Does AMD test bad OEM CPUs? (Am I being fed a line?)

[Lost-in-America]

I bought a 900 MHz OEM T'bird about 3 months ago to build a workstation. About a month ago the CPU died. (Of course it took me a couple weeks to figure this out....I had no extra Socket A board around.) Supposedly, I had a one year warranty from the vendor. However, when I returned the CPU, I was told that it had overheated, probable because of overclocking, and that the warranty was VOID.

When I told him that I had never overclocked the chip, he said that it would have to be sent back to AMD for testing--to see if the failure was due to overheating. It would take 5-6 weeks for AMD to return it; would I like to buy another CPU?

So, my question is, "Does AMD test failed OEM CPU's?" My guess is no---that a certain number of failures is built in to pricing.

Can anyone support or contradict my hunch?

Thank in advance.

Lost-In-America

 

[NforSa]

I dont know for sure if they test them or not, but I know they wont honor a warranty if thermal paste wasnt used between the HS+CPU
The vendor should just give you another CPU, send the dead one back, then AMD would either send the vendor another CPU which they would then sell, or give them a credit.

so demand a new CPU

 

[acebathound]

Pffft. Got to love vendors "we'll be glad to sell you another chip."

I'd be interested in hearing whether or not AMD does any of these tests..but I seriously doubt it as well. I'd say the vendor was trying to push you into purchasing another processor by telling you it would be 5-6 weeks (which feels like years if you had planned on getting a system together and have to wait).

I also think the fact he immediately assumed you had overclocked it was a bit funny..it's like assuming you put too much voltage in a K6-3+ processor. If vendors want to assume you've overclocked it, why don't they just tell the consumers 'no refunds?' Why offer a refund policy if you can't return it when/if it dies?

Oh well..best of luck to you. Hopefully things work out =)

 

[GaryTcs]

It's a line of crap. Does anyone here think AMD will take the time to test 1 $150 chip that failed? How exactly would you tell? unless the CPU has obvious signs of heat, I would assume it has to be dismantled to determine this. (even then could you be sure it was no man. defect?) The vender assumes heat is the culprit, but don't accept that. Tell him you want a replacement. Now. Get the manager, or owner on the spot. If your firm, but polite, (at least polite at first) you should get your replacement. Remind them that Reseller Ratings is your discourse if they cannot satisfy you as a customer, and the BBB investigates claims of warranty fraud.

If, on the other hand, you did fry this CPU by oc'ing, just buy a new one. We all take our chances, so we should pay for our hobby, or the manufacturers will be sure to remove the options we now have.

 

[RoadRuner]

of course if you bought it with your credit card, dispute

the merchants get a bad mark every time they get these

 

[KouklatheCat]

I would have a kaniption fit if a vendor told me that line of crap. Everyone else is right why would AMD waste time testing a fragged $150 processor that costs them a lot less then that. The vendor is trying to screw you. I would say yeah sure send it back and go buy a new processor elsewhere. After AMD tests your processor and sends you a new one you will have one for a second machine. Or you could keep the fragged CPU and make a keychain......

How the heck would the vendor tell if you had fried it due to overclocking? If you told him you had not overclocked and he said you did ask him point blank if he is calling you a liar. I did that one at FRYS electronics one time the dude got scared. Most people choke on that one HE HE HE.....

 

[DaddyG]

AFAIK, if the vendor is an approved AMD channel re-seller, then AMD provides the 1 year warranty, not the re-seller. I assume the re-seller has some discretion to replace truely defective cpus, but AMD has the last word. Plead your case honestly with AMD directly. I have heard of them even replacing cpus that were obviously crushed by faulty hsf installation.

Give a shot, you've got nothing to lose !!

 

[trmiv]

It depends, sometimes they WERE testing returned CPUs, but I know they are NOT doing it right now. Right now they are just replacing the CPU's and discarding the bad ones My mom works at AMD and she actually brought home some bad OEM and retail CPU's for me to play around with, because they are not testing them anymore just throwing them out.

She got me a 900 Athlon, an 850 Athlon, and two Durons, but I could never get them stable. The Athlons had bad cache memory and the Durons were just junk.

 

[GaryTcs]

Trmiv, I can see them testing returned CPU's, but not to determine whether or not they will replace a warranted part. I don't think there is any way to tell if it was oc'ed. (unless you sent it back with the bridges still closed.) I am inclined to believe that a great many failed T-birds have died from heat.They might test them to determine the actual part of the CPU that failed to improve the manufacturing process though.

