Becoming a PC System Builder Super Easy? Think Again.

I mean how could potential customers resist? Well, like anything, it's not as simple as it looks from the outside. Puget Systems' workstations and gaming computers might not be obviously different from any other PC, but I can pretty much guarantee that every one of you will see something inside there that you weren't expecting.

Our story begins well in the bathroom actually. I mean what it's a long drive down here from Vancouver? So for real though, any system starts with configuration. We've all seen that stupid post on a forum with like a ten thousand dollar machine. Where you can tell that obviously it was just a list of all the most expensive components and every drop down on PC part picker glued together. And then it's like hey guys is this good for gaming, and it's just like yeah. Yeah, it'll run Crysis or whatever. But in many cases it would actually be slower than a system that costs a fraction as much.

So in what they call the Lab, Puget technicians look at real-world workloads for their workstations like Unreal Engine, Unity, Autodesk, and Adobe Premiere and After Effects to determine what hardware hits the sweet spot for price to performance. Because as we discovered when we were trying to measure the benefits of a 128 gigs of system ram here, reading outdated forum posts doesn't work as a way to configure a system. I mean Adobe After Effects went from scaling across Multi CPU Xeon systems three years ago to now Puget recommends you throw in a quad core and call it a day.

And with this knowledge, Puget designs the purpose-built systems that you can find on their site and trains their technology consultants, so-called because they don't get a commission for selling you exactly what you want. They believe that their value is right there in the mission statement, that's vinyl on the wall. That's something that I can get behind.

The Lab Folks

So who are these guys? The lab folks upstairs to be familiar each one of them with both basic hardware diagnosis and at least one software specialty like content creation, engineering, or scientific. They're trained by the experts themselves to be able to diagnose and fix any problem that comes their way. And that's why it's easy for me to say that we wouldn't do a sponsored piece like this with just any system builder because it's pretty easy for it to come across as an endorsement.

Tech Support

Physically to tech support, both phone support and physical upgrades and repairs are handled here in Seattle by a team. That's trained by the lab folks upstairs to be familiar each one of them with both basic hardware diagnosis and at least one software specialty like content creation, engineering, or scientific. So chances are there will be someone who knows what you're talking about so at the end of the day.

Fabricating Support Brackets

That's why Puget has their own laser cutter where they fabricate all kinds of things - vanity plates for motherboards and AIO liquid coolers this actually kind of sexy looking prototype case. And perhaps most importantly, all manner of support brackets for their systems. The old way was to stuff them full of expanding foam, but it turns out that customers would sometimes call them years later, my system makes a ticking noise, and it runs really hot. What can I do? Uh, you should take out the foam that's been in there all this time.

The Future of Puget Systems

So don't think for a second that that last one is all about sentimentality it turns out that it's an invaluable troubleshooting tool if you call in like two years later wanting to put in another hard drive. And they want to walk you through where to plug everything in Which I guess brings us to tech support.

Tech Support both phone support and physical upgrades and repairs are handled here in Seattle by a team That's trained by the lab folks upstairs to be familiar each one of them with both basic hardware diagnosis and at least one software specialty like content creation engineering or scientific. So chances are there will be someone who knows what you're talking about so at the end of the day.

