To RMA or not RMA

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Hood

Here's the newest Thermaltake PSU review I could find on JohnnyGuru.com;
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory5&reid=301
It says that, as shipped, the unit is a fire hazard, because of an 18 gauge power cord that can't handle a full load. Not encouraging. And he gives this top-of-the-line PSU an 8.5 overall rating. So what were you saying?

Thermaltake also said that they have swapped to a higher gauge power cord in all new units not to mention his receiving an 18AWG was a mistake. An 8.5 overall isn't exactly a bad score on a scale to 10 that happens to just be 1.5 points off of 10. Not exactly a piss poor score.

Also outscores the EVGA in the same class

Originally Posted by eidairaman1

id honestly would move up to a P57 or Q57 Chipset. DFI being discontinued good luck on Support from them too bro.

I made a mistake with the chipset because i didnt realize you had a 1156 CPU

Remember there are not that many options in mini-itx. H55 and P55 are about it as far as higher end mini itx goes.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by cdawall

Thermaltake also said that they have swapped to a higher gauge power cord in all new units not to mention his receiving an 18AWG was a mistake. An 8.5 overall isn't exactly a bad score on a scale to 10 that happens to just be 1.5 points off of 10. Not exactly a piss poor score.

Also outscores the EVGA in the same class



Remember there are not that many options in mini-itx. H55 and P55 are about it as far as higher end mini itx goes.

well perhaps it be good to swap board makers or get a different model from the same maker.

[Hood]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

for $250 and something that's clearly marketed as an enthusiast product. They have no grounds to deny you as you are an enthusiast and you didnt buy it to run the board at 'stock'

Yes, Asus is wrong as usual, and exhibiting that same attitude they all get when they're on top, that 'We're the best so we're always right, RMA denied." attitude. The time is well past for universal overclocking warranties on enthusiast parts, and for companies like Intel to honor their own scenarios where overclocking is appropriate, like with the K series processor they sell for a premium only because it's unlocked for overclocking, and stop denying warranty coverage of their motherboards if overclocked. On the bright side, Intel now offers "overclocking insurance" on their "K" and "X" chips, $20 to $35 depending on the CPU, good for one free replacement no matter how many volts you put to it. That's a good deal for those who go for OC records and such, and even the slightly mad gamer may benefit from this. But it doesn't cover all the other parts that may burn, even though they were sold for overclocking.

[cdawall]

I just never tell them the product died overclocking. Pretty simple fix to that one. Hey company X this board no longer posts I need an RMA...poof RMA approved.

[BlackOmega]

Originally Posted by Hood

Yeah, I am beginning to realize that all Thermaltake products are crap. Their coolers, fans, cases, and power supplies are all over-rated (literally, they don't measure up to their rated performance, whether it's TDP, voltage, CFMs, or dBA ratings they always seem to fall short of the claims on their packaging and in their spec sheets. Some of their PSUs actually caught fire when "pushing" them to their rated voltage. Most of their fans couldn't blow out a kitchen match despite having high CFM and static pressure ratings. I own exactly one of their fans; it's the worst one in my system, out of 9 120mm fans. Maybe I should remove it from my system before it catches fire or something. I give every manufacturer at least one chance to provide a decent product that does what it claims to do. I don't expect miracles, and I know a certain percentage of ANY product can be D.O.A. or have manufacturing flaws, so I give them a chance to rectify the situation if the first sample proves damaged. Seems like most of them would rather lose a customer and all the good faith he or she could generate, just to save a buck or two, even when the customer is absolutely in the right. Greed has no bounds - "Let The Buyer Beware!" is a good motto.

