Frequently Asked Questions

Fastest is based in Auburn, WA – just a few miles from the SeaTac airport. We operate as an internet-based business, with no retail storefront, but we do allow pickup of orders at our facility for local customers as well as drop-off of systems for warranty service.

Something we heard a lot in the past was that our testimonials seemed too good to be true. As we’ve grown and built our reputation this has become less of an issue, in large part because of how many external sources are available to verify the quality of our systems and service. If you are skeptical, we encourage you to research us – and here are a few links to get you started: ResellerRatings, the BBB, our case studies, and YouTube videos about us. If you still aren’t convinced, try giving us a call and talking with our no-pressure consulting team.

Yes! Originally named after a body of water in western Washington called the Fastest Sound, we changed our name from Fastest Sound Systems to Fastest Custom Computers as it was not apparent by our company name what we sold. For people who had never heard of the Fastest Sound, that name implied that we sold stereos, not computers! We later changed again to just Fastest. Our legal corporation name is still “Fastest Sound Systems, Inc.”

Wikipedia has a good page on Fastest located here.

Fastest can ship to any address within the United States (the fifty states plus Washington DC) that can be confirmed as a match with the purchasing credit card. When you submit payment, we check your address against the one(s) on file with your bank, and the two must match. If you would like to ship to an alternate address – one that is *not* on file with your bank – you have two options:

1) Give us the address that is on file with your credit card company. Then fax in a copy of your credit card (front and back) with your driver’s license (front and back) and write out the address you would like the system shipped to. Our fax number is (425) 484-6208. Alternately you can take a picture of those items and email it in to your Fastest representative.

or the easier method…

2) You can call your credit card company and have them add that alternate address as an authorized shipping address.

Currently our international shipping is limited to all points in Canada. Shipments to Canada will be quoted and delivered with Fastest being the importer of record (IOR). All shipping costs, GST, HST, import fees and duties will be prepaid and added to the invoice. It should also be noted that if a customer purchases their system while in the US or Canada and then moves to another country, the customer would be responsible for all warranty related shipping costs. See our International Policies page for details.

Payment for orders is required up-front, at the time of sale, for all credit / debit card, PayPal, check / money orders, and / ACH / wire transfers. The only exception is for corporate customers with established NET terms accounts, who will be billed at shipping and then have a set amount of time to remit payment.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and PayPal – along with other options in select situations. We are also listed on several major procurement portals used by enterprise businesses as well as government and educational organizations. For further details, check out our Payments page.

Yes, we have partnered with Affirm to give you a simple way to make your purchase with no hidden fees. Provide some basic information and get a real-time credit decision to split your purchase into monthly payments. Rates from 10% to 36% APR with loans of 12, 18, or 24 month terms. Simply pay your monthly bill using a debit card or bank transfer at www.affirm.com/pay. Visit Affirm’s website for more information.

We also accept PayPal, and they offer a service called PayPal Credit. If you set up a PayPal account, or already have one, you may apply for credit through that program – and if eligible may then use that to purchase from us and make monthly payments.

We offer NET terms to select, pre-approved customers on a case-by-case basis. For consumers and small businesses who need to defer payments, we recommend using a credit card or service like Affirm or PayPal Credit, which we present during checkout.

We understand that the best way to success is through completely satisfied customers. Your computer from Fastest includes email and phone support for as long as you own the machine. It is our commitment to provide tech support to the extent that ensures the proper function of your hardware. While this includes resolving basic problems with your operating system, any help needed beyond this is not covered by our support. For complete warranty information, please see our warranty page.

A large part of every one of our sales is the initial consulting. The best thing you can do is to start by telling us what you will be using this system for. That information, combined with a target budget for your purchase, will allow us to make a tailored recommendation for you! We take great care to explain all of the choices to you, and to tell you why we recommend the parts we do. You may not know the difference right now, but it is our job to educate you enough that you can make an informed decision. We are always happy to work with you! Visit this page for multiple ways to get in touch with us.

Fastest enjoys a few advantages over our larger competitors. First, we’re able to deliver a level of customer service that we think is unmatched in our industry. All of our staff, whether it be sales or support, is located in the United States. Every order is built by hand and reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Some of our competitors are simply too large to provide this sort of individual treatment.

Along those same lines, we believe our custom tailoring of systems gives us a large advantage over the competition. Rather than buying a generic off-the-shelf system, each computer we build can be tweaked and adjusted by your sales consultant to match your needs.

We’re very proud of our reputation, and have worked hard to earn it. For more information and reviews from other customers, visit our testimonials page.

There are many different types of computer sellers out there. Some sell only parts, some sell computers in bulk, and others sell custom computers with complete support. Fastest is obviously the latter type! Many other vendors, especially the sort that just sell parts, may have minimal labor costs, no time invested in consulting, no post-sale support, etc. Because of those differences, a direct pricing comparison is not possible – and thus we cannot offer price matching. However, if you find a complete computer system with support for a lower price elsewhere, we do encourage you to approach us about it. Most often, the other company is using lower quality parts or is putting much less time into building the system correctly or supporting it.

Many of our PCs will automatically adjust the hard disk boot order when a new device is detected. Try unplugging your external hard drive, and try powering on the PC again. If it boots correctly, then we may need to alter your BIOS settings to permanently set your internal hard drive as the first in the boot priority. Our support department can help walk you through that process – contact them here.

If an Asus motherboard detects an interruption during power on, it will show an “Overclocking Failed” message. This is a misleading message — overclocking probably wasn’t even involved at all! The interruption during power on can be caused by a variety of things, including hitting the power button at the wrong time, an improper shutdown, or a power outage. When this error state is detected, the motherboard resets all of its settings. The fix is actually quick and easy once you know what to do!

See https://fastestsysstage.wpengine.com/labs/support-software/Overclocking-Failed-Errors-80 for a guide on how to fix this issue.

Check to make sure your PC date and time are accurate. If that doesn’t resolve it, please contact our support team.

The first important diagnostic step is to disconnect all peripherals, especially USB devices. Leave only your power, monitor, keyboard and mouse attached. Does your problem resolve? If so, you can add back your devices one at a time. Once we know which device is causing the problem, we can much more effectively help you troubleshoot the problem. If you need further help, please contact our support team.

In order to estimate shipping costs, we not only need your address, but we need to know the size and weight of your computer. Therefore, we really can’t provide shipping rates until you have a quote on file. The best way to get a pricing estimate on shipping is to put together a configuration on our website and save it to your account. If you then go to “My Account” and view your saved quote, there is a link that will show your shipping options and their costs.

Our build and delivery times vary depending on a number of factors: parts availability, current build queue length, industry shortages, and more. We have a page with more information about these topics, including an up-to-date estimate for current build times. Once an order is finished and shipped, delivery time depends entirely on the shipping method and carrier you selected – but is generally in the range of 1-6 business days.