EK issues apology/partial refund over Threadripper block and monoblocks

[maxfly]

Just got this in my email today. altho its dated the 14th on the website.
https://www.ekwb.com/news/an-apology-from-ek-to-the-enthusiasts/

 

[stereo555]

Yeah saw that in an email and was going to post it . Not sure a $30 refund and/or coupon is quite enough of an apology .

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I think they did the right thing. I don't agree with them singling others out who had purchased the CPU block at a later date. I think everyone effected by this should be included but I guess they have to watch their financial end as well.

 

[Alaric]

This may offer a partial explanation for EKWB's recent dismissal of upper management and engineering personnel.

 

[maxfly]

i agree with everything thats been said.
it would have been nice to see them cover the cost of replacing ALL of the cores or better yet just send replacements like they are doing with the mb blocks. im sure they are going to take a BIG hit on their am4 sales from here on out. their am4 blocks are already being slashed at ppcs(25% off i believe). after this i cant imagine anyone trusting them for am4 gear. replacing all of the effected copper would have gone a long way in reinforcing customer trust. a partial refund isnt going to do much. altho i know they sell supremacy evo parts at ppcs. i wonder if they do the same with the evo am4 blocks?
@Alaric you may be right. this is the kind of muck up that will get people fired. its going to cost them some market share imo.

edit- no am4 or threadripper parts at ppcs just intel.
threadripper blocks range from 10% off to 25%.

 

[BugFreak]

I'm not an ek supporter at all after their nickel plating issue so this doesn't surprise me. It wasn't so much the plating coming off that irritated me it was the response to only buy their overpriced fluid versus fixing the problem that no other company was having that did. At least this time they are taking some responsibility and issuing free upgrades. It will be interesting to see how fast it becomes back ordered to never bee seen again though.

Looking at the difference between the old and the new block I'm actually pretty shocked it was released at all. I wonder how little testing they did with it.

On a side note I didn't realize the new AMD chips were so large. Wow that thing is a beast!

 

[GTXJackBauer]

This may offer a partial explanation for EKWB's recent dismissal of upper management and engineering personnel.

I think that was happening before all of this.

This is the last thing I read about it all.

I'm not an ek supporter at all after their nickel plating issue so this doesn't surprise me. It wasn't so much the plating coming off that irritated me it was the response to only buy their overpriced fluid versus fixing the problem that no other company was having that did. At least this time they are taking some responsibility and issuing free upgrades. It will be interesting to see how fast it becomes back ordered to never bee seen again though.

To be fair to EK, their warranties are included only when using their fluids, just like every other custom cooling company, since it was tested and there are different combinations of doing ones own fluid, why spend the extra R&D/$$$ and just sell what you know works and doesn't void your warranty? I left DIY fluids to premix and haven't looked back since. Average annual cost is $20 to maintain ones loop. Easy and cheap instead of playing mad scientist with premium custom gear. Not worth the added headaches and cost.

Also, EK I think eventually figured it out later that their thin layer of nickel was being eaten up by silver biocides that folks were using in their DIY fluids. I'm sure it was a big costly headache for them and PR nightmare.

 

[BugFreak]

To be fair to EK, their warranties are included only when using their fluids, just like every other custom cooling company, since it was tested and there are different combinations of doing ones own fluid, why spend the extra R&D/$$$ and just sell what you know works and doesn't void your warranty? I left DIY fluids to premix and haven't looked back since. Average annual cost is $20 to maintain ones loop. Easy and cheap instead of playing mad scientist with premium custom gear. Not worth the added headaches and cost.

Also, EK I think eventually figured it out later that their thin layer of nickel was being eaten up by silver biocides that folks were using in their DIY fluids. I'm sure it was a big costly headache for them and PR nightmare.

Clearly not enough of a problem that they fixed their testing and build quality as shown by these AMD blocks.

