3rd replacement EVGA 8800 ULTRA card

D

dslrjunky

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 2, 2006
Messages
2,256
Ok I have no qualms about EVGA's customer service and their top-notch tech support, what I'm pissed about is their QC, this is my 4th card now.

my first replacement was DOA, I was pissed as hell because it was 4th of july, that time and had to wait a little longer although they gave me free shipping both ways so I was a happy camper.

my second card lasted a few days back in july and suddenly it won't boot up tried different video card and my system run fine, so I had to RMA it, they gave me advance RMA (it was useless to me as the card is dead anyway but I kept it anyway and tried to revived till the replacement came..) was nice of them

my third card now exactly 2mos after my 2nd RMA, died on me..I had to RMA the damn video card :mad: It boots up only after the progress bar in windows vista then it gets stuck in there.. I'm running a 285 GTX on my machine now while I wait for the 8800.

I'm annoyed that in the span of 3 mos. I have RMA'd 3 cards already, I know the card is old and all, but the reason I choose EVGA over the other companies is because of lifetime warranty and their close proximity to where I live, but this kind of situations is something I don't want to deal with every 2-3mos. Please EVGA make it right this time.

I know some of you may say "dude that card is old now time to move on" but what can I say this card is awesome when it works, I'm just pissed that I had to RMA it again!:mad:


Specs :

q9550
EVGA 790i Ultra
EVGA 8800 Ultra/285 GTX
2x2gb OCZ Reaper DDR3 1333
HT Omega Claro Plus + 7.1
1x160gb Raptor WD
2x500gb WD
2x1.5TB WD
LG SuperDrive
Antec Quattro 1000w

When I troubleshoot I always do fresh install of Vista and put pieces together one by one as to not get confused on where the issue lies and so far all the tests I've done the card is always the culprit...
 
Last edited:
Are you absolutely sure there is nothing in your system that might be killing the cards?

One of my friends returned about 6 pairs of ram when his motherboard kept frying them. He refused to acknowledge the board might be the problem because he had a spare set of ram that "always worked fine" while he was sending each pair back. Turns out those sticks were just rated for a higher voltage and had better heatsinks on them.

You could potentially have a power-supply issue, for example if one of your voltages was a bit out of spec or it has horrible ripple. That wouldn't likely kill a card in the short term but could absolutely cause issues eventually.
 
GotNoRice said:
Are you absolutely sure there is nothing in your system that might be killing the cards?

One of my friends returned about 6 pairs of ram when his motherboard kept frying them. He refused to acknowledge the board might be the problem because he had a spare set of ram that "always worked fine" while he was sending each pair back. Turns out those sticks were just rated for a higher voltage and had better heatsinks on them.

You could potentially have a power-supply issue, for example if one of your voltages was a bit out of spec or it has horrible ripple. That wouldn't likely kill a card in the short term but could absolutely cause issues eventually.
Click to expand...

To my knowledge I've tried everything, the first 2 was with a P35 when I sent the 3rd one I got a new board (790i Ultra) and a new card (285 gtx)
 
You want a good story? Not the threadjack, I've rma'd my maximus formula to asus twice, first was doa. I send it back only to find out that it was severely damaged in shipping and they want $90 to replace. They really don't give a crap that it was damaged in shipping and will not help me to file a claim (they paid for shipment second time).

Excellent. Asus FTL.
 
MrSneis said:
You want a good story? Not the threadjack, I've rma'd my maximus formula to asus twice, first was doa. I send it back only to find out that it was severely damaged in shipping and they want $90 to replace. They really don't give a crap that it was damaged in shipping and will not help me to file a claim (they paid for shipment second time).

Excellent. Asus FTL.
Click to expand...

well that's the reason I stuck with EVGA because of their service, but damn if I have to go through this every 2-3 mos, I may have to re-evaluate
 
EVGA is good stuff, but you shouldn't be burning through a video card every 2-3 months. I'd check something in your system that may be causing that.
 
That's really weird.
But a GTX 285 outclasses an 8800 Ultra anyways so why do you need it?
Are you just using it for folding or as a dedicated PhysX card?
If I were you, I'd sell the card they sent back for RMA for what I could and just get another 285 so you can do SLI.
 
