Had high MCP temps, figured out why..

[illuxion]

I was getting ready to rma my motherboard because my MCP temps hovered around 75 at idle little over 80 under load. I finally got my Northbridge water block in today and disassembled everything. I was shocked to see that the poor MCP not only didn't have very good contact but had a piece of rubber insulating it!!!

After my 8800gt alpha dog disaster now seeing this shoddy workmanship, XFX you guys need to pull your heads out and try some quality control.


MCP
http://www.igd4u.com/badmcp.jpg


I'll run it till it dies, throw it in the trash where it belongs and buy an evga, but here's what it looks like now
http://www.igd4u.com/dtek.jpg

[Miker]

XFX Support won't be on till Monday, but once XFX sees this they will do something about it.

That really is bad...

[funkyman23]

man nice water block ,xfx does not make that boards foxxcon does and they make very poor job of it, how are your temps now

[illuxion]

At stock everything settings in bios and on vid cards(although .05v added in 8800gt bios), I use everest with rivatuner so I can log them:

Idle:
System: 29C
CPU: 28C
CPU0 TJ:41C
CPU1 TJ 41C
MCP: 38C
GPU1: 31C
GPU2: 31C
GPU mem1:29C
GPU mem2:29C

Stock clocks peak during an hour of Crysis playing at 1920x1200 in XP32 with max settings hack:
System: 33C
CPU: 33C
CPU0 TJ:48C
CPU1 TJ 48C
MCP: 40C
GPU1: 37C
GPU2: 37C
GPU1 mem:30C
GPU2 mem:30C

Core at 4.5Ghz @ 1.525v(1.49@idle, droops to 1.46), 8800GTs set to 725core/1010mem/1900shader and .05v extra in bios

Idle:
System: 31C
CPU: 39C
CPU0 TJ:51C
CPU1 TJ 51C
MCP: 40C
GPU1: 32C
GPU2: 32C
GPU1 mem:29C
GPU2 mem:29C



About 35 mins of Crysis peak readings:
System: 33C
CPU: 51C
CPU0 TJ:64C
CPU1 TJ 64C
MCP: 40C
GPU1: 41C
GPU2: 41C
GPU1 mem:33C
GPU2 mem:33C

Overall pretty happy, the 4.5ghz settings netted me a 20065 3dmark06 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5352236 and a 10.078 1M SuperPi My system :) http://www.evga.com/community/ModsRigs/comment.asp?sysid=6822

[funkyman23]

man i love it that is one mean and cool system i wish i can find that cooling equipment i croatia grrr lol

[srpeters18]

illuxion: Sent you a PM reference your chipset cooling.

[illuxion]

odd how not a single comment by XFX.

I have 10 days left before I can return this thing to Fry's, and oddly enough fry's has the XFX board for $264 and the EVGA board for $241, and they are THEY EXACT SAME BOARD, both foxconn made and absolutley identical, I'm not a above returning something just to spite a bad company. It was the same bit when I got my Alpha dog 8800GTs, the problem was that while XFX used the reference board they decided to be cheap and use their own 2 wire HSF and heatsink assemlby, while EVGA was $20 less and actually had 4 wire fans on the cards. When I complained about about the horrid noise from the XFX 8800GTs I was pretty much told to fornicate far afield.

If XFX has problems with Foxconn's quality, they should do a second tier inspection, or possibly final assembly at their plant. As it stands right now I have removed XFX from our approved vendors list, which is hilarious because they are a customer of ours, I'll just say a major semiconductor company, but blacklisted from using their products lol. Also, I've been making note when asked for personal computer questions to state, "yeah any brand is fine, except I'd stay as far away from XFX as possible, bad quality and piss poor customer service", and I'm an IT manager for company with over 5000 employees, so I get those kind of questions a lot.

[Miker]

It is Foxconn's falt, not XFX. But that said XFX should be screaming at Foxconn now.

[illuxion]

It may be Foxconn's fault during assembly, but when you sub-con something you have to be ready to stand behind it, just like the 8800GT nightmare I had. In my short dealings with XFX they have gone above and beyond to point fingers saying "but it isn't our fault". When you put your name on something you are ultimately responsible for it. Before I moved into my current position I was an apps and test engineer for the power group and dealt with customers on a regular basis. We have our own foundry, but for certain processes we used outside foundries. When the poop hit the fan there was zero excuse to say "well, we used a sub-con to make the wafers, it's not our fault" because at the end of the day we shipped it as our product and it had our name on it, so it was our fault.

XFX needs to stand behind their products and stop pointing fingers. Upsetting fairly influential customers, like myself, can put a big hurt on their bottom line. Word of mouth can be quite damaging in the long run, but they seem to not mind.

[xfxsupport]

Thanks for the pic as that has been forwarded on. As for standing behind products, I think we do a great job of that. If you were unable to get your system running I am more then confident an RMA would have been issued. If there are problems we help resolve them. If you feel you need to return it to your retailer and get a different brand that is an option, which is one of the reasons retailers have that window of opportunity.

