Best Buy repasted my G73 GPU

Hey guys, I have a best buy G73 and while it ran very well at first, it was always very hot (78c idle) it gradually became hotter and hotter.

After three months it started shutting off at the 110c thermal cutoff in games. About a week ago I took it to best buy and they sent it off for a week to their service center.

No I have it back and I'm much happier with 68c idle at 700/1000 and I've never seen it break 91c in games. (Although furmark still brings it to a scary 108c, it has never shutdown.)

Just figured I'd share my pretty decent best buy experience.

 

Honestly, I, and I am sure others, would not consider it a "decent" experience...

A properly repasted GPU would never get over 100c.

And 68c idle is WAYYY high... It should be 58c or lower...

 

First off, he's describing the length of time it took Best Buy to fix his issue to his liking. One week. A pretty darned GREAT experience if you ask me, especially considering all the G73 users that have had their laptops in repair with Asus for much longer than that.

Second, it's obvious it WAS properly repasted, since now it never breaks 91c in games.

Lastly, it's possible the ambient temps of his room are causing that higher idle temp, and if it's rock-solid at 68c, that's WELL within operating parameters.

I completely fail to see how this experience with BEST BUY could be anything less than stellar.

Overall, IMHO, VERY nice job, Best Buy.

 

Just hope you never need a laptop replacement. Because, even tho BB sells you on the warranty of it being accidental damage warranty, they will never replace a laptop. They will also sit there and look at every screw, if there's a slight scratch they will return back and say warranty is void now and not touch it ever again no matter what.

BB warranty, 9/10 times is pure crap, only thing it's useful for is the "free" 1 time battery replacement, and that's only if you remember to get it within a year and your battery doesn't hold a charge within a year.

Long story short, been screwed several times by that warranty. Best buy sucks imo still.

 

I have the Best Buy version also, and mine idles at 62-63C. In games with max settings it has peaked at 96C. Using MSI AfterBurner to monitor temps in game. I plan on re-pasting mine, but for now it doesn't GSOD or shut down due to high temps.

Yeah, Best Buy fixed mine too. They replaced the LCD and it took about a week. Geek Squad is on the ball. I was originally going to send mine to ASUS and obtained an RMA number, but I read horror stories about the process and decided to cal Best Buy, and they said they would handle it. Glad I did.

 

I don't have an opinion about Best Buy one way or the other. I have always been suspicious of the "extra stuff" that any retailer tries to sell you at the register.

Anyway, 68C idle is too high after a proper repaste. 108C is way too high for a Furmark run after repaste. The shutdown temp is 114C not 110C. According to the empirical data from the many repaste veterans in this forum, a properly repasted GPU with any decent paste will yield an idle below 60C and long Furmark runs well below 100C.

 

I have the BB version, I idle at 52-54. Hell browsing right now I'm at 55. Games never surpass 70 for me. Feels good to have good pasting. lol

 

I'm jealous, lol.

I'm really happy with Best Buy because I got a free LCD upgrade via Geek Squad. It may have been a mistake, but I'll take it

 

If you are happy with the paste results, bon appetit. Use it in good health. In my humble opinion, I think that heatsink may be loose on one of the screws. Temps should be lower on a fresh paste.

 

I'm getting 52* idles with the factory paste job (in 28* ambient). If you get above 58* idles, I agree with Chastity that your paste job was done incorrectly and the paste and/or the seating of the heatsink and thermal pads aren't where they should be. In my opinion, the pasting is the easy part, the difficulty comes in determining if your heatsink/pads are seated properly with the right amount of clearances and pressure to do their job right. I don't think the manufacturing tolerances on our heatsinks were tight so I really contribute quite a bit of the variance we all have in our machine to this. Alienware users are actually modifying their heatsink screws and applying extra torque in order to "bend" their heatsinks to provide better contact. I'm betting a similar approach on our machines would have benfits as well.

 

Those temps look a bit high still if you ask me.
Before my repaste, I idled at 60-64C. Dunno what it is now.

