"Basically, I agree with everything NJRuffy said below and had a remarkanbly similar experiance. I am extremely pleased with this computer - the build quality, the components, the cabling, etc - all outstanding. So althogh for the purposes of this review I will concentrate on the negative, please not that is precisely what this is: a concentration on the nagative. I love this computer.

My big beef with Velocity is that they do not take advantage of your upgrades. As you have seen in both commerical and user reviews, their computers are noisy. What surprised me though is that they failed to take advantage of the upgrades I ordered. As has been reported, the front case fan is quite loud and ultimately the computer is quite loud. However, I ordered the Antec 550 power supply and once I hooked up to the front case fan to the PSU's FAN ONLY cable, the computer became much - MUCH- quieter. And for anyone who has the Antec PSU, I recommend this very easy switch. Just take off the solid side panel and move the front case fan power socket to the FAN ONLY cable from the PSU. The computer is MUCH, MUCH quieter.

Similarly, I upgraded to the Zalman heatsink which normally inlcudes a "FAN MATE 2" to reduce the rpms of the CPU fan. This feature was not taken advantage of and worse, the FAN MATE 2 part and cable was not incuded in my bag-o-stuff. I'm sure Velocity will send it to me if asked, (it's $5 on newegg) but it should have been included in my bag-o-stuff and should have been installed in the first place. This would reduce the noise of the second noisiest fan the in the case - the CPU fan.

My point is this. The one hit on Velocity is that it is a loud computer. However, even though I ordered 'quiet' upgrades, the build did not take advantage of those upgrades. It did not attached the case fans to the 'FAN ONLY' power cables from the ANTEC PSU and it did not install the FAN MATE 2 on the Zalman PSU cooler (and, worse, did not include the parts in the bag of parts.

As I said, I'm hitting on the negative. I love this computer, would buy andother, and will give it a great review.
RMAC "

"########################
###UPDATE 08 March 05###
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So far, i've loved my machine - no problems have seem to come up other than the noise, which is irritating at worst-not a big deal for a quality machine. However, on 26 February, I tried to install the Nero OEM burning software that came with my machine as part of the package from the Lite-On Retail DVD Burner, but was unable to have the machine read the disc for whatever reason. I e-mailed customer support via their website and the morning of the next business day recieved a response saying a replacement disc was being sent out right away and would arrive in about a week (I'm sure if I asked I could of gotten faster shipping but was not in any hurry at all). I recieved the disc in the mail yesterday, tried to install it today, and all works fine. Thanks, Velocity!

########################
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As I slowly came to the conclusion that my HP Pavilion PC that had served me well since 2002 was too outdated to make numerous upgrades price-worthy, I started looking at new systems. I grew tired of having a PC where the case was so small everything was cramped with bad airflow, having to take 3 parts out just to reach the memory, and as a USAF computer technician, I have too much experience with the big names and wanted something unique for my personal use.

I came across Velocity Micro during a google search for custom-built PC’s. I played around with a few of their products and thought they looked like what I wanted, so I did some research. Turns out no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find a bad review, time after time beating out Dell on every aspect. I decided to go for it, and on 26 January after months of research (and waiting for my tax return) I called up Velocity to make an order. I decided on the SX-V Value Edition, with a blue case, 500w PS, P4 3.2GHz, 1024MB Mushkin RAM, 256MB NVIDIA 6600, Video Cooling, and a restore disk instead of keyboard/mouse. I was given 4 February as a ship date, and that my MasterCard would be charged immediately. The worst part about the ordering process was the looooong wait – it took 16 days from the time I called to UPS delivering my system (10 days build, 6 days shipping). Every single time I called VM, I had little to no wait to speak to their in-house customer service, where my never-ending questions about my order status were readily answered, usually with the technician putting me on hold to talk to the builders for the most up-to-date information. Whenever I had a technical question, I received detailed answers spoken in a way that could please a novice or expert alike. VM hasn’t given me a ‘canned’ answer once, always looking at my invoice to give me a personal response.

