Trident X removable heat fin is NOT removable

[Confused2013]

Hello Tradesman,

Thank you for sending out the message. Much appreciated. As promised, here are the links to view some images of the damage being discussed.

http://imgur.com/LQ6NM5O
http://imgur.com/vkTYWFl
http://imgur.com/JowafSl
http://imgur.com/FgqPUgi

Should you not be able to view them, kindly let me know so that I can take the necessary measures to make them visible. Thanks for your time and wish you a good day.

Regards,
Confused 2013

[Tradesman]

Those are good, the heatsink is pulling away, Im going to try going through their HQ in China and see what they say, possible might hear something Sunday evening - my time US PST, (it's Sat AM right now) which is early in the morning their time. (hate trying to keep track of all these time zones)

[Confused2013]

Hello Tradesman,

I hear you with regards to the time zones, you being in the US, me being in Europe and the HQ being in China. They can be a pain it's true. Having said that, do not let this situation be of an inconvenience to you. Nevertheless, I am most certainly appreciative of all the help you are providing in order to help a fellow out. I'd be glad to know about any response should you receive any.

Thank you indeed.

Regards,
Confused2013

[Tradesman]

No problem, will be checking for a response about 6PM my time Sun, think I might have a response by them - or you might

[Tradesman]

Just got a note, GSkill is going to take a look at it

[Confused2013]

Hello Tradesman,

Good day. Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.

Regards,
Confused2013

[Tradesman]

No problem, let us know how it goes

[G.SKILL]

Confused2013,

We have viewed and assessed your photos and case. While we trust that you are telling us everything as is, we are concerned about the force applied to remove the memory kit and the environmental factors that the module was stored in, which may have caused this damage.

http://gskill.com/rma/dam4a.jpg

The link above shows your memory kit, color adjusted for better viewing. We can see that the detached chips have only part of the solder balls attached.

Point 1:
The evidence shows that solder points are split between the board and the chip, so it means the chips were properly baked onto the module. It is to be expected that most of the solder is attached to the chips as opposed to the board, because the soldering points were originally installed on the chips, which would maintain a stronger hold and bond.

If the chips were not properly baked, then all of the solder points would have stayed attached to the chips. No solder points or very few solder points would have stayed connected on the board. If the chips were not properly baked, then proper connections would not have been maintained to pass our in-house stress testing environment, which are conducted hours at a time.

Therefore, we can deduce with confidence that soldering is not a problem.

Point 2:
The evidence shows that all chips are attached to the heatsink adhesive. Yes, the adhesive is strong, but soldered points are stronger. Forcing the heatsink off would not cause all chips to detach from the board. We have seen cases where heatsink is forced off, but some chips would remain on the board.

Point 3:
If you have never removed the module from the package, one would expect no damage. Then we would be led to believe that there was pressure, force, extreme temperatures, or other environmental factors that caused the solder to become weak or brittle to allow the chips to detach from the board while in the packaging.

Even when prying with a tool, it would be extremely difficult to detach the chips or to remove the heatsink with the chips. Chances are, when removing the module from the package, the force applied does not reach the extreme force required to detach the chips or to remove the heatsink with the chips.

Point 4:
If assuming this is a manufacturing defect, this problem would present itself in other memory kits as well. However, we have no reports of weak soldering or heatsink detaching in the same batch or batches manufactured within the same time period of your memory kit. (determined by your serial number, available in the first picture: http://gskill.com/rma/dam1a.jpg)

In conclusion, the most likely scenario is that something happened during storage, and its effects resulted in the damage.

We simply do not have sufficient evidence to determine that the cause of the damage is due to manufacturing or under our responsibility. Additionally, such damages outside of manufacturing-caused and workmanship-caused defects are not covered under our lifetime limited warranty.

We are unable to provide a replacement for your module that has the detached heatsink and chips. However, if any of the other modules become defective in the future and still have detached heatsink/chips, and does not exhibit signs of physical damage, then we will be glad to provide replacements for those under our lifetime limited warranty policy.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.

[Confused2013]

Dear GSkill,

First and foremost I would like to thank you for taking the time to examine this case further and for patiently explaining the reasoning behind your decision. I would also like to apologise for the delay in replying and for any inconvenience caused.

In no way am I trying to be pedantic but with regards to point 2, some chips are in actual fact still attached to the memory module. It is just not clearly shown in the image/s provided. I did not try to pry the heatsink further for fear of damaging other chips. Should you feel the need, I can take a few more pictures and upload them at my earliest, even if just for reference.

However, if we assume that this should not provide the necessary information, I am still left with 12GB out of the 16GB of memory set which I cannot make full use with the Duel Channel configuration of my motherboard (ASUS MAXIMUS V GENE). Is there anything I can do, informatiion I can provide or tests I can run to provide the numbers so as to get a replacement (paid of course) for the broken module only, in order to match it as close as possible to the broken module? If not, what are the alternatives save buying an entire new set?