 

You obviously never read the terms of what you're buying before you buy it. It's ok, there's plenty of other ignorant folks out there too.

 

I'll elaborate on this. Read the terms of your agreement before you buy it. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between a product repair plan and a product replacement plan. Just because your unit dies, doesn't mean you automatically get a new one. There are procedures to follow to determine whether or not YOU caused the damage needing repair, and if not, there are more procedures in place to follow to ensure that your unit gets repaired properly. Best Buy doesn't often sell REPLACEMENT plans. They sell repair plans which extend the repair period of your product for several years beyond manufacturer's coverage.

Geek Squad Black Tie Protection Overview.

All I'm saying is pay better attention to what you're buying. Ask questions. Research what you plan to purchase BEFORE you purchase it, instead of trying to look for loopholes to satisfy yourself after the fact.

 

Bestbuy is a general consumer store. Most consumers will listen to what the salesman says, and take his word for it. This is not the case ever. Geek squad representatives in my area really don't know what they're talking about.. This isn't a high end boutique store... it is a simple store for people who want to purchase electronics and think because they're buying it from a chain with additional warranty that they are safe.

Honestly, if I were you I would repaste with high quality TIM. Worst case scenario, temps will drop a tiny bit, but best case scenario, temps will drop A LOT. It's a win win situation!

 

Long tirade about normal everyday (non-computer experts) buying "repair plans" removed after I calmed down.

If the customer researches these "repair plans" before buying them, they won't buy them. They are good for the company not the customer. One who makes a living from these "repair plans" should say a prayer each night that customers DON'T start researching these products before going into the store and plunking down money.

If a customer properly researches this particular product, they will buy it online cheaper with more warranty AND accidental damage coverage in addition to a higher resolution screen and more RAM.

That was a very bad repaste. Those temperatures are way too high. I don't care if the Geek Squad turned it around it 12.5 minutes. It was not done properly.

 

Best Buy doesn't usually repair things on their own. They send stuff to authorized repair centers just like we would but they obviously have different relationships with these companies than an end user does.

I have a couple of Canon cameras at work. One a 40D and the other a Rebel XSi. Those are $1400 and $800, respectively. Bought them at Best Buy and have service plans on both. We use them a ton (hundreds of shots a week). Both have needed service. In fact the 40D just died one day and BB gave us a free 50D as replacement. That's a free upgrade folks, because the 40D was no longer being sold. BB's service has been flawless. No questions asked, basically. It has saved us thousands of dollars.

So a service plan in the right situation is definitely worthwhile. I don't usually buy them though. On computers, I tend to avoid them. But I can name a few situations where extended warranties on notebooks have been totally worthwhile. My sister had a Dell lemon awhile back (Inspiron E1705) and after about 4 replacements (!!) Dell gave her a totally new model.

I get the feeling that Best Buy stores vary considerably though. My local one is pretty awesome. Their return policy on even computers is about the best there is. They just take things back with no questions asked and no restocking fee. It makes me all giggly just thinking about it.

 

I've gotten two on-site replacements for my wife's Blackberry Bold due to her dropping them in water. The second one was actually an upgrade to the new Bold. Best Buy can be very good with their warranty replacements, but you have to make sure what the plan covers. And it definitely helps if your local store is not anal about everything. I've returned a laptop to my local store and they didn't charge me a restocking fee.

The only reason I didn't buy my G73 from Best Buy was because their model was missing the features I wanted and the Asus warranty is awesome.

 

Are you nuts? If people research the repair plan, and they're smart, they'll definitely buy it. One main reason being that if it needs to be repaired 4 times, they'll get a replacement, and as swaaye said, that replacement can (and usually is, if you've had the service plan long enough) an upgrade. Who wouldn't go for that?

Reason #2: Hell, a genuine replacement battery ALONE will pay for at least 1/3 the price of the service plan.