[Miker]

But why exchange it for the same board sold by EVGA?

[illuxion]

2 reasons. 1) For the price difference between the XFX and EVGA (identical boards with XFX being more expensive) I purchased the EVGA EAR program for my board which is overnight cross-shipped warranty. Meaning they will actually send me a board before I have even shipped my old board out, thats on top of the lifetime warranty EVGA has, and the step up program should I want to upgrade to a 790i if they come out in the next 3 months.

XFX's answers, with both of my problems, show they aren't striving to achieve a good customer service base, they also don't seem to realize how much a single upset customer can hurt them. I've already shared my stories on 7 other boards on top of blacklisting them from my company(yes we have purchased xfx products before), as well as swaying 3 people this week alone that came to my office asking computer upgrade questions.

Thats fine, if it's no skin off of their back to forget customers are the ones paying their bills, it's no skin off of my back to put a dent in their bottom line. I'm not bitter I'm just ornery. I spend enough money on computers as a corporate customer I tend to expect more out of my vendors.

[allup]

Well i have to agree with illuxion,
I am a system builder myself and have an issue with my XFX 680i LT chipset MCP running at 133*F at idle though it only goes up to 135* F will being pushed...I see nowhere that it should run that hi. I mean it is a south bridge F.F.S. Now i have to pull it out and redo a 2 week old board that i am sure will look the same as the 1st posters pic.
I told another person to get the same setup i got and now i will have to walk him through cleaning it up and reinstalling it..
SAD is all i can say.
I am not sure that i will use them again...The board looks nice and clocks well but soon as that MCP warms up pop goes the blue screen..I cannot afford to have that as people look to me and my systems to build theirs ...Opps there goes another company losing money, maybe 7 or 8 grand in parts a year from my end. Let alone my recomendations.
I will look at this over the weekend when my other customer jobs are finished, and let u all know by picture what i find...

:frown:

[scaven92]

Seems to me you could have dealt with this problem a little better. Just return it to Fry's, comment to XFX headquarters about it with a letter, and switch boards. The worlds motherboard market is going to be hit hard and changed forever by your 'dent'. All hail the power of Illuxion's IT job. Do you have a say on the presidential candidates? Maybe you can put a 'dent' in Americas decision on that.

Moving on... and hopefully you have better experiences with other manufacturers.

[andy_js]

Seems to me you could have dealt with this problem a little better. Just return it to Fry's, comment to XFX headquarters about it with a letter, and switch boards. The worlds motherboard market is going to be hit hard and changed forever by your 'dent'. All hail the power of Illuxion's IT job. Do you have a say on the presidential candidates? Maybe you can put a 'dent' in Americas decision on that.

Moving on... and hopefully you have better experiences with other manufacturers.

Your kind of missing the point don't ya think?

He shouldn't have to return anything. Its only because XFX have sold him this shoddy board.

[Miker]

Your kind of missing the point don't ya think?

He shouldn't have to return anything. Its only because XFX have sold him this shoddy board.

You should word that like this because Foxconn made this board, not XFX.

He shouldn't have to return anything. Its only because Foxconn have sold this shoddy board to XFX, which sold it to him.

[andy_js]

I appologise.

I few days ago I built my XFX system and I was having trouble with it.
(I was pissed at XFX, but now everything is OK :redface:)

I understand FOXCONN builds the boards for XFX and EVGA, and they're the people to be complaning to really.

:keepfolding:

[darkorb]

Well Miker you cant look at it that way.

Lets say i go and buy a new Nissan car and its busted, u want me to go and complain to the Headquarters in Japan or go to the Nissan dealer and talk it with them? (bad example)

Either way, its XFX's 'fault' since its THEIR board that THEY are selling.

[Miker]

I am not saying it is not XFXs fault, as this is a big problem no matter how you look at this, but this in no way should represent other XFX products, only there choose in who makes there products.

[InSpiteOf]

Just wanted to throw my .02 in to this discussion.

Im a first time XFX user and i purchased an 8800 GTS and the 680i LT board. I had no problems with installation, but am noticing my MCP temps are a little hot (only in the 50 idle 58-60 load) Although those temps are a little high, and will probably heat up more when I OC, i have no problem in spending the extra time in repasting both HS', and I plan on doing it this weekend.

Quite frankly, even if the temps of both bridges were relatively low (even after OC) I would probably repaste them. Why? Piece of mind. This old addage is true in virtually every situation "If you want something done right, do it yourself."

Im sorry you had such a bad experience, but as I said initially, Im happy with the board and the card, though I am hopping to see a better paste job on my N/SB than on yours...

[andy_js]

BTW: I've just overclocked my system :grin:

Can someone recommend a good app to monitor north/southbridge temps?