PC Processors

[TRS-80]

Hello All,

New to the forum here and this is my first posting. So here goes....

I just purchased and assembled a Ryzen 7 3800X, the included prism cooler, MSI X570 gaming edge, memory, etc..

Everything seemed to go off without any issues. Installed Win10 Pro and was off and running.  Then I noticed the cpu temps just seemed to run high when loading (80-90) at 70-100% loading and seemed to want to creep upward. The cooler came with thermal compound pre-applied and looked fine out of the box, but I did notice the clear plastic tray cup on the bottom for shipping was pretty destroyed / broken. Don't understand how that happened since the heat compound wasn't smeared and the outer box was perfect. I verified the cooler was latched in properly and wasn't loose (has the lever / clip on latch type so really hard to mess up seating it in place). After going round and round checking everything else I decided to just remove the prism cooler because everything else seemed to be checking out ok. Pulled the prism cooler and immediately saw that the compound didn't get "squished" on about 1/3 of the cpu/heatsink surface toward the side closest to the back of the PC. 

There was nothing caught or trapped between the heatsink and cpu surface to prevent seating and it was latched in correctly.  Using a strait edge I verified my suspicion that the heat sink surface was defective (not flat) and I was correct. Very, very disappointing indeed. The gap matched exactly where the dots of compound didn't get compressed to the surface of the cpu.

Not exactly sure how or if there is even a way for me to get a replacement under warranty for just the wraith prism cooler, so for now I bought and installed an aftermarket cooler that is working well, but I wanted to raise the issue here so that others would be aware.

Thanks.

[dinub1]

I think if the CPU and the Wraith cooler come as a pack (it surely does) and you verified the cooler surface is not machined flat, that is a manufacturer's defect and I think the whole combo needs to be replaced under waranty. I would write the vendor or either AMD, see what they say. Though a replacement cooler is not a too expensive thing, but the built in cooler should not be defective.
I am running a 3700X with a Wraith cooler, and it works just fine... never too hot... it idles around 30-35 C and on full load, it never gets hoter than say 65C. They are exellent CPU's. Your 3800X can get slightly higher in HGz than mine... 

[TRS-80]

Yup, the 3800X and the wraith prism cooler came together (normal retail package with seal intact). Individual boxes inside the one larger retail box. No signs of damage to the retail or individual boxes, but still crushed / splintered plastic bottom tray/cup inside the prism cooler box. Definitely a head scratcher. Possibly the plastic got crunched by the packing equipment putting the cooler into the box, but no obvious dings on the heatsink so I didn't think much of it. It does kind of speak to quality control IF that's how the plastic got crunched. Now the cooler's mating surface to the CPU not being uniformly flat is definitely a manufacturing defect and quality control issue. I didn't spot it prior to install because it already had the thermal compound applied to the surface (little dots of compound) that prevented me from putting a strait edge across it. When I did take them apart I took pictures of both the heat sink bottom and CPU top showing the obvious area of uncompressed thermal compound. Then I cleaned the compound off the heat sink, examined with a strait edge, and saw that it wasn't uniformly flat. 

I didn't really want my new computer build to be halted for an unknow amount of delay time to deal with a warranty claim and the processor seems to be working ok, so I figured the easiest way to finish the build was to find any available cooler locally. At that point it wasn't a money thing (coolers aren't too expensive), it was a time and parts availability thing. 

I'm trying to look at it like a learning opportunity. Not too painful of a learning opportunity since my 3800X didn't get smoked (thank goodness!). In the end I learned more about my new computer case and what coolers will fit in it (even though the mfg specs say it won't).

It's all good :)

[mackbolan777]

Little dots of compound out of box? Sounds like someone returned it and obviously resealed the box with official tape. The cooler should have a coating across the entire mating surface. I got the 3600X but the compound was super smooth across the entire mating surface. When building, I always scrape the stock stuff off if using the factory cooler and use TG-7 or better, so that compound is right no matter. But a straight edge and you could slide a thickness gauge in the gap? Or was it bulged? It boggles the mind there was no external damage other than the plastic cover. Oh, well, use the fan as an exhaust or intake fan, lol.

[TRS-80]

Yeah I expected a coating over the entire mating surface too, but it had to have been machine applied as the dots were exactly and uniformly spaced in a perfect square. A friend of mine just got a Ryzen 9 3900 and his cooler had dots too. He's not having heat issues though so probably just my bad luck.  Oh well, lesson learned. Always verify the critical stuff even if it means wiping off OEM thermal compound and applying my own.

