MSI X58 Platinum - 2nd board, bent CPU pins and insane IOH temps!

[IOHater]

Ok, first let me just say that I almost could have sworn that this board was a refurb when I got it, even though everything was sealed.  This is my SECOND X58 platinum, and it looks like I may have to switch to either a third board now, or go with someone else.

The first board was unstable, too hot, and support told me to swap it out.  The company I bought it from set up an RMA, charged my card again, shipped a new one.  So this board, get this, right out of the box it had a dirty looking copper north bridge heatsink (although the clips seem to be fine), and to top it off, three pins on the CPU socket were bent.  I'm not even kidding, they were BENT.  I noticed that the pins did not seem to be perfect just from my eye, so I began taking macro pictures of the pins.  After zooming in, I found two pins that were bent over eachother, and one that was about 1.5mm off.  So I took an eyeglass screwdriver flathead and bent them back.  Needless to say, this really upset me considering that this board was supposed to have been checked by quality control.

So with the pins bent into a near perfect order, I end up putting the system together because frankly I'm getting really upset about the problems with this build.  I've had more downtime with this upgrade than all the downtime from all upgrades in the past 15 years combined.  I get everything set up, boot up, everything works great, at least it seems.

In the past few hours, I spent two of them playing a computer game called Company of Heroes online.  After I got out, I checked my temps in Overclocking center, and I noticed that my CPU and System board did pretty good.  When I saw my IOH however, my eyes almost popped out of my head.  The first board, I thought seeing 80C was bad, but this one was literally at 100-101C.  Yes, 100-101C, over 200F.  System was still stable, but at this point I'm scared to even continue using this computer.

In the past hour since, it has only cooled down to 85C, and it doesn't seem to want to go any lower.  I rebooted twice to make sure that the temps were reading right, and it shows mid 80s in the BIOS as well.  I touched the copper heat sink after a brief shut down, and it literally burned my fingers.  The heat is spreading, but it's obviously not dissipating well.

So here are my questions regarding this second board.

1. Why were the CPU socket pins bent?  How the heck could that have gotten past Quality Control???

2. Will the stability of my system be affected by the pins having to be re-bent to where they should have been, or should it be ok?

3. Is the IOH temp of 100C / 200F as designed, or within guidelines even?

4. Is the temp a fire hazard where I should not be using this PC anymore until I get a new board?

 

[IOHater]

If you want to see the pins, here's a pic:




I took that as I was bending them back.  I made sure to take off the guard plate very carefully, so I can not comprehend how this was able to ship this way.  The first board didn't have any pin problems.

Also, here's a pic of the temps after one of the first reboots.  It seems like it will not go below 85C no matter what, I even opened up my case for some fresh air but it's still been at 85C since I posted originally.

 

[RemusM]

Is the IOH temp of 100C / 200F as designed, or within guidelines even?

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=310369

 

[IOHater]

I already looked at that and it is not much help.  Is this the official MSI forum or what?  I couldn't get a support ticket open last night since the US MSI site was down.  I need to know if this is normal or not, and / or if it's a fire hazard - not some 3rd party link to an overclockers site.  I'm not even overclocking right now.  Also, no one has even tried to comment on the bent pins.

Btw, I just started a few minutes ago, and it's already at 71C and climbing fast.

 

[IOHater]

Well, close to 12 hours and not a single useful reply, plus crap support from MSI, I'm done.  I just ordered an Intel Smackover board to replace this MSI board.  I'm disappointed, I really really liked the design of the MSI and wanted to keep it, but these temps are insane, plus the pins came bent so who knows what else must have gone haywire.  Considering that this is the 2nd board in a row to have trouble, I don't think I'll be buying MSI again.

Speaking of temps, I'm at the 85C mark and have been there for awhile.  I fired up Crysis and I was at 98C within 30 mins.  This board is a joke.

