Intel CPU Warranty Investigation Undercover: XMP vs. RMA

[@GamersNexus]

Our previous undercover effort had us buying a CyberPower PC from Best Buy and finding several assembly issues: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIPPdKemlNZkj68 Support our investigative work and in-depth testing via the store (store.gamersnexus.net/ ) or Patreon (www.patreon.com/gamersnexus, where you can get behind-the-scenes videos)!

[@Angelcity1345]

What's that cat looking case you guys have there? is there a video for it?

[@santinojoshuatorre1695]

2 cents on this though: most of these reps have a certain "allowance" on amount/percentage of refunds they can give per agent/team/contact center - if you don't get what you want from a rep, it most likely means that person has already reached his/her threshold for the month.

[@logirex]

I would be interested to know what would happen if you said "yes we did enable xmp" or said "xmp was enabled automatically by the motherboard bios" if they would have cut the call or still offered a replacement. I also find it strange that in this business and the same goes for AMD they do not make sure they got enough parts for replacement/RMA process on processors that are sometimes sold in millions of units. What other business would do this.

[@Lemure_Noah]

A well-known store and hardware reviewer in Brazil (ChipArt) made a video with +175K views about INTEL denying warranty (RMA) for a Intel i3 8100 just because it was running Intel's XMP memory profile @2666Mhz . Intel ARK states it should be 2.400Mhz. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZ6mgpetqa-DZrM

[@johanarias1135]

You promote lying and turn your vídeo in a tutorial on how to deceive a company policy. You find evidence of this ridiculous policy and your fail to properly criticize Intel on how this is hurting consumers for using their products the advertised way. (You know the people that don’t lie when directly asked about XMP). You instead resort to the lame excuse of “but AMD also don’t cover some things in warranty” (without evidence demonstrating AMD is actively enforcing it as intel does with XMP

[@startedtech]

I really hope Beve Sturke is a recurring guest on the channel... Seems cooler than that Steve guy, tbh.

[@GamersNexus]

I agree!

[@Verpal]

Maybe we should change the name a bit, one letter at a time, lest retailer/manufacturer watching this video found our man out.

[@bryansuh1985]

@@Verpal Beke Sturve

[@darthrex354]

Is he any relation to Sinus Lebastian?

[@paulthebeardedonedowning6820]

@@bryansuh1985 sounds like a Korean gangster

[@Xzor]

Beve Sturke is the best customer on the interweb.

[@chilrad]

I gather he's a good friend of Rouis Lossmann

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

@@chilrad Genius bar is calling!

[@Decenium]

what about Sinus Le Bastian?

[@paulox21]

And what about Lason Jangevin?

[@Joh_Lam]

Not to forget his buddy Homan Rartung

[@CanalChipTech]

Hi Steve, I believe that we started this fire in Brazil, we have a small computer company and we had to RMA an I3 8100 denied due to using 2666mhz. Our RMA request was made by email, filling out a form. Our company has done dozens of RMAs and we have NEVER had any problems with Intel regarding XMP or anything else. We made a video exposing this problem and the day after the video, Intel requested that a new form to be filled out, stating that the XMP status "does not apply" .. This happened only after the video was posted on youtube.

[@EvertonJunges]

"Put the mouth in the trombone"

[@zoiosspinner6759]

Chipart por aqui kkk

[@aresende001]

it is the case of Core I3 in Overclock, if the information is on the website and manual of intel does not have much to talk about it.

[@brazilpaes]

Well, thats ironic, because this same asshole's very small computer company used to be intel fanboy, so you get what you desire

[@andregurjao9909]

@@brazilpaes serio mesmo q vc veio aki no comentarios dos caras meter um rage desse???? O na moral volta pra casinha !!!

[@menpee]

Intel: "Did you turn XMP on?" Buildzoid: "Who the heck would do that with the atrocious secondary timings provided by the stock XMP tables???" while liquid nitrogen sizzling in the background Intel: "Ummmmmm, may I offer you a refund, Sir?"

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

Buildzoid would more likely talk to AMD about his degraded 3700x. :D

[@menpee]

@@DrakkarCalethiel He is exactly the kind of mad lad who could even pull off that 3700x topic at an Intel helpdesk and still get a refund .

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

@@menpee Hahahaha true, no one messes with buildzoid. :D

[@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking]

XMP doesn't have subtimings in the profile

[@PainterVierax]

@Daily Overclocker On H170, I used XMP to have some start then I undervolted the Ram. So technically it's not XMP :-P But yeah their statement about XMP is ridiculous since you can raise VCCSA at concerning voltage that degrade the IMC without touching any timing

[@InternetEntity]

Gamers Nexus: Benchmarking arbitrary human interactions. 5:26

[@GamersNexus]

Is that non-standard? Can you post two more comments so we can take a more accurate average of your disposition?

[@InternetEntity]

@@GamersNexus Gamers Nexus Yes? No? Ma-aybe? Who knows, who can tell? Ye-es? No, no. NO! Absolutely not, no.

[@valinis7086]

Lol

[@blakecasimir]

@@GamersNexus If I may: I am moderately spontaneously hyper underwhelmingly outraged by this middlingly ridiculous non-issue.

[@blakecasimir]

@@GamersNexus Actually no, I don't care. Cute Pet case review, please. (Seriously, you're doing Linum's work here. Another knock for Intel.)

[@Sgt_SealCluber]

Something tells me that someone high up created the "XMP voids your warranty," but most people in Intel disagree with that and do as little as possible to enforce it.

[@matthewkuhl79]

Plausible, indeed

[@ArchusKanzaki]

Yeah I got feeling this is a case of one of the higher-ups got abit too nervous. So technically you do engineer a processor around a certain clock speed and maybe this is 2666 MHz. Although Marketing Department can come and say "can you give us a slide of benchmark that gives bigger number please?" and the engineering department will give it for marketing purpose. However, while its 99% sure a stronger memory will not break the processor, probably one of the higher-ups got a little bit too nervous of warranting it in first place (since it may not be officially validated) so that's why the clause got in. Even then, the CS department will just say its not enforceable so as long as the customer does not actually bait them and make clear YES, they will try to honor it as best as possible so its still status quo in the end.

