Devin Johnston Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I've been waiting 3 weeks for my Boxx workstation to be delivered, every day there's some other reason why it hasn't been shipped. I've tried talking to my sales man but he keeps giving me the run around and I'm not getting anywhere. Has anyone else had these kind of problems with them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 They are probably waiting on the processors. I have a new machine that is spec-ed out just like a BOXX. Mine has 4 quad core processors and we waited for about nine months. All the other parts were waiting on AMD. Hope you get yours sooner than I did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKitts Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) I've been waiting 3 weeks for my Boxx workstation to be delivered, every day there's some other reason why it hasn't been shipped. I've tried talking to my sales man but he keeps giving me the run around and I'm not getting anywhere. Has anyone else had these kind of problems with them? We ordered three systems from them a few years back, two came in worked fine, and mine crashed every 10 mins. They wouldn't just cross ship a new one like dell would, but rather tried to troubleshoot the problem, which didn't work, thought it might be the video card so they did send a new one, couple days later, that didn't fix it so finally we sent it back to them, so they could "test" it. Which took over a week once they got it. finally they sent a new one two weeks total later. If I had been is a small firm without other resources, I would have been without a system for over two weeks. Wasn't very happy at the time, I got over it as once we got the system it ran great. But just never wanted to have a problem with it again. the whole story as told by my coworker can be found here.... http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/13310-dual-processor-dual-core-3.html#post107333 Edited September 9, 2009 by BrianKitts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 According to Boxx they test their systems for 24 hours before they ship them, I guess they missed yours. Based on my conversations with the sales people Boxx is so expensive because they spend a lot of time testing their systems and also because they have great tech support. To me it’s worth the extra 25% to not have to deal with software and hardware problems, and if I do to have a quick resolution to them. However from what you’re saying Brian it doesn’t sound like their tech support or their testing is quite what it’s made out to be. To be honest that doesn’t fill me with a great deal of confidence and now I’m really glad that I made sure they agreed I had a 30 day return policy with no restocking fee. If this thing doesn’t work perfectly they can have it back. This isn't the first Boxx I've bought but this is the first time I've had such a problem getting one. I don't think it was a parts problem either, they were telling me even before the system was available that they had everything they needed and they were just waiting for Intel to give them the Ok. One of the reasons given for the delay was that my order somehow got placed behind another order from Disney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXXLABS Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) Hi Devin, I sympathize and understand your frustration. This is a brand new product line based on a brand new intel microarchitecture. Apparently, the engineering/validation teams here at BOXX placed a "production hold" on these new systems shortly before they were due to ship because we had not received a crucial firmware update from one of the companies who's components we use. We won't put out a product unless we are 100% happy with the performance and reliability of that product and in this case, we have been waiting for this issue to be resolved. It hold-up has been resolved in the past few days- and I believe your system -along with all the rest of the orders for our new 3DBOXX 8500 systems are being shipped currently. No company has a 100% success rate. There are occasional failures of hardware and failures of people or departments to do right by the customer. That's an unfortunate fact of doing business. I appologize on my company's behalf if anyone ever got less than stellar service or hardware. Be assured that this is the exception -not the rule. However, with many thousands of very happy and faithful customers who buy from BOXX time and again, we are certain that our levels of product quality, performance and technical support exceed those of any competitor. *Sorry for the infomercial, but I felt i needed to clarify and put this in context. Cheers, Adam Edited April 15, 2009 by BOXXLABS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Thanks for the reply Adam, I agree with you about no product being 100%, my problem isn't really with the product at this point but the inconsistency I've seen in something as simple as not being able to tell me when my system would ship. I wasn't told until late Monday that there was a problem with the firmware, that was almost 3 weeks after the order had been placed. I was told at that time that the PS2 ports won't function until the firmware is updated which could take several more weeks, they gave me the option to either take possession of the system now and do the update myself or wait until it came out. Of course I said I'd do it myself, but if this is really what was holding it up why not just come out and say it instead of making up excuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 Ok so I got the computer yesterday and spent all day installing software, today I put my headphones on to start working and I start hearing this noise coming through them. Have you ever tried to describe an audio noise to someone, it's not easy. I've been on the phone for 2 hours with tech support trying to figure out why this is happening. I don't think I've rebooted a computer this many times in a year. The tech guy says he's never seen this before and right now we're unable to get the audio drivers to load. I'm just waiting for him to say that I need to send it back to them, this sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dombrowski Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Regarding the audio noise, I had a problem with a Dell workstation when I plugged my headphones into the front audio port. There was noise which, like you said, was pretty hard to describe but it was enough to make the port unusable. I tried plugging directly into the sound card's output and the noise was gone. Something to try if you haven't already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Nelson Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Apart from the audio drivers problem.... Did your headphones have an in-line volume control? I have onboard audio with the workstation I put together, and would always notices very faint little beeps and buzzes and clicks that varied depending on what the computer was doing - really annoying. Then I found that if I lowered the in-line volume that it would get rid of all the little noises and I could just turn up the master volume a little louder. Anyways, just in case its related. Hope you get your drivers installed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 The headphones have no volume controls on