[Feyris]

So,

Heres the deal.... my baby IB requires excessive Vcore to OC (1.544V for a stable 5G) but has an unexplained high vcore for stock to remain stable 1.230v. My Mobo has given me in 5 days of having the CPU, twelve "CPU Initialization" errors and the pc keeps re-posting until windows loads. Nothing happens when using a friends 2500K either so it has to be the cpu.

I've contacted the seller on Amazon but they don't seem american and are utterly bent on putting the blame on ASROCK (Mobo) saying its worst mobo company for Z77, its not cpu, intel has always been great, etc. Basically? They wont take it back for a refund because they don't have any other 3770k in stock to replace it with and I dont know how amazon deals with these kinds of sellers, anyways!

Im trying to find the best route here for a CPU replacement...and if I would need to buy Intels $25 replacement plan to get it to work, plus how intel themselves work out swaps. I've only ever had to replace a pair of headphones in the past three years and AKG was just like "we will send you a new one, toss the old pair out" which was surprising but I know intel wont do this.

Do they cross-ship or is it an extensive RMA proccess...Im trying to minimize downtime...kind of freaking out here. Lost the silicon lottery bigtime here... this baby would do wonders under water probably but I just dont have that kind of setup.

 

[Belial]

Haha well asrock is the worst for z77, you must have a really smart phone guy

I find it hard to believe that amazon doesn't have another i7-3770k in stock, but you can't return a chip because it's a bad overclocker. I mean, you are not supposed to. Even though that's what I did... but...

And 1.23v for stock, I don't see the problem. I'm not sure why but different ivies have different stock voltages. I had a chip that had a stock voltage of 1.25. It overclocked terribly, but it overclocked better than the chip I had that had a stock voltage of 1.1. Then the current chip has a stock voltage of 1.05 and it's a great overclocker. I'm not sure if there's a relationship or not, but I don't think there is.

Most ivies are just terrible overclockers. You'll see plenty of statistics, like 50% of ivies can only do 4.5ghz, only like 10% of that 50% can do 4.8+ or something.

I'm afraid if I gave you advice to help you, it'd be against forum rules. You want to return your ivy because it's a bad overclocker.... you aren't supposed to be overclocking your ivy in the first place, remember (something something warranty and such something).

I'm sure you can figure this out on your own.

Also be aware you can't redeem intels $25 overclock replacement plan until 30 days after you buy it. And technically, you don't buy it on a busted chip or a chip you don't like that works just fine.

If Amazon is unwilling to help you out, which I'm sure they will if you scheme a bit more, then Intel can help you out directly.

What you are doing is going to be really unpopular around here, by the way. No one is going to be happy with the idea that you bought a bad overclocker, which is the risk you take, and so you want to exchange your i7 for another one when the odds are that you are going to get another i7 that's just as bad an overclocker. This ends up costing amazon and intel both a lot of money, and everyone on these forums is going to have to pay for it through increased prices.

 

[Belial]

my post dissapeared.

anyways. Your phone rep is right, asrock is the worst for z77

I don't see the problem here. Stock voltage is no reflection of a chip's overclockability. You got a bad overclocker, 50% of all ivies and sandies can only do ~4.5ghz on ambient cooling. If you exchange your chip you are most likely going to get another one just the same in capability.

Be aware that what you are doing is going to be really unpopular around here. We all have to pay for increased prices because people are returning their CPUs like this when they are in perfect working order. Both amazon and intel, you are hurting. Not to be judgemental, I mean I'd probably do the same (i did something similar, in fact) but just be aware this isn't really a smart thing to post.

I can't tell you how to lie and scheme to Amazon, and if amazon won't help you, then Intel, about how you want to exchange your perfectly working CPU for the same exact model. Or, to return your CPU for a full refund and then use the money to buy another.

There's not really an RMA here because there's no problem, so your RMA process would be a bit complicated. RMA is not what you do when you have a perfectly working chip but are dissapointed that it's just like the majority of i7s.

By the way, the 30 day tuning plan, you can't redeem it for until 30 days after you buy the plan, and you aren't supposed to use it on chips that are already busted or you were planning to return/etc.

edit: if you can do [email protected] and be 24 hour prime95 stable that's actually a great result. If you really are stable at that voltage then it wouldnt' be smart to return a golden chip because of... i dont even know why you want to return it.

 

[Feyris]

Its not a working CPU with bad OC capabilities, I wouldnt mind running stock clocks since its still such a huge performance difference over what I did have. CPU Initialization error is always occurring...which is said to lead to a bad cpu... 2 failed workers at stock clocks in P95 is just NOT normal either.

If I prime 5Ghz...I actually get this wierd multi-coloration pattern and windows dissapears after about 9 hours (Ran overnight) seemed fine, no failed workers...but then blam went to cancel it and that happened had to force restart.