Any information you provide will be most certainly appreciated. May I conclude by thanking all the people involved so far in providing help with regards to this issue.

Regards,
Confused2013

[Tradesman]

Will let them know, the response is from HQ in Taipei so will prob be another 12 hours or so before they know. In the meantime your rig should be able to run the 3 sticks in dual channel. Believe it's using slots 1,2,3 on your mobo

[G.SKILL]

Confused2013,

At this time, we do not offer direct purchases to end users. Therefore, we do not have a system in place to accept purchases of additional memory modules to existing memory kits. Doing so poses a chance for the memory kit to have compatibility issues with the added memory modules. All our memory kits are tested before they are released onto the market for compatibility and for endurance, so partially replacement modules are not available. So allowing the purchase of additional modules can potentially render a system unusable with the intention of increasing RAM capacity. This is also the reason we do not recommend using two or more memory kits together in one system, even if the memory kits are the same model.

However, you do still have the option of using just three modules on your system, as Tradesman suggested. On some motherboards, dual channel operation will still function with three modules. Just make sure that you install the three modules in DIMM_1, 2, and 3. This is usually the combination that works, but do keep in mind it will vary depending on your motherboard. Updating your motherboard BIOS may help.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Please do let us know if you have any other concerns. Thank you.

Best Regards,
G.SKILL

[Confused2013]

Hello GSkill,

Thank you for getting back to me with regards to my queries. At least now I know my options and will follow your sugggestions. I will try working with the 12GB configuration and see how it goes. Wishing you all a god day.

Regards,
Confused2013

[Confused2013]

Hello Tradesman,

A big thank you for taking the time and genuine interest in my queries as well as for helping me out and pointing me in the right direction. Your help was most certainly appreciated. Keep up the good work!

Regards,
Confused2013

[Tradesman]

Glad to try and be of help, hope all works out, am pretty sure you'll love the sticks, that's what I have in my main rig, the Tridents.

[Sierpazo]

Confused2013,

We have viewed and assessed your photos and case. While we trust that you are telling us everything as is, we are concerned about the force applied to remove the memory kit and the environmental factors that the module was stored in, which may have caused this damage.

http://gskill.com/rma/dam4a.jpg

The link above shows your memory kit, color adjusted for better viewing. We can see that the detached chips have only part of the solder balls attached.

Point 1:
The evidence shows that solder points are split between the board and the chip, so it means the chips were properly baked onto the module. It is to be expected that most of the solder is attached to the chips as opposed to the board, because the soldering points were originally installed on the chips, which would maintain a stronger hold and bond.

If the chips were not properly baked, then all of the solder points would have stayed attached to the chips. No solder points or very few solder points would have stayed connected on the board. If the chips were not properly baked, then proper connections would not have been maintained to pass our in-house stress testing environment, which are conducted hours at a time.

Therefore, we can deduce with confidence that soldering is not a problem.

Point 2:
The evidence shows that all chips are attached to the heatsink adhesive. Yes, the adhesive is strong, but soldered points are stronger. Forcing the heatsink off would not cause all chips to detach from the board. We have seen cases where heatsink is forced off, but some chips would remain on the board.

Point 3:
If you have never removed the module from the package, one would expect no damage. Then we would be led to believe that there was pressure, force, extreme temperatures, or other environmental factors that caused the solder to become weak or brittle to allow the chips to detach from the board while in the packaging.

Even when prying with a tool, it would be extremely difficult to detach the chips or to remove the heatsink with the chips. Chances are, when removing the module from the package, the force applied does not reach the extreme force required to detach the chips or to remove the heatsink with the chips.

Point 4:
If assuming this is a manufacturing defect, this problem would present itself in other memory kits as well. However, we have no reports of weak soldering or heatsink detaching in the same batch or batches manufactured within the same time period of your memory kit. (determined by your serial number, available in the first picture: http://gskill.com/rma/dam1a.jpg)

In conclusion, the most likely scenario is that something happened during storage, and its effects resulted in the damage.

We simply do not have sufficient evidence to determine that the cause of the damage is due to manufacturing or under our responsibility. Additionally, such damages outside of manufacturing-caused and workmanship-caused defects are not covered under our lifetime limited warranty.

We are unable to provide a replacement for your module that has the detached heatsink and chips. However, if any of the other modules become defective in the future and still have detached heatsink/chips, and does not exhibit signs of physical damage, then we will be glad to provide replacements for those under our lifetime limited warranty policy.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.

Same problem here, removed my kit from the plastic package (I used same strenght) and i have this result on a stick: