finally, my x800pro-xtpe gave up.

[Wolf-R1]

Modding a card in any way, shape or form voids your warranty. End of story.

(oh, before you say he only o/c'ed it. Read again.)

So what you're saying is that he can't take a shotgun to it now and expect to have his RMA accepted afterward??

 

[RoyLuv]

Trying to justify an RMA under false pretences....
Still doesn't make it right.

I'd do it. Might as well try eh? It's not right, but on the other hand it's $400.00.

I'd hope I don't get struck by lightning if I did.

 

[Dizj]

H'ok my list of things to say from a newb perspective tehehe

Anyone ever think it might possibly be marketing?
Allthough the X800pro is a nice card, for the price range - the 6800GT blows it away, who would touch an X800pro if it wasn't for the possibility of moding it? Somewhat strange that its ALL VIVOs that will MOD (with or without artifacts), its like they did that so people could tell for sure which ones to get. I meen even IF a MODDED Pro performed exactly like the GT, alot of idiots (like myself ) would lean towards the pro as the thought of modding/oc'ing it to something with a fair bit of added value is some what apealing..

You could also say that (this one is very argueable so don't flame me too much ) most poeple with enough cash to buy the 6800 Ultra and X800 XTPE will prolly go for the 6800 Ultra as it apears to be the better of the two cards.. so why bother? Why not just focous on the X800 Pro vivos and keep the VERY BEST yields for the XTPE's? Might be a good idea.

Lets say Pro' vivos are defective XTPE.. in a way.. that could just meen they didn't make the cut, but could still handle XTPE speeds but just not with the lee way one would desire from a real XTPE. Or off course it could meen their pipes are defective.. Or it could meen just the mem wasn't as up to par, but the rest is fine.. etc etc.. Or most likly its all of the above. Waw, I realy did just state the obvious

 

[centvalny]

Lol, true.

Also, centvalny, who built the card? Was it gigabyte, powercolor, etc.? You might have already said this... but I would like to know because this has been addressed with other manufacturers whereas some manufacturers did not have this problem with their modded cards.

It is ATI build card.

 

[fastcoke11]

It is ATI build card.

That might be the problem right there. If my memory serves me, the powercolor and connect3d cards have a 100% success rate and have had no problems, whereas other builds have not had such a stunning success rate and have sometimes failed. Now I'm not saying that's the way it is, but it is what I've heard.

 

[EndersGame]

I think you guys are not seeing the big picture... I would still RMA that card in a heart beat... Yes he O/Ced it... but who allowed it to take place? ATI... they could easily make there bootroom verify for a valid bios, but they dont. Secondly, ati shiped a card with defective compononts.... for 400 dollars, aka 4 big ones you BET YOUR ASS i would be RMA'ing that card and you would also BET YOUR ASS that I would get a sucessfull RMA.

If a company is not adding enough safe gaurds to ensure the proper operation of there cards, then that is there problem.

 

[Evil Scooter]

Its a little different scenario with the CPU's. Your not exactly trying to unlock that extra 512MB of L2 cache. With the X800Pro VIVO your trying to get it to be the equivalent of an X800XT PE when it was declared defective by ATI and sold as a 12 piped X800Pro VIVO.

Again, what if the only problem with the die was the fact that it would not run at XTPE speeds with stock cooling?? Ati would not toss it, they would just sell it on a slower rated video card. This is what is happening IMHO.

 

[brogers]

centvalny,

Just be totally honest and contact ATi. Tell them you OC'd the card and reflashed the bios. Tell them you understand they're not obligated to do anything at all, but beg them to do something. Maybe you could buy another one at their cost and send in your old one. They can in turn sell yours as a refurbished model. Ask them about fixing the card if you pay for it. Ask for mercy! That's not a small chunk of change you lost, you have to try something.

 

[The[H]uman]

I think you guys are not seeing the big picture... I would still RMA that card in a heart beat... Yes he O/Ced it... but who allowed it to take place? ATI... they could easily make there bootroom verify for a valid bios, but they dont. Secondly, ati shiped a card with defective compononts.... for 400 dollars, aka 4 big ones you BET YOUR ASS i would be RMA'ing that card and you would also BET YOUR ASS that I would get a sucessfull RMA.

If a company is not adding enough safe gaurds to ensure the proper operation of there cards, then that is there problem.

You sir are the reason hardware cost so much end of rant

 

[burningrave101]

Again, what if the only problem with the die was the fact that it would not run at XTPE speeds with stock cooling?? Ati would not toss it, they would just sell it on a slower rated video card. This is what is happening IMHO.

