Having had a 3-month old motherboard fail, the CPU (E7200) seems to have given up as well.

I contacted Intel via phone, and went through their horrible system speaking to a half-wit in a call centre, I then spoke to a half-wit who supposedly is their first (and only) line tech support. I had to give these people loads of information about my whole computer specification.

Intel then e-mailed me an incorrect discription of my components, I corrected the list and sent it back. Intel then e-mailed me asking me the same questions as the idiot on the phone did. I responed with a decent amount of detail.

Intel e-mailed me again basically asking the same question yet again.

As they are so stupid I broke the details down into smaller sentences, giving them the bare facts and not using any long words. I stated every single thing that I tested (everything). And pointed out to them that I had been running with a P4 Prescott 3.2GHz for 3 weeks, and when I swapped the E7200 back and flashed the BIOS it didnt POST most of the time.

Intel then e-mailed me again asking me to test the E7200 in another motherboard...... WTF

I responed by repeating that I have tested both CPU's in my motherboard and the E7200 does not work, again, they just said that I will need to send the CPU back to where I bought it from as they wont accept it until it has been tested in another motherboard.

I then re-contacted my supplier and told them that Intel are acting like ars3holes, they read my info and gave me an RMA number.

I wont suggest to anyone reading this not to buy Intel CPU's but I will strongly suggest not to buy any of their motherboards, simply because CPU's rarely fail, but motherboards fail very often. Their support is by far the worst I have ever encountered.

They cant get simple details right, their "technicians" don't know what a "Prescott" is, they cant identify that a CPU is obviously faulty, and they wont accept things back for RMA unless it has been tested beyond the possibility of the average person.


Andy

Well why buy Intel mobo to start with ? When there are so many better options out there..?

In the UK the first year of warranty cover is usually provided by the retailer which can be a good or bad thing depending on the retailer of course. I’m surprised to hear that you had to deal with the manufacturer within the initial 12 month period. Is this normal for Intel products and where did you purchase the board from?

I wouldn’t read too much into one bad experience as you may just have been unlucky; I’ve often read people moaning about a company that I’ve had stellar treatment from. It’s still damn annoying when it happens to you though so commiserations.

This is true, but the majority or eTailers limit you to returning products to them withing the first 1-3 months when you buy anything from them, aggreed by you when you buy. Now this of course is a very grey area, and strictly illegal, but most of the time its not worth argueing with an eTailer that you have basically agreed to a short warranty term with already and head straight to the manufacturer. Which works well with, Kingston, MSI, Gigabyte, AMD, Asus, Gainward, Samsung and Logitech. But Intel are a true bunch of arseholes.



I bought an Intel CPU. I am letting everyone know the problems, on the off chance that they have an Intel CPU fail, and to warn people off of buying an Intel motherboard - which are widely regarded as being ultra reliable. Who cares if they are more reliable, if it fails you will have loads of grief, and probably get pissed off at them asking you stupid questions for a week and just buy a replacement anyway, and this time from someone else.



I bought a CPU - hence the description "the CPU (E7200) seems to have given up as well."

My point was, that if their support is this terrible for CPU's that rarely ever fail, why would anyone buy their motherboards, which according to my rough statistics are 100-150 times more likely to fail than CPU's.

As it currently stands, if you want the fastest CPU, you need to buy Intel, but hope and pray that the CPU does not fail, and if it does try to send it back to your eTailer or Retailer if possible. And just dont buy their motherboards, as I mentioned they are over 100 times more likely to fail than a CPU, and Intel's product support sucks arse.


Andy

So where did you buy the CPU from?

I bought the CPU from http://www.scan.co.uk/ if I had remembered that I had done so I would have contacted them first. As we tend to buy most of our stuff from eBuyer and Dabs I didnt bother looking it up or even contacting them as they are a pain in the arse after the first 28-days, so I went straight to Intel. Infact that was the first order at Scan for 9-months, in which time we have ordered from eBuyer about 30 times.

Scan were very helpful, and responded quickly (for e-mail support that is), from the original question to getting an RMA number took 2 1/2 days. Like most eTailers they wanted me to send the CPU back to Intel, but I told them in the email that Intel are being unreasonable arseholes, so they agreed to give me an RMA number.

It has taken Intel 5 days to say NO, and a further 2 days to say NO another 2 times.


Andy

Next time, just lie and say that you tried it in another motherboard and it didn't work. Unfortunately, you have to resort to this sometimes. I usually only have to do this with internet tech support ( why yes! I did just power cycle the router!).

QFT

Gotta beat them at their own game!

My first day installing sat internet my boss gave me the low down on how to lie to ops so they would pass you on the higher ups quickly. With out this knowledge id still be stuck on some roof in the dark talking to india about how long to wait before plugging back in the power and resetting the modem for the umpteenth time.

Its unfortunate, but lying is part of dealing with business' in a free market economy now.

Well, I have to actually send it back to Intel this time (yes its dead again, along with the Mobo - but at least Gigabyte gave me a free upgrade to a DS4).

I have actually tested it in another mobo as I kept hold of it for some time (over 2 months now) until I got a mobo to test it with (and because I was damned busy).

I will let you know how I get along, when I get round to sending it back.


Andy

I know how you feel but it's difficult to avoid a giant like intel.

That's a completely polar opposite to my experience with Intel RMA.

I had two CPUs die on me at different times:

E8500
QX9650

Both times RMA was simple and painless, as I explained to them I had tested the chips in two different computers of "identical" setups (mine and a friend's) and couldn't get it to POST. A small fib to get the process going quicker as I knew the CPU was a paperweight at that point.

For the first chip, I e-mailed them for the initial RMA case (using some webform I believe). Called the USA support number for a follow-up as I didn't hear back from them within 2-3 days. After the voice conversation (opening up another RMA case) giving them the serial number, etc, I was assigned a number. Shipped the CPU+HSF back, received a new one in 2 days.

The second chip I called in first, assigned a case number, and again, two days after Intel received my CPU+HSF I had a new one on hand.

Both instances I did not have the stock HSF on hand but they were lenient enough to assign a case number.

Hopefully I will get the time today to RMA that CPU.

UPDATE ---------------

I phoned Intel, the guy there "suggested" that I contacted the place I bought the CPU from even though I bought it 10-months ago. He stated that he would have to give me some information, then pass me to someone else who would ask me questions, then I would need to speak to the first guy again who would give me an RMA number.

I again contacted "scan.com" where I bought the CPU from, within a couple of minutes I had an e-mail on the way with all of the information in it, quality support, unlike Intels shambles.


Andy