Leaking Kraken AIO Cooler - RMA Journey

[FourOh]

As I posted in another thread, my two week old Kraken X31 AIO liquid CPU cooler spontaneously started leaking a few days ago. It caused damage to the R9-280X GPU below as well as the motherboard PCIe slot.

I am within the return period for the cooler, but sending it back for refund would mean I had no recourse on the GPU and mobo. So, I decided to go after NZXT for the damaged parts. I'm not sure how confident I am, but here is my first communication from NZXT support:

We would recommend proceeding with an RMA if you can please proceed to http://nzxtrma.rmaportal.com/ we will be able to continued assisting you. You will need to submit an account which then our RMA representative would be able to send you a message via email.

Also please send in the GPU and the motherboard as an investigation is going to need to be conducted as there is third party collateral damage they will give you a prepaid shipping label as well so use a box that is big enough to store all items.

Grammar aside, it appears they are willing to play ball. Not sure if they will attempt repair, offer replacement, or offer a replacement value. Anyway, I'm off to Newegg to pick up a new mobo/cpu/ddr4 to keep things going on my end

[DrPop]

Please keep us filled in on this one! I have a Kraken in one of my i73930K rigs.

[FourOh]

Response to RMA Request:

did you happen to contact amazon for a refund?
we do not have any x31's available to ship for the time being because of a common issue that is being reported. there might be a bad batch of defects. what we can do is upgrade you to an x61 free of charge if you would like?
please let me know but you are under amazon 30 day warranty so if you want a refund I advise you go through them

Hmmm... take the upgrade to X61 or get a full refund? I'm leaning towards upgrade

[Mumps]

As long as the x61 isn't simply that much more fluid to leak.

[DrPop]

Wow! The Kraken X61 looks like a beast. I'll have to look at the box in the garage to see which one I have. So far so good, I've been using it for at least a year I think, and it is better then the big Noctua HSF, so that's a compliment to it.

[John P. Myers]

Just to add my 2 cents, I've been using an x40 for a couples years or so with no leaks and great performance. I would lean towards the upgrade

[FourOh]

Yep, my X41 has been running 24/7 in my home office computer for over a year. Like they said, I just got one from a "bad batch." I hope they have their QC/QA figured out!

[DrPop]

Since I was installing the new GPU, I took a look at the Kraken I've got in there. It's an X41 and has been working perfectly if that helps with the decision?

[FourOh]

Well, I took the free upgrade to the Kraken X61 - basically I got a $140 cooler for $75 and a little heartache. It's a nice piece of gear, and fits nicely in the front of my NZXT S340 case. I've got my new i7-5820k running at 3.8Ghz and it's barely over 40C.

I haven't heard anything new about the damaged motherboard and GPU... despite emails requesting status updates. Hopefully the "investigation" wraps up soon!

[FourOh]

This build is turning into a pain in the arse! I'm getting blue screens regularly that seem to be related to memory. I have 2 pairs of 8gb sticks, same model number but bought separately. If I have all four installed, running the XMP 3200 profile, I get work unit errors, blue screens, and errors in Memtest. Plus, I can't OC past 3.8Ghz without even worse instability. If I only use 2 sticks, it seems to run fine and can achieve stable and higher overclocks. Was buying DDR4-3200 a mistake on the X99 platform? This is from G.Skill:

With the X99 platform, DDR4-3200 is nearing the limits of the Haswell-E CPU. Not all CPUs will be capable of this frequency, and some may require additional voltage tweaking to stabilize the memory controller. This is expected when pushing the limits of any processor. Keep in mind, Intel recommends DDR4-2133 and DDR4-2400 for the Haswell-E, so this RAM is pushing the memory controller capability over +33%. This is a significant amount for any frequency.

System Specs:
i7-5820k
GA-X99-UD3P
G.SKILL DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) F4-3200C16D-16GVK 4x8gb

I think I'm still within the return period with Newegg for this RAM. The ones I bought weren't on the Qualified Vendors List for this mobo (I never check those!) so maybe it's best I return and get a DDR4-3000 set that is on the list. Booooooo!

Edit: This will be a cruncher, of course... but stability is the #1 priority because it will replace dear wife's home office computer!