Powerlogix G3 1 GHz ZIF - a bad experience
I already bought many processor upgrades, from OWC, Sonnet and Daystar in the past. (since 1994). Installation was always successful. But this time, it went wrong...
Last month I bought an OWC Powerlogix G3 (IBM 750GX) ZIF upgrade for my G3 Beige minitower. I ran all the latest firmware updates to make the PCI cards fully compatible with Panther.
Installation instructions were confusing. Before I talked to a technician at OWC who confirmed that there would be a set of pliers in the box and clear instructions how to bend the heatsink. The manual was not up to date at all.
There were no pliers in the box and no instructions of how to bend the heatsink clip. There was an installation movie in which thermal paste was applied, but my ZIF came with a thermal pad with a blue cellophane above it. Very confusing.
Anyway, I removed the blue cellophane tabbed material. The tackiness of the heat transfer pad adhered much more to the blue cellophane than to the top of the processor, so both came off the processor when the blue tab was pulled. With some effort I was able to finally separate the blue cellophane from the heat transfer pad and put the thermal pad to the top of the processor. I didn't bend the heatsink clip, took care of the right orientation , closed the G3 and booted.
The first time it started up Panther and was running at 667 Mhz. I tried the Powerlogix CPU director and set it to 1000 Mhz. I started Word 2004 and scrolled in a large document and the computer crashed. I was forced to reboot and then I got a Kernel Panic (Had it never in one year with the OWC G4 ZIF!!). Then I couldn't reboot. The green light on my G3 Beige tower didn't appear....
Tried PRAM reset, CUDA reset. Nothing. Opened the ZIF socket and placed the ZIF with thermal pad in another G3, a B&W, but it wouldn't boot either. But both Macs booted fine as soon as I placed the original ZIFs back...
I live in Belgium. I had to send the defective ZIF back to the States. I paid 58 dollars taxes and import duties and the custom house office refused to give me this back. I paid 31 dollars for shipping to Belgium, but the FedEX asked me 104 dollars to ship it back in a brown box. Anyway, I used an cheaper method from another company.
And then came the final judgement from OWC
"After receiving your processor back for replacement, it has been determined that the processor die was chipped on the edges. The cause of this is related to the way the heat sink clip is installed. When the clip is installed backwards it creates excessive uneven pressure on the edge of the processor die. In most cases this will cause the die edges to crack and break off permanently damaging the cpu . Unfortunately, because this damage is related to the installation process, the warranty is voided and we cannot replace the processor. If you would like to purchase a new processor, I can see about getting you a discount on a new one. ... We have taken pictures..."
I did not install this heatsink clip backwards!! I installed it with the "bend" (pressure point) over the CPU side of the ZIF (like the others)
I checked it thoroughly before installing.
A possible explanation can be that this thermal pad has moved when I put the heatsink back above the ZIF.... In this case, the installation is really tricky. A kind of hit or miss. A play with the lottery...
Anyway, I lost 320 dollars. I could have used this money for a much better solution. I tell everyone of you this:
Before you buy a Powerlogix upgrade, think twice.
Sonnet, Daystar and OWC ZIFS are much more reliable.
But buying a new Mac is the best choice.
Is there anyone of you who has an idea what could have gone wrong during the installation?
TIA and Kind regards
Last month I bought an OWC Powerlogix G3 (IBM 750GX) ZIF upgrade for my G3 Beige minitower. I ran all the latest firmware updates to make the PCI cards fully compatible with Panther.
Installation instructions were confusing. Before I talked to a technician at OWC who confirmed that there would be a set of pliers in the box and clear instructions how to bend the heatsink. The manual was not up to date at all.
There were no pliers in the box and no instructions of how to bend the heatsink clip. There was an installation movie in which thermal paste was applied, but my ZIF came with a thermal pad with a blue cellophane above it. Very confusing.
Anyway, I removed the blue cellophane tabbed material. The tackiness of the heat transfer pad adhered much more to the blue cellophane than to the top of the processor, so both came off the processor when the blue tab was pulled. With some effort I was able to finally separate the blue cellophane from the heat transfer pad and put the thermal pad to the top of the processor. I didn't bend the heatsink clip, took care of the right orientation , closed the G3 and booted.
The first time it started up Panther and was running at 667 Mhz. I tried the Powerlogix CPU director and set it to 1000 Mhz. I started Word 2004 and scrolled in a large document and the computer crashed. I was forced to reboot and then I got a Kernel Panic (Had it never in one year with the OWC G4 ZIF!!). Then I couldn't reboot. The green light on my G3 Beige tower didn't appear....
Tried PRAM reset, CUDA reset. Nothing. Opened the ZIF socket and placed the ZIF with thermal pad in another G3, a B&W, but it wouldn't boot either. But both Macs booted fine as soon as I placed the original ZIFs back...
I live in Belgium. I had to send the defective ZIF back to the States. I paid 58 dollars taxes and import duties and the custom house office refused to give me this back. I paid 31 dollars for shipping to Belgium, but the FedEX asked me 104 dollars to ship it back in a brown box. Anyway, I used an cheaper method from another company.
And then came the final judgement from OWC
"After receiving your processor back for replacement, it has been determined that the processor die was chipped on the edges. The cause of this is related to the way the heat sink clip is installed. When the clip is installed backwards it creates excessive uneven pressure on the edge of the processor die. In most cases this will cause the die edges to crack and break off permanently damaging the cpu . Unfortunately, because this damage is related to the installation process, the warranty is voided and we cannot replace the processor. If you would like to purchase a new processor, I can see about getting you a discount on a new one. ... We have taken pictures..."
I did not install this heatsink clip backwards!! I installed it with the "bend" (pressure point) over the CPU side of the ZIF (like the others)
I checked it thoroughly before installing.
A possible explanation can be that this thermal pad has moved when I put the heatsink back above the ZIF.... In this case, the installation is really tricky. A kind of hit or miss. A play with the lottery...
Anyway, I lost 320 dollars. I could have used this money for a much better solution. I tell everyone of you this:
Before you buy a Powerlogix upgrade, think twice.
Sonnet, Daystar and OWC ZIFS are much more reliable.
But buying a new Mac is the best choice.
Is there anyone of you who has an idea what could have gone wrong during the installation?
TIA and Kind regards
Comments
If you can find out who their executive relations department or CEO is, it's worth sending a letter.