 

[Forceman]

If it is really defective and the seller through Amazon won't help you, then your only choice is to RMA it through Intel. I've never done it so I don't know if they offer advance replacement or not, but there really aren't a whole lot of options. In the future try to buy from Amazon sellers that use Amazon Fulfillment because then returns go back to Amazon, not the seller, so there are less hassles.

 

[Belial]

Quote:

CPU Initialization error is always occurring...which is said to lead to a bad cpu... 2 failed workers at stock clocks in P95 is just NOT normal either.

I'm sorry I'm having a lot of difficulty understanding what you are saying. 1.23vcore as your automatic stock voltage is fine. Having to boost up your chip's vcore to 1.23 from the stock value, whatever it may be, as it's different on every ivy chip, is not okay.

And putting 1.5v+ is enough to degrade ivy bridge, so you might have actually just damaged your chip. It would be totally in line with CPU degradation that you'd need higher voltages to be stable on stock.
Quote:

If it is really defective and the seller through Amazon won't help you, then your only choice is to RMA it through Intel. I've never done it so I don't know if they offer advance replacement or not, but there really aren't a whole lot of options. In the future try to buy from Amazon sellers that use Amazon Fulfillment because then returns go back to Amazon, not the seller, so there are less hassles.

Wait, did you buy the CPU used or new? Did you buy it from a store selling on amazon, or amazon itself?

This wasn't made clear and I'm a bit confused. I thought the issue was that the guy on the phone line was some indian guy that knows nothing about CPUs, not that there's an actual seller here that sold through amazon...

Technically you can't RMA used chips from Intel, but in practice, Intel does a serial number based warranty policy effectively making it so that even used chips are covered under warranty. Now I say this because a lot of companies don't care about an item being second hand, but Intel specifically states they only cover the original purchaser in their policy. However, they never ask for an original proof of purchase or even secondary one, in practice.

Anyways, in the first 30 days you are supposed to RMA through the retailer, not the manufacturer.

 

[Feyris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belial

I'm sorry I'm having a lot of difficulty understanding what you are saying. 1.23vcore as your automatic stock voltage is fine. Having to boost up your chip's vcore to 1.23 from the stock value, whatever it may be, as it's different on every ivy chip, is not okay.

And putting 1.5v+ is enough to degrade ivy bridge, so you might have actually just damaged your chip. It would be totally in line with CPU degradation that you'd need higher voltages to be stable on stock.
Wait, did you buy the CPU used or new? Did you buy it from a store selling on amazon, or amazon itself?

This wasn't made clear and I'm a bit confused. I thought the issue was that the guy on the phone line was some indian guy that knows nothing about CPUs, not that there's an actual seller here that sold through amazon...

Technically you can't RMA used chips from Intel, but in practice, Intel does a serial number based warranty policy effectively making it so that even used chips are covered under warranty. Now I say this because a lot of companies don't care about an item being second hand, but Intel specifically states they only cover the original purchaser in their policy. However, they never ask for an original proof of purchase or even secondary one, in practice.

Anyways, in the first 30 days you are supposed to RMA through the retailer, not the manufacturer.

I needed to bump the vcore from stock for stability. I bumped to 5GHz as a final push before deciding to exchange it to see how far i could go... I bought it new, sealed. I would never buy a newer cpu used and from an amazon seller (non fufilled).

 

[Belial]

Yea well then you should be able to exchange or return it through amazon, and you are supposed to. Intel can take care of you if you can't through amazon but you shouldn't have to do that. I'm not going to tell you how to get what you need from amazon, i think it's pretty clear that you gotta do what you gotta do, but having to bump from stock voltage to pass prime95 is definitely a faulty CPU and you are in the right.

 

[Feyris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belial

Yea well then you should be able to exchange or return it through amazon, and you are supposed to. Intel can take care of you if you can't through amazon but you shouldn't have to do that. I'm not going to tell you how to get what you need from amazon, i think it's pretty clear that you gotta do what you gotta do, but having to bump from stock voltage to pass prime95 is definitely a faulty CPU and you are in the right.

Thats exactly why I seek help on what I should do, the seller does not want to take it back...they just threw me to the fishes to deal with intel and wont take a return because they dont thing its broken (I think they are mainland chinese because of way they type english)

 

[PhilWrir]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forceman

If it is really defective and the seller through Amazon won't help you, then your only choice is to RMA it through Intel. I've never done it so I don't know if they offer advance replacement or not, but there really aren't a whole lot of options. In the future try to buy from Amazon sellers that use Amazon Fulfillment because then returns go back to Amazon, not the seller, so there are less hassles.

Little known fact, Amazon has a process for this.

File a dispute with the seller on amazon.
Make your case, Amazon will contact the seller and ask why they arent helping you, and Amazon will render judgement.
Usually, they will side with the buyer.
EDIT: I forget if you can upload pics with amazon disputes, but get screenies of the issue.

Should be something along the lines of the A to Z Guarantee if memory serves