You dont know what problem the card had and why it was not used as an XT PE. It could be any number of things including the one example you mentioned.

If it couldn't run X800XT PE speeds on stock cooling then how could you mod it from an X800Pro on stock cooling to run X800XT PE speeds? You couldn't.

Buying an X800Pro and modding it to an X800XT PE is like buying a 3.0c and overclocking it to 3.7Ghz. You may or may not achieve the results you had hoped for so you definitely dont recommend it to someone looking for buying advice unless its the better product at stock speeds or at least pretty much a sure thing which an X800Pro -> X800XT PE is not.

 

[Evil Scooter]

If it couldn't run X800XT PE speeds on stock cooling then how could you mod it from an X800Pro on stock cooling to run X800XT PE speeds? You couldn't.

Exactly why I recommend better cooling almost right off. My X800Pro flashed fine to XTPE but would not game 100% stable after the flash until I added better cooling. Now it is 100% stable at 530/580.

Buying an X800Pro and modding it to an X800XT PE is like buying a 3.0c and overclocking it to 3.7Ghz. You may or may not achieve the results you had hoped for so you definitely dont recommend it to someone looking for buying advice unless its the better product at stock speeds or at least pretty much a sure thing which an X800Pro -> X800XT PE is not.

Is anyone on this forum under the impression(falsely) that any mod is 100% guaranteed success?? I think not. Get in line and take your chances like the rest of us. In this case the VIVO converts are having a VERY good succcess rate. Funny you should use a 3.0c as an example, I ran my 3.2c@4ghz for almost a year in my Vapo. Again, good cooling can do wonders for your overclock.

 

[newster]

Or maybe this is not a problem with all X800Pros, but just with his one card? But since it is ATi and everyone bought 6800 GTs, lets all call it an inherent problem with all X800Pro cores. I don't see very many people underclocking their 6800 GTs back to stock speed because someone else toasted theirs. In fact, I have seen more toasted 6800's pop up on these forums than any other video card. Would I still buy a 6800 GT and overclock it until it screams? Heck yeah! My BBA X800Pro -> XT is still kicking fine too if anyone was getting nervous, and I torture the heck out of this thing. I have had it since August 25th and I never even bothered to run it as an X800Pro

 

[burningrave101]

Exactly why I recommend better cooling almost right off. My X800Pro flashed fine to XTPE but would not game 100% stable after the flash until I added better cooling. Now it is 100% stable at 530/580.

Is anyone on this forum under the impression(falsely) that any mod is 100% guaranteed success?? I think not. Get in line and take your chances like the rest of us. In this case the VIVO converts are having a VERY good succcess rate. Funny you should use a 3.0c as an example, I ran my 3.2c@4ghz for almost a year in my Vapo. Again, good cooling can do wonders for your overclock.

But now you have the added cost of better cooling added to the already more expensive X800Pro VIVO.

I don't see very many people underclocking their 6800 GTs back to stock speed because someone else toasted theirs. In fact, I have seen more toasted 6800's pop up on these forums than any other video card. Would I still buy a 6800 GT and overclock it until it screams? Heck yeah!

I dont think very many people have toasted their 6800's from overclocking considering they are built to downclock themselves once they reach a certain temperature. The X800's dont have this feature and so they would be alot easier to toast then a 6800 GT would.

I'd say the reason you've seen more 6800 GT threads is because nearly everyone went out and bought one and a much smaller portion bought X800Pro's.

 

[UltimateMan]

Trying to justify an RMA under false pretences....
Still doesn't make it right.

and what "false pretences" are you referring to? last time i checked, i simply stated the reality of the situation. I am not trying to justify it. If i were, i''d say something like

'if they can't tell it's been OCed, then the warranty isn't void'

or

'they should make it impossible to OC, then it woudln't matter'

or

'they charge so much for them anyway, i should be able to OC and have a warranty'

but alas, i do not believe those things. I do believe that comp USA and best buy would give him a new card tho. and i am right. and i didn't say it was right to do this. just that it can be done. and for $400, maybe this guy is interested. so there.

 

[UltimateMan]

You sir are the reason hardware cost so much end of rant

and BTW, that is poop. that makes no sense. please refer to my economist rant previously seen in this thread so i need not repeat myself.

OCers are what percent of all video card owners? and what percent of all RMA's? and ATi/nvidia WOULDN'T charge $500 for an awesome piece of hardware if they didn't have to honor so many warranties? yeah...

