Puget Systems - a tale of GREAT customer support...

As some of you know, now that I have been retired from Intel for more than 10 years and no longer have access to most computer components for free or very cheap, I no longer build my own systems.  I sit down with Puget Systems every 4 years or so and do a complete custom build with extra testing and some unique features (like hot swap bays for SSDs and HDs, etc).  It's not the cheapest way to go but it gets me a computer that is tailored specifically to my exact needs with the highest quality components money can buy.   The result is better or equal performance to the latest Mac Pro at a fraction of the price.

On Sunday, in the middle of a Capture One session, my computer blue screened, something that has never before happened on this system and I can only remember one other time I got a blue screen on any Windows 10 computer and that was when Microsoft issued a bad BIOS update to the Surface Pro.  The blue screen was not up long enough to record the error code.  I rebooted and everything was fine until Monday morning.  I was on a phone call sitting in front of my computer not doing anything on it at all when it blue screened again.  This time the system would no longer boot properly and the graphics card was locked out of the bus and not able to display anything.  I called Puget and immediately got to a technician in the facility, no middle man, no flunky talking you through stupid things that anybody with a brain would have already tried.  I told him that I was computer literate and he talked me through getting the motherbard to display some error codes on an LED on the board, some disassembly and component checking and ultimately we removed the system battery (located in an inconvenient place on the Gigabyte motherboard - under the NVME drive which has to have a cover plate removed and the NVME removed to access the battery) to fully reset the system as it seemed some sort of motherboard self-preservation system had engaged.  The theory based on the error codes at the time was that there may be a power distribution problem which we believe was due to the type of DVI cable I was using.  He stayed on the phone with me talking me through all sorts of checks and sent some diagnostic software to run.  We determined that the DVI cable I was using was not fully VESA compliant which could cause boot-up problems due to a power conflict between the graphics card and the monitor during boot-up. I got the system back up and running but then shut it down and immediately ordered a VESA compliant cable with pin 20 not wired as this can cause power feedback into the system which can prevent boot-up and lock-out the graphics card.  On Tuesday morning the cable arrived (ordered it at 5:00PM from Amazon, got it at 9:00AM the next morning) and I hooked everything up, the system booted and all seemed fine for a while and then it did it again but this time it shut down with a beep code that told me there was a memory issue.  The graphics card did not lock out this time.  I removed all of the memory modules, resequenced them and sent an email to my tech at Puget letting him know what was going on.  He immediately sent me a utility that would let me test each memory module independently and sure enough, one of the memory modules in the 128GB system went bad.  After isolating this and removing it, and one other module to take the system down to 96GB until I can get a replacement (you must use an even number of memory modules if using more than a single DIMM).  I reran the full system memory test and stress test and the system passed with flying colors.  Puget is overnighting me a replacement memory module for the one that went bad.  What made this so confusing was that while the main issue was a memory module that went bad, when that happened and the system went into cycling auto-boots, the power problem due to the non VESA cable resulted in the graphics card locking itself out presumably for self protection (an nVidia Quadro 4000 workstation card) making the whole thing really confusing but the tech was able to clearly walk me through a process that addressed the issues.

Overall, from initial call, to not being treated like an idiot (unlike Apple, or Adobe, or Dell, or HP, or ....) to staying engaged with me throughout the process with a real technician, not an operator reading from a script, the support has been fantastic.

As an aside, anybody that's using an older DVI cable or one that doesn't explicitly call out VESA compatibility should replace their monitor cable.  In my research, more than half of the DVI cables out there, especially the cheaper ones and even ones bundled with a lot of monitors, are not VESA compliant.  I ended up getting one made by Club 3D - a premium cable supplier and the cable is already 8K compliant.  A 3 meter cable was $24.  Here's an article on the DisplayPort cable issue:
https://www.cablechick.com.au/blog/the- ... explained/

I also have a Puget Systems machine and have also found their tech support excellent on the very few times I have had questions.
I can highly recommend them. Excellent computer and service.

In the six years since I first purchased a Puget Systems computer (I now have two, a desktop and a laptop), I believe I've needed to call tech support two or three times. On each occasion, the experience has been exceptional. I only wish they hadn't discontinued laptop production.

Kerry wrote:In the six years since I first purchased a Puget Systems computer (I now have two, a desktop and a laptop), I believe I've needed to call tech support two or three times.  On each occasion, the experience has been exceptional.  I only wish they hadn't discontinued laptop production.

Kerry, look no further than Razer for Windows based laptops of the highest quality.

I just ordered a replacement displayport monitor cable for my 2013 NEC monitor just to be safe. I have no idea if the cable I am using now is VESA compatible. Thanks for the tip, EJ.

photoman4343 wrote:I just ordered a replacement displayport monitor cable for my 2013 NEC monitor just to be safe. I have no idea if the cable I am using now is VESA compatible. Thanks for the tip, EJ.

If it is a cable that came with the NEC monitor, as mine was (from 2015), it is definitely not compliant.  I don't believe that standard even existed back then.

I ran the system all day yesterday with 96GB under heavy load with no issue so I am 100% certain that the gremlins have been exercised.  The new memory module will be here within the hour and I will put the system back to 128GB and then run a thorough memtest diagnostic before putting the system back in service.

E.J. Peiker wrote:

Kerry wrote:In the six years since I first purchased a Puget Systems computer (I now have two, a desktop and a laptop), I believe I've needed to call tech support two or three times.  On each occasion, the experience has been exceptional.  I only wish they hadn't discontinued laptop production.

Kerry, look no further than Razer for Windows based laptops of the highest quality.

Thanks for the referral, E.J.

I'm using the Display Port cable that Puget sent me with my new system. How can I tell if it's VESA compliant? Google didn't really help with that question, and the label on the container doesn't say anything. Is it likely that any new Display Port cable is VESA compliant?

Cindy Marple wrote:I'm using the Display Port cable that Puget sent me with my new system.  How can I tell if it's VESA compliant?  Google didn't really  help with that question, and the label on the container doesn't say anything.  Is it likely that any new Display Port cable is VESA compliant?

The only way to be 100% sure is to take an ohm meter to both sides on pin 20 to see if there's continuity - there should not be.  BUT if Puget sent it to you it will be compliant as they are the ones that told me about the potential problem with many cables.

Back up and running after a 3.5 hour memtest on the full 128GB

My new Club2 VESA compliant Displayport monitor cable arrived today and I just installed it. All works well. I got it on Amazon.

Concur with Puget System's quality and level of support - direct to an experienced tech person. Same with sales. No BS or games-played, nor endless phone-buttons to push to get through. I've had four Puget systems across 10+ years.  When it arrives on your doorstep it's been fully in-depth tested. Detailed service manual is a (rare) object of clarity. Plug it in, it instantly works. Zero crap-ware.

Well worth every dollar spent. In the long term - actually less expensive. An excellent value. Bonus: peace of mind throughout ownership plus enjoyment of use. A system as near bullet-proof as is possible. If only all other businesses we deal with, regardless of product, functioned half as well.