Is XFX really that bad?

TaintedSquirrel

[H]F Junkie
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Aug 5, 2013
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After hearing so many people complain about them I did some Googling, and as far as their RMA goes it seems to be mostly glowing reviews of the lifetime warranty. People getting free upgrades after 3+ years and the like. Apart from losing the double lifetime warranty I don't see many complaints at all, especially compared to other brands.

So what about the cards themselves?
Some of them have high VRM temps, seems to be a consistent problem with a few manufacturers.

But other than that, is there a problem? Are they more prone to failure? I've heard they cut corners on component quality in the last few gens, but again... No sources.
I see a lot of people say XFX sucks but nobody really says why. Is it worth taking high VRM temperatures in exchange for a good warranty? Is the biggest problem just the DD cooler itself?

I like Sapphire but their 2-year warranty and many, many defective product lines is starting to put me off from buying them again.

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse.
 
Their warranty has been steadily gutted over the last two years, so what made them so great vs asus / msi etc no longer exists.
 
Is it worth taking high VRM temperatures in exchange for a good warranty? Is the biggest problem just the DD cooler itself?

hot vrm = poor cooling solution, personally i'd find a card with a good cooler and standard 36months warranty, wouldn't care for the brand
 
Mine does the job just fine...only complaints i have is they use non standard type board so the idea of flashing other vendors bios or what ever is out of the question. modding the bios is pretty much non possible as well.It works fine enough...i probably go a different vendor next time since i wouldn't mind being able to adjust voltage for overclocking and or unlocking type things. I have no buyers remorse or nothing like that but i probably go with asus or something known to unlock or overclock better...i only spent around 200 after rebate for brand new 7970 so for it being so cheap I'm in no big hurry to grab something different.
If you want a card that just works and has decent warranty theirs nothing wrong with xfx....just don't expect anything special
 
I've purchased a couple of XFX cards. The cooling solution on my 7870 will not hold up under mining, but otherwise the product works fine.

My biggest issue with them is that they lock voltage or change the reference designs to be cheaper, without notifying customers or issuing a new SKU. If I buy a reference board I expect reference features and that includes voltage adjustments. They aren't the only company that has done this (ASUS did it on my 5870) but they have done it the most that I have seen.
 
I think most complaints are from miners over VRM temps, but many cards don't even allow you to report those temps.

I'll take a solid warranty over slightly hotter card any day. Mine works great.
 
I have had a RMA I am trying to file and after a week I am still waiting for them to reply after sending messages back and fourth. Their RMA process is RIDICULOUS.
 
There is a review from legitreviews which talks about the temps:

We used EVGA PrecisionX to set the GPU Cooler fans to 100% and left the Noctua 120mm fan blowing across the back of the card to see what would happen to the VRM temperatures when gaming. We were pleasantly surprised to find that VRM1 hit 69C and VRM2 topped out at 45C. The GPU temperature of the card leveled out at 61C and never went any higher during our quick gaming session. It is clear from our testing that XFX too conservatively set the fans on these cards and while the Double Dissipation cooler is super quiet, it lacks the airflow needed to keep VRM1 cool in low airflow chassis and for those looking to run these on an open air system. This is a key bit of information for those looking to for cards to do a litecoin mining setup. If you are running this card at 100% load 24/7 you will most certainly want to register for the lifetime warranty as you are really going to be putting this card to the ultimate reliability test!
Read more at http://www.legitreviews.com/xfx-rad...deo-card-review_138612/12#kfgJHs2LbgCLRtUb.99
 
I've had a few Xfx branded cards over the years. Most of them were great. I recently had one in my wife's pc that would freeze to a solid color screen every now and then. After about a year of this problem, it finally got annoying enough that I sent it in for RMA. Xfx said they were not able to recreate the problem with the card, but they were going to replace the card for me anyways. So basically, they took my word that the card had an issue.
I'm 100% sure the card has issues, I switched out another card in her rig, and it worked great for a couple months, as soon as I put other one back in, the issue came back.

So while the VRM's aren't as cool as some people would like them to be on the new cards, I would at least have some faith in Xfx handling any issues that would ever arise. I know I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another card from them in the future.
 
Hey guys,

There have been a few changes to PCB's and voltage locks over the years. We (The XFX Support Team) have done whatever we can to fix or accommodate customers when possible. As of right now, all of our R9 series are not voltage locked, and we do not intend to lock them. The PCB on the DD fan models are made by XFX,
but still have the same reference layout. And our Warranty is still Lifetime with registration and receipt.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please pm us here at Hard Forum, or create a ticket at xfxsupport.com.