 

[bond_bbs]

A lot of yahz have some very good points, but one thing i think is being overlooked.

You'ze were mentioning that, why would they lock pipelines and sell cards as a slower speed card if they could run faster to begin with? If they are spitting out so many of the same core, they have to use any core that works to meet demand. IMHO, i believe more people would buy the X800 Pro then the XT-PE for $$$ reasons. (I dont know about the US, but here in Canada, the XT-PE is like $800+, whereas the Pro is like $600).

They still need to yield so many cores for the XT-PE to meet certain demand, but the X800pro, because of the price / performance ratio would, like i said IMHO, be under more demand. I do believe that would justify companies making X800pro cards that could have been a successful XT-PE. It doesn't cost ATI anymore to produce the XT-PE core over the Pro, since it is essentially the same core. And the fact that more X800pros will sell than XT-PE's just makes up for the possible loss of using "original" XT-PE cores in an X800pro.

Just figured my two cents might open up another end of discussion.

Sorry about the card man, that really does blow.

 

[Syphon Filter]

A lot of yahz have some very good points, but one thing i think is being overlooked.

You'ze were mentioning that, why would they lock pipelines and sell cards as a slower speed card if they could run faster to begin with? If they are spitting out so many of the same core, they have to use any core that works to meet demand. IMHO, i believe more people would buy the X800 Pro then the XT-PE for $$$ reasons. (I dont know about the US, but here in Canada, the XT-PE is like $800+, whereas the Pro is like $600).

They still need to yield so many cores for the XT-PE to meet certain demand, but the X800pro, because of the price / performance ratio would, like i said IMHO, be under more demand. I do believe that would justify companies making X800pro cards that could have been a successful XT-PE. It doesn't cost ATI anymore to produce the XT-PE core over the Pro, since it is essentially the same core. And the fact that more X800pros will sell than XT-PE's just makes up for the possible loss of using "original" XT-PE cores in an X800pro.

Just figured my two cents might open up another end of discussion.

Sorry about the card man, that really does blow.

I've said it before and i'll say it again. Your point is totally valid. BUT they would only be doing that IF demand for the XTPE had been met, if they were getting more than enough suitable cores for XTPEs then they would consider slinging the surplus in lower end cards. But ONLY then. To do it otherwise just isnt good business sense.

Also I firmly believe that GDDR3 is not the issue any more as Nvidia is getting the cards out there and it seems at a steady rate. I can get GTs and Ultras (from BFG and other makers) here in the UK now.

I am starting to see some XTs dotted around, a few on Ebay, a few stores etc. But still bugger all XTPEs. It has to be that the core yields are not what they were expecting. Soon enough they will sort out their fab process/waffer source and things will start to look better. Personally I couldnt be arsed waiting around for that, so I got a 6800 Ultra

 

[Evil Scooter]

But now you have the added cost of better cooling added to the already more expensive X800Pro VIVO.

A valid point. In my case the additional cost for cooling is $0 as I am able to use the same waterblock. If you currently have an aftermarket cooler that fits your 98xx card, it will fit on your X800 series also as they have the same mounting holes

 

[centvalny]

A lot of yahz have some very good points, but one thing i think is being overlooked.

You'ze were mentioning that, why would they lock pipelines and sell cards as a slower speed card if they could run faster to begin with? If they are spitting out so many of the same core, they have to use any core that works to meet demand. IMHO, i believe more people would buy the X800 Pro then the XT-PE for $$$ reasons. (I dont know about the US, but here in Canada, the XT-PE is like $800+, whereas the Pro is like $600).

They still need to yield so many cores for the XT-PE to meet certain demand, but the X800pro, because of the price / performance ratio would, like i said IMHO, be under more demand. I do believe that would justify companies making X800pro cards that could have been a successful XT-PE. It doesn't cost ATI anymore to produce the XT-PE core over the Pro, since it is essentially the same core. And the fact that more X800pros will sell than XT-PE's just makes up for the possible loss of using "original" XT-PE cores in an X800pro.

Just figured my two cents might open up another end of discussion.

Sorry about the card man, that really does blow.

You're exactly hit it. ATI 4th.quarter report is just around the corner. They need all the help to make their big sharehoulders smile all the way to the bank, and we help them to achieve it. One thing is for sure ATI cameback from behind effort start to bear the fruit. (remember ATI rage pro?)

