MaximumPC 2007 112

watch dodogg MAXIMUM PC TAKES A BITE OUT OF BAD GEAR dog

20

QUAD-CORE PENTIUM 4?

In January, I purchased $3,000 worth of PC parts

from Zipzoomfly.com, including a boxed retail Intel

QX6700 Quad Core processor. I had numerous

instability issues with my new rig spanning several

months. After replacing literally everything else,

I finally contacted Intel for warranty replacement

of my boxed retail proc only to be told that the

markings on my CPU were not that of a quad core!

To make a long story short, Intel told me that my

warranty was void because the proc is an “illegal

re-mark” and that I should pursue a replacement

with the vendor.

I have contacted Zipzoomfly.com more than a

dozen times and the company has tried everything

under the sun to dodge responsibility, including saying

that I was beyond the 30-day return policy, and finally

saying it has no way to recoup its money. So, in a nut-

shell, Zipzoomfly.com won’t replace my CPU because

someone is going to get shafted and the company

prefers that it be me.

—Roger Westbrook

Your problem is a disturbing one, Roger, as CPU

re-marking has long been a bane of the indus-

try. For those who don’t know about it, CPU

chip pirates take slower CPUs which are capa-

ble of overclocking and “re-mark” the surface

to say it’s a faster CPU. The profits come from

selling the cheaper chip as a more expensive

one. Re-marking isn’t the problem it was five

years ago—and we would hate for this to be a

sign of its resurgence.

The Dog pinged Zipzoomfly.com to hear its

side of the story. The company said the situation

is unfortunate but it doesn’t assume responsi-

bility since Roger waited several months beyond

the return policy period before contacting its

support center. The spokesman said CPU orders

are checked to see if the tamper seals are intact

before they go out the door. The company also

said they learned through their conversations

with Roger that the machine did identify itself

as a quad core during boot. The spokesman

said that at one point, Roger told Zipzoomfly.

com’s support center that he had taken his

machine to a local shop where a tech examined

the machine out of Roger’s view. So, although

the company has sympathy for Roger, it has

no plans to take the processor back because

it believes the CPU was swapped after it was

shipped to him.

The Dog went back to Roger who told the

Dog that, yes, he had taken the machine to be

checked, but he denied ever telling Zipzoomfly.

com that the machine was out of his view. “I was

talking with the tech the entire time and watch-

ing what he was doing,” Roger told the Dog, “and

as I’ve said, the symptoms

continued after I got the

rig back home, until it died

completely, that is.” Roger

also said that he did not

examine the tamper seals

when it arrived but later noticed that one of the

seals had been cut on the opposite side of the

box he originally opened.

Oy, what a mess. A picture Roger sent the

Dog clearly shows that the heat spreader says

“Pentium 4,” but Roger says it boots as a Core

2 quad core. Roger said he believes the heat

spreader said P4 from the very beginning but

admits that he did not look at the chip’s markings

until he spoke to Intel months later.

So is it a P4 or Core 2 quad core? The Dog

spoke to David Brown, a senior engineer in

Intel’s security department and was told that

there are no known hacks to make a Pentium

4 identify itself as a Core 2 chip. Brown said

Roger’s case doesn’t sound like a classic re-

marking problem but rather a “swapping” issue.

Somewhere in the chain of custody, the CPU in

the box was swapped out.

Intel’s security department has seen re-

marking problems drop off to almost nothing in

MAXIMUMPC DECEMBER 2007

Running Intel’s Processor Identification Utility on a new CPU is one way to make sure

the Core 2 Duo you bought isn’t an old Pentium 4.

Our consumer advocate investigates...

PQuad Core P4 PWolfKing Won’t Bunny

Jump PCanon’s 12.1MP Pinhole Camera

Hank, watchdog of the month

Got a bone to pick with a vendor? Been spiked by a fly-by-night

operation? Sic the Dog on them by writing watchdog@maxi-

mumpc.com. The Dog promises to answer as many letters as

possible, but only has four paws to work with.

Jump

Hank,