There's a text card that notates it, but it did in fact run into thermal limits with the cooler -- go figure. Thought it would when I looked at it, but hoped they had accounted for an actual Adobe Premiere 100% utilization scenario. Regardless, it's overall good and I'm happy with it -- but I will be swapping the cooler when I have a chance.

Steve: "It's not a secret shopper thing, I will not be reviewing this." Also Steve: *Reviews the PC for the next 8 mins*

That fan sticker orientation, even behind a solid panel, would drive me absolutely insane. Should probably return it and go with somebody reputable like Dell or iBuypower

That logo etching is JUST the right amount of professional courtesy.

2:32 Looks like they deliberately orientated the fans to get the cabling as close together as possible, if so, have to commend their attention to detail.

I guess this is like how professional chefs don't spend as much effort cooking for themselves.

Long but related story: Needed a relatively powerful PC for a university hosted research project to drive 6 main OLED TV displays + one console display with a custom 3D app made in Unity. Given that building a PC when every single item over ~$100 has to be okayed with a paper trail due to Uni overhead, I just went with a Puget Systems PC as it was only one invoice to push the paper on. Anyway, the PC was for the time, top end for our use case: 9900k, 64GB RAM, dual 2080 Ti with Nvlink (needed v-sync across cards/displays...) Well little did I know, but one company made a three connector (1 HDMI, 2 DP) 2080 Ti, and it ended up in our build. It wasn't until the PC was delivered did I discover this was even a thing on a top tier GPU in modern times. Quick call to Puget Systems, explaining the situation and they said effectively, "okay, bring the PC by and we'll swap the 2080 Ti cards with four output port cards." Quick 40min drive (gotta love the PNW) and within an hour or so they had the cards swapped out, tested, and I was on my way. Icing on the cake is days after getting the GPUs swapped, my coworker dropped (!!!!) the PC from roughly chest height onto concrete while moving it. The case front panel was f%3c'ed, but due to all the custom bracing on the heatsink, and the GPUs from Puget, nothing else was damaged. The PC still runs great today.

"I don't feel the need to validate if they fucked up the computer" Well that's a 10/10 if i've ever seen one

Very happy with Puget, being a Gov contractor I have to use specific vendors but every time I spec out a new system for my group I email Puget and tell them what I'm doing and they give me a short list of areas to concentrate on for our application to make them last 5yrs in a high performance environment. Never steered us wrong despite not making a dime off of us.

I kinda like how they show who worked on what in the documentation. Even if you can't really do anything with it, it shows a level of confidence and pride in the product.

That cooler selection on their part (and lack of options) is weird, but oh well.

Their support is amazing. I im a super small SI, i have a customer with a Puget box. Had to call them about a weird issue, SUPER SUPER amazing customer support

I'm a 3-time Puget customer at this point and your experience matches the kind of experience I've had each time. I've had minor issues with each machine but it's generally been a good experience with them doing things like pre-wiring GPU cables for me and installing extra fans in the right places as needed. When I had a full system failure out of nowhere they did a quick warranty repair for me at no cost and were able to do some additional maintenance (installing a new SSD and swapping the case) during the warranty repair at-cost. When I've emailed them about the minor issues I have they've been good about providing troubleshooting advice and in one case overnighted me a replacement fan. I can't recommend them to people who are trying to save money since as you mentioned there's a mark-up, but compared to my past experiences with companies like ibuypower you definitely get value for the markup from puget.

This is kinda unrelated but a secret shopper vs _unsecret_ would be interesting. Say you reach out to one of the biggest offenders like ibuypower for a review and then buy an identical system at the same time. There's a chance you're not treated any differently and even that would be an interesting take away.

With the reputation and quality of care that Puget does, it was surprising to see such a small CPU cooler and hear that you couldn't spec out an obviously needed larger one.

To be perfectly honest, I want to recommend them to a friend who is saying cost isn't a problem when he gets his first PC. But looking at the case they use, the cooler and knowing the environment he is going to be using it in, I may as well build with him myself. I love their support and their attention to detail otherwise.

Geez dude, you should shout out this channel on the main channel more often. I watch every GN video and I never knew this one existed. I just saw it in my recommendations for the first time ever, and I’ve been watching GN for over 5 years.

That CPU cooler holder is a neat idea and would be cool if they sell or give schematics for 3D printing.

The heatsink support is next level. Doesn't matter if they knew who you were, the fact they even have those is awesome and makes them better than pretty much any other system builder I've heard of (I don't know many)

That's an impressive binder of information overload! And NGL, I love that hanger support for the air cooler 👍👍

"I don't want to turn everything I ever do into content." Shots fired.

That CPU cooler support bracket is intriguing. I'd buy one if I could find one.

