We Went Behind the Scenes at Micro Center's Largest Knowledge Bar!

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We went behind the scenes at Micro Center's largest Knowledge Bar! They offer services ranging from PC building to troubleshooting, cleaning, and more. They even support Apple products. BIG thanks to the Charlotte, NC Micro Center Knowledge Bar for allowing us to film, ask questions, and shadow their fantastic employees. Let's explore!
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[@ibeagangsta]

Thanks for including me in the video Greg. Enjoyed hanging out with you guys while you were here. Welcome back any time 👍

[@ronsage452]

My only complaint is that I do not have a Micro Center near me, but my wife and bank account is happy about that.

[@monsterofgod3315]

Being in PA, nearest one is Ohio, and it would be a 2 day trip for me. RIP

[@traum640]

I have 4 near me in NYC. My sad bank account reflects that

[@exxor9108]

Mine is that there is a Micro Center, about four hours away, in a bad neighborhood. T.T

[@eljefe7070yt]

Keeping the fans from spinning also ensures that no voltage is generated due to the fans over spinning in the coils. Nice job MicroCenter

[@DoomGuy9001-MK4]

That is a myth. Voltage does not return to the motherboard header, or any header, as there is a diode installed.

[@mozzjones6943]

The only thing that could go wrong is you break the fan, But even then it must be vary rare to do so... I've never done it in 30 years of manually spinning fans connected to PSU lol. And motherboards have a diodes, And any voltage produced it very minimal. Honestly this subject is nothing to be concerned about! But if you are paranoid it doesn't matter to try avoid doing it.

[@JeffDeWitt]

@@mozzjones6943 But overspinning the fans could damage them. I used to work at an IBM refurb facility and one of the techs would get a machine in the blowoff booth and he'd have those fans SCREAMING.

[@AndyMitchellUK26]

@@DoomGuy9001-MK4 Eh, not always. I've killed a motherboard before by spinning the fans too fast. It's rare due to the many protections on boards nowadays but it's not impossible.

[@AndyMitchellUK26]

@@mozzjones6943 It's always better to be safe than sorry. If I leave my fans in place I will always hold them still as I've popped a motherboard before by using my old vacuum cleaners blower function. It span the fans up way faster than they would normally spin and whatever protection was on the motherboard clearly didn't do it's job.

[@gtech66]

The techs at Microcenter actually know what they are doing. If you bring a computer for repair at BestBuy, they will charge you a lot of money and still not resolve the issue.

[@ANGRYWOLVERINE2060-ft2nc]

yup geeksquad has been stung a number of times by phony repairs.

[@katid571]

My geeksquad actually fixed my issue. I guess it depends on your city's best buy

[@TimSwallows-io3fi]

yes but the price way way to high

[@m8x425]

Depends on the location. Sometimes you could luck out and the Geeksquad technician knows what they're doing. Sometimes you get what happened on the Linus Tech video.

[@RedBeardedJoe]

@@katid571 See the thing is though on Average it probably depends on your Store they send it off to a PC Repair Place to fix it that is what my Local Geek Squad told me they dont do Hard Drives and some other stuff inside the store

[@DoomGuy9001-MK4]

What a dream job working in Micro center and building and fixing computers.

[@TheClockUpOnTheWall]

For shitty pay.

[@stringbreaker87]

Dream job for the younger folk who are okay with the lower pay and love building computers.

[@narwhal9852]

Probably at 15 bucks an hr, 17 with good commissions 😂. Manager probably makes 19 And I'm pretty sure I'm being generous on the prices 😅 But I'm no hater because if you play and leverage your cards right in a lot of career Fields you come out on top

[@ashleyjohansson230]

Mircrocenter requires IT certification but you are better off working a real IT job.

[@thepoolisopen7678]

​@@narwhal9852 base starts at 18 and goes up to 35 when on productive pay most average around 25

[@toufusoup]

Thanks for taking us on this field trip, Greg!

[@DaleEarnhardtsSeatbelt]

that little kiosk would be a great place to offer marketplace deal hardware validation. Allowing someone selling/buying a system to prove it works. would be a great sales tool too. You could snag upgrades or peripherals while in store after checking that your new to you system works.

[@baldy95307]

Let's take more field trips behind the green doors into the service departments. Great video especially when management actually allowed you to talk to the techs and interrupt their diags, albeit just briefly.

[@zack-115]

Microcenter in Brentwood gave me a dead x570 motherboard, wasnt their fault. I had them diagnose it and I let them know that i had purchased it from them when i got a bill and they confirmed it was the motherboard. They said nbd, and I didnt have to pay and offered to give me a newer better one if they didnt have the one I bought in-stock. 10/10 service. I dont know if I was the acception, but I definitely wasnt even pushy about the issue and they were super accommodating regardless.

[@Spitlebug]

These guys seem nice. 10/10 would hang out with them.

