Issues with Self Built PC - Who to Contact for Warranty?

Pornboy69er on 08/10/2021 - 16:36
Last edited 08/10/2021 - 19:45 by 1 other user

Hey guys, I purchased and built my PC about 5 months ago, but I’ve always had issues with it.

Firstly, my GPU sometimes randomly no longer displays anything, i have to reseat it. This issue has been fixed for a while now but it did occur half a dozen times. There’s no issue with my GPU though since I tried my friend’s GPU and had a similar issue where reseating it fixed it.

Just 5 minutes ago, my M.2 drive stopped working. My PC kept booting straight into BIOS and I noticed that the M.2 drive isn’t actually showing up. So I took it out and put it back in and it worked again. I restarted and bam, it happened again.

At this point, I’m starting to think there is a serious issue with something, maybe my motherboard. I was wondering who I should contact for warranty purposes? The stores I bought them from or the manufacturers. Also since this was 5-6 months ago that I purchased these components, am I still covered by warranty? I have kept all my boxes except the SSD one, will this be an issue?

Yes, I know I should’ve contacted someone the first time my PC had issues but this is my first experience with PCs and seeing how a simple pull out and put back in fixed it I figured I’d stick with it. Any help would be highly appreciated

I purchased my RAM, CPU cooler and SSD via Center Com
I purchased my GPU via PLE
I purchased my motherboard/CPU via PC Byte

PARTS:
* Gigabyte Z590 UD AC
* Kingston A2000 1TB
* Radeon 6700xt
* Kingston HyperX Fury 16GB
* Intel i5-11600k

Computing

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 08/10/2021 - 16:45
    +3

    Is the BIOS, firmware and drivers up to date?

    • Pornboy69er on 10/10/2021 - 17:11

      Hey, how would I go checking if they are all up to date?

      • Muzeeb on 10/10/2021 - 17:46

        Go to MB, SSD and graphics card manufacturers website and check latest version numbers compared to what you have installed.

        If running W10 then windows will choose the best drivers but you can try the optional updates for better stability under the windows update function.

  • CrispyChrispy on 08/10/2021 - 16:47
    -5

    I was wondering who I should contact for warranty purposes?

    Did you purchase the PC prebuilt? If so, ask the store you bought the PC from first, if they aren't a help then ask the individual manufacturers.

    Also since this was 5-6 months ago that I purchased these components, am I still covered by warranty?

    Some stores provide no warranty, some have 6 months, some 1 year, and some lifetime. Check the store you bought it from, give them an ask and see what they say.

    Edit: I think it sounds like your mobo is faulty, as your M.2 drive and your GPU both work if you reseat it. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong? Doesn't sound like a software issue.

    • dogboy on 08/10/2021 - 17:03
      +1

      Regardless of store warranties I believe most manufacturers provide a 1 year warranty minimum.

      • HeWhoKnows on 09/10/2021 - 20:28
        -1

        You build your own PC

        You take full responsibility.

        Very difficult to blame the parts!

        And from the history the builder is no doubt to blame

        • brad1-8tsi on 10/10/2021 - 08:32

          You take full responsibility.

          Very difficult to blame the parts!

          And from the history the builder is no doubt to blame

          What a load of cobblers.

          Of course there is warranty. If a fault can be replicated then warranty is available.

    • dizzle on 08/10/2021 - 18:24
      +1

      Some stores provide no warranty

      Pretty sure they're the stores that get fined. ACCC MSY

      Saying that, it still depends on whether it is a manufacturers fault or not. And with componentry that could just as easily have been damaged by the person installing it.

  • djkelly69 on 08/10/2021 - 16:52
    -1

    Take it up with your PC builder (yourself?)

    • JIMB0 on 08/10/2021 - 21:49
      +6

      Name and shame.

  • smashman42 on 08/10/2021 - 17:22

    First thing I'd do is update the BIOS, seeing as both of your issues seem to be relating to the motherboard detecting other hardware.

    You can update the SSD firmware as well if one is available, they are usually non-destructive these days but please check first and always, always have a backup of your critical stuff.

    Can you borrow someone else's PC to test your M.2 drive?
    Best if they have one too and you swap them to test both ways and see which way the fault moves to know which component is dodgy.