[@seitenryu6844]

The point is that legally no normal operation of a product can be considered grounds for warranty invalidation unless it involves normal wear and tear. The catch is, normal *features* can be used in such a way that constitutes abuse or misuse, and failures caused by either CAN be grounds for invalidation. Simply because they can't guarantee all configurations, they have to write that into their policy. As long as it seems your use is typical, they have no reason to deny you a replacement, and that's literally the discretion they're afforded in the policy.

[@arthurmoore9488]

@@ArchusKanzaki That's true, but there is one problem with that policy. The moment that engineering gave marketing those numbers, Intel says their CPU can do those numbers. If you void your warranty doing so then it's false advertising. Intel should either fix their official policy, change their marketing to only numbers with XMP disabled, or face legal action for false advertising.

[@ArchusKanzaki]

@@arthurmoore9488 .....legal action is stupid. Then what will prevent a similar thing where "Intel market this as overclockable chips, therefore overclock should be covered under warranty too". I would even go as far as say that is harrassment against Intel and just being a dick because as shown in video, most customers does not even face this problem.

[@evil_me]

Wait did I miss the review of that kitty case?!?!

[@GamersNexus]

Incoming!

[@evil_me]

@@GamersNexus god I hope it has a decent price and good airflow because it looks great, my daughter would die ya gaming pc looking like that!

[@GhengisJohn]

@@GamersNexus I see that little by little we're aiming to build an entire system to match the 5700 XT Waifu and 580 Cute Pet. I approve and look forward to this beautiful, sparkle-covered abomination.

[@vash_dakari]

@jvalex18 The best people can hope for is the GN conclusion of being "Fine"

[@fox_the_apprentice]

Dangit, now I can hardly wait for that review!

[@StefanEtienneTheVerrgeRep]

Intel: Were you wearing an Anti Static bracelet while handling your components? Intel: Was it assembled with a Swiss Army Knife? Intel: How much confidence did you have while assembling? Intel: Are your tweezers in dual channel? These things I would ask.

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

Stefan Etienne The Verrge Representative Ha! What a failure of a query chain! Question number one is always, "How many buckets of thermal paste did you apply?" You questions failed to intimidate me into eating the cost of a failed CPU. You need to work on that! Dismissed! Edit: Stefan jokes will never get old. :-)

[@Snafu2346]

I can literally pictures Steve calling Intel services while Stefan picks up Stefan Intel: were you wearing a anti static bracelet while handling the components? Gamers Nexus: no, that doesn't hav....... Stefan Intel: DENIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Pablud3S]

WTB single channel tweezer

[@tearren1]

Ha! Ha! I use the phillips head screw driver of my swiss army knife on my computer, b/c it is conviently kept next to the computer.

[@haziqtheunique]

Joke's on you, Stefan. I assembled my rig with an Allen wrench.

[@noxix7641]

"Format my hard drive to fix my cpu." Literally every chat when something goes wrong for a streamer.

[@isturma]

I think that line gave me an aneurysm

[@vipervidsgamingplus5723]

Yeah, you know, cause the hard drive is directly responsible for cpu performance

[@markearl7172]

it might help not talking to trolls

[@LookingGlass69]

Trolling streamers is righteous and wholesome.

[@KillingTheMost]

Dude! Everytime a streamer says: man, I'm dropping frames like crazy. I'm lagging. The chat says in unison: update drivers, format hard drive.

[@Anton1699]

Not gonna lie, “Beef Sturke” would’ve been a less conspicuous alias.

[@nathangamble125]

BEEF STEAK

[@TheXev]

I'd love to see Beef Sturke Snap into a SlimJim... XD

[@AntonioFelipePitta]

Intel denied a warranty because of xmp in my country(Brazil) recently and maybe that's why this issue was brought up again, but they gave up after The case went public. From what i know, after The case went public they just told The customer to avoid saying that they used xmp on The rma request.

[@KingHalbatorix]

you've been spamming the same story on other GN videos; we get it.

[@AntonioFelipePitta]

@@KingHalbatorix are you insane? This is The first time i posted a comment about this issue on GN.

[@_PatrickO]

@@KingHalbatorix It is the only comment in the thread with any value because he actually got a denied warranty and the solution intel has come up with is to tell business customers not to tell intel support that they were using xmp when making a warranty claim. Steve's video confirmed this exact same fact, if you specifically use the term xmp in a warranty claim, it will be denied. If you avoid that term and describe just the memory speed, the claim won't be denied because the call center workers in india are just reading scripts and the script for a denial is keyed off of the term "xmp". Most call center workers don't know what these terms actually mean.

[@davidmiller9485]

@@KingHalbatorix wrong guy king. It's chipart that your thinking about.

[@Scootermagoo]

Steve, as someone who worked for at&t in retention, I have a little insight for you with them. The departments inside at&t are ran by different people, they are basically independent from one another. The phone process is designed to piss you off so you hang up, and stop trying to have something changed. I went thru 6 weeks of training to learn how this works. I wont buy a at&t product ever again and that includes directv whom I represented. To see Intel picking the phone up inside 5 minutes consistently is amazing in that alone, and offering a direct refund is even more surprising. I mean a mainstream daily driver like a 9600k should be replaced, but not having enough stock to do a replacement is.. kinda silly. I'd allocated 10% to the refund services to keep people happy, but I guess dollars can over ride brains at some points. My only other issue and this is from a native english speaker is having your phone center in mexico *possibly guetamala as one of at&t's in in that country* like that one sounded like it was in can make communications difficult at times. But better that then having spanish help from india I suppose. Keep up the good work.

[@flux1969]

I thought I was watching a Monty Python Sketch with the news reader being totally serious while there's a big pink cat face right next to him that seem to have nothing to do with anything. 👍👍

[@InternetEntity]

And now for something completely different.

[@kenabi]

ALLLLBATRRRROOOOOOSSSSS

[@AK-hx2dx]

Cute pet case for a cute pet pc build with the Rx 580 cute pet as GPU in it.