Reason #3: Turn time. If GS is an authorized repair company for a particular brand, guess what, they get parts a lot faster than most places because they have agreements with the manufacturers that the MFR must supply parts in a timely fashion in order to keep the customer's impression of both BB and MFR in good standing. If they can't get the parts in a timely manner, or if the parts are no longer available, guess what? REPLACEMENT/UPGRADE. In the case of Asus, Asus must do the repair. Best Buy/Geek Squad is not the company repairing Asus laptops. They are, however, the company expediting your repair on your behalf. They ship your laptop (generally overnight/2nd day) for free to the Asus repair center, monitor the progress of the repair to ensure the customer has all the information they need on the Geek Squad website (which, by the way, allows you to plunk in your service order number to check the status of your unit in repair), and then they have your unit shipped (again usually next-day or 2nd day) directly to the store at which you dropped it off. That's pretty darned good customer service AND pretty darned good repair service if you ask me.
If you think the repaste job is junk, then blame Asus, not Best Buy.

Reason #4 - Wear and tear. Let's say you're on year 3 of owning your laptop and your hinges get a little wonky from you constantly opening and closing your laptop. With a Black Tie Protection Plan, BB gets it repaired for you. In the first 1-2 years of MFR coverage that's not even going to happen and in year 3 or 4, when it does, the MFR sure isn't going to fix it.

Reason #5 - Power surge? BB fixes your laptop's issues from that, too. MFR (in most cases) would not. You'd have to make an insurance claim on your homeowner's (or renter's) insurance. Have fun with that.

Reason #6 - You can opt-in for AD&H coverage. This you usually have to ask for, and WELL worth it if you do a lot of traveling.

All this for up to 4 years. Essentially a blanket coverage insurance policy for 25% OR LESS of what you paid for the unit. Smart folks would definitely pick this up and rest easier knowing that they're covered against pretty much anything, so long as they read all the terms and understand them instead of being an idiot consumer and listening to what a poorly-trained college kid is paraphrasing for them when they buy it.

 

swaaye, I love your post and defense of Best Buy here but I've got to correct you on one small thing:

Actually, Geek Squad has a TON of their OWN service centers spread out nationwide. The BB stores ship units requiring repair to the nearest Geek Squad service center for repair. GS employs technicians that are fully trained, by the manufacturers, to troubleshoot and do the work on defective units, NOT a 3rd party. That's one advantage they have over, say, Tiger Direct. They're BB employees working on BB-sold units, so they actually CARE about the repair process and the end result for the customer. Their speed and accuracy and ability to keep the customer informed reflects in the eyes of the customer, which in turn keeps the customers shopping at BB and hence ensuring the future of the company they work for. If there's a negative situation they do their absolute best to resolve it on a local (store or service center) level if they can, instead of making the customer go through corporate channels (because the higher you go, the more complicated and confusing it becomes for the customer). Of course some folks have had negative experiences, and if you look online that's all you'll end up reading about (because very seldom do people post about their positive experiences online).

GS/BB is an amazing company and have a clear-cut competitive advantage over many retailers, both online and brick/mortar, because of the integration of GS, among MANY other reasons.

 

thescinema, spoken like you are one of the following:

a) A Best Buy employee... Worried about job security?
b) A Geeksquad tech... see above.
c) A Best Buy investor. Worried about your stock tanking, are we?

You arguement would make sense if Best Buy honored even 50% of what they say they will cover. Fact of the matter is that they are scumbags who weazel out of your "warranty" at the first opportunity. And if they cannot find a reason to deny you, they create one.

Fact of the matter is it is great money for Best Buy, but a bad deal for consumers. Think about it. Once Best Buy has your money, thier only incentive is to NOT provide that much in service to you, otherwise it is a bad deal for them. A company as large as Best Buy is NOT going to take it in the shorts for a customer, especially not on thier extended warranty. THAT is fact.

 

That's not true. I've had only really good experiences on my warranties with Best Buy. You're looking at it the wrong way. If Best Buy does replace your product, they don't lose money. A lot of the cost is often shared with the manufacturer with the contracts they set up beforehand. Also, the biggest thing going for them is how any insurance company works. They estimate how many units are going to go bad and account for that in the cost of your replacement plan. So if x number of people buy the plan, only a percentage will have problems. That's how all these insurance companies make their money(and investing a lot as well).

