OK, techies, how good are you? Place your bets as to the problem.

CarlFrank

Member
Samsung magician isnt a 100% required, but it does enable you to play with eh drive and performance settings, also do stuff like benchmark it
I have it so it doesnt run on startup, its there for if/when i want itView attachment 33560
OK ta, I'll look into it. I'd like to have it repaired and up and running smoothly for a few weeks then maybe tinker with their assistance. As I say I'm brand new to all this.
 

CarlFrank

Member
To be fair to the OP, they never actually asked for advice on how to fix the issue. Their post was more of a "It's going back but, as an intellectual exercise, what do you think is wrong with it?" scenario.

I think this post possibly would have been better in the review section to avoid the confusion it has created...although not sure the OP really wants to "show off" their less than perfect system
That's exactly right. I wondered what you guys think it is, as an exercise and so other people might learn. I'm a total noobie - the likes of XMP and Q fan were a mystery 4 weeks ago. I'm not one for showing my gear off, but especially as at the moment it's £2K of wiring and lights.

The 150i XT doesn't have the commander unit: all research pointed that this cooler was easily capable of cooling the 12700K and the commander unit available on others wasn't strictly necessary.

What I am interested to know is what PCS's testing and QR process is? I'd have thought they would build it, configure stuff like fan control and XMP in the BIOS, update the BIOS if one was available and perhaps update drivers such as the GPU (leaving the purchaser to update Windows) if that is at all possible (can you update Nvidia drivers before Win11 and is that even recommended), then stress test it and check results tweaking as necessary. If they have wired the cooler straight to the PS or something similar that's a basic error given the mobo and that this is quite a common setup (I mean Gen 12 cpu/mobo/cooler).

So, what DO they do in testing? Does anyone know?
 

CarlFrank

Member
My reading of manual and install videos is that the radiator fans connect to a 4 pin PWM splitter coming off the pump head. The Pump head is then connected to MB using USB header to allow iCUE to control it and attached fans. The case fans are probably connected to a PWM splitter and from that to MB. You can see the splitter in the second photo from OP

I'd be interested to see what iCUE shows in terms of fan speeds and also what HWMonitor or HWInfo is reading, to get a better understanding.

One thing I did see in the first photo is that the connector to the CPU FAN header only has a single wire into the connector. This might be fine, as it could be the tach wire and all the pump is doing is feeding RPM speeds back to the system, and it doesn't need power or PWM signal to adjust RPM.

But as others have said, if you're sending it back to PCS, pointless on us giving advice.....

@Scott im assuming the RGB Pro XT doesnt come with a commander core thing like the elite models?
@CarlFrank have you checked the OS is actually on the 980 pro?
When you first got it you would of needed to do all windows updates, repeatedly and over reboots to ensure it gets them all, Nvidia drivers (and depending on model, it might have a software program for the GPU too) from there I would of stuck magician on and checked the performance and fireware settings for the 980 pro (Scott had a far more detailed checklist when getting a new PC, it was written up on the forum somewhere)

I wouldnt of loaded any other software until the core bits were done and i'd had a chance to run it in to check stability, also need to be aware armory crate, bullguard, stuff like that will all slow stuff down and bloat the system
Interesting about Armoury Crate and Bullguard. What security would you recommend over Bullguard or, as they are now, Norton?
 

leea123

Enthusiast
Interesting about Armoury Crate and Bullguard. What security would you recommend over Bullguard or, as they are now, Norton?
I use windows built-in, but also alongside it I use Malwarebytes free version, they work ok together, and the Malwarebytes, helped me out one time. Apart from that stay away from total av, caused me issues, learned my lesson :)
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Th
I use windows built-in, but also alongside it I use Malwarebytes free version, they work ok together, and the Malwarebytes, helped me out one time. Apart from that stay away from total av, caused me issues, learned my lesson :)
This is how I do it too, it's a very very good solution. Just do a manual malearebytes scan once a week or so as it tends to be more resilient toward specific malware rather than viruses.
 

CarlFrank

Member
So the RMA has been completed. Here's what PCS said:

"We have completed our RMA repair of your system. During the testing phase we were able to isolate the fault to the a loose CPU Cable. Firstly, we re-seated all the core components including the Processor and Corsair cooler. We have installed the cooler cables correctly and updated the latest Motherboard BIOS. We have tested Corsair IQUE and Armory crate to find that the cooler can be controller and so can all the fans and RGB Lighting.

The Front and Rear fan are controlled by the onboard fan controller that comes within the case. These fans start running when the system is been stressed or using high intense programs. We have also updated all the latest Chipset and driver software as the customer requested.

The system boots into windows very quickly once powered on and we haven't found any issues with the system taking a long time to boot. All the latest windows updates have been completed. Lastly, the X.M.P Has been enables and the RAM speed is running at 3600Mhz.

To further rule out any hardware or software faults, the system was placed on an overnight stress test. The system has passed these tests with no further faults replicated.

As we have had no further issues with the system and it has been cleared by a second technician’s quality control checks, the system will be released back to you."

