Clearance Issues with OCZ Memory cooler and Abit AW9D-MAX with 8800gt

I'd been drooling over the Memory cooler for quite some time and just got around to picking one up.

Loved the build quality, the aesthetics are great.

Theres just one problem.

I installed it, followed the directions word for word, turned my computer on and *pop*. The bottom of it apparently touched my graphics and shorted it, frying it.

To spare you a long story.

RMA'd card, had to buy a backup card to use while its away as I need my computer running for college work.

So, I'm out like $40 bucks on a temporary graphics card, and I have a $25 hunk of aluminum thats totally useless.

I want to make sure that something like this doesn't happen to anyone else.
I would highly recommend that you recall existing units and add some kind of dielectric finish to the cooler.

After talking with DarthBeavis he told me that he uses several layers of clear nail polish to prevent what happened to me.

I really dont think that something as important as this should be up to the end users.

I look forward to hearing back from you. I previously was a huge fan on OCZ, (hell you've probly seen pictures of me at lan parties. I'm the guy with the giant C on my back) , but after this I am more than a little bit frustrated with you guys.

It's hard to make a memory cooler that will work with all motherboards because different motherboards have varying amounts of space between the RAM DIMMs and the PCI-e slots. Some might be really close, and some might be farther apart.

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Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

It's hard to make a memory cooler that will work with all motherboards because different motherboards have varying amounts of space between the RAM DIMMs and the PCI-e slots. Some might be really close, and some might be farther apart.

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Not completely true. Generally speaking motherboards are all fairly standard save for a few that put the memory horizontal and above the cpu socket.

I feel more strongly however that the cooler should not be electrically conductive in the first place. This fact alone is the reason why the short occurred. If the cooler had had a dielectric coating it would have worked perfectly.

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Originally Posted by aspire.comptech

Not completely true. Generally speaking motherboards are all fairly standard save for a few that put the memory horizontal and above the cpu socket.

I feel more strongly however that the cooler should not be electrically conductive in the first place. This fact alone is the reason why the short occurred. If the cooler had had a dielectric coating it would have worked perfectly.

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True.
Or maybe some kind of nonconductive pad on the bottom.

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Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

True.
Or maybe some kind of nonconductive pad on the bottom.

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exactly.

But to think theyll recall over a tiny percentage? Nah this is OEM and this is computer modders, if it don't fit make it fit. Sorry I feel for ya, and warning to all, but thats something you should have checked when putting it in, and shouldn't really be the producers problem if it fits most other boards no problems.

Yeah, you should have checked if the cooler was making contact with your video card BEFORE powering on ;)

Now why is it that someone from ocz hasn't commented here yet but still manages to reply to other threads in this section....

Because its not OCZs fault that you didnt check properly before fitting it. Noone else here has had that problem at all. When i put mine on my 680i the bottom thumbscrew was about 2mm from touching my gfx card so i simply replaced the thumbscrew with a normal one. Never had a problem.

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Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

True.
Or maybe some kind of nonconductive pad on the bottom.

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Would a piece of electrical tape work as well? I bought this memory cooler also but i haven't received my DFI mobo that it's going on yet.

Mine didn't even fit on with the thumbscrew so I swapped it for the normal screw.

And so far as I could see, the two were not touching.

The fact of the matter is, regardless of why it happened, that neither andy or ryder have made any comments regarding the issue is rather troubling.

I am not quite sure what kind of comment you are after.

I read this thread, the comments at Newegg, and the email you sent me. I do not have exact sales figures for the coolers, but it is in excess of 500 per month. Its been on sale for roughly 6 months, so out of approx 3000 (or more) units, you are the first incident, that has been brought to our attention, about something shorting out. To recall all the units we have sold because of 1 instance is not something that we would consider a design flaw, thus necessitating a recall.

I am sorry that it happened, but I am not really sure what you want to accomplish here.

Fair enough. I did not know I was the only person with the issue where a short occurred. However I do know of numerous people that have had to modify, or otherwise alter the mounting hardware for the cooler to be comisdered safe.

In my post I also mentioned that Darthbeavis coats the bottom edge using nail polish to prevent against shorts.

The fact that on your forums ocz staff say it is compatible with all ddr and ddr2 motherboards is somewhat misleading and a warning regarding possible compatibility issues would perhaps be in order.

A system integrator, which is what a user becomes when assembling their own system, is responsible for the compatibility of all components. I didn't see anything on the OCZ site that states the cooler is compatible with all motherboards. This is what I read.

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Cools DDR1 or DDR2 memory modules

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What happened to you is a bad thing. But the responsibility ultimately lays with the person that assembled the components.

I did say on their forums, not their web site.

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Originally Posted by aspire.comptech

Fair enough. I did not know I was the only person with the issue where a short occurred. However I do know of numerous people that have had to modify, or otherwise alter the mounting hardware for the cooler to be comisdered safe.

In my post I also mentioned that Darthbeavis coats the bottom edge using nail polish to prevent against shorts.

The fact that on your forums ocz staff say it is compatible with all ddr and ddr2 motherboards is somewhat misleading and a warning regarding possible compatibility issues would perhaps be in order.

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i don't know about everyone else. but mine came with 2 sets of mounting hardware and one set allows you to install without making the gap between the dimm slot clips and vid card any smaller. it sits flush the dimm slot clips and would not have a chance of hitting the vid card on any mobo unless it fell off.

Mine is in an inverted lian li and I simple use electric tape on the surface that will contact my card, awesome cooler for the price btw.