 

I think it really comes down to the individual store that you're dealing with, and in a lot of cases, the individual employee in that store. As with anything in life, some are great, some are so-so and some are worthless or worse!

 

Correct on all but one count. I'm not worried about my stock. I get to buy it at 25% off so I'm always making money on it. I am, however, a Best Buy employee AND a Geek Squad tech, so I know what happens behind the scenes, whereas you, do not. Have you ever dealt with someone from a SERVICE CENTER? (and by service center I do NOT mean call center, store, or Geek Squad counter) - I'm guessing NO.

At any rate, your "fact" is incorrect. Without going into too much detail, there are a ton of customers that have ended out on top of Best Buy and got WAY more than what they originally purchased. They're not out to screw anyone; trust me on that one. At my service center, 100% of our day is spent looking for ways to improve (at least to the best of our ability) our processes and as an end result, the overall repair experience for our customers. The better we do, the better our customers like us and come back to us. I can't say with certainty that ALL stores and service centers share that same dedication but the Cleveland team would hang their heads if we ever failed a customer and didn't do everything in our power to prevent it.

Contrary to your paranoiac statements, no one is sitting in a back room plotting how to screw people over. Sorry to ruin the fantasy for you.

 

Haha that would have been awesome if it were true though ...

Dr.Evil style with the cat and the whole crew...

 

YOU, sir (or madam), took the words right out of my mouth. Well said and THAT is the facts.

 

I've taken many of items back to BB under warranty with no issue. It may depend on what store you go to and the management that store is under, but I have 4 Best Buys within 10 miles of my house, and have been to each one, and have had nothing but good experiences.

One store/chain that was notorious for screwing you out of your warranty was Circuit City, and we all know what happened to that chain or stores.

 

I have had 2 laptop purchases with BB (Since I worked there for one and a half years I know a little of what goes on behind the scenes too.) and while they are not the best as IT repair guru's (Geek Squad gets me a lot of business ) they do have an ok Extended warranty system. First laptop from 2001 had a stick of ram go bad as well as a battery. Replaced both under warranty (which at the time DDR SODIMMS were about $150 for 256M), 2nd laptop also had the battery go bad under the extended warranty and the screen which was replaced in under 3 days and I believe upgraded to a LED back lit one since it is easily 50% brighter than the stock one it came with.

It does depend on the store you go to a lot of the time, but overall for simple folk, the extended warranty at BB usually pays for itself at one time or another with laptops.

 

Had to clean up this thread of almost two pages of garbage posts. Everybody please calm down and if you have nothing to say on the topic of the thread then don't post.
We're keeping this thread under observation.

 

Thank you, ATG.

 

Does that good Best Buy service and warranty apply to re-certified laptops as well?

I'm trying to decide if to buy this re-certified laptop through either NewEgg or Bestbuy, but the warranty thing is freaking me out since I've never bought a re-certified computer.

The laptop has 90 day Asus warranty; Newegg offers 1-2 year plans -- haven't heard great things about it. Not sure what Best Buy offers for re-certified laptops.


I don't even know if it's worth buying warranty in re-certified laptops; I'm trying to decide what to do... what do you think?

 

I would contact Best Buy to see what your options are, and then contact Newegg to do the same. Do it via e-mail so that you can print their responses for your records. That way, depending on who you go with, you have written proof of what your coverage was quoted before you bought the unit. Ask every possible question you can think of and make sure they're all addressed. The best decision is an informed one.

 

lol it was funny to me to see how silly this thread got but let me get back to the basics

1. I bought a g73 at best buy.
2. I did not buy any stupid extended warranty.
3. G73 started shutting off in Starcraft 2.
4. I took it back to Best Buy, they "adjust the heatsink and thermal paste."
5. I can now play whatever I like, and it only took 8 days.

Not really all that bad imo.