Onto the system itself. When the UPS man FINALLY came after two looooong weeks of waiting, I had high expectations, which were mainly met. The computer itself was outstanding – a great looking case, and an outstanding job of the actual build and wiring….I’m very impressed, even after reading rave after rave online. The documentation was detailed, and came with the manuals and cd’s from the retail components that were used as well as all the extra screws and covers from the case. To my disappointment though, a binder was not included to keep everything organized as I had read, though this is a moot point, really. I hooked the PC up to my 17” Dell LCD and turned it on, and was shortly greeted by the XP setup screen. I set up XP and installed my personal software, which went faster than I had ever experienced. When I ran World of Warcraft, I was amazed at how smooth and natural the gameplay was at 1280x1024 with the highest settings– the speed is unbelievable compared to my previous attempts on my three-year-old HP. The system seems to stay extremely cool and should be a great companion for years to come.

When I compared my machine’s specifications to other national and custom builders, the price was very competitive if not the lowest. My biggest grief is when the Sales associate discovered I was an Airman in the USAF through my shipping address, I was told that a note would be put in the system to give me free shipping as it’s the least they could do, however, at this point, I have still been charged. Sure, it’s just $59, but to a military member every dime counts. In conclusion, as long as my system doesn’t blow up tomorrow, Velocity Micro gets 5 stars and my recommendation to friends.
"

" I purchased a Velocity Micro Vector SX-V system online in December of '04. It was delivered exactly when they said it would be. I read about the system in PC Magazine. After some careful research and comparison shopping, I went ahead and ordered the Vector. It is the best deal out there, far better value for the dollar than any of the "major" vendors, or any other custom order place. I'm thrilled with the system. It's exactly what I wanted, for a price that couldn't be beat. The system is very upgradeable, and sets me up for years to come.You can customize the system on the online order page, to make it just what you want. Velocity Micro includes a full original Windows XP cd, NOT a "restore" cd like so many other places. They also include all manuals, ie. motherboard, optical drive and driver/software cd's for each. Like I said, I am thrilled with this system, and won't hesitate to recommend this company to anyone.
This company gets 5 stars in my book
regards,
William F. Harvey"

"Here is my Velocity Micro purchase in a nutshell. After a month of figuring out what kind of gaming system I wanted, I had narrowed my choices down to voodoopc, abspc, and velocity micro. My first choice was voodoopc just because of the service they provide. But after doing the math, I was basically paying out the wazoo for good service which made no sense to me. ABSPC looked good but I really didnt like their choices and some of the items were "out of stock" which kind of confused me but whatever. After reading numerous reviews on all three and trying to figure out the best value for my $$, I decided to go with velocity micro. I purchased the Gamers Edge DualX system. I had contacted sales support via online chat and had any questions or concerns answered right away. One major question I had was regarding the SLI. I couldnt afford dropping $800 on 2 6800GT video cards so I only ordered one and I can call sales when I'm ready to get the 2nd! Another good option about VM (velocity micro) was that you could quote out a system and they would email you the quote in pdf format so you could always have it. After getting all my presale help and questions squared away, I just had to go online and build "my" system. You always have the option of just giving your sales quote # and it will pull up the information for you. After completing the order, the email I received told me to call my credit card company ahead of time to authorize the large purchase because security reasons cause the credit card company to decline large purchases on the internet. So I went ahead and pre authorized the computer purchase and the bank was impressed also that they would let the consumer know ahead of time on what steps to take. So after getting that squared away, I was all set and my credit card was charged. The following Monday (1/24) I had received an email that the system was all set and that any changes would cost me $25 per change. So basically you have about a full day to make changes to your system before its finalized. My ship date originally was set for 1/31/05 so the impatient person I am just kept checking my email about 3,000 times a day to see any updates. After looking on VM's website to get order updates I came across the FAQ which says that they will only email you updates on the steps they take as they get completed and moved along. So the only improvement I could say so far is to have something that will allow you to check your order online. Is that a big deal? Far from it. I just am really impatient and would just love to log in and see whats going on. So as I marked off the days on my calendar at work I got THE email that said that my computer status had been upgraded and it was ready to be shipped and 2 minutes later I received the email with the UPS tracking #. Ahhh it was all set and I couldnt wait! I live in NJ so the shipping from VA to NJ was only 2 days via UPG. Oh yea another great thing is the "weekly specials" they have. I saved $90.00 on my computer and ALSO had free shipping which saved me about $150.00 off my system! So the computer arrived on Friday and it was packaged perfectly. I pulled the computer out of the box and hooked it up. It turned on and worked fine. Along with the computer came a grey velocity micro box/binder for all my software, documentation, and free games! And reading the previous review, there were no "retail boxes" included in the purchase but that wasnt an issue to me though. There was a separate bag with ALL of the "extra" components and cabling and so on. So now that the computer is hooked up I played some games and ran some bench marks and the system works fine. It has been on since then and only has been shutdown once and I have no problems at all... well some wise guy at VM put a "flower" for my login icon :-( (thats a joke... i changed it... eventually) The only thing that you have to be prepared for is the noise of the system. There is a front intake fan and 2 case fans along with the heatsink/fan. The system is a little bit loud but for the performance I dont care and I play with a headset so it doesnt bother me. VM could always maybe somehow offer some sort of sound dampening material or other choices for those who might want a fast system and low system noise. What could that be? Sound dampening material? Different options for fans? I really dont know what can be done without effecting system performance. So after everything is said and done my system is perfect and I couldnt have spent some of my work bonus in any better way. I recommend Velocity Micro to anyone looking to purchase a computer!"

