I have a 'warranty' sticker stuck to my V4 Xeon CPU!?

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Jan 12, 2017
89
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Cambridge, UK
I read on another post about these but I thought it may be useful to post a dedicated one to ask about these pesky warranty stickers on CPUs.

Can you just leave it on?
Surely the pins are doing something and I would guess they would prefer not to have a sticker stuck over them?
If not, then what are the 'pins' and if you can cover them then what is the point of having them?!

Thanks for any advice on this!

A Picture is worth a thousand words..

 

markarr

Active Member
Oct 31, 2013
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There are no pins on the cpu itself just pads those are the little ovals outside the center. The center is a bank of capacitors that lines up with the hole in the socket of the mb. Not sure what the purpose of the sticker is or how they could enforce something that is barely holding on, from previous experience, but it should not cause any ill side effects.
 
Jan 12, 2017
89
6
8
Cambridge, UK
Thinking about the CPU socket, I see what you mean that these are not really pins; more blocks if anything.

I do not understand why they put them on either.

So for the sake of being able to send back a DOA $1100 CPU I guess I should leave it on if it will not cause any issues.
 

MiniKnight

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2012
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That ebay seller does it. I have 3-4 that I installed with the sticker and they seem fine.
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
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Ah didn't catch that. I have not seen it on retail, but on ES & similar I know these exists, that's why I was stumped
 

acquacow

Well-Known Member
Feb 15, 2017
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Thinking about the CPU socket, I see what you mean that these are not really pins; more blocks if anything.

I do not understand why they put them on either.
They generally use capacitors to provide stable voltages. Those are all there for power filtering. That is their main purpose.
 

Jeff Robertson

Active Member
Oct 18, 2016
429
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Chico, CA
Just an fyi, those stickers are illegal... Everyone uses them but they cannot *legally* void your warranty just because you open a piece of equipment you own. You might have to sue them but you will win every time. Interesting they put something with adhesive on the bottom of a CPU that by definition gets hot, I can't imagine it would stick long!
 

KioskAdmin

Active Member
Jan 20, 2015
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Just an fyi, those stickers are illegal... Everyone uses them but they cannot *legally* void your warranty just because you open a piece of equipment you own. You might have to sue them but you will win every time. Interesting they put something with adhesive on the bottom of a CPU that by definition gets hot, I can't imagine it would stick long!
Good luck suing a Chinese seller and making money from the action.
 
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Terry Kennedy

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2015
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www.glaver.org
Just an fyi, those stickers are illegal... Everyone uses them but they cannot *legally* void your warranty just because you open a piece of equipment you own. You might have to sue them but you will win every time. Interesting they put something with adhesive on the bottom of a CPU that by definition gets hot, I can't imagine it would stick long!
A couple of things:

First, I think you're reading a bit more into Magnuson-Moss than is actually in there. First, it only applies to a specific category - consumer products - defined as "tangible personal property which is distributed in commerce and which is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes". Despite this being "Serve the Home", you'd have a hard time making the case that a server CPU is a consumer product under that definition. Note that many manufacturers follow M-M even for commercial (non-consumer) products, but that is at their discretion.

Next, as a used component sold by a 3rd party, it probably would not require a warranty under M-M.

Last, as a component which cannot be practically separated into sub-components (as opposed to a boxed CPU + heat sink combo from the manufacturer) none of the "tying" issues arise - one of the goals of M-M was to prevent things like an automobile dealer saying "you installed a new radio, that voids the warranty on the engine".

As far as the sticker coming off, Intel lists a TCASE of 90°C at the integrated heat spreader. A sticker on the underside, particularly with the air gap provided by the capacitors, is unlikely to experience lift. This reference says "The temperature range the adhesive can function in after the label has been applied and built up to its ultimate adhesion. Most pressure sensitive adhesives have a range of -65 °F to 200 °F with a paper label stock, or up to 300 °F with a film label stock."

Having said that, I find these stickers stupid and annoying as well. Either the seller has been burned in the past by people returning "defective" items that were not the actual item sold (swap-n-steal) or they were convinced by a seller of "void if removed" stickers that this was a huge risk that could go away if they just bought these inexpensive stickers. If I were selling this sort of thing, I'd make sure I had a picture of the unique markings on each CPU and which customer I sold which part to (easy when each listing has its own unique piccture).
 
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