 

[NoxTek]

I LOVE how the death of his card is blamed on the Pro -> XT flash and not the fact that he was running it at 585/603. Watercooling or not that's a fucking high overclock.

 

[p0tempkin]

RMA the card.

 

[hamm3rhead]

I LOVE how the death of his card is blamed on the Pro -> XT flash and not the fact that he was running it at 585/603. Watercooling or not that's a fucking high overclock.

I 100% agree. Either way... there are no implied manufacturer guarantees for user modded parts. When you tamper with settings from the default recommended conditions, you assume liability. If you can get someone else to assume liability through false pretenses and feel ok with it, then by all means let your own morality be the judge. ATI did not fry your card you did.
Silly rabbit.

 

[Terra]

All the people OC'ing their cards, and then fry them just to RMA them should consider that this is one factor, that is keep the pricer of GFX-cards higher than it should be.
More RMA = Higher MSRP price to make sure that the cards reach its profit margin...

Making other people pay for you won mistakes is really a shitty thing to do, accept you OWN responsibility, and don't make others pay for you own faluts!

Terra - Selfinflicted damage is a real shitty reason to RMA...

 

[BoogerBomb]

I also like the people bitching about ATI selling defective chips. The chips were defective for a better product but serve the purpose of the lower product just fine. Are you saying that ATI should just trash all cores that arent 100% perfect? Yeah right thats way too much cash. I bet half your systems have some part that was meant for a better part but couldnt hack it and ended up in your product. You would never know any different or find out if someone didnt say something. All chip makers do this practice and they will not stop no matter how much you dont like it. Wafers cost too damned much to just throw them away.

If you paid the high end price for that core then that would be a different story.

This post is in referernce to the poeople crying about the fact that ATI is selling defective parts.

Mad props to that OC on the now dead card.

 

[Emret]

I would have no problem RMA ing a card that i blew up OC'ing if i can get away with it.. I may be unethical but i'll end up $400 richer than you at the end of the day... sadly enough that is alot of dough for me to even spend on a video card

/ puts the flame suit on


-let the flames begin

 

[BoogerBomb]

I have no problem with you RMAing the card as long as you dont turn around and bitch about ATI charging $400 for a video card. For every card that someone fries and sends to ATI, ATI loses money. Do you thing they will just take the loss? Hell no, they turn around and raise prices a few cents here and a few cents there.

 

[XMonkey-v2.0]

So uh, anyone got proof that RMAing causes the price to rise? Sources, anything? Or is it all conjecture.

 

[RoyLuv]

I would have no problem RMA ing a card that i blew up OC'ing if i can get away with it.. I may be unethical but i'll end up $400 richer than you at the end of the day... sadly enough that is alot of dough for me to even spend on a video card

Agreed. You can bet I'd RMA! Hopefully they don't send the overclock police to snatch me up and spank me. Weigh in one hand, $400-$600..... then weigh in the other hand the idea that you are causing video card prices to stay higher than some people think they should be thus, "forcing" you to pay higher prices.

I think the money is alot heavier.

/ puts the flame suit on


-let the flames begin

 

[BoogerBomb]

So uh, anyone got proof that RMAing causes the price to rise? Sources, anything? Or is it all conjecture.

Do you have any proof that is doenst? You honestly believe that ATI just tosses it in the trash and could care less about the loss? Common sense tells me that they just make up the cost of that loss elsewhere.

 

[Silverghost]

I LOVE how the death of his card is blamed on the Pro -> XT flash and not the fact that he was running it at 585/603. Watercooling or not that's a fucking high overclock.

Yeah no shit hah. I flashed my card, but I'm not stressing like that.

 

[Syco]

I don't understand why more people don't buy the Gigabyte Pro VIVO. It comes with all 16 pipes enabled, no flashing required (so far, this could change but I haven't heard of anyones coming without all 16 enabled, yet). Hell, if the card ends up taking a crap because of the extra pipelines, I have no problem getting it rma'd as I didn't change anything. The card came with all 16 pipes and thus needs to be supported by Gigabyte.

As to why his card died, I would reckon the high overclock was the largest contributer. I'm sure there could be another problem with the core or the extra pipes as well, but I still would put the blame on the high overclock.

 

[PureBooYah]

I don't understand why more people don't buy the Gigabyte Pro VIVO.

because they're hard to find in stock

yeah, that oc is crazy for a VIVO especially since most usually clock just around xtpe speeds or less when flashed to 16pipes. With your h2o cooling you'd probably get a better clock than most, but i dont think that high.