I had thought for a while that Thermaltake was a decent company but, just like you, I've found over and over again,their products really aren't worth what you're paying. It's like they cut so many corners to raise profit margins, that they say to hell with the product, your average joe schmo isn't going to know the difference.
However, with a little tweaking, their products are actually pretty decent.
For instance my Big Typhoon. (an old cooler, I know). It's actually a very good cooler....once you spend the time to lap it and get it flat. The way it came out of the box was crazy. It was so rough that you could EASILY sand a wooden table with it.
I lapped mine (took for effin ever), and now it cools every bit as well as a lot of the HDT coolers. But the fan orientation is the best. It blows down at the board and keeps everything nice and cool. (Oh yeah, I changed the fire hazard fan too )

Originally Posted by Hood

Yes, Asus is wrong as usual, and exhibiting that same attitude they all get when they're on top, that 'We're the best so we're always right, RMA denied." attitude. The time is well past for universal overclocking warranties on enthusiast parts, and for companies like Intel to honor their own scenarios where overclocking is appropriate, like with the K series processor they sell for a premium only because it's unlocked for overclocking, and stop denying warranty coverage of their motherboards if overclocked. On the bright side, Intel now offers "overclocking insurance" on their "K" and "X" chips, $20 to $35 depending on the CPU, good for one free replacement no matter how many volts you put to it. That's a good deal for those who go for OC records and such, and even the slightly mad gamer may benefit from this. But it doesn't cover all the other parts that may burn, even though they were sold for overclocking.

Asus, similarly to Tt, are overrated IMO. All of the boards I've had from them, usually top tier enthusiast boards are always lacking. Whether it's voltge regulation, noisy onboard or other things such as an inadequate BIOS for OCing on a board marketed as a super badass OCing board (a comparable MSI product had a MUCH more extensive BIOS).
I think that if they market a product as an overclocking product, they need to set parameters as to what they may be able to do and then honor RMA's if they don't, at least, meet that criteria. Otherwise, it's just false advertising on their part IMO.

Originally Posted by cdawall

I just never tell them the product died overclocking. Pretty simple fix to that one. Hey company X this board no longer posts I need an RMA...poof RMA approved.

See and therein lies the problem. Most products work just fine at stock speeds, however, once you start to push it is where their deficiencies rear their ugly heads. So then how do you RMA a product like that? You send it in and their reply "there's nothing wrong with the product."
So then what?

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by BlackOmega

See and therein lies the problem. Most products work just fine at stock speeds, however, once you start to push it is where their deficiencies rear their ugly heads. So then how do you RMA a product like that? You send it in and their reply "there's nothing wrong with the product."
So then what?

Powmax powersupply of death normally fixes it real easy.

[BlackOmega]

Originally Posted by cdawall

Powmax powersupply of death normally fixes it real easy.

I gotta get me one of those!

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by BlackOmega

I gotta get me one of those!

They are pretty awesome.

[Hood]

Originally Posted by BlackOmega

See and therein lies the problem. Most products work just fine at stock speeds, however, once you start to push it is where their deficiencies rear their ugly heads. So then how do you RMA a product like that? You send it in and their reply "there's nothing wrong with the product."
So then what?

Maybe you take a chance and fry the board by OCing to 7 GHz, and then send it in saying "I was just checking my email and it shut down!" I don't think they have any way to tell if it's been overclocked, so they have to RMA it. But you're right, Asus is the worst for denying warranty claims, and for sending boards back saying nothing's wrong with it.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by Hood

Maybe you take a chance and fry the board by OCing to 7 GHz, and then send it in saying "I was just checking my email and it shut down!" I don't think they have any way to tell if it's been overclocked, so they have to RMA it. But you're right, Asus is the worst for denying warranty claims, and for sending boards back saying nothing's wrong with it.

and thats the exact reason Why I record the numbers off the boards for.

Ive had to Reject Cycle Repair Assets in the Military before.

This- is another reason I wont recommend Asus to anyone or use them myself.

[Hood]

Originally Posted by eidairaman1

This- is another reason I wont recommend Asus to anyone or use them myself.

