TWO RMA's Later, Cooling Unit is Not Mounted Flush to i7 CPU--How Big

[cyberpowersux]

I'll give the specs at the bottom.

I desperately have to upgrade my 8+ year old PIII, 512MB RAM, 70GB (and full!) computer. I'd thought I'd give gaming a try....

I got my new CYBERPOWER PC computer with a loose PSU, stripped screwholes, a cracked neon light, DOA due to a faulty RAID set-up, and an offset Vigor II cooling unit that was 5 degrees from flush-mounted.

OK, that's RMA #1.

Comes back with a case dent, and the cooling unit better, but still offset from a flush mount to the CPU by about 3 degrees.

I'm 10 weeks past ordering he damnable thing, and they want me to fix it myself, but it looks like I'd have to remove the MoBo to get at the mount. Ain't going there to fix their mistakes. They told me that the CPU would burn up without proper cooling.

OK, out the door to California again. That's RMA #2.

I just got it back, it's been 4 months since ordering it, it has a new case, but the cooling unit is again 5 degrees away from a flat seat against the CPU.

This computer has crossed the country 5 times already.

I'm not a tech guy, can I monitor the CPU temp from Windows 7 without spending money on utilities and such? Is this CPU getting any cooling benefit? Would it be foolish to overclock this later? Any ideas about what Idle temp I should see with stock cooling and the expected drop with a Vigor MonsoonIII?

Should I definitely go for RMA#3 and hope they read instructions and get a proper product out the door this time?

Any comments of the mix of components that I selected?

Thanks for your time and comments. It is greatly appreciated.

Cyberpower PC order: Intel i7 920, Gigabyte UD5 Mobo, 2X 160GB Storage@Raid0, 6GB RAM@1600MHz, GTX 275 Graphics@1792MB, Windows 7, Thermaltake TP750 watt, Vigor iSurf Monsoon III Cooling, Azza Solano 1000 case.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

If you can get a refund, you should go ahead and do that. Then build your own computer from scratch. Cyberpower & ibuypower are notorious for random build quality - you either get a nicely built one or a badly built one.

Building your own will be cheaper too - and you can use higher quality parts.

 

[enzo matrix]

I use this program. You don't want the CPU to go above 60C generally. Definitely not 65C for that CPU.
http://www.cpuid.com/download/hwmonitor/HWMonitor_115_setup.exe

RMA is up to you. If you have the patience, then sure. Personally, I would learn to build my own. It's easier than you'd think.

I don't think I quite understand "x degrees away from a flat seat with the CPU". If I follow correctly, the CPU heatsink base is not flush with the CPU and is actually leaving a space, filled with air, at 5 degrees? Is the metal clip bent or broken or something? If that's really the case, I'm surprised the thing doesn't throttle or shut itself down. Let us know those temperatures with HWmonitor.

Build looks fine to me. If I were getting an i7 system I would be looking at something more like a radeon 5870 crossfire or 5970 though.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'd get a refund and build a system with a 930, Asus MoBo, 5850 or 470, better case / PSU and better HS. If ya used American Express .... call them and let them handle it.....gotta love AMEX when going to war w/ a vendor.

 

[cyberpowersux]

BlueScreen, it's too late for a return. I get you on the QC.

Yep Enzo, the Cooling Unit is obviously ****-eyed from the Mobo panel, it's so obvious when you take the side panel off. It looks kinda like a ceiling suspended garage heater aimed at the center of the room...

There must be a gap across the CPU, unless the gooped it real heavy with a viscous heat transfer material. I'm not sure what metal clip you refer to....this unit was not mounted flat the first time I got it, nor the second (though better) and now it looks totally careless again...unless they had some reason to point it more directly at the exhaust fan.

Oh, man I may be over my head with Apps, but I'll download it....I can't even get driver downloads to work for printers that were given to me.

So far, I have not turned this thing on again, they had to reload Win7 during RMA#2 because they couldn't get my password to work.

I'd like this thing stable and ready to perform before I start pumping files into it through my USB 1.0 computer....a long process, no doubt!

 

[enzo matrix]

I'm not sure what metal clip you refer to....

Sorry, I was thinking of AMD heatsinks. Intel has the four pins. Try and see if they are all secure and in the motherboard.
If you want to speed up file transfer, you could setup your old hard drive as a slave in your new computer.

 

[cyberpowersux]

The mount seems secure, and was so on the previous iterations.

Hey, I sure like the Slave idea, I'll ask about that in another forum at the "zero hour"...thx.