"I purchased a Promagix system for business expansion. For my order after going over every single detail of what to expect, I was told and understood the parts used were all retail and all documentation and even the boxes would be shipped with the machine. What 24/7 and onsite support meant had different interpretations. “That will come in writing with the machine”

The machine arrived a week after projected time, no big deal to me. But it arrived without some items and without documentation. A nice silver box folder with three tab dividers but no documentation! I have plugged it in to make sure it's working at least. Had to complete install of the OS (no directions) and install msoffice and wondered how a machine could be 'finely tuned' (+$30) if these weren't completely installed? I asked the Ulead stuff be sent but not installed -- it's installed anyway. I didn't want to deal with potential conflicts with my own dvd/cd/movie record edit software. Ulead isn’t as it shows on the website. When I asked what I get with Ulead package, I was told to look at their website – that it’s “just as they show on that website”. Well it isn’t true… it’s a copied CD on a VM disk no serial # or registration info.

Have written VM a few times about no documentation, missing items and a missing cd "owners manual" on the Audigy card. The only way I know that is missing is the "install CD" has printed on it to refer to the owners manual cd for more information. One call to customer care they don't come with documentation (why do you have all that slop on the website touting how superior your machines are because they do come with it???). She did acknowledge some things should have been in there and weren't so she sent an email to her supervisor who would be in Monday. As I looked at the machine, the website, the logs of online customer support, emails, notes etc. decided to write my own email to this person about the problems and that I'd like it resolved rather than end up with no machine and an extreme dislike for VM.

His email back said they don’t come with documentation and suggesting first lets plug it in and see that it works (in email I did mention I'd already done this! Did he bother to read it?) And to call so we can discuss further. I don’t have all day for this, and was late getting to a job as it was.

VM web site advertises they do only Retail parts - Not OEM, and clearly states what Retail parts come with. Everyone I spoke, wrote to prior to purchase told me this is true, this is how they do things, etc. After purchase it’s a completely different story. One of the customer care persons said their parts don't come with any documentation - and she was one of the same who told me it DID BEFORE I bought it. ???? Also that "your warranty is from Velocity Micro for 3 years not the manufacturers". Again, that wasn't free. If I hadn't bought it, the manufacturers' warranties would have exceeded VM's standard year in most cases, and support continued. Are they using OEM parts while advertising Retail?

I called some local Retailers with what information I could find and got information what the various parts come with. Their consensus – the parts are OEM if they don’t come with documentation. Ok, so VM you have some explaining to do!

