Geek Babble– Visiting My First Ever Micro Center

 

I have a huge confession to make. I’ve never been to a Micro Center before today. To be honest, I only recently learned about the existence of these massive electronics stores. While researching Micro Center, I’m not surprised to learn why my knowledge of these stores went under my radar– there’s very few of them. Best Buy has well over 1000 locations in the United States alone, and the defunct Circuit City had over 600 stores during its peak. In comparison, Micro Center has 25 stores in the United States located in just 16 states. During my formative years as a teenager living in Arizona, Micro Center wouldn’t have even been an option. (We had Fry’s Electronics, though.) In the last 21 years since moving back to Pennsylvania from Arizona, I very rarely ventured past King of Prussia, so it’s no wonder I never crossed paths with this retailer. My discovering its existence was weirdly happenstance.

Back when everyone was rushing to secure a graphics card close to MSRP in late 2021 and early 2022, I saw one place near me actually carried Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series cards, and it just happened to be a Micro Center. They could only be reserved at stores, and shipping wasn’t an option. A quick Google search revealed the store was less than an hour away. At the time I scoffed at the idea paying over $700 for an RTX 3070 when I was seriously considering upgrading my GPU. So I waited for prices to improve. However, I kept the idea that there was an interesting electronics store just 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia in the back of my mind. I was then reminded of Micro Center by two particular channels on YouTube, JayzTwoCents and Gamers Nexus. A few months ago I decided that graphics card prices were low enough for my tastes, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to update my GPU, just like I outlined a few weeks ago. The cards I wanted were in stock at Micro Center, so I made a plan to visit in early November.

 

Fast-forward to this evening. We made the 45-minute journey from Philadelphia to St. Davids. To be honest, I’d never actually heard of the area of St. Davids, but it’s right next to Villanova, best known for its university of the same name. To better place the town, it’s west of Philadelphia and south of King of Prussia (best known for its shopping mall, the largest retail space in the United States). I shouldn’t have been surprised how busy traffic was on a Saturday evening. I guess everyone wanted to go to the massive mall. Fortunately, Micro Center was close by the interstate exit. The store was easy enough to find. That said, I can see myself only visiting this store once or twice a year because of the terribly congested nature of I-76.

I reserved the GPU I wanted in advance, but decided to make a last minute change. Instead of the PowerColor Hellhound AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, I wanted the Red Devil version which was about $20 more. (The build quality of the Red Devil seemed much better than the Hellhound, so what’s a few extra bucks?) Before stopping at the front counter, we decided to wander the aisles. The retail space was impressive. Micro Center certainly had everything a computer enthusiast could want. This includes, but isn’t limited to the parts to build a PC, the tools, electronic accessories, laptops, pre-built PCs, and even a PC building service. My only regret was that we didn’t linger around longer.

 

By the time I was ready to check out, the GPU I had my eye on was still available though it was the last one. I was able to swap cards without issue. On another note, there were plenty of RTX 30-series cards available. The Nvidia cards are plentiful, but sadly they are still being sold above MSRP. Meanwhile, many AMD cards seem to be at or below MSRP. I didn’t bother to look for or ask about the RTX 40-series. I also didn’t bother to ask about the Intel Arc GPUs. (More power to the brave souls that try these very new cards out.) This post won’t be veering into the territory of actually trying out my new RX 6650 XT. I’m not quite ready to mess with an install and driver updates the night before a livestream.

Before we left St. Davids, we decided to stop at a Smashburger. I’d heard of the name, but I haven’t seen any of their restaurant locations in Philadelphia. Turns out there are a few just outside the city and one at the International Airport. My husband ordered the Smoked Bacon Brisket Burger, which was impressive with no less than three types of meat. The beef patty and bacon were well-smothered in beef brisket. Heck, the cheddar, pickles, and barbecue sauce were all just fodder for the brisket. It’s amazing the brioche bun could hold it all.

I’m not a fan of cheeseburgers or things with pickles, so I opted for the Classic Crispy Chicken Sandwich. I hate mayo, so asked for it to be excluded. Everything else could stay. The fried chicken breast was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. It was prepared fresh, so I had to wait 10 minutes for my meal. It was worth the wait. The breading was crisp and flavorful, and the meat itself was oh so juicy. The lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions were a nice compliment. Tater tots were an option instead of fries. We decided on the Smash Tots. They’re tater tots drizzled with rosemary, a pinch of garlic, and olive oil. It was a wonderful combination of savory flavors provided you’re into rosemary. It’s going to be hard to go back to regular fast food places like Wendy’s or Burger King after this. Perhaps I should familiarize myself with Smashburger restaurants slightly closer to home.

 

Anyway, my trip outside of Philadelphia to buy a new GPU was quite the success. Dinner was pretty good too.