Thermaltake Volcano+ Hell

[parkerbink]

I bought this terriffic looking copper heatsink to
cool my XP2100 (1.73 MHZ)which was running at 2GHZ

The quality and construction were first rate. I am an
MCP & A+ certified and thought nothing of it as I
installed the heatsink. Imagine my horror when instead
of post beeping nothing happened and the awful smell
of burnt electronics filled my nose.

I pulled the processor and found it to be toast. I
emailed ThermalTake and received pictures of the
heatsink on backwards and was told to put it on
correctly. (duh)

I replied to that email stating that I know how to
install a heatsink and that there was no core damage,
that the processor burned out.

I looked at the fastner and thought it was too tight
so I bent it a bit and installed the heatsink on the
new XP2400 I had bought. Guess what??? The same thing
happened! there is no core damage but the processor
was burnt. I emailed TT and their only reply was
Install Error. also my A7V333 is now toast.

I got another email reiterating the install error theory plus he had the nerve to say he has a friend that spent a few hours getting his MCSE & A+ cert. I spent over a year getting my certs and don't care about a paper MCSE!

STAY AWAY FROM THERMALTAKE!!!!!

ThermalTakes attitude is you broke it go away.
:|

 

[Tab]

Well, you should know. Every product thermaltake makes is a POS.

 

[parkerbink]

Didn't then know it now!

More than the product issue I think their customer service ???sucks!!!!!!

 

[vash]

I've yet come across a heatsink that didn't fit properly when installed properly.

Did you check that the fan was spinning? Was the fan spinning at the correct RPM? Maybe the heatsink itself was installed fine, but the fan had problems (not spinning at all, not spinning enough, etc) and that's what caused the burnout. Just because the heatsink is on and the power connector is connected doesn't mean the fan will cool down the processor enough.

vash

 

[dakels]

wow parkerbink I am really sorry to hear that. That sucks big time!

How long were these processors on before frying? It usually takes a few hours even with no heat sink. Maybe a little less with hot ambient temps and OC'd processors, but it shouldn't happen in a few minutes or right after you turn it on. Even a really hot P4 3.0C can run for I think 60+ minutes before cooking itself, and the P4 and Athlon XP+ have thermal temperature sensor built in so te motherboard can automatically shut it down if there is a heat problem. If anything it sounds like the CPU is physically damaged or the motherboard is damaged. I don't think it has anything to do with the heat sink cuz even if that didnt work at all, the motherboard should have shut the processor down when it reached a critical temp.

Also some of those heatsinks put an extremely scary amount of pressure on the CPU core. Are you absolutely sure you didnt stress the core at all? Even the slightest hairline fracture would probably cause the chip to not work or fry. I recently installed a Zalman 7000 onto a 2.8C and I'll tell you I was really worried about the huge amount of pressure I had to apply on the core. If it weren't for the P4's large die face, I would have probably busted it.

Anyways it sounds like some sort of processor damage or motherboard. I am not blaming you or anything, just stating what seems to be the problem.

As for that HS+Fan. Its really not that bad. In fact it does a decent job of cooling if it weren't for the fact that the fan at max rpm is louder then all hell. I really don't like Thermaltake response for you but I wouldn't expect much different from any other company (minus the MCSE remark). As far as the products they make, I think you'll find most people are very happy with their products from CPU coolers, to Smart Fans, to the great line of Xaser cases. I'm sorry this was such a bad experience for you.

From here I would get some warranty RMA's for your CPU and motherboard if thats appicable and possible.

welcome to AT and I hope your future posts are better news

 

[parkerbink]

The 2100 was a year old and never passed post after the new heatsink was on it fried immediately. the fan was spinning (I have it on my old heatsink the fan died which was why I bought a new heatsink)

The 2400 was new and the same thing happened no post beep burning smell kill power dead processor total time electricity was going through the chip 45 seconds!

Thanks for your sympathy I am waiting to see if AMD will repalce the 2100 and Asus the A7V333 the vendor repalced the 2400.

 

[neutralizer]

Same thing happened to me, but with a coolermaster hsf. I put the hsf onto the motherboard and the fans would spin on and all and I attached the hsf on properly, the notch fits with the bump on the socket with all the clips lined up. The fans spin up, but within seconds like 20 or less, the AMD processor fries. This coolermaster hsf fried a 2 2400+ and a 1600+ as I smell smoke when it fries, however I see no structural damage or any sign of burning on the core itself. Using another hsf or my AX-7 with a new 2400+, it works again, but the mobo was not fried and thankfully, Fry's accepted the returns.

 

[dakels]

processors don't fry in 20-40 seconds. It generally takes much longer then that. A processor or any other chip on your mobo frying in that short of a time indicates a physical problem or damage, especially right after power is given to it. It may have shorted out or something but it didn't overheat through normal course of action and/or lack of heat sink effectiveness. And again, even if the HS didn't do anything at all, a fairly new mobo and athlon XP or P4 should automatically shut itself down to prevent harming itself or other components when overheating.

again, I'm no expert but I think your problem lies with a damaged CPU, motherboard, and/or short circuit. Even a hair or lint that fell in between your CPU pins while reinstalling the CPU could cause a problem like this. Not sayig that was it but it's an example of something that could go wrong.

good luck with the RMA. Just tell them the new CPU and HS didnt work right. The less info they get the better.

 

[Smilin]

I'm going to say it's not the heatsink.

If installed properly, ANY chunk of metal or even a good tin cup that makes good thermal contact with the cpu is going to keep it cool long enough for it to post. If there is so much as a millimeter gap that thing is going to fry in about 3 seconds though. You said your motherboard is also toast? Is it possible your board is overvolting and burning up your cpu that way? What thermal paste did you use?