I didn't really expect them to replace them because as you said, the warranty wasn't in place when using other fluids. In fact I generally don't consider the warranty when buying pc parts because of what I usually do with them. That being said no other company was having the problem so I would say it was all on them and poor build quality. I'm glad you bought into the pre-made fluid gimmick and I know you push it here on the forum but I see no need for it. To each their own I guess.

 

[Alaric]

I would imagine the TR4 issues started to make an appearance well before the current announcement. In a small, privately owned company that operates in a niche within a niche (custom cooling in custom PC builds) letting an inferior product slide and hoping for the best will get you canned, especially if it was an engineering issue and the owner is -an engineer. May not have been the sole cause, but maybe a last straw. Firing those responsible is how you attempt to regain trust/market share in that scenario.

I wouldn't have a problem buying AM4 parts from them at this point. I think there will be a concentrated effort from the top down to provide the best product they possibly can, at a potentially lower price than they otherwise would, as that is Step #2 in the recovery of reputation and market share process. EKWB took some hits lately, but I see the recent firings and current actions as a sign that they are serious about regaining their place in the industry. My $.02.

I watched Marantz go through this scenario after being freed from Phillips, and picked up some very nice gear at ridiculously low prices as they moved to reclaim reputation and positioning in the market.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I'm glad you bought into the pre-made fluid gimmick and I know you push it here on the forum but I see no need for it.

I won't take that to offense as I'm pretty intelligent when it comes to these kind of things but I will say this, when you have a $500-$2000 custom liquid cooling system, I think going with what works and having guarantees then cooking up ones own medicine on expensive premium gear, let alone the annual $20 which is a spit in the bucket for a loop is worth it in that range. If you have a DIY loop from a scrapyard or budgeted, I say have at it.

FYI, I don't get endorsed or paid for anything I say around here. I only wish I did.

 

[Alaric]

I won't take that to offense as I'm pretty intelligent when it comes to these kind of things but I will say this, when you have a $500-$2000 custom liquid cooling system, I think going with what works and having guarantees then cooking up ones own medicine on expensive premium gear, let alone the annual $20 which is a spit in the bucket for a loop worth in that range. If you have a DIY loop from a scrapyard or budgeted, I say have at it.

FYI, I don't get endorsed or paid for anything I say around here. I only wish I did.

As the hot rodders will tell you (and I will) "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?", along with "If you have a $10 head, get a $10 helmet". The coolant is your loop's helmet. When I built engines and vehicles costing many thousands of dollars I didn't cheap out on the details, or let my customers do so. High performance in any field costs more. Otherwise the factory would have thrown it in for free.

 

[marjamar]

On their faulty design of the ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II waterblock that damaged my card, I didn't get anything, not even an apology. I just took it as part of the overclocking experience, HA.

-Rodger

 

[Silver Surfer]

It was understandable that EK was in for trouble when they released the EK Supremacy water block with new mounting hardware, instead of an out the door new design to fully cover the Threadrippers 4 cores under the heat spreader.

Kudos to XSPC for completely redesigning and manufacturing a brand new water block that fully covered the 4 dies under the heat spreader with coolant flow.

EK has constantly dropped the ball a lot recently!

Here's one fumble:

The EK-XLC Predator 240 & 360 AIO cooler that version 1 leaked and was replaced with V2, and now the XLC Predator line has disappeared from the market to be replaced with the EK-MLC Phoenix line, with probably the Phoenix representing rising from the ashes.

That doesn't give me and instant wanting to buy from them, even though I have quite a few EK products.

Hopefully they'll get their act together before it's too late.

My 2 cents!

 

[Silver Surfer]

Clearly not enough of a problem that they fixed their testing and build quality as shown by these AMD blocks.

I didn't really expect them to replace them because as you said, the warranty wasn't in place when using other fluids. In fact I generally don't consider the warranty when buying pc parts because of what I usually do with them. That being said no other company was having the problem so I would say it was all on them and poor build quality. I'm glad you bought into the pre-made fluid gimmick and I know you push it here on the forum but I see no need for it. To each their own I guess.

The most important part of what you said was, "To each their own I guess." as we all use what works for us, and stand by it, until it doesn't anymore.