[@randallperkins7944]

Yea Microcenter is the place to go for anything.. It's the best place I've ever been for my PC.

[@crazyguywatchnu]

These guys were true nerds. Knowledgeable and awkward

[@Minortough1034]

I don't live near Miami but I am looking forward to MicroCenter opening up that location so we can get more great content like this. Thank you for what you do Greg, you are an amazing and invaluable teacher.

[@macking104]

But, if we start seeing only a 1985 Honda Civic in the driveway or garage, we will know he spent to much time at MicroCenter!

[@bertgo305]

Micro center is such a paradise for us tech nerds. thanks Greg for always touring it for us who lives far away 😁👌

[@johngangemi1361]

Great video Greg. Those Micocenter techs are great at what they do. Those fees are perfectly reasonable for the service.

[@mfelipetc]

That Sean dude should make a channel of his on!

[@yarogrigoriev1609]

I disagree with charging to fix if the parts came from them. My local PC repair place doesn't charge for diagnose but they will show you what was the issues they found.

[@johngangemi1361]

Do you think people should work for nothing? If the rig is assembled by someone else you have to charge. It also depends on warranty terms.

[@yarogrigoriev1609]

@johngangemi1361 if you sell the dead parts, should you replace them? Also, make it right by them?

[@johngangemi1361]

@@yarogrigoriev1609 if the fault was caused by dead parts and not by incorrect installation or user damage. Yes.

[@GregSalazar]

@@yarogrigoriev1609 This isn't a question of charging for replacement parts. As stated in the video, new parts that are assembled and defective are replaced for free. They make it right. The _diagnosis,_ however, involves separate labor and a separate department. And those guys don't work for free.

[@yarogrigoriev1609]

@GregSalazar that's where if it was their parts that they sold, they should not charge. It's like selling a car with broken parts and charging the buyer to find out what's wrong.

[@danielhulan3058]

Greg, this first guy was entertaining and had a good personality. You should see if he wants to partner with you on fix or flop! Well if he lived in Florida I guess.

[@blademaster7879]

I had a few roach motels back in my day as a pc tech. Toss it in a bag and give it back is standard due to it's a biohazard.

[@jessegames6714]

Again again.. thanks

[@swampfox1732]

Glad I know how to do things. Those prices are ridiculous.

[@RamienMickens]

First thing I noticed too. Prices are insane and taking advantage of customers who don't know any better.

[@darkairlord]

Agreed, if you really need these services find a local well reviewed PC shop would be much cheaper

[@teezee1000]

Those prices are high, but to do it yourself and having to troubleshoot different parts of hardware is intense especially if you don’t have spare parts to make sure a specific part is the issue .

[@RohanVBB]

Greg will there be fix or flop in Miami micro-center?

[@GregSalazar]

Do you mean Gear Up? If so, we aren't sure! We haven't heard much about the store apart from its opening date.

[@Youtube-Censorship-Police]

i second this, i have nasty withdrawal symptoms😢😂

[@gtech66]

Microcenter is opening new stores in densely populated areas. People drive hours to buy from them.

[@Yuriel1981]

​@@GregSalazar perhaps let them give referrals to people who can't afford a repair service. Then maybe negotiate a sponsorship lol.

[@viperrcr]

Nice looking behind the scenes, would like to see more vids like this too.

[@GregM]

Sell that person a 43" monitor who is getting the data transfer to a new system. They will have all that space for more files and shortcuts. 😂

[@ede8193]

Great video Greg......I'm so glad i have a Micro Center about 40 mins from my house!!

[@marioStortuga]

I used to do this years ago at CompUSA lol.

[@InekoBK]

I've seen many videos from different KZbinrs doing stuff at Micro Center and every time I see one I just think: I wish we had that here in The Netherlands. Building anything beyond a generic pc here usually requires shopping at multiple online vendors

[@rentonbear]

i am looking forward to the new Miami store opening this month. have to make sure i leave most of my cards at home when i go.

[@katid571]

If you have the warranty from best buy, they wont charge you a diagnositc fee nor do they charge a restocking fee to replace the faulty part if you bought it from them

[@profosist]

I dont know how I feel about performance pay. It can have the illeffect of people pumping out half baked repairs. Though the do more work get more money would have been real nice during my years in Geek Squad as usually work load was highly imbalanced. The number of things that we got done incorrectly from service center who were paid per repair was crazy though. System sent out for failed HDD, they reinstalled the OS?

[@GregSalazar]

A valid point of criticism. Though I will say their repairs and diags are almost always double-checked by management and verified through multi-component testing. Nothing like what I've personally experienced from Geek Squad "repairs."