them and we tried adjusting the volume before the drivers were removed and it had no effect on the noise. I've tried them on another system I have and they are noise free so it's not the headphones. Unfortunate the sound card is built into the mother board and can't be removed. Tim my noise problem sound a lot like yours, it seems to be tied into actions that the computer makes when opening new programs and accessing the hard drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Nelson Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Yea I think what you are experiencing is just cheap, on-board sound. I doubt that sending it back and getting a new one would yield any different results. If you don't have headphones with volume control, I might recommend getting some since its the only thing that seems to work for me. It allows you to filter out all the junk noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 I agree with you about what's causing the problem, in fact while I was on the phone with the tech guy yesterday he told me that they've had other "noise" problems with some of their systems. Given how much this thing cost I don't know why they stuck with the on board sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Nelson Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 I guess your other option would be to put in a new audio card. And maybe Boxx would work with you on that - it'd be cheaper for them to reimburse you for a decent audio card than to keep troubleshooting, and possibly shipping it back and forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXXLABS Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 I have spoken with our technical support leads this morning and they are working this as a top priority item. Please bear with us as we work through this launch week "wrinkle". Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Thanks Adam I appreciate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 One thing that I've discovered in the last few days is that the old saying "you get what you pay for" isn't always true. I've spent a total of about 5 hours on the phone with tech support and I still have no audio even though I put in a brand new sound card and drivers. I'm really trying to be understanding but then I think what the hell is wrong with me, didn't I pay a 25% mark up so that this very thing wouldn't happen! I'm about to put it back in the box, send it back get my money back and have someone else build me one that will work. Am I overreacting here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I had an issue with a noise where if I turned up the speakers I heard computer noise I could even hear a noise through the speakers when my mouse moved. The fix was to keep the speakers low and change the volume through the program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 For those of you who've sent me PM's about this I thought I'd give you and update. After many hours on the phone and two sound cards later I finally have audio back and there doesn't seem to be any noise any longer. The problem is being blamed on the supermicro mother board, apparently it needs a firmware update to fix this and other problems that have cropped up. I will give Boxx some credit, they did as much as they could over the phone to help. In the end I'm glad that my computer works properly, I don't know if I'll ever buy another one though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vizwhiz Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 In the end I'm glad that my computer works properly, I don't know if I'll ever buy another one though. .... reading This verbatim and literally it would mean That you will never buy another computer ???? maybe you meant something just a bit different ....as in from BOXX?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXXLABS Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 I'm sorry your experience was not entirely positive Devin. We do our very best to provide a top quality product and real value for the money. I know this isn't much of a consolation for you after such a delay in solving your system's audio issue, but please know that experiences like these are the rare exception -and not the rule. Thanks for sticking with us - Hopefully after some time you will again feel confident that your new workstation is living up to the reputation of company who's logo is on the chassis. Respectfully, Adam BOXXlabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idmatic Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 As for sound problems from a front jack, you might want to try adding a: Toroidal ferrite core or Shield Beads\Toroid Core. (srry..tried to attach a link..but im too new to the forum and it blocked me) You have to disconnect the connector and wrap the connectors wires around the filter a couple of times..then re-attach. This will filter out stray EMF from the line. You might have to try dif types to get the one you need. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 After several months of messing with this computer and a few more problems later Boxx has sent me a replacement system. It's actually a little bit better than the one I had, they gave me a Nvidia Quadro 3800 to replace the 3700 it originally came with and an upgraded main drive from 74GB to 150GB. However the original system was liquid cooled and this new one is air cooled, the guy I've been dealing with at tech support said that these systems no longer needed to be liquid cooled because the board and chips produce less heat. He also said that the fan cooled unit is quieter than the liquid cooled ones, does anyone believe that? In the end I'm glad that I have a fully functional system now, hopefully I won't have any more problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 ...this new one is air cooled... ...He also said that the fan cooled unit is quieter than the liquid cooled ones, does anyone believe that? HELL NO. My BOXX knock-off has 4 power supplies and sounds like a small airplane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 My old computer had variable speed fans that doubled or tripled the noise output whenever I hit the render button, that's one reason why I got a liquid cooled system this time. To be fair I haven't noticed any more noise coming out of this new box compared to the one it replaced. My concern now is whether or not I'm loosing money by accepting the air cooled system over the liquid cooled one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXXLABS Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Hey Devin, Glad to hear they replaced your system with the new revision of that model - the 8520. It's a superior product. And the Quadro 3800 is MUCH faster than the 3700 that it replaces. FYI, We made the decision to go with air cooling after evaluating several factors: Due to newly engineered fan blade shapes, the latest air cooled designs are very quiet indeed. -Just as quiet as the the fans that cooled the radiator in liquid cooled designs.The Xeon CPUs in this model don't get hot enough to benefit from liquid coolingThe cost savings of going to air cooling moving forward can be passed on to our customers Enjoy your new workstation, Devin. I'm confident you'll be happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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