 

[Ivan45nm]

now i dont anything about the board but is it worth checking the heatsink is in good contact , it may be better to RMA than to start checking things like this yourself but as you say you really like the board maybe its worth another chance, you could try positioning a fan so its getting some decent air flow,the pin issue though is defiantly an RMA in my book though, the temp issue just could be a missreport by BIOS though as well, but there would be a way to check i suppose, shut it down and unplug mains and physically check it

 

[conruse]

My IOH usually runs around 60c under load and I put the coolmaster v8 on my CPU and under load it usually runs around 20c to 22c

As for tempatures I did read that the core I7 is good until 98c where it will shut down.

From what I read most people's run around 60c and if the IOH is not supposed to be running hotter than 100c. 

However I cannot find an offcial MSI thread saying 100c is the max for the IOH or that 60c is it operational temp.

 

[IOHater]

I have the Zalman 9500 on my CPU, and it runs very cool at 25-35C almost always.  The System temp right now after gaming is 41C.  The IOH however is 80C and this is after doing a flash to a different BIOS per a MSI Tech's instructions.  I opened up the windows to allow for below freezing air to saturate my computer room, and the best I can get while gaming is 90C or so.  This is unrealistic though, I can't have my computer room at 50F or so.  My indoor temp is usually 72-75F during the winter, so it's not like it's a furnace in here, plus the computer is on the ground so it has access to the coolest air in the room. 

Like I said, I really really liked this board and all it's features.  I thought it was fantastic but after two bad boards and after reading horrible reviews on Newegg, I'm thinking that this one is a dud no matter what I do.  There is nothing I hate more than having to replace a MB, it is so time consuming.  With the Intel board on the way, it doesn't have all of the features I wanted (PS/2 for higher mouse response times, PATA for my DVD burners, on board reset, 6 ram slots, etc.), it has been reviewed to be a rock solid stable performer.  That's all I want at this point, stability.  It's so sad that I couldn't get this with this MSI series.

Edit: Oh I should note, beyond the bios change and the super cold winter air, I also bumped the voltage of my Corsair Dominator RAM (3x2GB) and speeds.  The ram is 1600 rated at 1.65, but I have it at 1333 at 1.5.  Perhaps that is keeping me below the 100C mark I saw as well, but 90 is still insane.

 

[Thirteen]

Please forgive me for interrupting with a noob question, but what does IOH stand for? (I'd like to learn)

 

[IOHater]

Input Output Hub.  Just want to report back after one hour of Company of Heroes, it's at 97C.

 

[DaLoona]

Judging by your first post, you have a previously rma-ed board and should have returned it when seeing the bent pins.
You should contact your supplier and they have to take it up with MSI.
Also, there are no MSI people here, nor do we work for them and  MSI techs do not post on this forum.
Since this is a user to user forum, people have other, more important matters to take care off and so sometimes it will take some time before you get a reply.
i am very sorry that you had to walk in this crap and hope the next one will be fine.


Best Regards 


Edit:
Dont use MSI DCC or whatever they have called it this time, its an infamous software tool.
Use Coretemp and HWmonitor for temps and voltages and cpu-z for cpu and mem info.
Lavalys Everest is good also, but you have to pay for it (

 

[HU16E]

@ Thirteen IOH Northbridge, ICH Southbridge.

 

[Jack the Newbie]

However I cannot find an offcial MSI thread saying 100c is the max for the IOH

The maximum operating temperature of the chip is defined by Intel and you can find the temperature definations in Intel's official technical documentation for this chipset which can be downloaded on the Intel X58 specification/product site.

If the IOH reaches 100?C, that is definately too much.  The case cooling either needs to be heavily optimized or the heatsink is not properly mounted and/or the thermal pad/paste is not making proper contact with the surfaces involved here.

 

[IOHater]

Well, my Intel smackover board comes today so this is it for the MSI one.  There are other reports out there from people who have said their IOH temps are extremely high, or that their mounted heatsinks have broken clips.  My clips are fine, I checked both before I installed them because I had read that. 

MSI should consider recalling these boards, especially with that much heat.  I can only imagine how bad they'd get sued if somehow a fire was able to break out and torch someone's place, and / or kill someone.  The system gives you no warning at all that temps are reaching that high.  Their OC center doesn't even have he means to set up a warning if the temps of the IOH reach a certain level. 

