BPMonster

The DX58SO2 motherboard seemed like it had all the bells and whistles, so I bought one. So far, it has been a complete nighmare. I assembled the motherboard, ram, graphics card, sound card, 990X cpu chip, blower fan, power supply and case fan. The green power on light on the motherboard glowed, but nothing else worked - not even the case fans. I called Intel customer support. They told me to disconnect everything including removing the cpu chip and the blower fan. They said that the motherboard should power the case fan even with no cpu chip. But, the case fan did not move even when I substituted another known good power supply. The motherboard was dead on arrival. Things happen and I always try to be understanding, especially if a company works to solve the problem. But, my encounter with warranty support was where the nightmare began. They gave me an RMA number and it was shipped to a center in Kentucky for repair. About five days later, I got an e-mail with four hazy, low resolution pictures attached. The e-mail said that there was physical damage to the motherboard. It said that there was cpu grease contaminant and bent cpu socket pins. I called technical support. I asked technical support why in the world would they see cpu grease a contaminant and evidence of physical damage! They had no good answer to this. I told them that the cpu grease is a normal part of the installation of the motherboard. Its presence is to be expected. It was smeared on the top of the cpu chip. When I removed it at their direction, perhaps a small amount had reached the area outside the socket holder, but that no cpu grease was inside the socket. I said, "CPU grease is not a contaminant. It is a normal artifact of a cpu installation." But they were adamant that cpu grease was physical damage. The pictures were so hazy and of such low resolution that I could not definitely identify what might be cpu grease and what might be just reflection in the photograph. I asked technical support how there could have been bent cpu socket pins. I said, "There are two notches on each side of the chip which prevent the chip from being oriented in the wrong way in socket. I could not have placed the chip wrongly. I was very careful. So, specifically, in these pictures where are the bent chips?" They could not tell me. I asked for better photographs, but they refused. During the course of the conversation, I found out that everyone I was talking to was in Costa Rica. The repair center was in Kentucky. They told me that they could not contact Kentucky in any way. They could not ask any further questions. They could not change the determination of physical damage. I asked to speak to a senior technician. I thought I would finally be talking to someone who could look at my motherboard and give me some definitive information. I told them that I was concerned about the reason for the bent socket pins. I wanted to know their opinion of how it could have happened. After about 12 hours of waiting, a senior technician called me. I detected a Hispanic accent. He was in Costa Rica. In the end, I learned nothing more. Even he could not tell me from the low resolution photographs pins were bent. In the end, they told me that if I wanted a working board back, I would have to pay $71. So, now I get the board back and I fear the next stage as I put the cpu chip in the socket again and see this all repeat itself. My recommendation is "Don't Buy Intel". They treat their customers badly when there is a problem. It is a management decision to move all of the people who take calls to Costa Rica and totally insulate the actual tech support people who can talk definitively about a customer problem in Kentucky. This is outsourcing at an outrageous extreme.