This is very poor customer service so far and feel like a sucker for paying 3 years of it. I've been doing my own tech support all this time and a break sounded good. VM tech support looks like its limited and so far consists of telling me how to do my own. Waste of $299! Have written asking for the documentation for this box and missing items. Filed a complaint with the BBB there in Virginia.

For the high cost, I would have expected to hear something enthusiastic and positive from VM of what they can do about this problem resolved. Not outright lies (conflicts with what their website and sales people say) to start with.

I am looking forward to getting this box plugged in, my data moved over, the new peripherals hooked up and a large donation of computer equipment out the door to the school recycler. I'm looking forward to the expansion of business capabilities this should bring. I almost had decided to build my own so I could get what I want without propriety stuff interfering. VM had this model and the options that got close to what I wanted. And they sounded like they'd build it like I would.

I'd like to be a happy satisfied VM user and it should be a great system. I’d like proof I paid for Retail parts not OEM which is one of the things they justify their prices by. At this point it seems the missing stuff and CC – or lack thereof - is the roadblock to enjoying this system. Hard to believe this with such high price stuff - the service and cc should match. And honesty would be a good policy as well.
"

"I felt compelled to post my experiences with Velocity Micro after reading jscompton's review below. I ordered the Raptor Dual X SLI rig on December 27th and it also shipped early. My estimated ship date was 1/12, but my machine actually shipped on 1/5. First off, I don't know of any other company that could offer this quick of a turn-around time on these products right now. We're talking some incredibly rare parts here (FX-55, dual 6800GT PCI-E video cards, etc.).

Anyway, I've had the machine for about two weeks now and have nothing to say but great things about the computer and the service I've received. The wiring and build quality is superb, the machine has been very stable (despite incredibly bleeding-edge technology), and I simply can't believe how fast it is. The only area of concern that I've had with the system were some of the temperatures I was seeing. I was concerned about my CPU temperature, and when I brought this up with Dan in technical support, he offered to send a technician out to replace the heatsink with one of my choosing. I haven't taken him up on this offer yet since the machine has been stable, but the offer stands if I have heat-related issues down the line. This is terrific service in my opinion.

As for jscompton's problems, SLI technology is in its absolute infancy. There are going to be problems here and there, and no matter how hard any company tries, they're not going to be aware of all of them. Fact is, SLI has problems with widescreen monitors right now. If you search for "widescreen sli" at any popular computer forum, you'll be able to read dozens of topics about it. This is not Velocity Micro's fault, but rather nVidia's for releasing buggy technology. I understand your frustrations (I want to buy a 23" LCD myself), but I'm sure it will be fixed in a driver revision. My advice to you would be to keep your machine. No company is going to be able to send you an SLI rig that works perfectly with widescreen monitors right now. Hang on to your machine and be patient. It will pay off for you soon enough. ;)

Anyway, please don't hesitate to order from Velocity Micro. Their prices are good compared to most boutique dealers, the machines are rock-solid, and most importantly, they stand behind their products. I definitely won't hesitate to order from them again in the future."

"Very enjoyable experience. Excellent customer service!"

"Overall I would rate my first experience with Velocity Micro a positive. My machine arrived yesterday (1/19) which is the exact day it was supposed to. The hardware is all in tact,looks like its a solidly built machine, and it came as I wanted it configured. Machine I bought was AMD642500+, 1GB RAM, 200GB HDD, 6800GT, etc.

My only complaint against them would be that most OEMs are shipping Half Life 2 coupons with all AMD3500+ and higher CPUs,which is what I bought. You have to buy one of the VM configured gaming systems (gamer's edge I think) in order to get HL2, which I think sucks purely because I ordered a system that was configured exactly the same as a gamers edge machine, and I didnt get one because I bought a "home" class machine. Even though part for part it was the same as the gamers edge (saved me $200 though). That was a little disappointing. I mentioned it to my sales rep but they wouldnt budge on that, overall though, I would recommend the company. Hopefully their support is a good as its said to be in the event I have to use it."

"At this time, after a few calls, I did get an RMA to return the machine. Just waiting for refund.