When I get it back I'll do a thorough test and see how we go. Just which CPU cable was at fault I don't know - any ideas? Also, this looks like they have taken the pump off the CPU. I'm not particularly happy about that as it means they will have had to scrape off the pre-applied Corsair thermal paste and reapply theirs which a) isn't as good as Corsair's and b) opens up the issue of paste not being applied "properly". I'm not sure why that was necessary if it was just a loose cable...

Anyway, let's see how we go. Cheers all.
 

CarlFrank

Member
The saga continues.

I asked PCS to deliver the PC using their before 10:30 service, which they agreed to - so at least I could go to do a day's work when it arrived, important when self-employed. Got a message at 10:00 ish from DPD saying it would be 15:34 to 16:34. Annoying as I lost a days pay as a result.

Set it up. Updated Windows and the GPU etc. even though they said they'd done them in the Fault Report. Cooler Fan 1 running at 2753 rpm, others at sub-400. No matter what I did I couldn't control it with iCUE (but could control 2 and 3...). On to tech. Again. After a good hour and a half of 2 people umming and ahhing and me sending photos of the they surmise a cabling issue.

Anyway, I've had enough. I have no faith in PCS (even though I'm a previous customer) or specifically their quality control and testing. There are no loose connections as agreed by tech so it's down to faulty cables I guess but in any case the uncontrollable fan should have been picked up, especially on an RMA in testing. It's going back Friday and I'm claiming a full refund.

I'm hoping it won't get nasty and that I get a full refund - including the Windows 11 installation. I know they have a clause but you can't even start the PC without activating Windows. Given the hassle I'm hopeful they will see sense. We'll see.

I'm very disappointed - we all know that stuff does go wrong, but when you have such a clear case of poor QC and testing, well, it's beyond disappointing tbh.
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
I can feel your pain to be honest. It's a real shame that there seems to be a disconnect in understanding between the RMA team and the RMA technician/QC. A little more time taken to understand the issue would have automatically led to more time finding what was causing the issue.

This is a huge annoyance of mine in general when it comes to customer service. It's difficult, obviously, when companies are vast and departments don't share personnel.. but it's little things like that where the difference truly could be made.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I'm very sorry for your experience also, it's such a shame for something quite minor (in the fact it shouldn't have been overlooked in the first place) but has such a big impact in both the experience of the hardware and the customer satisfaction.

Great shame, but totally understand your position.
 

Jasontvnd

Bronze Level Poster
To the OP I really wouldn't worry about them scraping off the thermal paste , Corsair doesn't have some magic thermal compound that's better than the stuff you buy , Likely quite the opposite infact since who knows how long it's been sitting on the bottom of the cooler.
 

Aza

Rising Star
To the OP I really wouldn't worry about them scraping off the thermal paste , Corsair doesn't have some magic thermal compound that's better than the stuff you buy , Likely quite the opposite infact since who knows how long it's been sitting on the bottom of the cooler.

Not entirely true, corsairs paste is a high quality one, and equal (if not a little better) than the arctic thermal. Also where its mechanically applied its done in small dots evenly spaced out over the cooling plate, meaning when the cooler is attached it spreads far more evenly and significantly reduces the chances of air pockets being caught between the cpu and cooler. With manual pasting, the chances of a bad paste job (so not fully spread over the plate) and air gaps are much higher.

You're paying extra money for no gain but increased risk.

Also, with the rate they go through coolers, it wont have been sat there for months drying out, and the coolers come with a cover over the paste to help preserve it. The paste itself also doesnt dry out the way you are suggesting, its closer to grease rather than being waterbased so its not going to dry out and become stiff/brittle.... its the heat that comes of cpus that can slowly bake it and reduce its effectiveness, and with a desktop cooler, that takes quite some time..
 

Jasontvnd

Bronze Level Poster
Not entirely true, corsairs paste is a high quality one, and equal (if not a little better) than the arctic thermal. Also where its mechanically applied its done in small dots evenly spaced out over the cooling plate, meaning when the cooler is attached it spreads far more evenly and significantly reduces the chances of air pockets being caught between the cpu and cooler. With manual pasting, the chances of a bad paste job (so not fully spread over the plate) and air gaps are much higher.

You're paying extra money for no gain but increased risk.

Also, with the rate they go through coolers, it wont have been sat there for months drying out, and the coolers come with a cover over the paste to help preserve it. The paste itself also doesnt dry out the way you are suggesting, its closer to grease rather than being waterbased so its not going to dry out and become stiff/brittle.... its the heat that comes of cpus that can slowly bake it and reduce its effectiveness, and with a desktop cooler, that takes quite some time..
A very well thought out answer and also something I was not aware off.

My own experience with various Corsair coolers has been that my go to Kryonaut tends to lower the temperature by 1 or 2 degrees compared to the Corsair stock paste.

That being said that's possibly under margin of error from things like mounting pressure and the way it's applied etc etc.
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Kryonaut, done right, should allow for a couple of degrees I would imagine. That's a proper premium paste though and I would absolutely want to see something in the margins.

If you look at lesser pastes on stock coolers, compared to corsair, Kryonaut would typically yield 5-10 degrees on load.... especially with a laptop solution... so it kind of shows how good the Corsair paste is to begin with :)
 
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