Ranari said:
EVGA is good stuff, but you shouldn't be burning through a video card every 2-3 months. I'd check something in your system that may be causing that.
Click to expand...

I've had the 8800Ultra since 2007 no issue on that whatsoever almost would've been 2 yrs without no issue till I RMA'd the first one back in July and all the replacements I've had has issues, impossible? NO not at all! since EVGA doesn't manufacture this anymore I don't expect to be as good as if it was new, they send out refurbished you know... A guy above me "supposedly" got 260 instead of 280 shit happens when you get refurbished I guess..

Don't get me wrong EVGA customer support is topnotch, but it is the product that I'm talking about here, when I've exhausted all avenues even having a new board.. I can't help it but vent...
 
vjcsmoke said:
That's really weird.
But a GTX 285 outclasses an 8800 Ultra anyways so why do you need it?
Are you just using it for folding or as a dedicated PhysX card?
If I were you, I'd sell the card they sent back for RMA for what I could and just get another 285 so you can do SLI.
Click to expand...

I have it running my office PC, and when you buy a $600 card 2 yrs ago it is harder to let go..

285 gtx is for my gaming.. same setup as above just different RAM and CPU (q9650)
 
dslrjunky said:
I've had the 8800Ultra since 2007 no issue on that whatsoever almost would've been 2 yrs without no issue till I RMA'd the first one back in July and all the replacements I've had has issues, impossible? NO not at all! since EVGA doesn't manufacture this anymore I don't expect to be as good as if it was new, they send out refurbished you know... A guy above me "supposedly" got 260 instead of 280 shit happens when you get refurbished I guess..

Don't get me wrong EVGA customer support is topnotch, but it is the product that I'm talking about here, when I've exhausted all avenues even having a new board.. I can't help it but vent...
Click to expand...

they are refurbed cards, yes.

chances are they all have some sort of issue (im sure a few of them have had their share of abuse as well from previous users).

Call EVGA, let them know whats happening. tell them you need a 9800GTX+.
 
dslrjunky said:
well that's the reason I stuck with EVGA because of their service, but damn if I have to go through this every 2-3 mos, I may have to re-evaluate
Click to expand...

I had a similar issue back when the 7900 series was still king. I went through multiple XFX 7900GTXs in one computer, and a MSI 7950GX had to be replaced three times in another computer. XFX told me it was my system. Everybody has different luck with different manufacturers - but back when I was having problems I saw a TON of posts on EVGA's boards where other people's boards died in the exact same way. It just seemed to be a common nvidia failure.

They would work fine at first, then after a single stressful period (say 1 3DMark run) they would start having artifacts. If I underclocked the card it would work for a bit, but then start having artifacts at that speed. Eventually it would get to the point it couldn't even run at 2D clock speeds without artifacting.

Personally the only way I became stable was to just go ATI.
 
AmongTheChosenX said:
they are refurbed cards, yes.

chances are they all have some sort of issue (im sure a few of them have had their share of abuse as well from previous users).

Call EVGA, let them know whats happening. tell them you need a 9800GTX+.
Click to expand...

actually this thread is a post-RMA post :confused:, my RMA is already approved and waiting for a replacement, it's just that it really is frustrating on my end I had to pay for shipping everytime I send it in, but on the bright side service is superb and TS seems to know what they are doing...And no I didn't asked for any different card, if they ship me out a same card that's fine by me as long as it is working and atleast last me 6mos+, that's all I'm asking EVGA! :)
 
Ualdayan said:
Personally the only way I became stable was to just go ATI.
Click to expand...

THIS...

I can't even remember why I switched from ATI (X1900XTX) to NVIDIA (8800 Ultra). I think it was the lifetime warranty that got me switched over, but now XFX seems to be offering ATI (do they have the same lifetime warranty?) I may go to the dark side after all this hoopla (5870 anyone?)
 
dslrjunky said:
actually this thread is a post-RMA post :confused:, my RMA is already approved and waiting for a replacement, it's just that it really is frustrating on my end I had to pay for shipping everytime I send it in, but on the bright side service is superb and TS seems to know what they are doing...And no I didn't asked for any different card, if they ship me out a same card that's fine by me as long as it is working and atleast last me 6mos+, that's all I'm asking EVGA! :)
Click to expand...