[@ArtisChronicles]

@@AK-hx2dx that's actually making me want that set

[@dunxy]

Beve: I wish to complain about this CPU Intel: Oh the i5-9600k? Beve: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad , E's DEAD!

[@KooYu]

*Beve appears* Lyle: Our battle will be legendary!

[@Rio-zh2wb]

KooYu lmao

[@e2rqey]

*Regendary

[@ayuchanayuko]

@@e2rqey * Legendaly

[@thatrealba]

Lyle wins in record time. There is no defeating Lyle.

[@thomasuniat2939]

"We had to act like complete tools to get denied". Steve, that is your core audience....

[@stevethea5250]

1:12 WHATS THAT COOL GRAVIS CARDS?

[@wysetech2000]

Thomas Uniat So you noticed that too!

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

Is that huge cat another addition the the "weird parts from china" collection? Next case review or even weird build incoming? :D

[@Erenzilable]

Forget about Intel warranty, I want to know about that case

[@TechyBen]

He is competing with Boston Dynamics... slowly building a "bigkat" out of cat computer parts. ;) (Or a cyborg Snowball, so it lives on forever and takes over the universe)

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

@@TechyBen Not sure if snowflake will approve this one. xD

[@DNAReader]

Massive purple unit

[@MrSalat21]

Oh hey, it's the Yeston Cute Pet case! I knew they wouldn't miss out on that!

[@ClellBiggs]

lol, Yeah, if they ask just say you don't know what XMP is.

[@XFourty7]

"Isn't that that thing AMD made a long time ago?" ;)

[@kendokaaa]

"I don't know what that is but I know about SMT, is that similar?"

[@CaveyMoth]

Forgive me father, for I have XMP'd.

[@Captain_Yesterday]

"Doesn't look like anything to me"

[@BenK12345]

Xbox Media Player? :) Sure I use that all the time.

[@nosirrahx]

Here is the ethics question answered: Intel is lying when they claim that XMP killed your CPU. Respect their question as much as they are respecting you.

[@jakegarrett8109]

It depends, the RAM kit I want is like 1.5v (which will destroy AMD chips since I think it’s tied to either SOC or integrated graphics for their APUs, but I’d have to double check that and I’ve got too much insulation on the board to probe it with a meter tonight). Anyways, 1.5v is really way higher than what CPUs can reasonably handle, like that will make the moment controller (and entire CPU for that matter) run way hotter. Like it got pretty intense just cranking it a little while air/water cooling one of my dud R7 chips (the chip used when I want to use 1.65v Vcore on air with thermal shutdown disabled....), and whoa it was getting toasty just from SOC and RAM testing! Intel also has a lot of history burning out and degrading memory controllers (lots of dead 2nd 3rd and 4th gen even non-K locked chips so bad they won’t even boot with the slowest memory sticks available, just toasted and degraded over the years even at slow office PC speeds). So in this case it’s just Intel makes some crappy memory controllers that die regardless, but you can accelerate that with XMP The kit I’ll probably get is like 4400 MHz, most people are getting 4200cl16 on newer CPUs (like 3900x or 9900ks), it’s obviously just because I’m hitting limits on memory cause when my clocks everywhere else on my delided and direct die sub-zero cooled Ryzen 2200g for example are way beyond 3dMark records but I’m still losing because all I have is cheap Hynix kits, haha! I just need 1 benchmarking set (maybe quad channel since I also like Threadripper), but I would not suggest these EXOC sticks for normal builds, but sadly I’ve seen people do it, or try and not realize why 4000+ MHz isn’t letting them boot....

[@soundspark]

My 13900K was technically DOA. They never asked if I used XMP, but truthfully there was zero difference in stability between XMP on or off; both passed Memtest86+ with flying colors.

[@discocrisco]

I've worked in call centers, not doing warranties but in retention departments. There is a huge variance in call center employees as to how closely they follow scripts and procedures. Some people will make stuff up to end a call quicker, some of us would happily coach customers to say the right thing to get around breaking procedure.

[@Kirinketsu_]

Me: Hello Intel, I tried delidding my CPU with a razor blade and dropped it, then my dog grabbed it now it will not boot. Intel: Yes we see just a few questions did you have XMP enable in your BIOS. Me: Yes my RAM was set to XMP profile for 3600Mhz. Intel: sorry we can not help you.

[@ArtisChronicles]

Now that would be hilarious

[@jakegarrett8109]

My cousin deluded upside down, so all the little capacitors on the back went flying off all over the floor. Oh that’s not the good part, here’s where it gets interesting... So he grabbed an old motherboard and removed some of its caps to put on the CPU (they weren’t even close to the same size or color, but that didn’t stop him from glueing them on there with some gorilla glue). Now I know what you’re thinking, that’s sounds like a very professional job and could totally pass RMA right? Well... while it was drying he was like, you know these really aren’t straight (granted he also had to put them sideways because they were way different sized and he was trying to make them look like they could sort of almost be touching the contact pads), so of course in trying to move them they all were tugging and getting mixed in the lump of glue (which he added more of... fighting fire with fire and excess glue with even more excess glue), and it became this glob of random colored mix-matched components glopped on the back of the chip (which had clearly been delided before, this was actually the second time and he screwed it up then), so this thing was unbelievably bad... It actually got accepted! Granted they sent him one that sucked at overclocking and even had massive graphical artifacts at stock (which he does use for his side monitor for showing MSI afterburner stats), but it was better than nothing. Me I don’t send it back, once it enters my hands it doesn’t matter if it’s 1 MHz overclocked or if I’m running it sub-zero 24/7, once I have tested that it’s not DOA then it’s mine to do as I wish and if it breaks I simply buy another one (so companies should really love me, haha, a repeat customer!). So please don’t do what he did (I felt like punching him for it, but honestly was laughing way too hard on the couch when he showed me the photos of the abomination, haha!). We joke that it’s probably framed on display at some Intel HQ and says “our customers sometimes...” or some joke and they probably just wanted it for a trophy/display enough to give him a half baked return. -------------- Ramble section: I’m really shocked because most hardware I’ve had break on me within spec they were always a pain in the bit and just not worth the trouble (except Toshiba was extremely easy and spent like $48 on over-night shipping and sent me a $250 SSD upgraded for free to top of the line model without any proof the old one was defective or have any way of getting their money back if I lied about it as I still had the old drive and was simply suppose to send it back at my convenience a week later with a pre-paid envelope. Like that’s how it should be! I just thought I’d mention that some companies are awesome, and others like Rosewill when their PSU breaks at 70% rated load and fries that $250 SSD won’t pay for damages and even insist that you pay to send back their defective device, and it wasn’t a one off... I tested another of theirs and it failed at just over 50% rated load...)