!!!!Again, I would like to point out that I still give VM a very satisfied rating even though my experience was not perfect. I applaud VM for providing value in computers. Do not hesitate ordering from VM. The SLI bug was a surprise to all. Its only a issue if you want to use a 23" widescreen monitor. Still don't understand why with one card everything was fine, but SLI couldn't support it. Vendors and customers seem to be at the mercy of NVidia and ATI who are known to provide crappy drivers. If you have a 23" and want to use SLI, I believe it
may eventually be solved for all monitors, it just a risk that should be stated upfront on SLI vendor websites. Maximum PC even gave the VM SLI rig a "Kick Ass" but failed to mention that there would be any problems with widescreen.
-------
First I believe that Velocity Micro is a great company. I have no reason to believe that for the vast majority of buyers, VM will provide a great product. However, my experience has been less than perfect. I ordered a Raptor SLI and it arrived early. I was suprised that after 1 hour it completely dies. Had to send to back to be rebuilt. After two weeks I had heard nothing from the company. When I called the technician, he told me that he could not even give me an estimate when I would receive the machine back. Very frusting. Eventually I receive the machine. However, the SLI apparently doesn't work with a 23" screen. Nothing on VM website tells you that you shouldnt expect that a $5000 SLI rig can't work with commercially available monitors. I tried a samsung and an Apple with no success. Any time you try to run a game, the screen goes to garbage. When I disable the SLI, everthing works. It defeats the point of purchasing an SLI rig. I spoke to a couple of VM techs and the EVGA call center. No one can get the machine to work. I went many support forums with no success. So, I have a machine that doesn't work as advertised and cant' get a return RMA. The customer care center rep will not return my phone calls. I feel that I have wasted the $5000 grand. The whole experience has ruined all the excitement of getting a new super gaming rig. "

"
I am extremely happy with my purchase!I have held off writing a review, because I wanted to see if my pleasure with this company would transend time. 6 months later, and I have no complaints! The tech support is excellent, which was readily available, in my time of need.The problems I did endure were user induced."

"I had an extremely positive experience with Velocity Micro and am very happy with the computer I bought from them. I had been a Dell customer for the last 10 years and had an extremely poor experience in trying to order my third computer from Dell starting in late October 2004. (through a series of delayed orders and back ordered parts, and not being able to get answers from their customer support. ) I searched the internet and read reviews about customer's positive experience with Velocity Micro. From ordering the computer, to shipping and receiving they have been and exceptional company and have been there for me the few times I have called them for support. I'll have to admit I was a little nervous about making a purchase from a company that I did not know alot about ..but they have exceeded my expectations. As another reviewer stated "they are what Dell was about ten years ago." I can't give a higher rating for this company..I will probably be their customer for life and truly recommend them to my family and friends. Hats off to great company who is really trying to go the extra mile with customer service and support and has a great product!!!"

"I bought VM VectorPC in 2004. It works O.K. as of today, but it always had this nasty habbit of hitting me with CPU fan error, although not too often. Recently, this became kind of frequent
occurance, so I decided to investigate. To be short, I've found that it's actually caused by BIOS, and updating BIOS would fix it. Well, I could not update BIOS for ASUS P5GD1-VM, which was supposed to be installed in my Vector.
I digged a bit more and discovered that Velocity Micro cheated on me - they installed P5GD1-VM/S, instead of P5GD1-VM. Although VM/S is not a bad mobo, ASUS does not support it at all, as it was made for OEMs and not retail. At some time in the past, ASUS dumped a bunch of these VM/S for a fraction of the cost of "normal" VM mobo. You figure the rest - it's called cost savings. However, Velocity did sent all proper paper work with my PC showing that mobo in my PC was P5GD1-VM. ??? And now, I can not update BIOS - no available ASUS BIOS updates is compatible with that OEM version.

I e-mailed Velocity asking them for help, but
I do not think they know what to do, judging by their reply, which was, in all honesty, pretty quick, but produced no useful response. Not putting a right mobo in PC is a serious offence. My advice is to be very careful with Velocity Micro, and check everything they install in your system. In other words, if you want brand name retail components in your custom PC, do not buy from VM.

