MSI mobo has loose metal blocks

klrman

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There are two 2x3 inch metal blocks on my msi board. Not exactly sure what they are, but one was completely loose. The screws were just hanging underneath the board enough to barely hold the block on. No biggie as I just tightened them, but should I be concerned about the quality of the board after this, or does it go under the heading s.... happens?
 
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WOW! never seen or heard that. loose screws is one thing but missing washers is a big no-no. yea send that sucker back. they stopped sealing them in plastic. they only do that with water coolers, PSUs and GPUs now.

the last maybe 10 motherboards i bought in the last year had no shrink wrap. including my latest purchase, the gigabyte X99 gaming G1

terroralpha

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what model board? those are probably heatsinks that cool some of the components.

everything is made with zero quality control now so this sort of nonsense is to be expected. try to see if you can tighten them. you don't want that piece of metal to cause a short. or you can try to RMA.
 

klrman

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MSI Z97 U3 Plus. I was thinking they were heat sinks but this is my first install and wasn't sure. Yes, I tightened them and was careful and it looks solid now. Just a little taken back as you read on the box "Military Class 4" and hear good things about how well it is put together and all that, and then the heat sink is just dangling there lol
 

terroralpha

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they write the darnest things on the motherboards. "military" this. "ultra durable" that. republic of fail. etc. it's all gimmicks. as long as the metals don't move around anymore you are good. sometimes the people on the assembly line get rushed or just straight don't give a rat's ass. things like this happen.

i think you'll be fine from here.
 

klrman

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The big heat sink between the cpu and I/O's. Now that I take a closer look, the loose one has a metal washer missing between the base of the sink and the board. I just noticed it as the other side has a metal washer and so do the two screws holding the other heat sink opposite. I'm going to send it back.
 

klrman

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Sorry, just posted after underattacks post and then there was yours. I can see a metal washer missing, that has me worried.
 

klrman

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This is my fist box, but the motherboard box was not sealed in plastic. Is this how it is or did they send me a returned one? My MSI Graphics Card box was sealed in plastic.
 

terroralpha

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WOW! never seen or heard that. loose screws is one thing but missing washers is a big no-no. yea send that sucker back. they stopped sealing them in plastic. they only do that with water coolers, PSUs and GPUs now.

the last maybe 10 motherboards i bought in the last year had no shrink wrap. including my latest purchase, the gigabyte X99 gaming G1
 
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klrman

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Yeah, I don't feel comfortable putting this in my build, especially my first one. I just looked at the newegg site in canada and I need to get an rma, ship it back to them and pay a restocking fee. Kind of a bummer really and the down time as well.
 

klrman

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Thanks I will do that. I just read their policy and they don't cross ship, so I might just request a refund and be done with it as it is pretty clear they want me to pay for shipping it back no matter what and in the meantime just order the board from someone else and give them a try.
 

Frogger12

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Wow some poor sucker on the Assembly line needs to redo the training that's horrible man i hope your next one is a ok. Just sen your last post i was gong to say i bet a computer store can fix that for you in a few seconds maybe the board is ok and its just those parts i bet they wont even charge you much if anything.
 

klrman

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The board probably is ok, but since this is my first build and that heat sink was just sitting so loose and wobbly, I thought it's not worth the risk just in case the same person did more assembly on it. I could bring it to the local computer store, but just ordered another one online and will do the rma on this one now and be done with it. Would have been a disappointment if I didn't see the error and something shorted when I put it all together lol.

Just talked to newegg in canada and since I paid for a premier membership, they just emailed me a ups label to print and slap on, so no shipping charges and no restocking fees. What's nice is I decided last night to get the premier membership thinking it won't apply to an order I did before that, but they right way took care of it all. Will have to give them 5 eggs for that one :D
 

klrman

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The whole mobo issue is confusing. I talk to anyone anywhere, and either gigabyte stinks, asus stinks or msi stinks lol.

What board would you recommend that would be close to the MSI Z97 U3 Plus but has superior QC in your opinion? Many have told me how much they love asus, but it seems everyone agrees that if you need tech support, asus is non existent.
 

klrman

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Thanks for the tip! My first choice was actually Asus, but even computer shops would tell me that if I need tech support, I would be in the dark and since I'm new at this, it could be a problem for me in the beginning. I sort of chose MSI as they always right away answered my calls even before I purchased the product.