 

[RemusM]

[quote author=Jack the Newbie]
If the IOH reaches 100?C, that is definately too much.  The case cooling either needs to be heavily optimized or the heatsink is not properly mounted and/or the thermal pad/paste is not making proper contact with the surfaces involved here.[/quote]

That's why I gave him the link to that EO forum thread.


[quote author=IOHater] Well, my Intel smackover board comes today so this is it for the MSI one. ...
MSI should consider recalling these boards, especially with that much heat.[/quote]

I had the feeling from beginning that you're looking to "promote" the MSI products (in their forums!)

p.s.
We have 2 systems using this mainboard, and for both of them the northbridge temp is about 54-56?C (with stock cooling).

 

[IOHater]

Two of which boards, the X58 Platinum?  Maybe that information would have been more useful before I gave up, instead of the link.  Regardless though, this is 2 out of 2 and that's a bit too much for me anyways.  If I had gotten another MSI, I would have flipped my lid if I had another bad board, and based off some of the reviews I've read in the past few days it sounds like this problem has been occuring a bit more frequently than one would expect.

I can tell you in all the years of system building, even when I was working at an actual certified HP / Dell / etc. system builder, I never ran into two bad boards within even a week timeframe.  The chances of this occuring should be one out of a million, and I don't have that much luck.  This board is a dud, if there is a IOH cooling problem with the pad / grease and the pressure of the contact then they need to recall and reissue.

Regarding that, how can you explain a scorching hot heatsink if heat isn't transferring over?  The pins are not broken, they are firmly in and the connection between the heatsink and the IOH looks good.  That heatsink though is so hot that it burned the heck out of my finger after just a brief touch.  Heat is going through it, all the way up to the top of the fins.

 

[RemusM]

All I can say is that "bent CPU pins and insane IOH temps" looks like bad transportation, storage and dealer/provider.
I think that's your real problem!

cheers

 

[transdogmifier]

I had, until they got purchased and gutted, exclusively purchased Abit boards. There were 2 people I wouldn't buy from because
of similar issues, OP. I'd get bad boards from them.

It wasn't the manufacturer, it was the re-seller that was the problem.

MSI makes REALLY nice boards (for the most part). I'd try a different vendor.

 

[IOHater]

I guess it's just hard to imagine how the heck protected cpu socket pins could get bent anywhere but the factory that made them.  There was a shield over the socket which was incapable of bending those specific pins.  The motherboard was sealed, so I don't know how the vendor could have affected that.  Perhaps storage and handling however had an impact on the ability of the heatsink to transfer, I don't know, but like I said the heatsink is transferring heat.

I can say that I didn't buy this board at Newegg, but I've read several reports at Newegg of major issues w/this board, so that means at least two vendors out there have had bad batches.  I'm hoping that Intel quality control is much better. 

Honestly, Intel was my last choice, I really wanted to go with EVGA after this MSI fiasco, but their poor slot design for the sake of Triple SLI really bummed me out.  I had just ordered a PCI-E 1x Tuner card that I wanted to use for cable analog and some ClearQAM channels in my area, and the EVGA would have prevented me from doing that.  I also have a PCI Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro that I rely on for my music, the external module functions as my MIDI I/O hub with my KORG. 

In terms of other alternatives, I wasn't about to spend $430 on the Asus Rampage board (what were they thinking charging so much??), so Intel is it.  I can't believe Intel didn't slap on PS/2 and PATA slots on their board.  I was surprised to see even the MSI took out the floppy drive connector, and the Parallel port (I still have a Parallel laserjet printer as a backup to my Color laser).  I guess this is a sign of what's to come at this point, these board manufacturers really want to phase out this old tech now.

 

[RemusM]

The company I bought it from set up an RMA, charged my card again, shipped a new one.  So this board, get this, right out of the box it had a dirty looking copper north bridge heatsink (although the clips seem to be fine), and to top it off, three pins on the CPU socket were bent.  I'm not even kidding, they were BENT.

[quote author=IOHater]The motherboard was sealed, so I don't know how the vendor could have affected that.[/quote]


I'm not so sure about that "sealed".
:grin: