Bought a new Intel 520. Is the chassis back plate suppose to look very tarnished? [Pics]

[idata]

Bought a new Intel 520 from ncix.com in Canada. Drive came in a very small cardboard box with the drive in a sealed static bag and a Intel SSD sticker.

My main gripe with it is that it doesn't look new. The metal/aluminum on the back of the drive looks tarnished and scratch marks appear where the screws go to mount it. One side of the chassis has a black skid line.

Should I contact NCIX about this? The website advertise it as a brand new drive..

Serial number is CVCV204607BG123BGN

[idata]

My new 520 looks similar and I guess I didn't even notice the first time it was installed. I checked today while rerouting some stuff and sure enough.

Lest of my concerns though. I have and Intel motherboard DX79SI, with an Intel processor i7-3930k, and a Intel 520 240GB SSD. All latest drivers installed, WIN7 pro, and I cannot get the toolbox to recognize the smart parameters or use the SSD optimizer part of the toolbox. OK done ranting, but it still does not work.

[idata]

t53186, just to confirm, is your SATA mode set to AHCI, and what SATA driver are you using, RSTe from Intel, or msahci from Windows 7?

[idata]

RAID and RSTe. Posted details in the SSD section also.

[idata]

Many Intel SSDs have this "style" of the lower part of it's chassis, since the days of the X-25M G2 SSDs (2010), and maybe before that. It's strong, but ugly although the appearance and pattern of the blemish or whatever it is varies from unit to unit. Mount it and it's a non-issue.

Hey, maybe that's what the sticker is for...

[idata]

The tarnish and marks on the underside of the 520, 320 & X25-M SSD's is NORMAL.

The underside (base) is made from extruded aluminum, which causes the tarnish & patterns.

Intel has left the metal bare and unfinished / non polished.

The top of the SSD looks to be nickel plated steel.