The folder with the information inside is nice for the end user, but other places would just be internal information with the same stuff, for a few dollars for the folder and paper, it adds a nice touch

They are right down the street from me.. thank you for supporting local business

Ive bought 6 puget systems machines piecemeal over the last 2 years, for my lab at work when grants are paying for it, and not regular budget. They always just work, and the build quality is impeccable. Its expensive, but, if its at work and its other peoples money....

Man, I lived right down the street from these guys and didn't even know they existed. I was also looking for work for over 9 months last year! T.T

Looking at their site, they had BETTER get it 100% right every time! That is a significant premium you are paying for their systems!

puget makes some wicked machines. they pick really top end hardware, their builders are really anal about build quality, and then they test the hell out of it before they send it out. ive never ever heard of anyone getting anything bad from them. in fact, ive never heard of anything under 5 stars from them. they even wrote their own benchmarking software for a heavy fully-automated workload.

you're not gonna review it, but still, you included some valuable information while being completely neutral. Great job GN team!

EVERY motherboard should have a simple display to show error codes, or a speaker for the same purpose. Its so helpful and it has to only cost pennies Id imagine.

I don't think I'll have enough budget to buy a Puget build in the forseeable future, but their hardware testing for professional software (for me it was Pr and Ae) and PSAs for when various Adobe software screws up again are super useful. It was the one other place other than GN I consulted when considering my choice of GPU and CPU for my build.

i have bought 3 of their systems over the years and feel like they were all money well spent. they've all been reliable.

Cool video, thanks for sharing sir! Always appreciate your honest takes, and hopefully Puget can use this feedback to improve their processes.

For when you don’t have the time and don’t want to mess it up. Puget does a great job, I bought one in 2017 and it’s more reliable than the 2 mod PC’s I did after.

Great video! I was just thinking about them on the Wed Thermaltake livestream as we were talking about System Intergrators. Pudget was a popular name back when Nerdy Ninjas (Travis Jank & Richard Surros aka DarthBeavis) were the big name modders. Miss those guys. I keep in touch with Richard but haven't heard from Travis in years.

That documentation binder reminds me of the manuals you would get when buying a computer game in the 90s and early 00s. I appreciate that sort of attention to detail.

Steve's hair is just soooo majestic man 👌

Been a Puget customer for over ten years. Keep going back to them.

I actually really like that cooler support bracket.

Worth it for "I don't want everything I do to turn into content" at the end. I lol'd.

Puget is the only company I'd ever buy a pre-built from.

Xotic pc did the same with that binder thing years back for me, good stuff!

Steve "Here is the system" Proceeds to take you on a tour around it. Shows the cable management, the documentation, puts a note about thermals. Says several times "But we are not reviewing it" Proceeds to show more about it 🤣. Then "Maybe we will do a review on it". Thank you for showing it! They do appear to put in some extra leg work for the user which is great.

Wait, Steve choosing a non airflow focused case? Didn't expect that. :)

Hey Steve, Steve here. Your enthusiasm is overwhelming. Back to you Steve.

Love the update note in there, it's just as important to point out the good as well as the bad. Just because they're smaller shouldn't give them a free pass. If anything its great for them to learn from that and take GNs feedback so they can hopefully improve.

It looks Great. Thanks guys. You Rock :)

This is somehow exactly how I imagine a high budget "serious professional" build. Just all-around clean and just the right parts and attention to detail. Sure you pay a premium, but it looks like this gives you the best shot at receiving a PC that truly arrives fully functional and has longevity and upgradability to boot. If they add more attention to cooling options and fix the...glue... thing, it would be just about perfect.

The Noctua NH-U12A is also a 120mm tower and it's very capable. That cooler looks a lot smaller than a U12A and it also only has one fan. I can't remember the review but is a 13700k better at the tasks it will be doing than a Ryzen 12 or 16 core, because those are much more efficient and don't require as beefy a cooling solution.

Was there any other reason, aside from just not having the time, that you decided to have Puget build it? I guess I'm just surprised you wouldn't slap one together yourself. But then I also understand that I have no idea how busy you might be, or what other factors played into it. Was the price premium (Puget ain't cheap) really worth the savings? I understand your opinions may also be a bit skewed now that you know the cooler was inadequate.

Damn, This is the stuff I built for myself 8 years ago and still rocking with the 6700k and 1080ti. Nice, neat, no RGB, quite, still does what I want. Only will upgrade once the GPU's can offer over 50% rasto performance under 180W.

Any SI that offers or simply uses Noctua gets a huge second look from me. Color me impressed.

I have a client that buys Puget laptops and he gets the same documentation every single time. I was super impressed by the benchmarks and even ran some myself to compare and found the results to be similar. He doesn't buy their desktops though because i build them!

Well, Puget is a pretty reasonable option. The builder's builder.

Have purchased from Pugit. Last of the oldschool builders. 👍👍

I have some people I follow on Puget systems, including Dr Donald Kinghorn, who is another chemistry PhD in the computer business. Cool seeing one of their builds in the wild.

I build systems for friends and family following Puget as an example. I have not regretted it

Puget Sytems is the only OEM PC builder I would buy from. Besides that the information they freely give to public is just insane!

"I don't want to turn everything I ever do into content" More refreshing than a pile of Junior Mints.

Puget has been around since forever but they've also been expensive since forever. I still can't justify the price.

Figured your personal build would be Artesian Builds. I'll be waiting for the reroll. Also, cool to see we have the same case; but I'm pretty sure that's just a Puget thing. Would like to see a video on how you go about fixing the thermal problem.

Really good video for good pre-builds.

Ahh, yes. This is just so, so Steve. It's why we all love ya! Thx, Steve

This is exactly what I'd expect from Puget Systems. Straight up quality.

It occurs to me that telling them it's for you is a good way to showcase the quality that every pre-build PC should be utilizing. If they can do it for you, they can do it for all their customers.

Would like a secret shopper, this has some good attention to detail and good included items for the customer

I live really close to their HQ and it’s funny that my last two builds use the same brands they do. Fractal cases, noctua fans, Asus motherboards.

"The process looks pretty defined." I see what you did there.

Steves finally updating from bulldozer??

Really looking forward to a secret customer video for these guys! Want to see if they can fix the CPU cooler matching for and also if the care and effort that went into yours is mirrored for any random person.

Finally, a Puget Systems... well not review, but at least an overview!

I love the small assortment box my Lian Li Lancool 216 came with for screws etc. And the single plug for all front pannel IO.

"I don't want to turn everything I ever do into content" I think I just heard Linus cry from a continent away.

Finally Steve is not running that ancient AMD FX CPU at home. It is about damn time.

It's impressive how much work Puget puts into a single build, though like others mentioned, the CPU cooler not being good enough and the bare memory sticks are two things that stood out negatively. I'm curious as to why and a bit surprised that it arrived like that given the apparent high standards they set for themselves.

Surprising that one afternoon of building something like this yourself was worth the extra cost/time over getting something slightly unknown. Especially because you know exactly what cases/PSUs/coolers are at the top. Now you'll have to spend time to put the GPU in and replace the cpu cooler anyway.

Steve, you can pull the stickers off and reposition them. Puget Systems is my 'go to' for finding out capabilities for hardware for specific editing software.

Wish you actually did a review. Reviews of Puget Systems from mainstream tech channels are pretty rare.

It's crazy how little sense this makes to me. Out of all the people I never figured you'd buy a pre-built - even a high end one. . Mainly because you clearly have the skills to build anything, and the time to build an air cooled rig is so minimal. Still cool to see though 👍

Puget is great! They really do all of the testing to make sure your PC is good!

Next month: "Steve Unironically Buys a MacPro with Wheels to Use as a Daily Driver"

Puget Systems! Their builds are almost always top tier! I say almost because apprantly Steve had a issue with it, I don't think I ever saw someone complain about their stuff until today

neat little video. Low budget/production videos are still great to have.

Had a look at their site. Oof. Very few parts to select from and the prices are eye-watering. I expect a markup for a pre-built, but this is just silly.

When they saw who the customer was bet they had a heart attack! Like we better get this one right!

Now that you had to replace the CPU cooler and are deploying your own GPU anyway - was overpaying for a pre-built even worth it? I feel like I could build my own system in less time than it would take to research and validate a pre-built, while also saving money and getting something perfectly tailored to my own demands.

If I needed a computer for work purposes, getting one with a warranty is a good idea

Falcon Northwest also provides a booklet like that. They're also a super-high end pre-builder.

I love the implication that he normally or might buy computers ironically.

IDK man, those prices look absolutely batshit insane. Probably wouldn't recommend to consumers, maybe if you've got serious money to spend, but at that point go boutique/buy the parts and hire someone to build it for you.

Im glad you did this video

I have never before seen a 3hole binder.

hell yeah i love a post speaker - had one in my pc for like 15 years at this point (i.e. every computer ive ever owned/built)

Ah Man, was just going to buy from Puget Systems... But thermal issues out of the box has scared me away. Thanks Steve

I need a new secret shopper video, its been a long time since the last and no one else does them now

High end , hands on support company “we’re gonna test that”

MB Speakers FTW!

Before Alienware got bought by Dell, this was the exact same thing they would do. Provide you a binder with all the information and timelines of the build. Everyone who had hands on it. Testing. Fantastic customer service. I thought these practices were long gone

I was under the impression that these are for when you need a no fail production system and the thermal imaging at completion is so that if you run into trouble you could compare if something about the thermals changed drastically.

I'd like for you to test "Falcon NorthWest" if you can.... Had been around a long time and are supposedly really good....