[@austinverlinden2236]

lol "whack it and how hard" :P

[@Tyrone.Marquice]

14:10 third fan at the bottom, where the screws at

[@RedBeardedJoe]

i have a feeling the Bad Case IO caused the Motherboard to go bad but i could be wrong

[@amaurirenteria1841]

Hello and salutations once again, I've been posting comments on all my favorite KZbin PC related channels on not having a Micro Center in AZ, we would truly love to have one in AZ. The closest one is in Tustin CA, its still the dream to have a Micro Center in AZ. Also keep up the good content that you provide. This episode was very insightful on what goes on in Micro Center which is really cool to see.

[@williammathies2998]

Thanks

[@atomicforcegaming2867]

Hope you have a Valentine 1 in your Porsche for those drives up from Orlando :)

[@ThunderMS34]

Dude in the diagnostic room seems cooll

[@geofreypejsa54]

I enjoyed the behind the scenes of the knowledge bar. Pretty cool of micro center to let you look

[@Dan-Simms]

Holy USB ports, how in the world does that happen?

[@jplayzgames_]

When is Greg gonna open up the "Salazar Knownledge bar"? 😂😂😂

[@charlesnix8314]

I had no idea that Micro Center offered those services. Cool. Always fun learning with you.

[@ANGRYWOLVERINE2060-ft2nc]

Moving to NC I see...

[@theawsomeonenumber3]

This series is cool and honestly such good marketing for micro center not only are they getting advertising so pple shop there but now I’m actually thinking about applying for a job to my local one. Wish me luck 🙂

[@Kelekona_808]

Knowledge Bar recruitment video was pretty nicely done Greg ;)

[@user-ev1tl5rf7o]

This was a great video and I'm very grateful that you shared it with us. I'm still bloody jealous that we don't have Micro Center in the UK! 🤩🤩🤩

[@RenatoG1848]

The Miami one opens next week!!! I'll see you there!!

[@BrightloveTreasures]

This was a really fun video to watch, Great Job!!!

[@GnostikNataz]

Loved this video, pls do more!

[@flipsideca]

Is that like the "Genius" Bar at Apple stores that all they do is tell you to buy a new iPhone/iPad/whatever without doing any type of troubleshooting? /s

[@SwingArmCity]

Anyone remember the store "frys", or previously "incredible universe "? Trying to find help but couldn't, miss labeled components, terrible stock, and worthless employees?

[@rodneykeene]

5:26 I'm pretty sure the fan on that cooler was still plugged into the fan header when he yanked it loose.

No matter what equipment you work with after couple of years you act either more careless or less than a noob user. These headers have no locks and as long as you pull it up nothing will hapen even after thousands of cycles.

[@xsAMOR]

I also noticed, but he held MB, so there was straight pull up. I worked in the industry where we assembled plugs/connectors and believe me, the individual pins hold very well…but still a gentler approach would not be amiss 😅

[@TheStonedSpidR]

it was and these idiots are making excuses for it. these are the same ones that do rma when they fk up their gfx cards during installation and blame the manufacturer for defects.

[@rcpilot3990]

LUV that shirt, Greg, Beaker was the best muppet! Well, tied with the Swedish chef!

[@sgottoboni]

Love the more involved video. Love the Muppets shirt. 😊

[@bub320]

been to microcenter a lot, built a lot of pc's, and the issue i have is when I watch these videos it just makes me want to go build a pc for no reason

[@joshthebutchergibson3218]

Great shirt and good content as usual

[@keblin86]

Definitely like to see more content like this!

[@JeffDeWitt]

If they are going to regularly be blowing dust out of systems they REALLY need a blowoff booth. It's safer, doesn't get dust blown all over the place, and the tech wouldn't have to kneel down. I'd like to see the same kind of video about the Geek Squad... not that Best Buy would allow it.

[@profosist]

its the same but smaller space and like a 2 week back log and only one tech ;)

[@louey2x]

can I work here? It's nice to see this actually done correctly, except for the air compressor. they are more prone to water/condesation blowing thru the air hose.

[@GAMINGOBRIEN69]

Idk why but that dude looks like he owns the place

[@LukeJohnEmmett]

Did you learn anything additional from MicroCentre that you’re going to implement in your own fix or flop episodes?

[@originaldeadclown]

im just trying to figure out why its 100 dollars extra to add an aio its not really that much more difficult than an air cooler honestly i can added a small fee 25-50 bucks but damn 100 bucks

[@profosist]

My guess wiring and cable managing all the wires as well as dealing with the software.

[@originaldeadclown]

@@profosist its not that many wires atleast anymore most of them are 1 to 4 wires and most fans are linked together these days shit i built my first pc with a artics liquid freezer 3 aio added like 5 minutes of time

[@profosist]

@@originaldeadclown some if the RGB ones have 2 wires per fan and at least 2 if not spaghetti coming off the cpu block. It's why I like fractal's offerings, clean one wire

[@originaldeadclown]

@@profosist arctics freezer 3 has a 2 wire option 1 for pump power off the board and 1 for lights and fans combined or you can run a multi plug setup

[@FanaPants]

Microcenter, please come to the UK....please

[@TheHrb1234]

It was one of the questions I had with your series, whether someone that wasnt you could buy the parts and build the PC themselves in store rather than using the knowledge bar and then test the post at that monitor/power station?

