Building a $16,000+ PC

We’ve been receiving a lot of media, blog and Twitter attention regarding the “$16,000+ PC” we built late last year. While most of the reviews have been favorable, the comment fields have been their usual mix of reactions and name-calling. LOL! The extra attention has definitely been fun, although I think our web servers would disagree!!!

Intel Core i7 Temperatures

There has been quite a bit of talk recently about Intel Core i7 CPUs and what temperature they should be running. The Core i7 CPUs have a TDP of 130W, and run quite hot compared to the Core 2 Quad CPUs we’ve used in the past. How hot is too hot? A Google search shows that there is massive confusion and misinformation around the web. In the absense of good information, I decided to find out for myself. As an Intel Premier Provider, I talked to an Intel engineer, and am writing to tell you what I found.

The New Puget Office! – Construction Video

I’m very happy to be writing this post from our new offices, where we have been operating now for two weeks. When we bought a new warehouse last May, I can honestly say I had no idea how much time and effort it would take to get the construction done and our company moved. Now that we’re done, I’m excited to be back and focusing on the business (not the building!). Having purchased this building, there are two messages I want to make sure to put out there…

Our experiences with memory manufacturers

When it comes to memory manufacturers, we’ve been around the block…a few times. We’ve learned a lot in the process — too much to keep to ourselves! For each memory manufacturer we’ve used in the past, we have thousands of sticks of memory out in the field, and that gives us some good objective experience. I wanted to take a minute to comment on the various memory manufacturers we have experience with, share our stories, and to explain why we are standardizing on Kingston memory going forward.

The New Puget Office! – Tour #3

The walls are up, the grid is being installed, the paint is drying. Take one more, quick tour of our unfinished warehouse as the construction nears completion!

Are 3 Year Warranties All They’re Cracked Up To Be?

We recently ran a special on all our systems, offering a free upgrade to a three year warranty. To be honest, in the current economy, I did not expect it to be terribly successful — I thought that (at this time) price was the biggest factor, and that monetary discounts might yield better results. I was wrong! The free warranty upgrades were wildly popular, and we showed a 300% boost in sales during that time. Why do you think that is? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

The New Puget Office! – Tour #2

After months of permit issues, contractor bids, and bank paperwork, we’re happy to say our building project is finally underway! We expect that it will take about 60 days to complete, so we should be moving in to the new location sometime between Christmas and New Years.

The Secret to Marketing with Social Media

Social media has exploded in popularity over the last few years. MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Twitter, StumbleUpon — each have a huge user base, and there are hundreds of other sites just like them. With that many people collected together, anyone in advertising or marketing knows that social media is the bright new frontier for promoting their company and products. I’ve been approached by several marketing firms saying they hold the key to successful marketing in this space, but I’ve turned them all away. Why? Because I already know the secret!

Overclocked Memory is a Scam

At Puget Systems, we’re seeing more demand these days for extreme high end computers. Triple-SLI, dual CPU, large amounts of memory – people are pushing the limits looking for more performance. We’re building more overclocked computers today than ever before, pushing the CPU and video cards to new and higher limits. One area that has been frustrating to me recently has been memory.

The New Puget Office! – Tour #1

It’s an exciting time at Puget! Due to increased sales and growth, we have outgrown our current facility. To meet the new demand for space, we purchased a new building in Auburn, WA.

To show off the new space and the progress that is being made during the build process, I will be taking my camera and shooting some video updates. The first one is found here. Be sure to keep checking back for new updates. Enjoy!