Just my 2 cents but you shouldn't have rma'd a card that you shorted out! how is that the video card companies fault? people need to be responsible when doing things like that. Surely you knew that it would short the card when you installed it!

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Originally Posted by RyderOCZ

I am not quite sure what kind of comment you are after.

I read this thread, the comments at Newegg, and the email you sent me. I do not have exact sales figures for the coolers, but it is in excess of 500 per month. Its been on sale for roughly 6 months, so out of approx 3000 (or more) units, you are the first incident, that has been brought to our attention, about something shorting out. To recall all the units we have sold because of 1 instance is not something that we would consider a design flaw, thus necessitating a recall.

I am sorry that it happened, but I am not really sure what you want to accomplish here.

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Ryder, I got the same problem, Its mainly fixed with the Maximus, since you can just put the video card in the 2nd PCIe slot.

But When I'm forced to use the 1st PCIe slot. I just made sure that the mounting plate on the memory cooling is on top, and nothing on bottom of it. So its not very tight. And Make sure it doesn't touch the video card. Normally 1/5 cm gap. Its normally the first thing i remove when i start working on the computer.

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Originally Posted by [cTx]Warboy

Ryder, I got the same problem, Its mainly fixed with the Maximus, since you can just put the video card in the 2nd PCIe slot.

But When I'm forced to use the 1st PCIe slot. I just made sure that the mounting plate on the memory cooling is on top, and nothing on bottom of it. So its not very tight. And Make sure it doesn't touch the video card. Normally 1/5 cm gap. Its normally the first thing i remove when i start working on the computer.

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i have a maximus formula se with an 8800GTS. there is 1/4 inch clearance between the cooler and the vid card. are you sure the bottom mounting clip groove is flush with the base of the cooler itself? there should be plenty of room there.

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Originally Posted by jimmyz

Surely you knew that it would short the card when you installed it![/B]

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If I knew it would short, why would I do it? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by #su

i don't know about everyone else. but mine came with 2 sets of mounting hardware and one set allows you to install without making the gap between the dimm slot clips and vid card any smaller. it sits flush the dimm slot clips and would not have a chance of hitting the vid card on any mobo unless it fell off.

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When I first put it on I used the thumbscrews on both ends. However it wouldn't even fit on period. So I changed the bottom thumbscrew to the included standard screw and installed it.

I noted that it was in very close proximity but did not assume there would be an issue.

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Originally Posted by aspire.comptech

When I first put it on I used the thumbscrews on both ends. However it wouldn't even fit on period. So I changed the bottom thumbscrew to the included standard screw and installed it.

I noted that it was in very close proximity but did not assume there would be an issue.

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yea, i'm guessing the thumbscrew would rarely be an option for the bottom clip. but are you sure you had the groove from clip lined up properly on the dimm slot clips? if they are lined up properly it will only sit at most 1/16 of an inch closer the vid card, as the thickness of the clip is only about 1/16 of an inch, if that.

not like any of this does you any good since you already fried a card then subsequently defrauded the company with a false RMA :p: definitely agree with jimmy on that one. RMA are for manufacturers defects only IMO.

I'm thinking of getting this cooler also, and have posted this in Official OCZ forum also.
Now that I've read about the possible shorting...I guess I'll add some electrical tape around it too.

What about painting this cooler---would it make it less prone for static?

I'm painting the interior of my case with truck-bed liner grade paint...would that help?

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Originally Posted by Cpl Ledanek

I'm thinking of getting this cooler also, and have posted this in Official OCZ forum also.
Now that I've read about the possible shorting...I guess I'll add some electrical tape around it too.

What about painting this cooler---would it make it less prone for static?

I'm painting the interior of my case with truck-bed liner grade paint...would that help?

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isn't that going to significantly increase the case temp? :confused:

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Originally Posted by #su

isn't that going to significantly increase the case temp? :confused:

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sorry wasn't specific enough...just the chassis/skeleton frame...this is for a Staker 830SE w/ 7-8 120mm fans cooling it...I just had to get rid of the shinny chassis part.:up:
advance thanks

OT: since I'm in the OCZ/Abit thread, what is a good RAM has been good for Abit IP35 PRO to replace my Corsairs?

I have a P5K deluxe and the ocz cooler and the cooler doesn't fit with my 8800GTS either.

At first i just used the bottom slot but then realized that the bottom slot wouldn't run my card at 16x. So I too have a useless piece of alu. Fortunately I didn't break my vidcard. It was kinda dumb that the cooler had a thumbscrew on both sides. It only needs one.

Even with a new flat screw the cooler still doesn't fit with my board dimensions though.

if the cooler is touching your card, or even close to it, then you're installer the cooler incorrectly. when i first plop the cooler on there it looks like it won't fit, but you wiggle it around a bit and it will snap into place. if your memory slots don't hit your graphics card, either will this cooler.

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Originally Posted by Smokin_Joe

Would a piece of electrical tape work as well? I bought this memory cooler also but i haven't received my DFI mobo that it's going on yet.

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I have electrical tape covering the bottom of mine and no problems whatsoever.

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Originally Posted by #su

if the cooler is touching your card, or even close to it, then you're installer the cooler incorrectly. when i first plop the cooler on there it looks like it won't fit, but you wiggle it around a bit and it will snap into place. if your memory slots don't hit your graphics card, either will this cooler.

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:shakes:

You do realize that the cooler overhangs the memory slots by quite a fair amount. So saying that if your memory slots don't touch the gfx card, then neither will the cooler is false.