randalllewis
06-18-2009, 05:05 AM
I have an HP Pavilion that has an nVidia 9500GS video card in it. If you search Bing (or that other search engine) for nVidia 9500GS you will find lots of user comments about how the fan in this video card can sound something like a lawn mower engine. There are even some You Tube videos of amazing sounds coming from the fan on this card.
In my prowling around the web, I stumbled across these comments a few months ago. I was pleased that my 9500GS card was not making those sounds and I knew I would be just as frustrated as these users if any component in my computer made that much noise. It was apparent from the comments that HP did not initially take the complaints about noise seriously and only after some months started sending users who called a new version of the card with a distinctly different fan and a different color fan housing. There were mixed reports from users as to whether this new card did or did not solve the problem.
With all of that in mind, I was very concerned two weeks ago when strange growling sounds began deep in my Pavilion. They came and went but were certainly noticeable. I never heard anything as bad as what the poor guy on You Tube experienced, but still this growling was ominous. I did the usual. I opened the case and looked around. There are 4 fans inside this Pavilion and I couldn't pinpoint exactly which one was growling, but only one has had any reported trouble. I cleaned off any dust and checked for wires laying against the fans. Over the next couple of days the growling incidents grew longer and more frequent but were never constant.
A couple of days later, I made a call to HP tech support. My Pavilion is still under warranty. I talked with a tech who called himself Andy. After I explained the problem, he read from his script and asked me to download the latest driver (I already had) and clean the dust and look for loose wires. He then asked me the color of the fan housing on the 9500 and I told him mine was black. Andy put me on hold for a few minutes. When he returned he said they were going to send me a replacement card and I was to return the old one when it arrived. He set up an appointment for someone to call me the next day to collect my credit card information for use as collateral. The next morning, someone from HP called within minutes of the appointed time for the credit card info. She explained how the card would be shipped and how I was to ship the old one. Later that same day, Andy called me to find out if someone had contacted me at the appointed time. I said yes and thanked him for his efforts. The card arrived at my home the next day.
The replacement card had the new blue housing and different fan. I installed the new card and packed up the old one. I was amazed at the result. Not only was there no growling, the computer is more silent than ever. While my original 9500GS had only begun to fail, its normal background noise level was much greater than this new version. You couldn't call the normal noise level of the old card loud; only that you knew it was there. This new version of the card is as close to silent as something mechanical can be.
All in all, I spent less than 30 minutes on the phone with HP personnel. The card arrived in one day and solved my problem. The tech called me to make sure the company had done what it was supposed to do. I know there are lots of tech horror stories out there, and I think it is entirely appropriate to let companies know when they don't meet expectations. I also think it is appropriate to let people know when they exceed expectations. HP did in this case. Thanks Andy, whoever you are.
PS. At one point in my initial conversation with Andy, he said something that made me laugh. He didn't tell a joke, but it was just something that struck me as amusing at the moment. He took a gamble and commented "Mr. Lewis, it is good to hear a customer laugh." I was struck by that and said "Why Andy? Don't you get to hear much laughter on the phone?" Of course he knew I was being facetious. He sighed "No, this is a pretty stressful job." That short exchange is also something I will remember from this tech support incident. It was real.
In my prowling around the web, I stumbled across these comments a few months ago. I was pleased that my 9500GS card was not making those sounds and I knew I would be just as frustrated as these users if any component in my computer made that much noise. It was apparent from the comments that HP did not initially take the complaints about noise seriously and only after some months started sending users who called a new version of the card with a distinctly different fan and a different color fan housing. There were mixed reports from users as to whether this new card did or did not solve the problem.
With all of that in mind, I was very concerned two weeks ago when strange growling sounds began deep in my Pavilion. They came and went but were certainly noticeable. I never heard anything as bad as what the poor guy on You Tube experienced, but still this growling was ominous. I did the usual. I opened the case and looked around. There are 4 fans inside this Pavilion and I couldn't pinpoint exactly which one was growling, but only one has had any reported trouble. I cleaned off any dust and checked for wires laying against the fans. Over the next couple of days the growling incidents grew longer and more frequent but were never constant.
A couple of days later, I made a call to HP tech support. My Pavilion is still under warranty. I talked with a tech who called himself Andy. After I explained the problem, he read from his script and asked me to download the latest driver (I already had) and clean the dust and look for loose wires. He then asked me the color of the fan housing on the 9500 and I told him mine was black. Andy put me on hold for a few minutes. When he returned he said they were going to send me a replacement card and I was to return the old one when it arrived. He set up an appointment for someone to call me the next day to collect my credit card information for use as collateral. The next morning, someone from HP called within minutes of the appointed time for the credit card info. She explained how the card would be shipped and how I was to ship the old one. Later that same day, Andy called me to find out if someone had contacted me at the appointed time. I said yes and thanked him for his efforts. The card arrived at my home the next day.
The replacement card had the new blue housing and different fan. I installed the new card and packed up the old one. I was amazed at the result. Not only was there no growling, the computer is more silent than ever. While my original 9500GS had only begun to fail, its normal background noise level was much greater than this new version. You couldn't call the normal noise level of the old card loud; only that you knew it was there. This new version of the card is as close to silent as something mechanical can be.
All in all, I spent less than 30 minutes on the phone with HP personnel. The card arrived in one day and solved my problem. The tech called me to make sure the company had done what it was supposed to do. I know there are lots of tech horror stories out there, and I think it is entirely appropriate to let companies know when they don't meet expectations. I also think it is appropriate to let people know when they exceed expectations. HP did in this case. Thanks Andy, whoever you are.
PS. At one point in my initial conversation with Andy, he said something that made me laugh. He didn't tell a joke, but it was just something that struck me as amusing at the moment. He took a gamble and commented "Mr. Lewis, it is good to hear a customer laugh." I was struck by that and said "Why Andy? Don't you get to hear much laughter on the phone?" Of course he knew I was being facetious. He sighed "No, this is a pretty stressful job." That short exchange is also something I will remember from this tech support incident. It was real.