I've tried to research the motherboard market to find out who is really most reliable and honest with their claims, and by the process of elimination, after a year or more of reading reviews, I came up with.... nothing. All current motherboard lines seem to have DOA problems or BIOS problems, or something. I go with Asus because they seem to have fewer problems than others, but I know it's just a roll of the dice whether or not you get a good board. So my question is, who do you recommend, and why? So far I've had no problems with Asus, except for buggy software, which I no longer use. Two MSI boards I owned were disasters for one reason or another. Never had a Gigabyte, ECS, Asrock, or Biostar, but from what I read only Gigabyte seems viable, the rest are a 50/50 chance of a dead board or a BIOS that lacks integrity. I thought Intel boards would be solid, but even they have BIOS problems, and limited overclocking options.

[qubit]

Originally Posted by cdawall

Just on a side not even back at stock it would occasionally have issues in 1080P movies were it BSOD's even with full default settings...

I'd RMA it for this alone, as it should be rock solid stable at stock. It's obviously the same glitch that's stopping it overclocking. It likely soon won't work at all.

It's obvious that something built for overclocking should overclock to a reasonable degree.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by Hood

I've tried to research the motherboard market to find out who is really most reliable and honest with their claims, and by the process of elimination, after a year or more of reading reviews, I came up with.... nothing. All current motherboard lines seem to have DOA problems or BIOS problems, or something. I go with Asus because they seem to have fewer problems than others, but I know it's just a roll of the dice whether or not you get a good board. So my question is, who do you recommend, and why? So far I've had no problems with Asus, except for buggy software, which I no longer use. Two MSI boards I owned were disasters for one reason or another. Never had a Gigabyte, ECS, Asrock, or Biostar, but from what I read only Gigabyte seems viable, the rest are a 50/50 chance of a dead board or a BIOS that lacks integrity. I thought Intel boards would be solid, but even they have BIOS problems, and limited overclocking options.

Well the amt of machines ive replaced Asus boards with a diff makers is kind of ridiculous, I owned one and never will go back to Asus. My Sig rig is old i know but that board is still running strong. The AsRock in my bros machine didnt need a bios update either, i will when i upgrade to the fastest PD or SR chip.

[Doomy]

DUDE
its a mITX board and a cheap pile of garbage at that
its got a 4 Phase VRM on it <THIS IS YOUR PROBLEM it inst made to clock and its probly what killed the old board you probly blew the vrm's off it 4Phase = cpu draw should not exceed 95watts
I would bet this weeks pay check that if you put a heat-sink on the vrm's the problems with disappear

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Doomy

DUDE
its a mITX board and a cheap pile of garbage at that
its got a 4 Phase VRM on it <THIS IS YOUR PROBLEM it inst made to clock and its probly what killed the old board you probly blew the vrm's off it 4Phase = cpu draw should not exceed 95watts
I would bet this weeks pay check that if you put a heat-sink on the vrm's the problems with disappear

Board has had sinks on the VRM's since two weeks after I purchased it. The VRM section of the old board did not fail the chipset did. The board as a whole has a known issue with the chipset overheating. 4 phase VRM's can hamper overclocking yes, but at the same time the VRM's of that board are rated a lot higher than 95w. Go look a little harder into things.

[Doomy]

Originally Posted by cdawall

http://img.techpowerup.org/120907/20120907_133957.jpg

Board has had sinks on the VRM's since two weeks after I purchased it. The VRM section of the old board did not fail the chipset did. The board as a whole has a known issue with the chipset overheating. 4 phase VRM's can hamper overclocking yes, but at the same time the VRM's of that board are rated a lot higher than 95w. Go look a little harder into things.

gigabyte has a history of vastly overrating there vrm's I don't trust them as far as I can throw them

did you check the chipset temps with a ir probe ?

you could stick a heat killer block on it but I have never known intel chip-sets to get very hot in the first place

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Doomy

gigabyte has a history of vastly overrating there vrm's I don't trust them as far as I can throw them

did you check the chipset temps with a ir probe ?

you could stick a heat killer block on it but I have never known intel chip-sets to get very hot in the first place

I have a cooler for the new board. Both this and the dfi p55 mini itx are known to have chipset overheating issues. The h55n I have is also known to be able to hold an I7 around 4-4.2ghz stable without issues.