[@matheuss.menezes2151]

To be Fair to the commenter who started this discussion, I think, he was in Brazil,where if they can screw you, they will. "Void if removed" stickers still a thing here.

[@AlanWagnerPereira]

yeah, by chipart, a pc seller with a yt channel full of drama and bad clickbait

[@blech71]

Yeah I saw his comment. He was from Brazil and he wanted GN to look into this problem.

[@heliobarbosa3525]

The problem, it seems, is that Intel never enforced that (as it didn't in Canada, it seems) but they can if they want to, like they did with the Brazilian store. If you want to keep buying Intel and 2666 (or googling what lies you need to tell before starting an RMA), be my guest. I don't buy anything from that particular store, but that's another reason to not buy intel.

[@EMETRL]

"what are your computer specs?" "9600k, 16gb 3000mhz ram, z370..." "ok what frequency is your ram running at?" "uhhh 2133, i swear"

[@branchprediction9923]

xD

[@ic531]

Alternative title: Stress Testing Intel Customer Support

[@MrLogistician]

"you can almost always get what you want with ignorance, which is, perhaps, a microcosm for humanity" I was caught off guard and broke out laughing. It IS deep, but such profundity was highly unexpected.

[@TechyBen]

Wow. After all he went through, the KZbin comments finally broke him. We will miss you pre-2020 Gamers Nexus Steve.

[@antoniocarlosflorenciodasi6490]

The problem was with Brazilian Intel's RMA.....they denied a replacement/refund of a defective Intel i3 8100 that was informed being used with a 2666mhz memory. As the max memory supported according to Intel's ARK is 2400mhz, they considered it as an overclock on the CPU's memory controller...

[@povisykt]

im here, promoting this channel

[@Piupiumacher]

My personal experience with intel customer support. Issue: I7-7700k broke down ( 1 Memory channel died spontaneously). Contact: I contacted them through phone at around 17:00, and told them that one of my channels was not working. I got a UPS guy at my door next day noon, that picked my processor up, and got a new chip on the morning the day after. I had my computer inoperable for less then 24h. To be honest, this was one of the Best customer service experiences i had to this day. (Location Western Germany medium City)

[@Verpal]

Woah, just in time, saw a thread on reddit claiming a retailer denied warranty base on the fact the the memory sold with the CPU have XMP functionality, looks like this would be an interesting video.

[@GamersNexus]

Didn't see that one, but that's obviously completely unenforceable. Having the capability doesn't mean it runs it. A car has the capability of being a track car, but that doesn't mean it ever sees a day on the track.

[@startedtech]

That's a time where you *actually* talk to the manager, any ram you buy at a computer store has XMP nowadays...

[@Verpal]

@@GamersNexus Indeed, but the retailer is in Brazil, not America/Europe, I can kinda see how retailer might act in such unscrupulous manner when they have more negotiating power.

[@heru_ur6017]

Thats just idiotic, would be like the cops waiting for you outside the dealership to issue you a ticket for speeding because you just bought a car that can go faster than the speed limit.

[@ppsarrakis]

@@Verpal that explains a lot ^^

[@JarrodsTech]

Great investigation 👍 good to see the hypebeast Beve Sturke return.

[@pkmobius]

I think you should try something similar with AMD, just to see what their warranty support is like.

[@theq4602]

Is watch it.

[@ewoonsight3755]

I stil think its funny that they would give you a refund if the cpu dies while automatically overclocking if you use *liquid* *nitrogen* instead of peasant water cooling only normies use water cooling instead of *liquid* *nitrogen*.

[@thatrealba]

In 2018 I RMAd a Ryzen with zero issues.

[@polishguywithhardtospellna8227]

AMD have their sixth sense currently running on Epyc 7702, so it wouldn't work at this point in time. Maybe in few months, when things quiet down a little.

[@ThePandafriend]

@@ewoonsight3755 Liquid nitrogen cooling is more dangerous for the motherboard than the CPU. Even pouring it directly onto the heatspreader would not kill the cpu (but it would also not cool it sufficiently) due to the Leidenfrost effect. In order to cause harm with ln2 you need to have an object which is either cold enough, so the Leidenfrost effect doesn't happen, or you need to pour it onto cloth or something else which sucks it up. The biggest danger is condensation.

[@Venerable_Banana]

*HYPE BEAST IN THE THUMBNAIL*

[@Vepar90]

I once had a guy ask me my weight when I called about my exercise bike (the mechanism inside was malfunctioning) ... because there is a 130kg limit on the bike. I laughed my ass off. I asked him if he was planning to come and weigh me in order to deny my warranty.

[@Kepe]

Wait a minute, XMP is an Intel technology, advertised by Intel as something everyone can easily enable to get more out of their system, and then it voids the warranty. How can the use of an advertised feature built into a product void the warranty? I'm quite sure that's illegal. It's like having a big red button in the middle of the dash of a car, and the manufacturer says pushing that button will give you 5% more power but it'll also void the warranty of your car. That wouldn't fly in any court. If you advertise a feature in your product, then using that feature is normal use of the product and not some "out of spec use case not covered by warranty". "Our car comes with a 5 year warranty but if you push the gas pedal over 70%, it'll void the warranty because you're driving out of spec and trying to accelerate too hard for any normal use case." Nice.

[@joeyvdm1]

@@Rafael-xu9cn You are correct that XMP is a profile located on RAM modules, but it is also an Intel-developed technology (built in tweaked timings/frequency/voltages RAM profiles). As confirmed by these two Anandtech articles. www.anandtech.com/show/2334/8 www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell/2 I think that is what Kepe is referring to. It is an Intel technology (Intel's own extension as it were) that was spearheaded and developed by Intel to be used by RAM with Intel based PCs. And the fact that it is Intel's own XMP developed extended profile standard that voids Intel's warranty is a little strange, I think that is what Kepe is getting at. I can figure out why Intel voids your warranty when using it (i can guess at Intel's reasoning), but I agree with Steve that it should not do so, and using XMP should not void your warranty. But that is up to the individual to decide if they agree with Intel's policy at the end of the day, and whether we as individuals agree with each other or not does not matter. Intel is the one calling the shots, so the call is theirs to make. But it seems quite easy to step around the issue when claiming warranty anyway, so as long as you are aware of that, you can still claim your warranty regardless.

[@nnubb]

"The internet overreacts to unfounded accusations of Intel's crappy warranty service." ... "Here's how to lie to sidestep Intel's crappy warranty service."

[@damstachizz]

This. You can lie to any company about any warranty and get it, doesn't mean it's not a problem that needs to be fixed. Intel advertise their shit with the memory running at 3200mhz, therefore you can run 3200mhz and they have to cover it, period. That denial steve was talking about would be an immediate investigation and very likely noticeable fine for intel from the ACCC if it happened to an Australian due to the false advertising.

[@eliwixson8863]

In most cases he had to intentionally sidestep into it.

[@franklofarojr.2969]

@@damstachizz Fine for false advertising. After Jan 20, 2025 that will never happen here in the USA. Trump will ban false advertising fines, and quite possibly elections too.

[@LukeHimself]

That's cool how you guys did this video.. Is that a giant "Cute Pet" PC I see? What?

[@ayuchanayuko]

REVIEW NAO

[@hansenlechler4305]

REVIEW MEOW

[@CaveyMoth]

NIYAO!

[@vipervidsgamingplus5723]

J Fz or it could be for anyone who likes cats, there is nothing stopping you from taping off the white parts and repainting it

[@Arashmickey]

Great, now I'm tapping the screen like a cat watching a bird documentary.

[@nebula_pollux]

That's a Hot topic in Brazil right now

[@TheRian125]

they refused RMA cuz the cpu had a memory rated above the 2666Mhz (i think it was 4266) and then the support suggested to omit the system memory specs in order to have RMA, whichs crazy, on the other hand Alfredo heiss (marketing AMD guy in Brazil) estated that AMD doesn't guarantee a cpu using PBO but won't reject RMA of a cpu just because you have it enable

[@JxcksonSF]

@@TheRian125 i3 only go up to 2400, and the memory was 2666. é só assistir o vídeo da chipart

[@TheRian125]

@@JxcksonSF yep, acabei confundindo com o video do pc facts testando o 9900k a 2666 que é o limite dele

[@charlesballiet7074]

lol its like saying "yes mr burk your care comes standard with a 5 speed transmission but you see your insurance will only cover the first 4 gears."

[@or2kr]

We do not encourage nor warrant for driving over the speed limit, as it is impossible to drive under the speed limit in fifth gear

[@Daschickenify]

@@or2kr My car will put up with down to 27 mph in 6th gear, and I have a motorcycle in which I have gone into 6th gear at 9 mph. It wasn't happy, but it wasn't stalling either!

[@LeMMingSlayeR]

I’ve never had to warranty a Intel processor, but I Have had to RMA two AMD processors and I can tell you that AMD’s customer service really took care of me. I bought a secondhand FX-8320 shortly after they launched (bought on Craigslist) which I then found out had been overclocked to death and was nonfunctional. I explain to them that I had bought it secondhand, and I also explained to them that I had no idea at the time what caused the failure but I suspected overclocking. They still told me to send it in for inspection because it was within the warranty window. Not only did they replace it with a brand new processor, they even sent me back an FX-8350 due to stock shortages on the 8320s. To be honest it was that experience that made me lean towards AMD in my subsequent upgrades and purchases which is why I now game on a Ryzen 3700X and my sons game on a 2600 and a 2600x.

[@isturma]

First off, good story. Second off, people on the internet just seems angrier these days. Outrage culture is Stronk. Third, and i'm separating this one for emphasis, is that if the Intel marketing materials thing is true (and I haven't looked at their marketing materials in over a decade) IANAL but they might open themselves up to a class action lawsuit by claiming performance under numbers that they themselves punish users for using. It's really close to bait-and-switch.

[@alexmarin7897]

1. AMD doesn’t cover XMP profiles that go above the advertised maximum supported RAM frequency of their CPUs either. AMD also showed performance figures with RAM frequencies they don't officially support (3200MHz CL14 for Ryzen 1000/2000 and 3733MHx CL17 for Ryzen 3000). Heck they even included these RAM kits in the review samples they sent to reviewers to use in their reviews. Talking about manipulation. 2. Part of the reason Intel (and AMD) is asking about XMP is to see what type of XMP profile you have you used. You could be using one of those exotic RAM kits with 4133+MHz that also require higher than normal XMP voltage (like 1.45V instead of 1.35V). As you saw Intel doesn't typically enforce their XMP rule with run-of-the-mill 3200MHz kits. But with 4133+Mhz kits they might. 3. Intel asks about XMP use first because using it might actually be the culprit for the failed operation and in such case disabling it could fix the problem. Intel doesn’t have to replace the CPU if it works fine with the advertised supported RAM frequency but not with XMP.

[@jintsuubest9331]

Outrage culture is not stronk these days, people always hate just as much and as often from pretty much since human is a thing. One big difference is the technology allow people intantly outrage abour something across the globe isn't a thing until relitive recently.

[@FinneousPJ1]

Stonks↘️

[@heliobarbosa3525]

Fourth, recommending 2666 RAM for a 9900KS? Like, really? Couldn't they recommend at least 3200, like AMD does (which, by the way, it's also bait and switch since they recommended 3600 to everyone and their mother)?

