7970 Combusted

[blackened23]

There is still the option to be honest about the water cooling and OC, then ask for an RMA. No fraud, and at worst they say no.

If they say yes and let you RMA then a fix is certain unlike doing your own soldering.

I'm really struggling to figure out why some people think that a capacitor blowing is his fault. Even if you remove the shroud to put a block on, the capacitor SHOULD NOT BLOW.

He is definitely within his rights to RMA, IMO.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm really struggling to figure out why some people think that a capacitor blowing is his fault. Even if you remove the shroud to put a block on, the capacitor SHOULD NOT BLOW.

He is definitely within his rights to RMA, IMO.

If you modify a design, it is not working as designed. If you overclock a part, you are running that part outside of its specified design limit.

You might not realize this, but for example taking the side off of a case can make some parts inside run hotter because the airflow no longer works as designed.

Some motherboards have had problems with aftermarket CPU heatsinks with side-blowing fans because they were designed to work with stock heatsinks that spilled cooler air over the surrounding components.

 

[Vesku]

Depends on the RMA terms, blackened23, and where he lives. Europe has some pretty amazing rules about warranty coverage and if he resides in Europe he may be entitled to a RMA. In the US there is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act , which defines consumer warranty framework but doesn't offer the specific protections you will find in Europe.

In regards to contacting the manufacturer the key point is that to lie about what you have done to the card could constitute fraud. I do think he should check his warranty to see if it is explicitly voided by anything he has done, if not contact the manufacturer and navigate their RMA system but don't lie if watercooling/removing of the original heatsink comes up.

 

[Tencntraze]

I appreciate the feedback from everyone. I didn't post this in hopes of justifying shady RMA procedures but rather see if anyone has had this happen, a possible cause, and if anyone had experience with fixing/replacing it. I won't be able to look at this until next week at the earliest; I'll update when i have more info.

 

[SickBeast]

Pics?

 

[Vesku]

I think the only time I've had a capacitor catch fire/smoke is when I misplugged a floppy drive's power input. So my vote is on some sort of electrical short. Agreed that pics would be useful.