Hey Lost, post here on the outcome. If you haven't been back to the store yet, ask the manager why you would buy a new processor from him when he is treating you like this. Not exactly good for business.

 

[trmiv]

I know, they don't test them to see if they will replace them if they are under warranty, they are just replaced. They really don't care if you killed it from overclocking or whatever, as long as the CPU is still under warranty and not physically damaged. What was happening is, they were replacing the CPU's under warranty, then testing all the returned CPU's and trying to diagnose the problem, but they have stopped doing that as of now and most of the CPUs are just being discarded.

 

[KouklatheCat]

GaryTcs

I agree with you.

Allways remember in retail one happy customer tells five of his/her good experience, one UN happy customer tells ten. Everyone make sure you tell your ten people

 

[Lost-in-America]

Thank you all for the replies. I will post the outcome (though it could take a while to be resolved).

I had a strong suspicion that the vendor was trying to er ....have carnal knowledge of me. I should add that I happened to buy the CPU locally (but they are predominately an online vendor), so my interactions were directly with one of the co-owners. The cavalier manner in which he "inspected" my CPU (less than 2 seconds under bad lighting) was a good indicatation that refusing to honor his warranty was standard policy.

What makes me mad is that it takes so much additional time to fight these crooked vendors. If I were being cost-effective, I would just buy another chip and post the vendor's name to BizRate. However, my sense of moral outrage will not allow me to be so efficient.

I think my next step is to email AMD and see exactly what their testing/return policy is on OEM chips. (I myself suspect that OEM means no returns.)

Thanks again. Once I have definite evidence that the vendor is purposely tried to defraud me, I will post the name here and on the rating services.

As always, Lost-in-America

 

[Mem]

I cannot see why they will not just change it,here in the UK I had a T-bird (OEM)go faulty after 6 weeks of use,at the time I was not sure of the problem anyway the Company(Simply computers ltd) where I purchased both the processor & motherboard said bring your PC base down for testing ,anyway to cut a long story short they changed not only the Processor(after finding the problem) but also my motherboard as a precaution free of charge so I was very happy.

Mine was also a 900mhz T-bird.

 

[DaddyG]

Lost, OEM does NOT mean no warranty. The seller has to be an AMD Approved Resller, if he is not, he is getting grey market parts and your SOL. If he is approved, AMD will honor the warranty.

 

[pm]

I can't speak for AMD - heck, I can't speak for Intel either - but I do know that at Intel every CPU that is returned is tested and binned according to failure. These failures are then analyzed, a fix is suggested and then these fixes are rolled into future steppings based on priority. This is about the most tedious job in existence (ok, that's an exaggeration, but it's not a lot of fun), but I did a 9+ month stint in Intel's QRE (Quality and Reliability Engineering) labs and speak from experience. I have no idea if AMD does a similar thing, but I personally can't imagine that they don't.

Still, the vendor is stalling you. This task literally takes months, and, at Intel, we never communicate the results to vendors - I would imagine that AMD is similar. I would escalate my complaints with the vendors and threaten with a wide variety of nastiness (complaints to CC company, complaints to BBB, complaints to ResellerRatings.com) if they don't do something to your satisfaction.

 

[DABANSHEE]

"I dont know for sure if they test them or not, but I know they wont honor a warranty if thermal paste wasnt used between the HS+CPU"

You're talking out of your arse NforSa, after all a part of AMD's thermal recommendations is that OEMs should always use thermal pads, not thermal paste (AMD's Instalation Guide)). Actually for a heatsink to be listed on AMD's recommended Heatsink List it must be fitted with a thermal pad.

This is because on OEM lines its much easier & quicker for production staff & things are less likely to go wrong. Also the pad helps to protect the core from damage, well to a limited state anyway.

Of course, I always scrape the thermal pad off, then lap the fansink & use thermal grease myself. But AMD actually reserves the right not to honor any warrentees on a heatsink if their's any sign of thermal grease on it as it shows that the heatsink was not installed, using their guidelines (thus if you removed the 'nt' from the end of the word 'wasnt', your statement would be correct). However in practice they are a bit more flexible than that, as there would be an absolute furor otherwise.

Consequently when I build systems for others I useally just leave the thermal pad on.