Thank you
 
My issue with my XFX 7950 and 6950's is that the stock coolers suck.

They are bad enough that with scrypt mining the cards peak past 90c in open air cooling. That is even after replacing TIM on the cards. I had to replace the coolers on two cards just to mine at stock clocks without overheating. Even replacing the stock fans with 2x 120mm fan did not control temps.

My XFX R9 270's are better, but the cooling is still not great.
 
They were my go to for a few years back in 06-09. Don't know about now.
 
Many of us that actually work at XFX are in fact active members here at Hard and we do listen to our customers in an effort to help make positive changes that our customers request. With that in mind, as with any product, things can fail or go wrong and when that does happen we work hard to ensure our customers are taken care of. This is one of the main reasons we have someone that on behalf of XFX monitors different forums and works directly with you guys. Should you have questions, concerns or even just advise feel free to hit up XFXSupport ANYTIME. However please keep in mind our jurisdiction rests in North America so our comments, recommendations and ability to assist are strongest in this region but we can help point anyone in the right direction for other regions.
 
and xfx has warranty stickers on the cooler, which means .. if you remove the cooler, the warranty will likely not be honored
 
Hey guys,

There have been a few changes to PCB's and voltage locks over the years. We (The XFX Support Team) have done whatever we can to fix or accommodate customers when possible. As of right now, all of our R9 series are not voltage locked, and we do not intend to lock them. The PCB on the DD fan models are made by XFX,
but still have the same reference layout. And our Warranty is still Lifetime with registration and receipt.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please pm us here at Hard Forum, or create a ticket at xfxsupport.com.

Thank you
That's good to hear. I've been pleased with your products that I've bought for friends and family who didn't have any need for overclocking, and I like that you are active on the forums. I'll give you guys a look for my main machine next time I do an AMD upgrade.
 
This only applies to regions outside of US and Canada. Our US/Canada customers can disregard these stickers.
I removed the heatsink on my reference XFX 6950 (ripped the stickers obviously) so we'll see how XFX holds to their policy when the card eventually dies. :cool:
 
I removed the heatsink on my reference XFX 6950 (ripped the stickers obviously) so we'll see how XFX holds to their policy when the card eventually dies. :cool:

As long as you still have the original hardware there will be no issues and of course if you encounter any please let us know.
 
I removed the heatsink on my reference XFX 6950 (ripped the stickers obviously) so we'll see how XFX holds to their policy when the card eventually dies. :cool:

According to the XFX website, they are ok with us removing the heatsink as long as we email them and let them know.
 
XFX isn't bad per se..
Warranty is good,cards are solid..
What makes me not like them is they always use a different PLL chip and lock
down the voltage control on cards.
I call them the "Dell" of GPUs"
 
I haven't used their warranty process but I will chime in about their cooling. My XFX 7950 DD runs cooler overclocked than my Saphire 7870 XT did at stock speeds. I had to run the Saphire fans at 75% to keep the temps under 75 degrees celsius while gaming but my 7950 rarely ever goes above 70 with the fans at 60%. I notice a lot of XFX cards use a stock cooler but my DD card uses a much better aftermarket cooler.
 
Hey guys,

There have been a few changes to PCB's and voltage locks over the years. We (The XFX Support Team) have done whatever we can to fix or accommodate customers when possible. As of right now, all of our R9 series are not voltage locked, and we do not intend to lock them. The PCB on the DD fan models are made by XFX,
but still have the same reference layout. And our Warranty is still Lifetime with registration and receipt.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please pm us here at Hard Forum, or create a ticket at xfxsupport.com.

Thank you

So are you saying that the Double Dissipation and Black Edition are the same pcb lay out as the core edition? With the prices finally starting to come back down to msrp, I have been looking into getting either a R9 290X or R9 290 but I want to be able to put a water block on it. It would be nice to be able to buy what is currently available with out trying to find a new reference version.
 
XFX isn't bad per se..
Warranty is good,cards are solid..
What makes me not like them is they always use a different PLL chip and lock
down the voltage control on cards.
I call them the "Dell" of GPUs"

Did you not read what the official XFX rep said about not locking voltages?
 
A few years ago I purchased an XFX card second hand. The retail package had a breakout dongle (component video I think), but the seller only gave me the card.

I sent an email to their support explaining that I had purchased the card second hand and that the seller hadn't included said dongle, and I asked if I could purchase it from them.

They asked me for the serial number and within a few hours sent me tracking information for the dongle - no charge - just a note asking me to consider XFX for future new GPU purchases.

Things may have changed since then, but I've bought several cards from them since.
 
