Intel CPU Warranty Invalid w/o CPU Fan?

saberint asks: "Recently, I had a good argument with Intel as I had a 3.2G P4 chip die on me within 6 months. I sent the CPU back to Intel only to be told that they will NOT honour the warranty because I did not send the fan back with it. Apparently the fan and the CPU's serial must match or else there is no warranty. This 'policy' is not listed on the warranty card or on their website. So for all you network admin or IT support people out there, keep the fan and the CPU together. Has anyone else experienced this with Intel?"

Stupid Question...

[pulu]

Why couldn't you send the fan in after they told you? Even if I replaced the stock fan with some fancy lit liquid Nitrogen fan, I'd keep it around. After all, they do make nice fans, Intel.

May I reccomend

[Anonymous Coward]

That you send the fan that you used with this cpu to them. If they complain that it is not the right fan (and it works), since the necessity of a particular fan is not mentioned on your warranty materials, I would promptly contact my attorney general and your state's division of consumer affairs (if it has one).

Re:Overclockers and their "huge mamma" fans

[etymxris]

The problem is that many places sell chips separate of fans. For example, newegg.com. If I buy my chip and fan separately, why should I be penalized?

Re:Overclockers and their "huge mamma" fans

[kawika]

I mean why would a person NOT use the fan provided by Intel in the retail package?

Because the stock Intel HSF is too damned loud? And because this has varied over time, the Intel fans used to be quiet but recent ones are noisy. Yes, you can buy an OEM CPU without a fan if you want, but the price difference is often only a couple of bucks--which is more than what the Intel HSF is worth. I buy whatever is in stock, and lately have been throwing out a lot of those noisy pieces of junk.

Re:Overclockers and their "huge mamma" fans

[Cecil]

I have no experience with Intel parts, as I swore off them long ago (their marketing of the processor ID struck the wrong chord with me), but for AMD:

The fan that comes with the processor is garbage. It may be warranted, but I'm not worried about getting a replacement fan. I *am* worried about keeping the heat and noise levels of my computer to a minimum, and stability to a maximum. The horrifically noisy and weak AMD fans (and their associated undersized heatsinks) may be 'good enough' for people who are used to Windows crashing every couple of days, but it's not good enough for me.

No, I don't overclock. I've been known to underclock, though. That probably voids my warranty as well. Oh well.

But if you think the stock HSF is suitable for everyone (or even most, in my opinion) you're absolutely wrong. Do you void your warranty on your car when you replace the all-season tires with Blizzaks? Why should you need to anyway, those tires that came with your car work fine in all seasons, don't they?

not on the warranty card?

[way2trivial]

"This limited warranty does not cover damages due to external causes, including accident, problems with electrical power, usage not in accordance with product instructions, misuse, neglect, alteration, repair, improper installation, or improper testing."

what do the instructions say concerning the fan? do they say, "use this fan"?

Hmm.... Dual cpu's?

[GoRK]

This kind of makes me wonder...

I built a dual xeon system today using two boxed intel chips... I took the parts out and put them on the bench then installed them in the machine. I have no idea if I paired the fans or heatsinks or baffles or mounts or whatever correctly with the processors. There were two of everything. Maybe they are around backwards; who knows?!?

I hope if one dies they will honor the warranty even if I send them back the wrong fan!

Re:Make a call to your lawyer.

[NanoGator]

"A letter from your attorney could go a long way toward fixing this. "

Or you'll get a letter back saying "We cannot guarantee processors that use unapproved fans." Not trying to side with Intel here, but they would have a point. If the processor burned because the fan sucked (or didnt suck?) then you'd be approaching the wrong place about warranty.

AMD seems to have the same policy

[madstork2000]

*NOTE* I did not check AMD's website or the warranty card recently, but when I did I did not notice mention of this policy.

Anyway, I had an AMD return (using the "home"/retail) support department and they requested that I send the original cooling fan and heatsink.

Since I had the heatsink, and the CPU was over two years old I did not push the issue, BUT they did seem to have the same policy...

-MS2k

Re:update on the fan type etc

[obeythefist]

Bizarre. I live in Perth and it gets just as hot here. I leave my server on 24/7, it has used an intel 1GHz PIII, now it's using an Athlon 2200+, and either processor doesn't get too hot with stock cooling.

You must be somewhere in the NT if you get up to 50C, or somewhere in the Kimberley. In which case you would surely have A/C?

Re:update on the fan type etc

[saberint]

No im in Perth 2, and yes we do have aircon, but it isnt run 24/7. We are a small company that just cant afford it. But the computer is used as a production server and recently i had to do scripts to take data from a btree database into mysql, using dde (i know i know...dde....but it was all we could connect to the parent application with). It would take about 1 hr to port the data accross running at 100%. With the standard heat sink and fan it would crash in 5 min, thus the water cooling which would keep the chips temp at approx 30 degrees for the whole process.

Re:Overclockers and their "huge mamma" fans

[dr00g911]

Perhaps they're putting the chip in a mini PC system [shuttle.com] that doesn't support a conventional fan?

I've assembled many Shuttle-based systems like that (for myself and clients), and each of them have a pretty nifty heatpipe and ventilation fan [shuttle.com] -- but no room whatsoever to install the massive fan that ships with Intel chips these days.

So, I've got a stack of 'em in the closet. Up to about 25 at last count, give or take.

I've personally had Intel warranty replace a defective 2.4 P4 -- it took several hours on hold and I had to speak with Intel directly, and not my distributor -- but they replaced it knowing it was in this type of system and their fan wasn't in use.