I know. Thats why i said CALL THEM, tell them you've gotten 3 bad replacement cards and you want a 9800GTX+.
 
I tried rma a gfx card before long time ago an geforce 4 ti 4600. They sent me back the card saying there was nothing wrong with it and it pass all the test. However, the card had problems because after a while it won't render the screens correctly. Wasted money on shipping just to get back the broken card.
 
TheBuzzer said:
I tried rma a gfx card before long time ago an geforce 4 ti 4600. They sent me back the card saying there was nothing wrong with it and it pass all the test. However, the card had problems because after a while it won't render the screens correctly. Wasted money on shipping just to get back the broken card.
Click to expand...

well my 2nd one was DOA, 3rd lasted 2 mos hopefully this time will last me longer
 
Ranari said:
EVGA is good stuff, but you shouldn't be burning through a video card every 2-3 months. I'd check something in your system that may be causing that.
Click to expand...

Ive been using TWO evga GEFORCE 8800 GTX SLI in my machine since the day it they came out and Ive overclocked these cards to hell and they are still running like CHAMPS. I am really looking forward to next ATI Radeon HD 5870 x2. Since I am a huge fan of DUAL GPU CARDS. But ya i never had issue with any of EVGA products.
 
MCRAYGSX said:
Ive been using TWO evga GEFORCE 8800 GTX SLI in my machine since the day it they came out and Ive overclocked these cards to hell and they are still running like CHAMPS. I am really looking forward to next ATI Radeon HD 5870 x2. Since I am a huge fan of DUAL GPU CARDS. But ya i never had issue with any of EVGA products.
Click to expand...

Well that was the case for me before, when I got mine when it first came out it run for almost 2 years no problem and it was used heavily, but when I need to RMA it thats when all this shit happened... ALL the RMA cards had issues in some way or another...

Come back here when you send one of your cards for RMA and see what happens... ;)
 
dslrjunky said:
Well that was the case for me before, when I got mine when it first came out it run for almost 2 years no problem and it was used heavily, but when I need to RMA it thats when all this shit happened... ALL the RMA cards had issues in some way or another...

Come back here when you send one of your cards for RMA and see what happens... ;)
Click to expand...

dude, i already told you what to do.

CALL THEM, and tell them the last THREE REPLACEMENTS went bad in an unreasonable amount of time, and that you want an equal, but different REPLACEMENT CARD, e.g. A 9800GTX+....
 
AmongTheChosenX said:
dude, i already told you what to do.

CALL THEM, and tell them the last THREE REPLACEMENTS went bad in an unreasonable amount of time, and that you want an equal, but different REPLACEMENT CARD, e.g. A 9800GTX+....
Click to expand...

I wasn't refering to you? can you hear that??
 
replacement card arrived yesterday had to make sure everything works fine before I posted here, Like I said before EVGA is awesome when it comes to supporting its customer my only gripe is about the QC team they have...
 
i can only hope that my refurbed card will last me till i can get a brand new one... no warrenty on this bad boy
 
I used to take it up the ass too. Now, I limit myself to a single RMA. If what I receive back is defective as well, I don't continue the cycle and lose money on shipping, but instead I pass the ass fuck to someone else. Best Buy is a good choice because they do their fair share of ass raping and could use a little in return sometimes. Buy the same part from Best Buy (with cash) and simply return it with your defective item in place of the new item. I've done this several times. People may think I'm an ass, but oh well.
 
gtg465x said:
I used to take it up the ass too. Now, I limit myself to a single RMA. If what I receive back is defective as well, I don't continue the cycle and lose money on shipping, but instead I pass the ass fuck to someone else. Best Buy is a good choice because they do their fair share of ass raping and could use a little in return sometimes. Buy the same part from Best Buy (with cash) and simply return it with your defective item in place of the new item. I've done this several times. People may think I'm an ass, but oh well.
Click to expand...

rofl for admitting that
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top