damaged heatsink base (CM masterair pro 4)
damaged heatsink base (CM masterair pro 4)
Hey everyone.
Yesterday I received a cooler Master MasterAir 4 as a backup air cooler for my current H100i, which has been behaving oddly. The Master Air 4 was the only one available nearby and fits my motherboard and case perfectly.
I’m not sure if I’m being too critical, but there are many scratches and dents on the heatsink base—this isn’t the CPU-to-heatsink contact. It doesn’t look like it’s impacting performance much, but when buying new parts, you usually expect a flawless build. Should I return to the store for another one, or is it normal for all HyperX MasterAir finishes to have similar imperfections?
Here are the pictures:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1RLJGM
Thanks for your feedback.
fastwing76 :
@ubrales thanks for your response. It's a bit puzzling because this isn't my first air cooler. I've used CM V10, CM X6, and Nuctua NH-d14 before. They didn't have as many scuffs or scratches on their base, but they all had different copper pipe designs. It would be helpful to know if others received a similar cooler in this state. I could still bring it back to the store, but I'm unsure if they'll replace it or if it's worth the effort. The appearance of these assembled parts really depends on the manufacturing plant they came from. For cheaper models, quality control is less strict, and production focuses more on quantity rather than perfection.
@ubrales thanks for the reply. It's interesting because this isn't my first air cooler; I've used CM V10, CM X6, and Nuctua NH-d14 before. They didn't have as many scuffs and scratches on their base, but they all had different designs for the copper pipes. It would be helpful to know if someone else got a similar cooler in this state. I could return it to the store, but I'm not sure if they'll replace it or if it's worth the trouble.
fastwing76 :
@ubrales thanks for the reply. It's a bit puzzling since this isn't my first air cooler. I've used CM V10, CM X6 and Nuctua NH-d14 before. They didn't get as many scuffs or scratches on their base. Still, their copper pipe design was different. It would be helpful to know if others received a similar cooler in this state. I could return it to the store, but I'm not sure they'll replace it or if it's worth the trouble. The appearance of these assembled parts really depends on the manufacturing plant. Lower-end models usually have less quality control and focus more on production speed, even with lower labor costs. I appreciate your understanding. To ease your worries, visit the store where you bought it and ask for a matching assembly. You might spot similar marks or dents there.
So I'm heading back from the store. The person helped me swap it out, even though they warned it wouldn't impact performance.
The new unit is just as worn down and scratched as the old one. Maybe a better CPU contact, but nothing more. They just replaced the heatsink and handed me a fresh one.
I think you guys are right—I guess I'm just lucky to have high-end coolers to deal with this lol. I'll share some photos of the new one so others can reference it if they ask about it later.
here are pictures of the new heatsink. you can notice a smoother base cpu contact, though some scuffs remain and scratches are still visible.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1JQoS1
thanks for your responses