30xx Series Founders Edition

bigmike20vt · 17 Feb 2021 at 18:03

Does anyone know if removing the backplate to replace the pads or installing a water cooler voids the FE warranty? I know some companies embrace such mods and some do not. Googlefu came up with mixed massages some saying it's ok and some not (both answers from NV support!)

I want to look after myhardware as best as I can but not if it voids my warranty.
I have the pads on order

Disco_P · 17 Feb 2021 at 18:05

bigmike20vt said:
Does anyone know if removing the backplate to replace the pads or installing a water cooler voids the FE warranty? I know some companies embrace such mods and some do not. Googlefu came up with mixed massages some saying it's ok and some not (both answers from NV support!)

I want to look after myhardware as best as I can but not if it voids my warranty.
I have the pads on order

There is no sticker so they won't ever know

varkanoid · 17 Feb 2021 at 18:09

Disco_P said:
There is no sticker so they won't ever know

Some companies know due to the marks on the screws, eg Zotac as they put paint on them thats easily scratched. Plus if you ruin the old pads taking them off they will know.

What you need to check for is if the company allows it to be removed to put a water block on it.

bigmike20vt · 17 Feb 2021 at 18:31

Disco_P said:
There is no sticker so they won't ever know

They will if they remove the cooler and spot my after market thermal pads everywhere

vapor matt · 17 Feb 2021 at 18:36

I think its a bad stance by the card makers to stop people removing back plates to upgrade thermal pads or to improve cooling. not many support it, yet it can make a difference. I removed the cooler on my gamerock 3090oc to replace paste and fit thermal grizzly pads on front and back of card.
did it make a difference, well yes it did. the back plate now gets very hot, taking heat away from memory, plus i lost 2c idle on GPU using thermal grizzly K. Ive since purchased a 3090fe which i plan to water cool just waiting for the water block to turn up as my case isn't ideal for air cooling, fed up of leaving the front glass panel off.
Once the 3090fe is under water i will most likely sell the gamerock 3090oc with new pads and repaste done.

fromage · 17 Feb 2021 at 19:24

I contacted Nvidia support and they told me I could change/add thermal pads and retain warranty

A2B · 17 Feb 2021 at 19:35

fromage said:
I contacted Nvidia support and they told me I could change/add thermal pads and retain warranty

good to know thanks. did you ask them when the next drop is?

Jerry64 · 17 Feb 2021 at 19:46

A2B said:
good to know thanks. did you ask them when the next drop is?

Cheeky

Trig · 17 Feb 2021 at 21:14

I asked them and got thanked for my interest but they couldn't let me know..

varkanoid · 17 Feb 2021 at 21:24

fromage said:
I contacted Nvidia support and they told me I could change/add thermal pads and retain warranty

Did you get it in writing, for all we know might have been the Janitor passing the phones and answering.

g67575 · 17 Feb 2021 at 21:43

varkanoid said:
Did you get it in writing, for all we know might have been the Janitor passing the phones and answering.

Well, the janitor probably has a MSc or PhD if he works for Nvidia

JediFragger · 17 Feb 2021 at 22:25

fromage said:
I contacted Nvidia support and they told me I could change/add thermal pads and retain warranty

I'd keep that ****ing email/chat text somewhere safe!!!

Gerard · 17 Feb 2021 at 23:15

JediFragger said:
I'd keep that ****ing email/chat text somewhere safe!!!

Yup, wouldn't be the first time they've given out different answers to this question.

A2B · 18 Feb 2021 at 02:03

JediFragger said:
I'd keep that ****ing email/chat text somewhere safe!!!

I'm just gonna say @fromage said so

.

shamus21 · 18 Feb 2021 at 07:21

A2B said:
good to know thanks. did you ask them when the next drop is?

The European drops usually come first and the UK is a few days after. So far there have been none. Maybe next week.

Gavster · 18 Feb 2021 at 10:06

shamus21 said:
The European drops usually come first and the UK is a few days after. So far there have been none. Maybe next week.

EU drops were last week but no UK drop last week, sometimes we get a drop the same week and sometimes the week after so we might we a drop this week but as there isn`t a hard and fast pattern it`s hard to tell. We might not even get a drop for a couple of weeks with the Chinese new year.

varkanoid · 18 Feb 2021 at 10:15

There must be still delays at UK ports as the LG 32" monitors OCUK are pre-selling were reported to be stuck there so wouldnt be surprised if 3xxx is the same.

A2B · 18 Feb 2021 at 10:56

did we ever figure out what route the Founders are taking? are they straight from China via Europe, or direct from there to here? or via the US? (seems unlikely as that would probably mean their new tariffs getting added on).

b0rn2sk8 · 18 Feb 2021 at 11:03

Why would they go via the US? That would be very costly even ignoring the tariffs.

Europe (combined) is a bigger market than the than North America.

A2B · 18 Feb 2021 at 11:10

b0rn2sk8 said:
Why would they go via the US? That would be very costly even ignoring the tariffs.

agreed, but I've seen mention somewhere that the US tariffs may affect us. may not have accurate though.