I'm very disapponted and do not recommend them as a trusted vendor if you plan to upgrade your PC system in the future.They are not bad, but they are not good either.


"

"I ordered my system at the end of Nov and recieved it about 7 days later on Dec 2nd. The order process was very fast and smooth, eventhough i messed up and ordered the wrong AMD processor, they quickly corrected the situation and I had what i wanted. I was shocked to see that no less than 4 hrs after i ordered my system, they had a 100 dollar Thanksgiving offer. They gave me 100 dollars back with no fuss or hassle. I was very happy with the questions they answered. I ordered a AMD Fx-55 processor with 2 gigs of ram and a Raid 0 148 gig 10,000 WD raptor Drive and a Geforce 6800GT. The system flies! I was researching with alienware for over 4 months and then recently learned about VM. I am extremely happy i made the switch, Alienware seemed to have people working in the support that did not know what they were talking about and seemed to read lines and answers from a sheet of paper. I installed an old hard drive the minute i got my system, and of course i messed it all up. It was the ide drive taking priority over the raid. So I called VM with their tech support # which was located on the case, very convenient and I only had to wait for a min to get the tech support which helped me with my problem. I also noticed that all of their support is now in house. Over all i am very impressed. Good packaging, and very well documented with the binder of stuff, FAST system. One minor problem with the order was they sent me the Intellimouse 4.0 instead of the 3.0 which if your a gamer sucks for games becuase of the new smooth scroll wheel. Way to sensitive in games, etc. Other than that I give VM an A overall.

---EDIT-- I originally said It arrived 7 days late at the first sentence, I meant 7 days later! Sorry, it came ahead of schedule! Thanks again VM "

"My order for a Vision 64 model was placed on Sept. 21. I requested a subsequent change two days later. Both the original order and the change were acknowledged right away.

I was notified that my order was 'staged for production' on Sept. 24, and that assembly had begun on Sept. 28.

After assembly, I was notified (Sept. 30) that my unit failed the burn-in testing due to excess heat buildup in the case I had selected (VM sold this as the QX case - really the Lian Li PC-6070). At the suggestion of the customer service rep I changed the case to the Lian Li PC-65, which VM called the AX-W case. I thought it odd that VM offered the QX case for this model PC without knowing whether it would present a problem with heat dissipation, but I was pleased that they were immediately forthcoming and candid with the information. I note that VM seems to have withdrawn the QX case, at least for this particular PC model; also, strangely, they seem to have withdrawn the Lian Li PC-65, which I think is a fine case.

My PC was re-assembled in the new case and tested, and shipment was made on Oct. 5. Total time from initial order to shipping date was 14 days.

I would have preferred FedEx as the shipper. I had failed to note VM's shipping policy carefully, or I would have requested that they use FedEx. As it turned out, the shipment arrived the next day without any problem.

The only concerns I had when I unpacked the PC were that the cold cathode lamps that had been installed were not firmly held in position. They had moved in transit. This was easily adjusted. The only other issues were that there was incomplete documentation provided with the Farstone DriveClone software, and the OpenOffice Suite that I had requested was not to be found on the hard drive. VM sent me the missing documentation, and I downloaded the missing OpenOffice Suite from the OpenOffice.org website.

At the time I bought this PC, VM was shipping with the SP1 version of XP. I had to update this myself after the unit arrived. There was a minor problem with getting every component fully functional after the update, but everything was resolved within a day. I note that VM now is shipping with SP2 installed.

I have been using my new Vision 64 PC every day for the past three weeks without any problem. While it is a little noisier than I would like, I gladly tolerate the noise in exchange for the assurance that the internal temperature is within nominal limits. My interest in quiet appliances extends to all the appliances in my home, and I don't mean to suggest that this Lian Li case, with its four fans (plus the Zalman fan installed over the AMD CPU), is unusually noisy.

During the entire process, the VM staff were very helpful and responded quickly to all my concerns. My overall experience was excellent. I would not hesitate to purchase again from VM.
"