I had an XFX 7850 DD that failed. RMA'd it, got a brand new, retail boxed card, of the same model back. Turn around time was about 2 1/2 weeks. Worked through reps here on this forum. I'm quite happy. The next AMD based card I buy will be an XFX. I really like the design, look and performance of their DD cooling system.
 
I've had nothing but disappointment with anything XFX-branded.

I learned my lesson long ago after countless motherboard, video card and PSU failures.
 
XFX has been on my blacklist since 2009.

Sometimes they change their PCB from reference to a new layout without telling anyone or without changing model numbers, and then blame the user for not figuring out that PCB change before buying.

Plenty of horror stories on these boards alone if you search for them.
 
I still have 3 XFX cards in my collection (as follows)

XFX 5770 (Still works like a champ)
XFX 7950 DD Ghost (Never a single issue with this card)
XFX 290 DD (Just got this card but it runs very well and cool)

I was not planning on moving to the 290 quite yet, in fact I was going to get a second 7950 and crossfire, however, I found the card for MSRP along with some additional savings I got from TD and was able to grab it well under MSRP.

I have never had a single issue with any of my XFX card, so I cannot speak to the RMA system, though, when I have spoken to them a few times they were helpful and more than willing to . I also have an ASUS 7850 DCUII as well and by far the 7950 and 290 are quieter than the 7850.

Besides, the new look on the 200 series cards is pretty bad ass. Not to mention they are solid cards and again, I have never had an issue with any of my XFX cards.
 
So are you saying that the Double Dissipation and Black Edition are the same pcb lay out as the core edition? With the prices finally starting to come back down to msrp, I have been looking into getting either a R9 290X or R9 290 but I want to be able to put a water block on it. It would be nice to be able to buy what is currently available with out trying to find a new reference version.

Correct, the black edition PCB should be identical for the 290X-EDBD and the core editions/reference designs
 
I've recently had my first experience with xfx, having bought 2 280x's and 2 290's. The 280's were used and one was DOA from the seller. Not xfx's fault, and they were very nice about the RMA and gave me no trouble. However, it is incredibly slow and the lifetime warranty no longer transfers. It took over a month to get my card back. The 290's on the other hand, have been awful. They won't post in any system if I use display port. My 780gtx nor the 280's have this problem, so it is the cards them selves. They also don't cool well at all. I can't mine with them at all unless I drop the intensity way down, otherwise they overheat. This is in an open air case with a box fan blowing on them. Also, the heat sink design on both the 280's and 290's make puling off the pci-e power connectors a nightmare, as they left absolutely no clearance to be able to push down the release tab. I have to jam a butter knife in between the tab and heatsink in order to release, which dents the fins on the cooler, and scares the hell out of me that I'm going to rip the thing apart.

Aside from their support staff being really nice guys, I just don't have any reason I'd choose them again. I never keep a card more than a year or two, so the warranty doesn't do me much good if it won't transfer, and the build quality just isn't up to par with the likes of Asus or sapphire, which don't cost any more.
 
and xfx has warranty stickers on the cooler, which means .. if you remove the cooler, the warranty will likely not be honored

I have nothing but good to say about XFX, every gpu I have ever bought brand new has been XFX. I also run their PSU the Pro 1250w and its been golden.

I'm running 2 7970 DD BE atm, haven't had any trouble with those. have done some mining and such
and ALOT of gaming.

Before those I had a single 6950 w/ reference cooler and I had to apply some thermal paste once to it and I took the cooler off and removed the stickers, a few months after it died on me.
I RMA'd the 6950, the "Warranty Void if Removed" stickers were gone they didn't say anything. They told me that in NA you are allowed to change coolers and such.

I would Highly recommend XFX for GPU and PSU, looking to buy one of there new cases soon just to check them out.
 
I got a new R9 290 XFX reference card the other day and it runs cooler than my Sapphire Tri-x R9 290 on core and VRM with 100% fan speed.
Also runs 1200/1600 easy with voltage bump.
I think XFX R9 290 is a great card.
 
I got a new R9 290 XFX reference card the other day and it runs cooler than my Sapphire Tri-x R9 290 on core and VRM with 100% fan speed.
Also runs 1200/1600 easy with voltage bump.
I think XFX R9 290 is a great card.

That's because XFX did not make your reference card.
 
Yepper but still a nice card.
Its too bad they did not take care of the proper cooling on the DD/Black cards on VRM,but those cards even at 100C they will last a long time.
 
Yepper but still a nice card.
Its too bad they did not take care of the proper cooling on the DD/Black cards on VRM,but those cards even at 100C they will last a long time.

My 7950 DD made it 3 days...

Unless someone miracles my ass, I'll probably have to RMA this within a year or so.
 
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