    Unfortunately as you've built it yourself, you need to diagnose the faulty component to at a minimum single shop's order of bits to try warranty through the retailers, or the mobo shop might blame the SSD shop and vice versa.

    Sending a crapload of individually suspect parts out to manufacturers sounds like a nightmare too - especially with an intermittent fault like the SSD being detected if you hold your mouth the right way and wait for the wind to blow the right way too. They could well send you both of them back unchanged if they can't see the fault - like if it is a specific thing with that model drive and that board with X version of the BIOS.

    Ideally you'd nail down the faulty component - the mobo or the SSD - and RMA just that.

    You can try the retailer or go direct to the manufacturer, up to you.

    The retailer could potentially be more flexible, whereas the manufacturer will just straight up repair/replace the unit.

    Retailers might offer store credit/refund/a diff model replacement if the part in question isn't available, which would be faster than direct replacement from the manufacturer. Or they may just send it to the manufacturer on your behalf, which would just make it all take longer. Best to contact them and ask how it works before you send it.

  • vinni9284 on 08/10/2021 - 17:53
    +2

    Motherboard 100% don't waste your time diagnosing it any further

    • stedmaster on 08/10/2021 - 18:42

      Yeah, sounds like a continuity issue to me.

      • vinni9284 on 08/10/2021 - 18:51
        +2

        Contact place of purchase first, in your case PC Byte so they can run an RMA for you.

        • Ghost47 on 09/10/2021 - 13:57

          This. Just go back to the place of purchase OP.

  • stedmaster on 08/10/2021 - 19:05

    Sometimes external devices can cause issues as well if something is shorting on a shared rail or going to case ground, try running the machine with the essentials.

    I've had something as simple as a VGA cable suddenly go bad, idk how. but it would make my machine shut straight off and even smell, spent days trying to figure it out isolating parts, it was an SFF OptiPlex and I had spares in the office, so I was swapping out mobos, psus the lot.

    Then I went down the chain of connected devices once I realized.

    I've even had an old belkin nostromo n52 go bad causing intermittent bluescreens that took me forever to figure out.

    At the moment there is a peculiar bug with one station where the keyboard and mouse has intermittent issues. I have swapped out the the keyboard and mouse and even the whole machine only for it to continue, so I know it must be something else connected, or some other form of electrical interference.

  • Trung on 08/10/2021 - 19:33
    +1

    I’m going to guess your motherboard is damaged, at the screw point nearest to the pci express and m2 sockets. If there are clear signs of stress at the screw point, warranty won’t cover it.

  • 7ekn00 on 08/10/2021 - 19:41
    +2

    Forget the case standoffs for the mobo (or pushed too hard with mobo in place)?
    Have seen the behaviour you mention from short-circuits due to misplaced/missing case standoff and cracked motherboard PCBs :/

  • skid on 08/10/2021 - 20:04

    I don't think anything is wrong with the hardware. It glitches sometimes. Just stick with it as you say. The retailer will want to reproduce the problem which they won't be able to because it doesn't always happen.

  • bazingaa on 08/10/2021 - 20:04

    Also since this was 5-6 months ago that I purchased these components, am I still covered by warranty?

    usually you get few years warrenty, check each invoice for warranty details.

    What is your power supply ? what is the MB temperature when this happens? do you have the latest BIOS version ?
    most probably it could be a MB issue, also check the spacing between the MB & casing, had a weird issue like that in my Pentium 4, turned out that a metal plate in expansion bay touches the MB and had caused it.

    my M.2 drive stopped working

    did you try all 3 M.2 slots ? usually some slots are connected directly to CPU while others are connected through the chipset (in mine 1 CPU + 1 chipset). check your mother board as it is like below. I feel like common path for PCIe 16x & M.2 slot got some issues.

    https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z590-UD-AC-rev-10/sp#sp

    CPU:

    1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD support) (M2P_CPU) (Note)

    Chipset:

    1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2A_SB)
1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2M_SB)
  • ShannonN on 08/10/2021 - 20:19

    check you haven't placed the gpu in a pci-e 4 slot rather than the Pci-e 16 slot, many mobos share either a sata slot or change availability of pci lanes when used together

  • outlander on 08/10/2021 - 21:52

    Whats the power supply?

