RMA and stripped Mother-boards

[Aussie Allan]

 Not wishing to tempt fate for obvious reasons..... After receiving and stripping my last 3 brand new main-boards on arrival.... then dressing them with numerous water-blocks and passive cooling sinks prior to installing and powering up....I've realized how lucky I've been so far not having to use the Gigabyte RMA service .

 So what actually happens if Murphy's law shoots you in the butt with a dead MoBo ?  Do you have to strip and re assemble the board back to it's original Pristine condition with every heat sink, plastic clip,screw and sticker before an RMA is honoured  ?

 Aussie Allan

[oggmonster]

I'm pretty sure they do require it almost as if it was out the box. Including the plastic bit that protects the cpu pins. Dont think the stickers are neccesary though.
I guess its like overclocking, its essentially a gamble and you have to weigh up the pros and cons

[Dark Mantis]

Basically you shouldn't remove anything from the motherboard if you want to stay within warranty. The only hope you have is to put everything back as it should be and hope that it is not noticed. Being a watercooling fan myself I do understand your situation though and always make sure that my kit is working fine before i remove the heatsinks etc.