NCIX Gaming RIG found collecting 10 years of dust in local warehouse. It's brand new and never been used!

[Dr.Flux]

It was suggested by those on r/LinusTechTips that I post this here on the forums. 

This is a small piece of NCIX history and myself and others felt before I do anything with the system I should at least give Linus the option of making a unboxing video.

 

 

Quote

 

Update: 10/14/2020
I've opened the box and it's Gorgeous! Having second thoughts about getting rid of it...even if it is somewhat dated. Though I really don't have the room for it >.<
Found some more stuff in the case and updated the specs below. Will post some more photos soon!
 

 

I'm posting this here since I thought the community, many being fans of Linus and the now defunct NCIX would appreciate it more. Hopefully that's ok.
 

It's crazy that we found this just sitting in some dark corner of a warehouse!
While I'm only speculating, it is my belief that this system came from the NICX bankruptcy auction, or another possibility was that it was lost in shipping?
Seems very unlikely, but it's been known to happen. Maybe Ivan can tell us what the deal is?
 

Why did this system never make it to the purchaser?
What was it doing in that warehouse, and why after 10 years! is it still in a box unused!

To be honest, I haven't even removed it from the box myself! We only cut the tape to check, thought it was just a case at first. That's when we found the build sheet, and it looks and smells new. not a spec of dust!
 

 

The specs according to cached pages and google searches are as follows (linked specs are Linus Tech Tips videos!

 

• Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.8GHZ 8MB L3 Cache 130W 45NM Retail Box
• Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler
• ASUS P6X58D-E Core i7 Extreme Crossfire SLI Motherboard

• Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1600C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit

• WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

• LG GH22NS50 Black 22X SATA DVD Writer OEM

• XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB DDR5 2-DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card HD577AZNFC

• ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels 24-BIT 192KHZ PCI Express X1 Interface Sound Card
• Linksys Wireless-N Card

• Cooler Master Haf-X XL-ATX Gaming Computer Case w/ 3x 230mm fans + 1x 120mm fan

• Seasonic M12II 620W PSU Fully Modular & 80+ Bronze Rated
• Licensed Windows 7 Home Premium installation with COA

 

•  

[eeeee1]

linus may want to take a look?

would be a interesting video

[dizmo]

Haha, as if Ivan is going to know what happened to the system. That was 10 years ago, and he probably made several systems a day. 

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

Haha, as if Ivan is going to know what happened to the system. That was 10 years ago, and he probably made several systems a day. 

There would be a very slightly higher chance if Ivan still worked for Linus Media Group.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Adding some of the LMG team

@LinusTech @CPotter @AlexTheGreatish

[Roswell]

I don’t get it, why is this special? 

 

NCIX built countless systems over the years and this one was just never sold.

[Dr.Flux]

18 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

I don’t get it, why is this special? 

 

NCIX built countless systems over the years and this one was just never sold.

It was actually sold. Not sure why it never made it to the customer.

But it's not every day you find a brand new NCIX PC sealed in the box. I don't know, I thought it might be worth doing a video on, and others seem to agree so the least I could do is give Linus the chance.

[Spotty]

27 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

I don’t get it, why is this special? 

 

NCIX built countless systems over the years and this one was just never sold.

After seeing Linus spend thousands of dollars on old monitors and hot wheels PCs whoever had this lying around probably thought they could make a quick buck.

If it was actually built by Linus himself then it would be slightly interesting as he could review his own work, but this was built by someone else and honestly like you said it's just an old PC that was never used. Nothing special.

 

51 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

There would be a very slightly higher chance if Ivan still worked for Linus Media Group.

I don't think it's the same Ivan. Looks like a different last name on the sheet and judging by the Toronto label on it that's probably from the Toronto store on the other side of the country. (Though, it's entirely possible the case could have just been shipped to Toronto warehouse and then distributed to other stores)

 

Would help if you could determine which NCIX store it came from and if it was the same store Linus worked at.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Spotty

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Spotty said:

 

If it was actually built by Linus himself then it would be slightly interesting as he could review his own work, but this was built by someone else and honestly like you said it's just an old PC that was never used. Nothing special.