[@HollowPs]

uwu case ✔️ uwu gpu ✔️ uwu aio ✔️ We're half way there for a complete uwu-machine and I don't know how to feel.

[@madmax2069]

Now needs motherboard, Ram, SSD, and just for the lolz a total reskin of Windows or linux, oh and a keyboard and mouse.

[@bananya6020]

there are definitely uwu keyboard and mice, and you could paint your psu uwu too. as for ssd, there are ssd with rgb which you could set to uwu color, ram you could get an uwu heatsink, and mobo we're screwed

[@Ahov29]

Which uwu aio?

[@React2Quick]

@@Ahov29 this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnW0YZ-FjdVgrJY

[@madmax2069]

@@Ahov29 he did a video with it not long ago

[@tradeology]

Just went through the warranty process and low and behold I’ve gotten a new i9 11900 CPU and it clocks 5.4 stable on all cores. They did ask about XMP and I still don’t know why it would matter. I sent a screenshot that showed it was all factory settings. I had a watch Dog error and it kept giving a Bcod screen and various other errors. They did argue with me that they had never had such an issue and tried telling me it was the motherboard but I knew it was not. Problem is I couldn’t prove it because I didn’t have another 11th gen on hand to prove otherwise. They escalated my claim after I told them buying another cpu wasn’t an option right now. They then agreed to test it out. Sent it in using their UPS label and had a new cpu a week later. It was good to watch this video beforehand so I could better anticipate what to expect. Although I’d like to clock my memory I’m not turning on XMP in the case it could cause a failure. Thanks for this video.

[@volvo09]

They are probably apprehensive to warranty a processor for blue screens and whatnot because it's actually a pretty rare issue... They probably get hundreds of good parts back from people before they get one that's actually defective (when it comes to errors, not a lack of boot). I used to do desktop support for a 2k person company for 12y and I literally only had a single bad CPU that I remembered (system ran fine, but would blue screen when running a certain application). CPU was the only thing left after parts swapping and it fixed it!! Never saw an issue related to a CPU again, not even a completely dead one. Every other issue that wasn't software related from most to least common was motherboard, hard drive, ram, and power supply.

[@ujiltromm7358]

That capslock move... CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL ENGAGED!

[@bryansuh1985]

I can imagine GN doing a proper benchmark for retailers/manufacturers. While X company's average response time was slightly faster, the deltas were outside of margin of error. While this isn't largely impactful in day to day use, it still makes for a worse experience overall. Next we'll be looking at the email response times... Love ya Steve

[@CarbonPanther]

Out of the box customer service.

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

Last we look at the heat output of the helpdesk. :D

[@AM-dc7pv]

Godamit, alright, alright. I'll cooperate, no need to get crazy here now...just take this +1 like already.

[@AceVenturaXii]

YES YES YES! More of these videos PLEASE. Everyone knows warranty headaches are awful and will never change unless good people like you expose them. Thank you so much.

[@whydoihavetodothisannoying]

The issue is not about playing ignorant, to be honest I didn't even knew that XMP voids your warranty like a lot of people likely still do, and why would you suspect it? there is no warning and it has always been advertised as a feature of the product.

[@whydoihavetodothisannoying]

@@morpheas768 For Intel, yes. It makes very little difference what kind of RAM you use for gaming but still feels wrong. Ever since DDR3 came about they only ever really supported one maybe two different specs for an entire generation of RAM and that's kinda pathetic and lazy on their part. Also don't see how a slower ram speed might be the "best" unless it comes with significantly better timings. That's like saying a clock of 3 GHz on your CPU is the "best" as if anything higher is somehow worse. To me this seems like a bean counters idea of pushing their PPTP BS and if they aren't willing to support XMP they should neither advertise nor implement it. I have never heard of overclocked memory being the cause of death for a CPU especially one as recent as 9th gen. If it really is such a widespread issue that it warrants this kind of behavior on Intels part it just goes to show how crappy their latest products really are. Keep in mind I'm not talking about extending warranty to cover crazy RAM-OC by end-users but just covering whatever the RAM and motherboard vendors include in their XMP spec. If it really is such a big issue to secure against or the builtin power distribution is to fragile to handle the increased draw from XMP maybe we should bring back the old northbridge.

[@dkat1108]

I have went to have a starter on a car tested and of coarse it worked on the bench but it had a dead spot where it sometimes work and sometimes not. The store could not duplicate the problem so I physically shorted it out to get the 5 year warranty. It "was" the starter and sometimes you just have to do what you have to do...

[@e42randy]

Viewers: "Intel doesn't cover processors under warranty if you use XMP." GN: "It's not that bad. We'll show you." GN, a minute later: "See, just lie to them!"

[@mr.schaeffer5399]

That started in Brazil the thing is we are very honest lol🤣🤣🤣

[@tomcruise7319]

The weird thing I find here is that they have a "supply issue". Their sales have dramatically dropped, so you would think they would have a bloated stock. Maybe they halted all production until they sell off their current stock or something.

[@wysetech2000]

Tom Cruise Intel has lost some sales (mostly because of supply) but sales have increased and not dropped. They had a record sales month in Dec. 2019. All their resources are on 10Nm and the cloud where they still have most of the market. They are also getting ready with new releases soon as well.

[@joannaatkins822]

Thank you for covering this, I feel it's fairly important to know how these companies stack up in these overlooked areas. I'd love to hear about your experiences with AMD too if it doesn't mess with your schedule

[@terolaitanen]

I have very good experiment with intels waranty. I had a broken 7700k, which I sent to them after few email exchanges (explaining what kind of tests I have done myself etc.). I got a new cpu via dhl at the same week. The guy who handled my case was great and very helpfull.

[@omgitsjesus99]

"Do you work for corsair?" Hahaha that killed me!

[@smithjones1906]

This channel does better journalism than most news sites. Consistently.

[@skytree3993]

Intel: Thats the max frequency the RAM can reach. Steve: I dont think so.

