I could just scream - ANOTHER video card setback??

[essayons]

For the whole story, read on - for the problem only, skip to the bottom. I'm extremely verbose - always have been - even in forums. Sorry about that.

I'm in the middle of building my dream machine. I even have all the parts - finally. A last-minute change from Intel to AMD led me to purchase a different motherboard than the one I had researched, and in my hurry I failed to note that the one I was getting did not support AGP video cards - and I had a relatively new AGP card that I didn't really need to upgrade from.
So I had the mobo in the case and wired up when I realized this.
I quickly ordered a new video card -
ASUS GeForce N6800GT -
from Newegg.com, paid for next-day delivery, and sat back to wait.

[I'm putting it together on a table in the middle of the room where we put our Christmas tree, so my wife is anxious for me to get done so we can put up the tree, which has been waiting outside in a bucket of water since last weekend.]

Well, of course next-day delivery is not REALLY that since newegg has to take at least a day for picking and packing, but I knew that since it said so right on the screen when I ordered it. I can live with that, since I ordered it on Saturday, and it's close to THE HOLIDAYS and all. I can be a patient man.
I checked on the NewEgg website now and then to see the status, and on Wednesday I clicked the link to the UPS website for tracking - and it said my order was on the truck for delivery as of 8:00 am! Great - it will be waiting for me when I get home from work.
WRONG
I got home around 7:00 pm and there was no package. I checked the UPS website and saw an update - they forgot to put my box on the truck in the morning. Oopsie. They say they'll deliver it on the morrow.
So now I paid for next-day delivery and I will be getting second-day delivery! I can't be mad at NewEgg - their customer service has for me always been excellent - but I still paid them twice the cost of what the actual delivery time will end up being. In reality, NEITHER of us is getting what we paid for. So I called NewEgg - I expected to be on hold for quite some time, since last time it was no particular day and I was on hold for 20 minutes at least, and here it is almost THE HOLIDAYS. But I got a service rep in less than 5 minutes! And when I explained the problem, making sure they understood that I understood it wasn't their fault - they told me they would reimburse me for half the shipping cost I paid. So NewEgg is still my favorite PC parts website (even though the last GeForce 7800GT was sold out from under me while I was waiting for the ordering screen to load - but that was ok - since my stupidity was the only reason I'm placing this order anyway I feel compelled to spend as little as possible, so I'm paying half of what the 7800 card would have cost).
Well, UPS DID deliver on Thursday, I got home late Thursday night and even later Friday night, and here it is Saturday and my wife - get this - is nagging me to put together the PC (so we can put the tree up, but it's STILL kind of a miracle, eh?).

And now, HERE is the problem:

I took the video card out of the box and out of the plastic case it is in.....and a piece falls off!!!
It's apparently (I should know what the parts are for by now, but of course I don't) some sort of cooling doohickey - just like the ribs on the motherboard around the CPU seat. There are 2 sets of these ribs on this card, and one of them came off when I bumped it with my finger while picking it up (I AM using a static strap in case anyone's keeping score). It SEEMS to be attached magnetically, since I can put it back and have it stay on when I turn the card upside-down. But I'm worried that it is in reality supposed to be glued on and the card is actually damaged. There are 2 matte-black squares on the card surface where the part is supposed to go, and they have what could be traces of dried glue on them. Now I'm torn (as is my wife, of course) between waiting for a response from Asus as to what I should officially do (which according to their website could take any amount of time) or if I should just install the card, seeing as the part will apparently stay on, and hope for the best (and if Asus says I should return it, also hope that having installed it didn't ruin my chances at a replacement or reimbursement.)

Any consensus from the veterans hanging out here this weekend?

[i an not a nerd]

Well, If you want to get it reimbursed or replaced, then I would wait for ASUS to contact you. Then again, if you need this machine done like now, then I would recommend buying a cooler and installing it if you feel comfortable with that. Then again, if you don't need it done immidietly, wait. Better to wait and get it replaced or being reimbursed than being screwed over by ASUS for touching the card (heaven forbid!).

[essayons]

Thanks, Mike -

Having typed all that, I realize I never even asked the question that was behind it all.

Does anyone know if those cooling ribs are supposed to be glued on, or if they ARE supposed to be attached magnetically?

[i an not a nerd]

Well, if they were magnetically attached, I am assuming that the electrons would be so screwed up that the card would not work, period. Thinking about it some more, I've thought that maby ASUS forgot to screw the cooler onto the card! Also, is there any evidence of thermal paste residue on the card or on the cooler? If not, then ASUS screwed up. Tell ASUS that all this and demand that they replace or 'repair' the card.

