[12am]

Well friends gather round for a sad sad tale, it all begins a few months ago.

I purchased a slk-800 for my athlon system, now because I had taken off the heatsink and cleaned it with iso a good few times those foam pads that they give you had been eaten away. So I emailed thermalright and asked them if they could sell me some new pads for the slk-800. They offered to send me replacements for free so I was exstatic. Once they arrived I figured I'd wait to put them on the next time I took off my hs. Now fast forward to last week, when I ordered a 1700 JIUHB From excaliberpc. After paying through the nose (140 canadian after duty fees and conversion) I was anxiously awaiting my new cpu. (if you are wondering why I didn't buy locally it is because nowhere around here will let you pick and or gauruntee steppings). So I finally recive the cpu after working a god aweful 12hr day and I decide to put it in. I place it in the socket put on some as3 and set up the 4 pads that thermalright sent me, clamp everything down and got ready to boot up.

Well it booted all right, but didn't get to the bios, and that is when I smelled the smell of death, and the system shut down. My heart sank as I pulled off the heatsink, only to reveal the truth. That the pads that thermalright gave me actually prevented the heatsink from touching the core! (to try and lighten things up the arctic silver turned totally white!) and that is the story, I can't believe thermalright would do something like that.

Please note that everything was by the books, but I guess I should've known when the pads they sent me were about a mm larger than the ones that come on the amd chips. Now I'm off to buy a 2100+Tbred and I won't be using those pads.

[Sonny]

You never checked for proper contact after mounting it?

[Neofate]

Hehe, I would assume not Sonny =).. Hindsight is 20/20


Anyways, I never have liked the pads... Just paste and clamp.

[Decaf]

Are you sure you seated the hs properly? Those foam pads are easily compressible, not like a shim. Did any part of the lip of the slk-800 contact the socket? If any part of the "lettering" on the socket is obscured from the top by the lip of the hs that overhangs it, then you did not have proper contact with the die.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't thermalright have only one set of foam pads, i.e. one set for palominos, one for tbreds, etc?

The clip of the slk-800 imparts a substantial force onto the die, I would think it would easily compress the foam pad even if it were 2-3mm above the surface of the die. In fact, the pads are there to protect the die, so you can move and adjust the position of the hs laterally w/o fear of scratching the core. They are supposed to allow the hs to "ride" above the core until the clip is fastened.

I don't know, It's late, just my 0.03.

oh one thing I forgot to mention. If you properly seated the heatsink and it was truly some weird thing with the foam pads then you should have seen a clear, symmetric, rectangular impression of the die with some AS3 on your HS base.

[I.M.O.G.]

hmmm i can kick the hell out of those pads, squish em like nothing... dont think there is any way possible that the clamp down pressure would not overcome them? must not be your standard pads though i guess, i have never seen anything that firm.

[12am]

The replacement pads they sent to me were made out of real rubber (looked like a mini rubber washer) I guess the clip coun't compress it far enough. I've gone without the pads before but I find it hard to keep the hs steady while I'm setting up the clip. Any tips for that would be great.

[PhobMX]

pads hmmm, rubber... had they a hole and looked like a donut??? if true, they were not for the hs, but for the fan...

[mfjonny]

were the "pads" long pieces of rubber? the pads used on the bottom of the 800 are round foam cutouts... the strips of rubber is to adjust for FAN mounting on top of the HSF. Also, did you seat the 800 the right way? if you reverse it, then it hitches up on one side and contact isn't made with the chip...

[I.M.O.G.]

hmm you guys sound like you are on to something... maybe it was a miscommunication problem on getting the pads he really needed?

[12am]

Yes I'm positive that I had the hs mounted correctly, and phobmx yea they had a hole in em and they looked kinda like a donut. Perhaps what they did send to me was for the fan.

[PhobMX]

Originally posted by 12am
Yes I'm positive that I had the hs mounted correctly, and phobmx yea they had a hole in em and they looked kinda like a donut. Perhaps what they did send to me was for the fan.

as i thought, yes those where dampening pads for the fan, not hsf...

well, learn from your errors and good luck next time

[Stumpjumper5200]

I've heard of the no-heatsink contact deal happening to a P4 before.....it was on for a few seconds, but it instantly throttled down and saved itself. Cool, huh?

I think AMD should really incorporate that kind of technology into their chips, especially with the heat the produce in the first place.

Hey, here's an idea. Call up thermalright, tell them what happened, and that you want them to send over a Barton 3000+ (You guys know the 3000+ Barton is clocked SLOWER than the 2800+ Tbred?? Weird.)