Conclusion

We wouldn't do a sponsored piece like this with just any system builder because it's pretty easy for it to come across as an endorsement But we've known these guys for a long time. I'm actually ok with that The biggest thing is that Puget isn't drinking their own Kool-Aid, they don't pretend that their computer is made of some kind of magic that makes it perform better than an identical box that you built yourself with the same components and they don't refer to benchmarking components that work and assembling systems as Engineering They believe that their value is right there in the mission statement, that's vinyl on the wall And that's something that I can get behind.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enBecoming a PC system builder super easy right buy parts on NeweggBorrow a folding table from your mom download pirated Windows to save a buck and put an ad on CraigslistI mean how could potential customers resist? Well, like anything,It's not as simple as it looks from the outsidePuget Systems' workstations and gaming computers might not beobviously different from any other, PCBut I can pretty much guarantee that every one of you will see something inside there, AuburnWashington headquarters that you weren't expectingSong: Lazlo SupernovaOur story beginswell in the bathroom actually IMean what it's a long drive down here from Vancouver?so for real though any system starts with configurationWe've all seen that stupid post on a forum with like a ten thousand dollar machineWhere you can tell that obviously it was just a list of all the most expensivecomponents and every drop down on PC part picker glued togetherAnd then it's like hey guys is this good for gaming, and it's just like yeahYeah, it'll run Crysis or whateverBut in many cases it would actually be slower than a system that costs a fraction as muchSo in what they call the LabPuget technicians look at real-world workloads for their workstations like Unreal EngineUnity, Autodesk and Adobe Premiere and After Effects to determine what hardware hits the sweet spot for price to performanceBecause as we discovered when we were trying to measure the benefits of a 128 gigs of system ram hereReading outdated forum posts doesn't work as a way to configure a systemI mean Adobe After Effects went from scaling acrossMulti CPU Xeon systems three years ago to now Puget recommends you throw in a quad core and call it a dayandwith this knowledge Puget designs the purpose-built systems that you can find on their site andtrains their technology consultants so-called because they don't get a commission for how much you spend andThis is also where they find the weird bugsOne new CPU was crashing after about 10 seconds in Adobe Premiere with the warp stabiliser effect enabledWell it ended up being a motherboard issue that has since been fixed with a new BIOS that anyone can downloadAnd if you think that's cool it actually gets better. Instead of protecting all of their knowledge and keeping it behind closed doorsPuget publishes a ton of the work that they do in here through the article section of their websiteit was actually a Puget article that helped me diagnose theunexpectedly poor video encoding performance on my 22 core Xeon in this video here andtoday alone Matt here released four articles about the After Effects Premiere andPhotoshop performance of Skylake X versus Threadripper so go check them out if you're a Creative Cloud usernext stop the warehouse all the inventory that they need to smooth out delivery during periods of ohI don't know. Let's say high GPU demand due to MINING get stored along this backWall here and if you appreciate simple professional design, you'll feel right at home herethere's a wonderful selection of black cases black power supplies black coolersand brown coolers with noRGB in sight andOooo~This cabinet looksAlrighty thenSo from there the inventory management and purchasing team picks out the components for each system and puts them into a bin forthe assembly teamEvery machine whether it's a basic gaming box, a 3d animationworkstation or a quad socket data-crunching tower for scientific researchGets hand-built by a single technician who is responsible for adhering to puget strict quality standards.Every screw needs to be tightenedevery port needs to be connected andWhile, you won't find any hard lineWater-cooled battle stations here they do adhere to strict standards when it comes to cable managementAll of this gets checked first by another tech, then by QA in the hot roomSo-called because even in the winter all the burning testing that they do in here keeps it pretty toastyhow toasty exactly though well after being loaded up with an operating systemand software that's specific to the type of workstation being built for validation at one of the two epic16 monitor battle stations in the very center of Puget's facility eachSystem gets its thermals measured through software at idle and full load using something like Prime95and Furmark aswell as through hardware using a FLIR thermal camera so any abnormal hot spots can be located andDiagnosed it was actually partly Puget's testing that determined that many reports ofX299 motherboard VRM failures were being caused by accidentalOverclocking due to misconfigured turbo boost 3.0 profilesit's also in here that acoustics and system benchmarks are compared against an internal database ofThousands of other systems to ensure that everything is behaving normallyspeaking from experienceThis next bit is one of the most difficult problems for any system builder to solveShippingPCI slots were originally designed for cards that looked more like thisNot for the multi pound copper monstrosities that are so common todayThat's why Puget has their own laser cutter where they fabricate all kinds of thingsvanity plates for motherboards and AIO liquid coolers this actually kind of sexy looking prototype caseand perhaps most importantly all manner of support brackets for their systemsThe old way was to stuff them full of expanding foam, but it turns out thatCustomers would sometimes call them years later my system makes a ticking noise, and it runs really hotWhat can I do and they'd be like oh? UhhhYou should take out the foam that's been in there all this timeSo with braces like this everything is ready to go out of the box with no intervention needed from the customerand they look kind of cool to every system is packed with careand comes with a little booklet chock full of information about Puget's teamtips for getting started like login instructions for Linux systemsscreenshots of the recommended BIOS settingsbenchmarks thermals andeven ahBaby photos of your new PCBut don't think for a second that that last one is all about sentimentality it turns out that it's an invaluableTroubleshooting tool if you call in like two years later wanting to put in another hard driveAnd they want to walk you through where to plug everything inWhich I guess brings us to tech supportPhysically to tech support both phone support and physical upgrades and repairs are handled here in Seattle by a teamThat's trained by the lab folks upstairs to be familiar each one of them with both basic Hardware diagnosisAnd at least one software specialty like content creationengineering or scientific so if you call inChances are there will be someone who knows what you're talking about so at the end of the dayWe wouldn't do a sponsored piece like this with just any system builder because it's pretty easy for it to come across as an endorsementBut we've known these guys for a long time. I'm actually ok with thatThe biggest thing is that Puget isn't drinking their own kool-aidthey don't pretend that their computer is made of some kind of magic that makes it perform better than anidentical box that you built yourself with the same components and they don't refer tobenchmarking components that work and assembling systems asEngineering they believe that their value is right there in the mission statement, that's vinyl on the wallAnd that's something that I can get behindSo thanks for watching guys if you dislike this video you can hit that buttonBut if you liked it hit the like button get subscribed maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured atthe link below also downThere is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum, which you should totally joinIt's probably also going to be a link to Float plane, which by the way we were joking we're joking he's working on floatplaneHe doesn't work at Puget. Let's just let's get that covered okay\n"