As for the fan - yes it's required for any continuous operation but for a few minutes of post & troubleshooting it doesn't need to be spinning. The heat just spreading through the metal is enough cooling for a few minutes.

I would stop barking at thermaltake and start barking at either Asus or AMD. I mean, come on it's a heatsink! Short of having a big groove machined in the bottom of it what can really go wrong?

 

[mechBgon]

One fact about the Volcano 7+ is that it comes disassembled. If you have the V7+, or any other model that comes disassembled, then you need to not only put the heatsink onto the CPU socket in the correct direction, but also put the clip into the heatsink in the correct direction (it's asymmetrical, and the longer leg goes towards the DIMM slots on an A7V333). Also, the heatsink must be positioned as far away from the solid, raised end of the CPU socket as possible, and you must use the correct clip, the small plain-looking one in the V7+'s case. It's the one with the force required to compress the CPU's cornerpads so that the heatsink actually touches the CPU core.

I happen to have had an A7V333-RAID. It has Asus' C.O.P., and if your processor has a thermal-panic thermistor, which all AthlonXPs do, then C.O.P. will kick in and cut power as if you'd pulled the plug right out of the wall. C.O.P. will react to a no-contact situation within two seconds of pressing the Power button, if your heatsink is not touching the CPU core, and that's a fact. Done it myself, in fact, due to the heatsink riding up on the solid-plastic end of the CPU socket.

Thermaltake is one of the last companies I'd come to the defense of, but I think one of the above scenarios is your culprit. Why C.O.P. didn't come to your rescue is a mystery we may never know, unless your overclock had something to do with the CPU not being able to signal the motherboard "Shut down, NOW."

 

[galt]

I mistakenly forgot to plug my cpu fan into the mb header, but my system ran perfectly for a couple of days. I opened up the system for no apparant reason one day, and almost screamed when I realized that I was running my tbird 933 with just a passive heatsink. I could hardly believe it myself. I've seen videos (and firsthand) of processors burning up in seconds due to no heatsinks/bad installation of heatsinks. I'm just really glad mine is still fine.

 

[dakels]

hey smilin

where did you get the 3 second number about the chip overheating? I always heard like several minutes or more before a chip, even with no heat sink to fry. Then again that could have been statistics from older lower voltage lower heat processors. But even the guy that I think you linked ran with just like a little water/moisture (which is insane) and didnt fry the chip within minutes.

Also speaking of which, I was working on a mobo recently and noticed a drop of sweat fall onto the mobo. Even after paper toweling it dry, I made sure not to turn the machine on for a few hours before trying to give it power. Not noticeing that could have been disastrous.

 

[parkerbink]

after the 2100 fried and I bought the 2400 I put the AMD heatsink on the 2400 and it worked fine then thinking there waas too much pressure on the cpu from the 7+ I bent the clip and put it on bye bye 2400!

I feel somehow the 7+ is conducting electricity into the cpu.

My main issue with TT is that their rep never tried to help figure out the issue, just said user error.

Then he inferred I am a paper MCP A+

We'll see what he says to the Maximim PC watchdog!

 

[dakels]

Is it possible to turn the COP off in some motherboard BIOS's? Like in the power management or something?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: galt
I mistakenly forgot to plug my cpu fan into the mb header, but my system ran perfectly for a couple of days. I opened up the system for no apparant reason one day, and almost screamed when I realized that I was running my tbird 933 with just a passive heatsink. I could hardly believe it myself. I've seen videos (and firsthand) of processors burning up in seconds due to no heatsinks/bad installation of heatsinks. I'm just really glad mine is still fine.

no real luck there.

A missing fan will 'slow cook' your cpu - you'll probably get symptoms of overheating: lockusp, bsod's on high load but otherwise your system will run fine at idle. A missing heatsink altogether and you won't make it thru a post.

I had a buddy who blew a cpu and he wanted to just 'test' the new one before he got the rest of the system back together. He figured if the pc would post the cpu was good and he would shut it off before it overheated and then go through the pain of mounting a heatsink. Well it posted fine alright - ONCE.

 

[lameaway]

There's no quicker way to get on the bad side of hardware people, tech support or otherwise, than by bragging about your certs. Just a heads-up.

 

[mosco]

what kind of thermal compund were you using?

 

[SgtZulu]

Once again proof that having an A+ certificate doesn't mean squat

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: SgtZulu
Once again proof that having an A+ certificate doesn't mean squat

You're an ass. That was totally unnecessary.

 

[boyz]

sue thermaltake for damage to your cpu and for stress, when your lawyer serve them the papers they would gladly cought up the dough.

 

[sandorski]

Something is whack here, sounds like User Error. If not, the Heatsink is horribly out of whack, should have some obvious flaw. Have you tried looking under the heatsink for contact?

Someone asked earlier what you are using for thermal paste, what's the answer?

 

[bigpow]

interesting... I actually bought a Volcano 9 and the thermal probe was defective.
I contacted TT CS and they shipped a replacement immediately (they said I should just toss the old one away).
Let me see if I can pull out who was that nice CS person I dealt with.

 

[parkerbink]

Arctic silver 3 and thanks for proving you are not helpful :

Once again proof that having an A+ certificate doesn't mean squat

 

[boyz]

True, Having all the certs in the world does not prove anything, i heard that alot of people braging that they have a degree in engineering and they can't even install a cpu properly or take esd for granted.

 

[parkerbink]

1) I have been doing this for years (many without certs) I got them to increase my earning power.

2) I didn't bring them up until after I got a condescending email with 2 pictures of the heatsink on backwards.

3) there is NO damage to the core, The fans spun and the processor died in under a minute.