[melon_stunner]

Why don't you sue them on the grounds of strict product liability? You did not add to the possible defect of the pads so you should not be held accountable. I would really look into this and see if this has happened to many others, if so you all could file a class action suit against Thermalright.

[sirtoby]

I'd send an email and check if they can give you a new cpu and some new pads.. I mean it's not impossible.. after all they sent the wrong pads.

For a big company 50 bucks give or take.. can't make a big difference.

On the other hand, yes.. they sent the wrong pads.. but I wouldn't hold the company accountable for that.. could just have been miscommunication or someone packing the thing screwing up. Hopefully you'll get a new cpu if you mail them (or call them) and tell them what happened.

[12am]

Well I will email thermalright just to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else, as I am not expecting they would foot the bill for a new chip. I have bought a 2100+ AIUHB 0250 and am currently at 2136 at default voltage and climbing, so this kinda soothes my soul

[Stumpjumper5200]

Originally posted by melon_stunner
Why don't you sue them on the grounds of strict product liability? You did not add to the possible defect of the pads so you should not be held accountable. I would really look into this and see if this has happened to many others, if so you all could file a class action suit against Thermalright.

Alright! Tigger happy lawsuit people! No talking, no negotiations, just straight into the courts on every little thing that happens.

Class action???? OMG, give me a break.

Isn't civilization great these days?

[melon_stunner]

Hey people take this types of things into court every single and and win! If there truely does exist a flaw in the product then take them to court. Hell, give me two years to finish up law school and I'll defend you.

[flounder43]

Originally posted by melon_stunner
Why don't you sue them on the grounds of strict product liability? You did not add to the possible defect of the pads so you should not be held accountable. I would really look into this and see if this has happened to many others, if so you all could file a class action suit against Thermalright.

Without commenting on what was obviously a miscommunication and a misapplication of some rubber washers, I will say this.

Normally, strict product liability only applies to personal injuries. While there are indeed warranty issues that may include damage to property, this is not normally within the realm of what is known as products liability. Rather, one might find guidance in Article 2 or the Uniform Commercial Code.

A reference: http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/pr...liability.html

I would further note that the author of this thread appears to be from Canada, and the law there is probably somewhat different than the law in the U.S.

[I.M.O.G.]

well i think this is getting a little off the cooling subject but i cant resist... HEREIN LIES THE SOLUTION.

melon stunner, if you have two years left in law school i would think you would know that if you were bringing a suit against the company, you would not have to defend 12am - he would not be the defendant, he would be the plaintiff. and hey, if you are giving legal advice without a license to practice, can't i sue you? j/k

keep in mind that lawyer fees are not recoverable, win or lose.

Unless you had a written agreement communicating exactly what you ordered and it was completely clear that they recorded the correct order from you but sent you the wrong thing, the case wouldn't make it to court.

Now lets look at the flipside...

if you politely call and explain the situation... you called, you ordered chip pads, you got fan pads, didn't know the difference and installed them as chip pads, they prevented contact between the heatsink and the chip, your chip died... which presents you with a cost of replacing the chip that you do not feel should be your obligation.

You could then kindly ask if in the case they doubt you were clear about the order, if they could reference the audio tape from the conversation, which they keep on records for quality control etc., and the tape will surely show that you were very clear about what you needed.

If they are a little hesitant still, you can gently remind them that you have heard all good things about their products and would like to continue dealing with their company... and from a marketing aspect, as a life-long customer and an avid computer cooling addict, it could be modestly estimated that you could spend as much as $400 on their products and the additional profits they could accrue from you spreading word of how satisfied you are with their service would far exceed that estimate - contrast that to you leaving the conversation unhappy, the bad publicity you could spread, plus the money you will never invest in thermalright products again... and if they have their good business thinking caps on, they will realize that this makes the <$100 they would spend on replacing your chip, not an expense at all, it would all the sudden turn into an investment, and more importantly... A VERY GOOD AND WISE BUSINESS DECISION.

thats just how i would go about it. if it doesnt work, your just short 5 minutes of your life, not a couple thousand $$$ in lawyer fees. NTM, going to court isnt fun.

[flounder43]

Originally posted by I.M.O.G.

melon stunner, if you have two years left in law school i would think you would know that if you were bringing a suit against the company, you would not have to defend 12am - he would not be the defendant, he would be the plaintiff. and hey, if you are giving legal advice without a license to practice, can't i sue you? j/k

Well, no. But it is unethical to give legal advice as a law student, and absolutely forbidden. Even as an attorney, one must be careful and only give general information, rather than advice, for other reasons.