 

Thought similar here, it's a 930 and a 5770. I have a 5770 in a box somewhere that was pulled from some OEM rig similar to this. OK gpu in it's timeline. It support hybrid crossfire, but I don't recall it scaling very well however.

 

[Dr.Flux]

45 minutes ago, Spotty said:

After seeing Linus spend thousands of dollars on old monitors and hot wheels PCs whoever had this lying around probably thought they could make a quick buck.

If it was actually built by Linus himself then it would be slightly interesting as he could review his own work, but this was built by someone else and honestly like you said it's just an old PC that was never used. Nothing special.

 

I don't think it's the same Ivan. Looks like a different last name on the sheet and judging by the Toronto label on it that's probably from the Toronto store on the other side of the country. (Though, it's entirely possible the case could have just been shipped to Toronto warehouse and then distributed to other stores)

 

Would help if you could determine which NCIX store it came from and if it was the same store Linus worked at.

That's just the case sticker, it's from Toronto, not the system. It's 100% from a Richmond location. I've just texted a friend of mine from NCIX and it turns out he knows Ivan very well and he stills works with him, so were going to see if he can't provide us with any info about this system.

[Blue4130]

I've got an "NCIX" computer from 2003 or so. It wasn't assembled by them, I did that myself, but all the parts are from them. Last I checked, it was sitting in my parent's basement. Fond memories when the parts arrived. I recall the monitor had to be removed from the box to fit in my del sol. 

[Dr.Flux]

21 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

I've got an "NCIX" computer from 2003 or so. It wasn't assembled by them, I did that myself, but all the parts are from them. Last I checked, it was sitting in my parent's basement. Fond memories when the parts arrived. I recall the monitor had to be removed from the box to fit in my del sol. 

I'm still running a few systems from NCIX I built, Including this one (i7-6700K).

And yeah, I had the same issue with a 19" CRT, wouldn't fit in the trunk or the back seat, so had to take it out of the box lol

[Blue4130]

20 minutes ago, Dr.Flux said:

I'm still running a few systems from NCIX I built, Including this one (i7-6700K).

And yeah, I had the same issue with a 19" CRT, wouldn't fit in the trunk or the back seat, so had to take it out of the box lol

Haha yep, mine was also a 19"crt. I was stepping up from a 15" and didn't realize that 4" of extra screen = about 20" of extra box

[LAwLz]

3 hours ago, Dr.Flux said:

I've just texted a friend of mine from NCIX and it turns out he knows Ivan very well and he stills works with him, so were going to see if he can't provide us with any info about this system.

I don't really understand what kind of info you want.

"Yeah it's a desktop computer with the specs written on the paper. I built like 5 of these every days for several years. Oh it's still in the box? Cool I guess".

It's just an old computer, not some ancient Egyptian artifact. Asking Ivan about it is like asking a burger flipper at McDonald's "I found this old cheese burger you made 10 years ago. Can you please give me more info about it?"

 

The only thing interesting about it is, if there is a receipt with a price, to check how much performance per dollars has improved since that build was made.

[Joseph K]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

I don't really understand what kind of info you want.

"Yeah it's a desktop computer with the specs written on the paper. I built like 5 of these every days for several years. Oh it's still in the box? Cool I guess".

It's just an old computer, not some ancient Egyptian artifact. Asking Ivan about it is like asking a burger flipper at McDonald's "I found this old cheese burger you made 10 years ago. Can you please give me more info about it?"

 

The only thing interesting about it is, if there is a receipt with a price, to check how much performance per dollars has improved since that build was made.

It's more interesting because the company is defunct and this is a 10 year old cheeseburger that cost 1000 dollars in pristine condition.

[Dr.Flux]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

I don't really understand what kind of info you want.

"Yeah it's a desktop computer with the specs written on the paper. I built like 5 of these every days for several years. Oh it's still in the box? Cool I guess".