    • Muzeeb on 08/10/2021 - 23:31
      +4

      It's a box shaped item within a PC that receives 240v power from a socket outlet and distributes power to the motherboard, graphics card and other computer related peripherals.

      HTH

      • exulted on 09/10/2021 - 08:02

        Textbook perfect. I reckon Op has cooked some hardware.

    • Pornboy69er on 09/10/2021 - 21:24

      PSU is Corsair RM750X

  • garetz on 08/10/2021 - 23:04
    +2

    When you build a computer it is expected that if there is any issues you yourself will be able to troubleshoot them and determine what is at fault.

    Once you determine what is faulty, you contact the retailer or manufacturer and get warranty for that particular part.

    from what you have described i would say its the motherboard at fault.
    an intermittent fault like that might be tricky, if they cannot reproduce the fault on their end, possibly due to incompatibility they will not replace it, and you may be out of pocket.

  • jeeg on 08/10/2021 - 23:36

    Hi Op I feel for you. I also build my own but chose to go with a local retailer which offers 3 years warranty on critical hardware like motherboard, cpu, ram and the like - to have a bit of a peace of mind. Some of the components I could have bought it cheaper elsewhere but i think having the main pieces under 1 retailer simplify returns and troubleshooting at the store later.

    I hope you get this sorted out!

  • gee-man on 09/10/2021 - 08:04
    +1

    This is one reason why I bought pre-built after years of building PCs.

    The appeal of handing the whole lot off with a “not work, pls fix” is worth a bit of extra cash. My time is worth too much to spend it on endless troubleshooting and RMA shenanigans.

    • vinni9284 on 09/10/2021 - 10:25

      How many of your built systems have issues?

      • gee-man on 10/10/2021 - 09:21

        My pre-built systems have been fine, no issues over the last 4 years.

        • vinni9284 on 10/10/2021 - 10:03

          Good the hear so may I ask you why are you recommending to get pre-built considering you haven't had issues?

          • gee-man on 10/10/2021 - 22:19
            +1

            @vinni9284: Because if something goes wrong, you can hand it over and say “hey, fix this” and they do all the hard work.

            And if nothing goes wrong, you’re all good, so it doesn’t matter.

            Just because I haven’t had issues doesn’t mean pre-built PCs don’t have issues. Of course they do. I’ve been lucky with that, but that’s all that is.

  • nebula98 on 09/10/2021 - 08:07

    It could also be power supply……
    Cheap e a

    • ChickenLips on 09/10/2021 - 09:08

      I came here to say this. If testing each component brings up nothing sometimes a faulty or underpowered PSU will throw these random errors

    • Pornboy69er on 09/10/2021 - 21:24

      PSU is Corsair RM750X

  • DemocracyManifest on 09/10/2021 - 09:16

    Do a stress test with AIDA64. If the PC resets or turns off just before the GPU goes full blast it’s the PSU. The motherboard sounds a bit dicey but worth updating the bios if you can first

  • reactor-au on 09/10/2021 - 09:23

    My money is on the power supply or motherboard.
    Going to be very sad trying to diagnose without spares.

  • jattsta on 09/10/2021 - 09:32
    +1

    I don't believe it's a motherboard issue.
    I think you need to take off the CPU to ensure the pins aren't bent. Even one bent pin can cause the issues you are describing.
    PSU not so much as your getting random M.2 issues with no load.

    • bazingaa on 12/10/2021 - 22:46

      I didn't know AMD still uses PGA until I got a 5600x. I had Socket 7 vibes installing it. It is better to have LGA on CPU as motherboards are usually cheaper than a CPU

  • bbinc on 09/10/2021 - 10:15

    I love building my own PC’s. But I allow for my own errors. I usually have two or three I’ve put together for family members, and used to have access to spares from work, so swapping bits around made troubleshooting easier.
    Centre Com have a diagnosis service at a reasonable cost.
    All that said, my current PC is a Mac- my first. If anything goes wrong, I’ll let Apple diagnose and fix I got sick of Windows BSOD!
    Good luck.

  • BuyOrNot on 09/10/2021 - 20:49

    You did not list your power supply which is one of the most important things.

    • Pornboy69er on 09/10/2021 - 21:23

      PSU is Corsair RM750X

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