EDIT: The cooler is supposed to be screwed onto the card. Hehe, i forgot to say that...

[hockey man]

If that some type of chip heatsink? If so you need to check under the part that fell off. You should be able to see the chip. Is that all in tact? How do the corners look. I'd look for a replacement. I know you want to get your rig up, but better is 4 days of waiting than one day of frying! Also, does it look like UPS is the culprit? What shape is the shipping box in? Also, is this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Showimage.asp?Mode=&Type=&Image=14-121-178-01.jpg%2C14-121-178-02.jpg%2C14-121-178-03.jpg%2C14-121-178-04.jpg%2C14-121-178-05.jpg&CurImage=14-121-178-02.jpg&Description=ASUS+EN6600GT%2FTD%2F128+Geforce+6600G T+128MB+GDDR3+PCI+Express+x16+Video+Card+-+Retail)your card?

[essayons]

I should have done this at the beginning but I was being lazy.
Attached is a photo I just took of the card in question - the arrow is pointing to the part that came off.

I've become a bit more bold, and when I felt the back of the part, I found two pieces of double-sided tape that apparently were meant to adhere it to the two black slightly raised squares underneath it on the card's surface. I had taken these squares at first to be magnets, and in the back of my mind I was wondering why they would use magnets on a part that would be so close to other parts (optical and hard disks) that should never be anywhere near magnets.
The part that came off does not have any holes with which it would be screwed to the card - this is mainly why I'm attaching the photo, since when you mentioned it being screwed down, not a nerd, I figured you were thinking I meant the fan housing.
By now I'm pretty confident that the card is ok, since the part is actually pretty hard to remove from the card. What happened the first time is I bumped it with my finger and it moved - so, being the careful and intelligent person I am, I gave it a tug to see if it came off. And of course it did.
Ain't I a jeenyus?

So smart, in fact, that I can't get the photo of the darn card down below 1.1mb in order to post it here. So, since I'm now in a hurry because my daughter needs the PC for homework, here's a link to a pic of the board on the Asus website:
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=138&model=406&modelmenu=1

If you click on the 'enlargement' button to the right of the pic you'll see it much better. The part in question is to the right of the silver area with ASUS stamped on it. In the pic it looks like a solid black surface with white or silver stripes, but it is actually a series of raised silver 'ribs'.

Thanks again for all you help, and especially for your patience. I'll check back later on to see if anyone is able to make heads or tails of my bumbling commentary. :p

[i an not a nerd]

Hmm, the squares are in fact adhiesive pads I assume. I was assuming that the whole fan housing came off! Try posting the picture of your card on http://www.imageshack.us/ and giving us a link. I am not sure what is wrong here. If you are saying that the whole fan casing (the silver thing with the heatsink) did not come off, i'm not sure what did....

If you could give me a photo of your card that would help enourmously!

[saphalline]

Oh I see. The heatsink on the card's MOSFET's came off, huh? While not drastically important (since it's not the RAM heatsink like I orginally thought) there is a reason it was put there. The little black squares on the card underneath the heatsink are called MOSFET's (voltage regulators basically) and the sticky tape pads on the bottom of the heatsink are squares of thermal tape. Normally, something like this isn't supposed to just fall off the card. :rolleyes:

Here's what I would do:

Ask your wife for a hair binder that will fit around the card the short way and put it on so that the entire length of that heatsink is secured to the card. Explain to her that cloth-covered binders of elastic are much safer for electronics than rubber bands (which have a tendency to melt! :eek: ). Also tell her that her sacrifice of a hair binder (of a color that she doesn't like) will get that Xmas tree up faster! :D Use the card normally for now, and proceed to contact Newegg about an RMA (return merchandise authorization - basically an exchange). Most manufacturers (Asus included) will prefer you to go through the vendor's return policies while in the return period. The manufacturer will settle warranty issues down the line (like a few months later, for instance).

This will let you get things done now, while still going through the process of getting a new card.

EDIT - In showing this thread to my friend, Orion, I noticed something. The heatsink over the MOSFET's is pegged on, so it can't be that one. The heatsink you are referring to is actually for the RAM chips. Those are the little black squares you're seeing. While this does not change my overall plan for you, I thought you should know so that you don't mix up MOSFET's and RAM chips in the future. :p