[@Kurzei]

Great job for off the cuff, Greg. Really enjoyed this.

[@GregSalazar]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnt.848]

Thanks for learning Greg, maybe your videos will improve as your knowledge does.

[@Yuriel1981]

Kinda wish they would do a build here section in our Microcenter in STL. But the Brentwood location is limited on space.

[@lacertaemusic]

we need those stores in Canada....Please come to Montreal

[@kevinjacobsen483]

AWESOME VIDEO

[@MrBook123456]

good one

[@ImreBertalan86]

MicroCenter to Europe. NOW ! I probably would like to work there too, lol

[@carlosclara4759]

Gregg, I want to OC my 5700x when Miami Micro Center Opens. You are a good sport 😊

[@lorduggae]

As a Linux user it was fun to see the Debian logo on that screen by the data recovery area.

[@chrisburns7979]

things are slightly different here in the uk if i buy parts and not working they can not charge us for a diagnostics check if parts was purchased at said store

[@brianmadonna2873]

Seems more then the microcenter that built my 13900k desktop

[@itsKtoday]

I vote Greg for Micro Center President! 😃

[@iamsargon]

Just to let you know that the Miami store opens Aug 23

[@GregSalazar]

Yes, we are aware. Thanks!

[@crregazzamerone]

I live this. I'm going to tustonnthis weekend and enjoying my nerdgazms

[@steveoa3d]

I so wish there was a Micro Center in SE Wisconsin !

[@profosist]

just gotta go another hour or so south, its worth the drive ;)

[@toddholfinger4153]

Absolutely love this video

[@Mikey109105]

It'd be really nice if Gear Up came to NY (specifically Westbury, or anywhere in the NYC area). Probably never going to happen, but hey one can dream right?

[@ashleyjohansson230]

I live next to microcenter and recently got IT certified, wonder if I should work at there 💅

[@StudDude231]

to bad you werent there when i was on sat

[@M-I-K-E]

1:37 T4 What whould it be with 3 Radiators ? ;)

[@justsurfin5013]

That was very cool. And I don't miss doing that..actually I kinda do

[@paddlesouth]

Who would have guessed? lol A DOA Asus board. I have had two of those in the last year.

[@19_LeGion_83]

that's a great shirt greg lol

[@monsterofgod3315]

Beats the hell out of geeksquad lol

[@PaulMack-md5kh]

Those are the most stained nicotine fingers ive seen since the 1980's

[@GregSalazar]

It's white balance on account of filming in a room without controlled lighting.

[@nikola12nis]

8:50 now that's a heavy smoker right there

[@RealistOmega]

yeah I was about to ask about those yellow fingers

[@moguy1973]

I thought they were Cheetos fingers.

[@GregSalazar]

I think that's just lighting. Don't think he smokes at all (at least couldn't smell it after being near him for several hours).

[@ibeagangsta]

Hey guys. I'm the dude in the video. I was a heavy smoker which is why my fingers were stained. I have been without cigarettes for the last month though. Just wanted to clear that up for y'all.

[@RealistOmega]

@@ibeagangsta I didn't mean to be rude, i just know how much smoking ruins people so Im happy you're done with it, keep up the awesome work you guys do

[@corkyn34]

@14:10 Please tell me they fixed those off center stickers on the fans. That would drive ne batty lol

[@Joeker8171]

Awesome video LFG GEAR UP SEASON 4... oh, you can use a blower to clean a PC, just hold the fan blades

[@kobeskye6366]

Convince them to open a MicroCenter in Las Vegas plz XD

[@buildyourcomputer]

Knowledge bar aka fix or flop on a daily basis. 😂 They probably crank the tunes as soon as greg leaves.

[@mattlamb8084]

Soo either that manager recently ate some Cheetos or he's a very heavy smoker lol. idk how that stood out to me so badly but once I noticed it I couldnt look away haha

[@nissanmikey]

Also stood out to me aswell.

[@GregSalazar]

It's just camera lighting. We had wild white-balance issues filming in that room without controlled lighting.

[@patrickhudson9236]

I WANT A MICRO CENTER WHERE I LIVE!!!! (Huntsville AL) It's like computer nirvana!!

[@danielhulan3058]

Do they offer to let you use their tools in the build your own.

[@PeaceTea]

there needs to be a microcenter in louisiana

[@eio1971]

Just subbed enjoying content

[@mykeeemouse]

Wow, part of me want to work at the micro center.

[@karstenswiridjuk4747]

$200 is what I charge for full build os installation and proper setup, seems on point.