who respect their computers.
While I don't regret it, I still love computer work, thus I pretty much get requests to build/maintain/repair computers all the time... for a reasonable price of course!
That being said, I for all means, don't treat it as a business, thus I don't patronize my customer... if that word even applies. Whomever brings their computer, if I find signs of it not being cared for, he will get an ass tearing from me, scaled with the level of abuse I find on it.
Thus I have a local reputation of being described as "he's an asshole, but he's the foremost authority for pc hardware related stuff... and he's cheap!".
That being said, my pc fixing adventures have encountered a new low when dealing with those who reach out to me. I got a call from an unknown guy who got a number from someone whom I helped prior and was his friend (you know how it goes).
So the guy was an architectural engineering first grader, who bought an RTX 4080 and a waterblock for it. Its broke. Bring it over I said. So he comes over with the card, I take it apart and slap a cooler on the core so I can see if it boots. It doesn't. The core is shot. What I found odd that the cooler was dry as a pepper.
Then he told me. He said that the stock cooler was too big for his micro-atx case so he bought a waterblock, thinking he could aircool it.
A grown man, in early twenties, an up and coming architectural engineering student, a field of study not to sneeze at, thought he could aircool a waterblock on a card which sells 40% above MSRP in my country!
I... was... stunned! I didn't even feel angry. I felt pity. A guy who thought he knew better than a company who invested billions of dollars into cooling the thing wants to be an engineer!
In the end, I put him in touch with a guy in austria who collected a few donor cards whose warranties were void due to... "similar reasons". He soldered a new core on the card and got it working again. I also had my cousing 3D print a ryzer stand for him so we mounted the card outside the case. The whole thing costed him half as much as buying a new one. And that is him being lucky we even managed to find him a core and an expert to change it.
This is a new low in the people I've had to deal with. Worst above all, I don't think he learned his lesson. Its just a matter of time before he'll pull another stunt like that, not necessarily with computers.
Jaka, you told me you use Linux. In case you're in these forums under a different name- don't call me again. This was one time only. I won't encourage the likes of you with this ass covering, even for money. My services are reserved for those who respect their computers.