[@wysetech2000]

As someone who used to work on a "bitch line" i can tell you it's the worst but sometimes rewarding job in the world. We were given scripts to follow when dealing with warranty issues but after a while you begin to realize that some questions are not worth asking as it slows down the process and irritates the customer. We were paid by phone calls per hour! We did our best to be polite, receptive and caring in regards to the customer complaint or service problem. The worst customers were the ones who thought they were smarter than you and the customers that wanted to argue. I told a few to call back if and when they decided that abuse wasn't going to get them what they demanded.. In the end customer satisfaction was above everything else. We warrantied products that i personally would not have. People are people with different personalities and some make their own policies when dealing with warranty so they can do less work and spend more time on their personal phones. Some think that they are saving the company money by refusing a request for warranty. I worked with a couple of people that pissed me off the way they treated customers because i knew they were telling BS. When i called them out they complained to management and i was the one who got reprimanded. I think i aged 6 years in the 6 months i worked there.

[@gmodib]

RMA’s are just aweful. I recently had to RMA some ram from Corsair and it took them almost a month, and it was the wrong capacity. So it was another 2 weeks, 3 phone calls, several emails to get the other half of my ram back.

[@sujithnair2784]

Damn, i did not expect you to create this video judging from the responses to the comments in your last video. Mad respect, GN.

[@M00NM0NEY]

That might just be the "purr-fect" case

[@enjo187]

what case is that???

[@TalonsTech]

Great video. Useful for those that don't know how to navigate basically any companies warranty process.

[@sheyla5755]

@Gamers Nexus 22:51 this might not be a problem for the US clients of Intel. But this is certainly a real tangible problem for the Brazilian Intel's clients. Brazilian clients are being denied the warranty because Intel claims it becames void when using higher ram speed. This is unfair since as you proved in the US the Intel's clients are receiving a different treatment. I don't believe that having two approaches to the same situation is something the consumers should deal with.

[@zerocoll20]

At least in my country is not that way. A medium store (chipart) tried to RMA an core i3 and it was refused because xmp.

[@brazilpaes]

medium? hahahaha very very small ass computer company.

[@RedLine0069]

@@brazilpaes that only sells intel haha

[@jrsmithunited]

The next version of IME will have a call home feature that flips a bit as to whether it has ever been OC'd. Thanks Steve!!!

[@shanesmith5178]

This was very helpful. I didn't even bother to get my 7700k replaced until I saw this video. Thanks!

[@Squilliam-Fancyson]

10:20 Snowflake seems to be very critical with the cpu lapping job...

[@iloveplayingpr]

Being in Customer Service is VERY Stressful.

[@Grumpy_Wolf]

I've done a few RMAs with Intel, and they all went pretty smooth. Except the time they lost my CPU and I had to provide them a tracking number :/

[@Nicolas-zo6rg]

A few!!! I've never seen a failed CPU in my life and I've seen a heck of a lot of them. Seen legitimately everything fail except for the CPU 😂

[@Grumpy_Wolf]

@@Nicolas-zo6rg Do you overclock?

[@Nicolas-zo6rg]

@@Grumpy_Wolf nope :(

[@Grumpy_Wolf]

@@Nicolas-zo6rg CPUs can fail really oddly also and you may never know it. I had one that I overclocked then one day the network card stopped working. I figured it was the board, but replacing it didn't fix it. I ended up swapping out the cpu and suddenly it worked. CPUs can really do crazy things with everything they control in a PC.

[@jakegarrett8109]

Nic the older ones (even locked non-k office chips) get memory controllers degraded to the point they no longer work after a while (and DELL uses the cheapest slowest kits of memory possibly on Earth, so it’s not from overclocking). Unfortunately some like 2nd/3rd/4th gen are hitting that problem. The only Intel desktop chip I personally bought was for socket 775 and the thing was DEAD (it was bundled with an old HP board, Im guessing the seller didn’t test the CPU thinking it was probably the boards fault and likely tossed a working board and swapped it with this one instead. Either way, dead CPU and now I’ve got plenty of spare DDR2 sticks in both server and desktop variants...). So the chips do die, like the C2D chips are also not holding up well in terms of just booting at all. AMD chips can also do the same of course (you can already see degradation on even first gen if you pushed them really hard, but I’m not really counting that since what I’m referring to is stock). FX was a freaken tank though, no amount of extreme sub-zero benching could hurt it for a comparison vs Intel durability (I ran my FX for some long’ish term testing of sub-zero overclocks as my daily machine and it did well, like you could run it for years at very high voltage and it was just happily chugging along rock sold stable with it overclocked decently at like -35c at hottest and -60c while watching KZbin or whatever, like they were very durable and hard to kill from my experience). But everything wears out over time, even the capacitors on the back of the chips will fail at some point. The good news is there is probably something way better by then!

[@keomafernandes7442]

Here in Brazil if you use an i9 with ram running above 2666 MHz they'll deny warranty. The reviews of the i9 were done with faster ram speeds so if running above it voids the warranty of the product they should not be reviewed outside said parameters, stupid or not. It is malicious of Intel to stimulate reviews with faster ram then penalize the user for running at those speeds. They may not enforce it in your country, but in mine, they are doing it.

[@wysetech2000]

Keoma Fernandes There has to be a reason why most of the problem is in Brazil.

[@mnkybndit]

I claimed warranty on a 6600k recently. Intel was great, they payed for return shipping and sent me a replacement. Whole process took less than 2 weeks

[@XDSDDLord]

Personally, I have never lied to a manufacturer. If I believe that I should be covered by the warranty and they don't honor it, I fight. More often than not I encounter no resistance. When I do, usually an explanation and persistence suffices. Sometimes it takes one escalation on the same call, sometimes it takes a second call, and on really big ones it has taken me a week of calls; but, I never lost. I think manufacturers need to be put in place, and I can multitask while wasting their time and money. I assure you, just with my laptop, Dell has lost a lot by being dumb, and I paid $3,200 for this machine. Speaking of Dell, I have usually had good experiences with them- I have used my laptop's warranties a lot. In fact, they have never said no to shipping me parts and letting me do the repairs myself, and they have never once tried to tell me that my warranty was void. With that said, at one point I did feel that their incompetence had lead to a situation where I needed my laptop replaced and I was not willing, due to past experiences, to send my laptop into their repair depo, and they didn't budge on that... At first. Once their legal department got a strongly worded letter from me stating my intent to sue, I got a call from a supervisor. You can find templates online. Also, guys, remember they have to give you their address and if they don't, you can send it to their corporate head quarters via a search and if you send it registered they have to forward it internally. Another option is to sue a company via a local retailer that sell a product. Whether it's a laptop or a cpu or a toaster, if you can't get someone there to help you send the letter to the right place, you can sue best buy or Walmart as an agent working on behalf of the defendant and they will have to forward it. It doesn't matter if you bought the product there so long as they sell it.

[@chrcoluk]

The problem with XMP is on most boards when you enable it, out of spec voltages are sent to the cpu. They all pump IMC voltages to insane levels.

[@soundspark]

Is 1.35 a bit hot for DDR4?

[@skyliner4610]

You guys are really fair and awesome. Cudos to you. Wish more people were doing their thing at the level you are performing ;)

[@da133993]

I recently warranty a ryzen 2700 with absolutely no questions and they paid my shipping costs.

[@thatrealba]

It was the same for me in 2018, just for a 5 1600.

[@brunogm]

One problem is reviewers and Bioses list/say warnings on warranty only in CPU freq/voltage/pstates. XMP settings does not provide any warranty warning and the marketing is focused on performance without properly informing the public at large! After this issue goes viral is easy to say that was in the fine print, but the actual marketing and reviewers practices probably induced thousands consumers to error. Compared to any other industry now is shown how blatantly distorted the price-structure of overclock-able products is. Normally a product without warranty should be cheaper. ps.: lies or some exceptions is not the way to a better marketplace.

[@JMUDoc]

"Beve Sturke". I admit, that one made me laugh. Out loud. Look forward to subbing to Namers Gexus.

[@130rne]

So basically the completely honest person gets screwed. Sounds about right.

[@quirinaled2752]

Yeah it's ridiculous - what they're doing is actively trying to dissuade people from exercising their consumer rights. As Steve discovered, they're carefully avoiding ever coming out and openly saying that you can't run RAM over their 2666 'limit'. They're basically screwing ignorant customers i.e. not Steve from GN😂

[@franklofarojr.2969]

Yes, just ask Kamala Harris. Lies work much better, just ask Trump!

[@da133993]

Do you use xmp? Nope, I overclock my ram like a gentleman, manually.

[@kasuraga]

Wouldn't that be considered a form of false advertising? theyre marketing the cpus performance based on 3200mhz ram, but then say that you're not allowed to run ram at 3200mhz

[@gandalf6700]

*cat smells at intel cpu* ......."this smells like BS"

[@kazi1]

Time for a revisit

[@rrahma114]

By the end of the year, we need a build that is made up of all cat-type PC components. Just need a matching themed MOBO and RAM and maybe PSU if it isn't hidden in what I assume is a case in the vid.

[@jincai4547]

Intel warranty is the worst. Purchased a 9900k from Newegg 9 months ago. I thought the CPU fried, but it turns out to be something else. I went through the warranty process and Intel deemed the CPU to be a counterfeit because the QR code didn't match their system and says the chip has been modified. Their software Intel Processor Diagnostic shows it to be genuine and performs identically to any other 9900k. I ended up returning it to Newegg and going with AMD.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

"Format my harddrive to fix my CPU..."😂😂😂

[@soundspark]

Sometimes stability issues can be software related, so it only makes sense for the warranty department to rule software out.

[@Tullowit]

Great video! I appreciate you doing this kind of investigative work.

[@dwarfbard6226]

"You can almost always get what you want with ignorance." Gold. :D

[@franklofarojr.2969]

Got Trump the Presidency, Twice!

[@Steamrick]

I'm so glad that the warranty service I have most contact with is HP Enterprise. It's entirely possible to open up a case within 5 minutes, though there's some work afterwards to upload the AHS log they'll inevitably ask for.

[@menpee]

I'll stay here and hit F5 constantly until that Cute Pet pc case review hits KZbin.

[@ShaneBuchman]

Been waiting a week for a shipping label from intel.

[@SirNickyT]

"We'd count this as a victory if we were being a reasonable customer" 😂😂😂

[@Madchris8828]

Steve with the smackdown of info at 20:37 wooh! Slam dunk Side note a video comparing AMD to Intel in the warranty process later down the line would be great

[@RetroTinkerer]

Intel had somehow in any way told you when you review their processor samples that you must test then at stock setings and disclaim that the best performance would require running their processors out of specification and that would invalidate the CPU warranty?

[@Ironclad17]

I fear by next year we will have a full cutepet build. In 2011 I did get denied a warranty due to XMP when I knew nothing about pcs. My rep insisted XMP voided the warranty, and didn't give me jack. Really wish I pushed them on this.

[@MatthewL83]

Steve admits to being a liar. How can I ever trust this channel again?! Haha. Great work as always GN. Love the content.

[@alexanderzhurkevich749]

That preview though... Amazing

[@Azraleee]

"...running out of things to be mad at Intel for..." - NEVER!

[@bigpoppa1234]

One of the few things good about tech in Australia is that if a product stuffs up under warranty, you take it back to the retailer you bought it from and it's their problem to deal with. And the Government actually takes failures from retailers in this area seriously with large fines. XMP wouldn't even come into it. Either the chip works properly or it doesn't.

[@darknessnightfall]

If they lie about their technology, we can lie also. ( even when it is completely wrong that you have to do this)

[@shunyaatma]

Well David from Intel support was somewhat on point. XMP does require higher VCCIO and VCCSA. Sometimes, motherboard manufacturers are also to be blamed. Some boards will set atrociously high IO and SA voltages that can potentially kill the memory controller. This is especially true for higher frequency kits (rated around 4000MT/s). But to decline warranty for the same 3200 XMP profile used for public benchmark numbers is just a plain double standard.

[@arturzelenko1562]

Wow that 🐱 case is hilarious! You should do another build for the cat shelter using it!