 

[thelostrican]

But now you have the added cost of better cooling added to the already more expensive X800Pro VIVO.



I dont think very many people have toasted their 6800's from overclocking considering they are built to downclock themselves once they reach a certain temperature. The X800's dont have this feature and so they would be alot easier to toast then a 6800 GT would.

I'd say the reason you've seen more 6800 GT threads is because nearly everyone went out and bought one and a much smaller portion bought X800Pro's.

maybe we are stupid, and should have done like you and bought 6800gt, and then we would be 1337 like you...lol

 

[Evil Scooter]

maybe we are stupid, and should have done like you and bought 6800gt, and then we would be 1337 like you...lol

I had both a PNY 6800GT and BFG 6800 Ultra OC prior to getting the X800 Pro and modding it. Returned them both for a$$tastic fuzzy 2D and studdering issues with my MSI NF3 MOBO. I do not miss either of the 68xx cards.

 

[rancor]

maybe we are stupid, and should have done like you and bought 6800gt, and then we would be 1337 like you...lol

Really buying a 450 buck card, then modding it voiding your warrenty, really smart when it burns out let us know. Where you could buy a 400 buck card and just over clock it 50 mhz and not void your warrentty, which one is smarter?

They are vivos for a certian reason, you won't be able to get xt pe speeds on them and if you do they won't last. Why don't you see xt pe cards out there? Because its very hard to get those clocks. Surprisingly there aren't any xt's either. Which makes you wonder maybe its just getting them 500 might be very difficult. Maybe its the 16 pipelines that are effecting the clock speeds from getting so high. nV's cards don't get up that high either, but luckly for them they are more efficient per clock.

 

[PureBooYah]

Really buying a 450 buck card, then modding it voiding your warrenty, really smart when it burns out let us know. Where you could buy a 400 buck card and just over clock it 50 mhz and not void your warrentty, which one is smarter?

where's the fun in that? Personally i love modding stuff, i'll do anything that doesn't require soldering due to me sucking ass at it. and i have a sapphire vivo on the way that i'll be modding as soon as i get it. I get a bigger kick out of doing mods and such to my stuff than just oc'ing it alone (which voids the warranty any way on most things)

They are vivos for a certian reason, you won't be able to get xt pe speeds on them and if you do they won't last. Why don't you see xt pe cards out there? Because its very hard to get those clocks. Surprisingly there aren't any xt's either. Which makes you wonder maybe its just getting them 500 might be very difficult. Maybe its the 16 pipelines that are effecting the clock speeds from getting so high. nV's cards don't get up that high either, but luckly for them they are more efficient per clock.

we all have our own theories and at least with the modded x800's it is the 16 pipes that effect clock speeds from getting really high

 

[Syco]

Really buying a 450 buck card, then modding it voiding your warrenty, really smart when it burns out let us know. Where you could buy a 400 buck card and just over clock it 50 mhz and not void your warrentty, which one is smarter?

Or just buy a Gigabyte VIVO for around 430, have all 16 pipes enabled stock, and then overclock it 50mhz. However, overclocking DOES void the warranty, it's just not something they can really check. So if you aren't concerned with the moral implications by returning a burned out card from overclocking, then why be concerned with one that you did a bios mod to. If the card is truly dead, won't boot up at all, then how can they check the bios version? Even if they do find out, you can play dumb. I don't think flashing a bios will void your warranty. At least it doesn't with motherboards.

 

[XMonkey-v2.0]

Do you have any proof that is doenst? You honestly believe that ATI just tosses it in the trash and could care less about the loss? Common sense tells me that they just make up the cost of that loss elsewhere.

Wrong, I'm not claiming that it doesn't raise prices. You're the one saying it does so it's your job to prove the point.

 

[bobsaget]

I have no problem with you RMAing the card as long as you dont turn around and bitch about ATI charging $400 for a video card. For every card that someone fries and sends to ATI, ATI loses money. Do you thing they will just take the loss? Hell no, they turn around and raise prices a few cents here and a few cents there.

I would think that RMAing is something that a company expects to have a lot of, therefore, charging 400-800 dollars for their new gen cards...

 

[Gargoyle_Hunter]

The only reason they charge $400+ for a video card is that they know we are pompous enough to pay for it. The only reason I would feel bad about RMA's my card was if ATi or nVidia were going to go bankrupt the next day. Don't be a dumbass and think these big companies are building cards just to make you happy and are barely making it by. It's business, it's their job to take your money. Just like it's good business for me to keep as much as I can