[JustinSmith715]

Do you not realize that all of the wraith prisms are made this way?? If you return it you are just wasting time because you will get the same exact thing back in return. The thermal paste is applied in "dots" to help with this. So say AMD anyways... Which I found this who setup to be seriously disappointing. They are too cheap to have it machined, yet they can add a load of RGB! What I did was purchased some grizzly and did a X patten on the CPU and put 4 small dots in-between each corner and it worked much better then their "dots" smh...shame on AMD. 

[TRS-80]

• You might be right, but I'd be really surprised if all AMD wraith coolers were like mine where the seating face is so uneven that only 2/3 touches the CPU lid. Either way I went with a dual fan tower cooler, so not worrying about getting another wraith. My new tower cooler works really well and now I've gotten my 3800X performing really really well... Now I've just got to be patient until the whole graphic card craziness settles down to upgrade. Luckily I've got a decent graphic card already and two other good ones in other systems as backup if needed. Just gotta be patient...

[elstaci]

If you purchased the Ryzen from a Retailer in an official AMD Retail box you have a 3 year AMD Warranty that includes the CPU Cooler once the Retailer's Return Date or Warranty has expired.

In my case, I purchased a 3700X that also came with a Wraith Prism but never used it because I decided to use my CoolerMaster Hyper212 evo CPU cooler which is better or stronger than the Prism.

So I have the Prism as a backup emergency CPU Cooler for my wife's FX8350 CPU which has a 125 watt TDP. I can't use it on my computer since i needed to replace the Motherboard's Clip-on brackets with a special CoolerMaster bracket.

[mackbolan777]

@JustinSmith715 , @TRS-80 

Are we STILL on this subject??? My 3600X came with a machined bottom and full layer of thermal paste, no dots. FYI, dots don't make up for a gap as large as light can go through. You need metal to metal contact and thermal paste is the "bridge" to assist the heat in wicking more efficiently. It's not going to fix a genuine gap. It will smooth out the heat wicking across the slightest of hills and valleys we can't see without a magnifier of some sort or ridges from machining. Nothing fills a gap but actual material like metal. Thermal Grizzly's liquid metal is actual metal so it would "fill" small gaps. I wouldn't waste that expensive solution on a stock cooler. 

As far as RGB goes, it's pretty much for "your eyes only", won't make your PC faster or make your love life better. It might screw with your other electronics on the board if something goes wrong with it. To each their own.

Newer card? You'll be waiting a while. From a recent article flash memory is in short supply holding up production of AMD GPU's because of the memory type the cards use. It's expected to go past April, think maybe 3rd quarter? However, I paid $877 plus tax and shipping for a Gigabyte RX 6800. The card retailed in November for $579, seller bought it in December for $736 with tax. So not too scalpy and it works fantastic! I heard rumors of Newegg having stock of this same card at $689 but you need to grab it while you can. Unless you want an even beefier RX 6800 XT which this card nearly passes in performance at up to 1440p. 4K there's going to be a difference for sure. But now the RX 6800 XT in any flavor is going to set one back at least $1k pre-tax. Then we have the tariff issue that even when it's repealed, will take months for things to stabilize. The "green team" isn't fairing much better with quality or quantity either and prices are very scalpy ATM. At 1080p, which is my preferred resolution, this thing easily smokes the 3070 and catches the 3080, within a few frames of the XT version as well. Unless you need 4K or you have a huge screen, I highly recommend saving coin and just get an RX 6800. This one is a Gigabyte WindForce RX 6800 Gaming OC, runs killer clocks out of the box and low temps.

[TRS-80]

Thanks for the info on the RX 6800. Yup, hoping to eventually get something like the RX 6800, but guess I'll have to be even more patient than I'd planned on. Oh well, guess we'll see. I'll keep watching for one. Never know, maybe I'll get lucky.

[mackbolan777]

I think you'd need to return the kit for an refund/exchange. There's like zero available so, if you got a cooler on there, it's probably better in W/k anyway so let it go. The stock coolers are quasi-low end stuff anyway. It's got RGB and a few heat pipes but basically nothing special. I run an AIO personally so the stock cooler didn't matter. You could "lap" it flat too. It is really unusual it would be that poorly flat without a noticeable deviation in the machined area. Meh, doesn't hurt to contact AMD support direct, send them pics, see what happens.

[TRS-80]

Yeah, I agree with you Mack. I was just glad I got my hands on the needed parts and another cooler that would work.  I was rather taken aback on the machining error, but in fairness I had to really look hard to see it until I put the strait edge on it. With the strait edge it's fairly obvious when you can see light coming through a gap on the back 1/3 of the CPU contact area. I'll see what AMD support says, but at least it's not a hold up on my build.