Bitten by a Komodo

[Babrbarossa]

I installed a swiftech komodo full coverage waterblock on my 5870 today and was quite careful to do it properly. I added it to my Boreas 12 loop and turned the computer on and nothing came up on-screen. I tried another GPU and it all worked so I knew the GPU was the issue.

When installing the waterblock I was concerned about the re-use of the GPU back pressure plate bracket thingy- Swiftech supplied longer screws to use when you stuck the thing back on. The problem is that the pressure plate touched components on the back o fthe pcb. To keep this from shorting teh card, there is a plastic film on back of the metal pressure plate but I was dubious about the protection it offered.

So with the pressure plate as the prime suspect, I removed it an restarted- still no boot, but at least a signal came through to the monitor for a few seconds before disappearing again. That would suggest to me that it was the backplate that fried the card- does this make sense?

I'm so sick of fried cards- I've got two fried 260s sitting here in front of me, and now a 5870

[Babrbarossa]

XtremeSystems Forums - View Single Post - Swiftech Releases Komodo HD5800 F/C Waterblock For ATI

Seems I'm not the only one who's run into this- the brackets should have the springs behind them to prevent them from touching down too hard.

Swiftech has recognised the issue but claim that the short does not typically permanently fry the cards- I guess i'm an exception/

[MarkOne]

Originally Posted by Babrbarossa

Swiftech has recognised the issue but claim that the short does not typically permanently fry the cards- I guess i'm an exception/

2 letters for Swiftech; BS since when a short don't damage electronic component. If the manufacturer do not RMA it because you remove the Original cooler, I will have a chat with Swiftech

[Babrbarossa]

I told myself I'd never buy another one of their blocks after the GTZ, but unfortunately I was too forgiving of their previous shoddy QA/QC and jumped on the Komodo.

[Jackquelegs]

Originally Posted by MarkOne

2 letters for Swiftech; BS since when a short don't damage electronic component.

Agreed. I've had many components go poof from shorts. I guess common sense is not a job description anymore

Sorry to hear Barb, hopefully you can RMA the cards

[MarkOne]

Originally Posted by Jackquelegs

. I guess common sense is not a job description anymore.

ya but it came from the company Lawyer sense easy to sell thing and say WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE for damages it can cause to other products.

barb it gone turn in rants, piss me off for you
.. sorry I see no way you can put this card alive... the PSU can deliver quite a current to a card with a short. component do not always smoke or explode.

[Jackquelegs]

An old 9800GX2 of mine got shorted out by the Corsair RAM cooler. A VRM popped immediately, luckily nothing else broke...Now it's on my shelf as an expensive paperweight.

[AmuseMe]

Sorry to hear about your card... and the other ones (GTX260s')

Try to RMA it, or contact Gabe and let him know.

[Deeival]

This thread turned out to way less interesting than I thought.

[BrianHanna]

this is why things like watercooling scare me..

horror stories!