It's just an old computer, not some ancient Egyptian artifact. Asking Ivan about it is like asking a burger flipper at McDonald's "I found this old cheese burger you made 10 years ago. Can you please give me more info about it?"

 

The only thing interesting about it is, if there is a receipt with a price, to check how much performance per dollars has improved since that build was made.

I'm just curious why it was sitting in the corner of a warehouse untouched for 10 Years when it had been sold to a customer. Regardless of any of that, before I sold it for parts or whatever I end up doing with it, I thought to myself "Maybe this is something Linus would be interested in doing a video on?". I just thought I'd at least give him the opportunity. And a few others have also suggested he should do a video on it, so I'm not alone in that thought. And if you're a regular viewer of his videos, then you know it would fit right in. Coming up with new content and video ideas is hard, and Linus has stated this even recently. 

That said, when it comes down to it, I'm more like you. I would normally just part it out, or recycle it without any thought. I've built hundreds of computers over the years as well for Colleges (A.O.L), Internet Cafes (Netaholics) and other clients (Also use to sell to NCIX in 1999!), so yeah, to us it's just an old computer. but I've scraped truck loads of systems, hardware, software, and old computer books and manuals in the past (Cal's Computer Warehouse) with that same thinking (Even that stupid Hot Wheels PC) and been scalded for it, so I'm extending the olive branch so that people can't say I didn't give them the chance

And no, it only had the invoice number on the build sheet, no pricing info, however that info is widely available since we know the date of sale.

 

[LogicalDrm]

This doesn't seem like it would be interesting video. Or piece of personal work history. Like Linus was in the bankruptcy auction and didn't seem to be that interested about those parts etc. he recognized.

 

And if you are trying to compare this to hot wheels PC or that curved CRT, those are actual one-ofs. This system might have been one of 20 built with same specs. Chances that it hold any value to anyone, monetary or otherwise is very low.

[Dr.Flux]

15 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

This doesn't seem like it would be interesting video. Or piece of personal work history. Like Linus was in the bankruptcy auction and didn't seem to be that interested about those parts etc. he recognized.

 

And if you are trying to compare this to hot wheels PC or that curved CRT, those are actual one-ofs. This system might have been one of 20 built with same specs. Chances that it hold any value to anyone, monetary or otherwise is very low.

Thank you for your opinion. It's not shared by everybody, but I still appreciate the feedback as I haven't received any reply from Linus or LTT Staff and I think I've given them enough time to reply, so I think I'm just going to get rid of it.

And you're right, Linus wasn't interested in much at the auction (Other then that broken Shield >.<), but that was mostly due to the typical crowd bidding over retail on items and then the 15% premium Able Auctions charges on top.

I was also there and bought nothing myself, I had much better luck at the SuperMicro Bankruptcy auction some 20 years ago, these days it's harder to find deals at the auctions. And Able is known for faking bids and changing your bidding amounts, I've personally experienced this a number of times and now record the auctions so I don't have to play games with the staff when cashing out (They really shouldn't use people with hearing issues to record the amounts).

 

[TetraSky]

Cool. They might be able to get $300 for that (didn't look up the actual prices, just spewing a random number out of my ass).

[Dr.Flux]

On 10/23/2020 at 6:10 PM, TetraSky said:

Cool. They might be able to get $300 for that (didn't look up the actual prices, just spewing a random number out of my ass).

Spot on! $300 is what it's valued at brand new. You can build this system for $150 used.
Finally took the system out of the box and it has a Noctua NH-D14! Price just went up lol
Also has a Wireless-N Card but amusingly no Antennas!

[Dr.Flux]

So another update to this for anyone that's interested. I've added more photos to the original post as I've finally taken the system out of the box, you can see that the system was built and assembled at the Viking Way location in Richmond. I've also gathered more info and it turns out it was sold to a younger fellow and he did indeed pickup his system! That's all I could find out. So why it's still in the box and was never used after all these years is even more of a mystery now lol

 

This will most likely be my last update on this topic. Thanks to all those that commented and took interest.