Leadtek frustrates me

I

intercollector

Gawd
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Messages
530
Ok, I've had a hell of a time trying to get a video card for my system.

Initially, I preordered an ATi X800 XT PE from ati's website. It seems that that card will take quite a while to get to me, so I searched for another one.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything out there cheaper than what I preordered the XT PE for (I used the 10% discount off of MSRP).

It was just taking too long, so I searched for a 6800 GT, but I couldn't find many in stock for much cheaper. Finally, I chose the Leadtek A400GT due to it's apparantly very good cooler and the game bundle.

All was good until I got the card.

Threw it in and noticed my benchmarks were low right out of the box. I then noticed that the damn thing is clocked at 350 core, 450 memory. I know for a fact that this isn't the normal clock speeds for this card. Then I realized a tiny sticker on the box that says "350MHz GPU, 450MHz Memory". This is absolute crap and false advertising on Leadtek's fault (I really don't think it was the retailers idea since it is a retail Leadtek box).

The question now, is what do I do? I can return the card to the retailer, who will probably charge me shipping both ways. Or I could try to contact leadtek and see what I can get from them. But even after that, I'm probably going to end up paying out of my own pocket just to return this damn thing. And then if I do return it, I'm still in the hunt for a new card, right back to where I started.

My second option would be to just keep the thing and take the bullet. The memory wont overclock at all, so that isn't an option. My frame rates in games are a bit lower than what most of the reviews show it at, and it is somewhat noticable, but not to a large degree.

I know there's not much I can do, so it might be more of a rant than anything else. If anything, I hope it warns some people away from Leadtek, as they seem to have fucked me over. It's not like it was unintentional either. They knew when they weren't getting cards out due to memory (just like all of the other retailers) that demand was high and supply was low. The solution to this is definately not a lower product, especially without letting the end customer know first.
 
Maybe you got sent a 6800 NU rather than a GT.

What does the cooler on the card say.
 
TheGamerZ said:
Maybe you got sent a 6800 NU rather than a GT.

What does the cooler on the card say.
Click to expand...

Everything basically says that it's a GT. The box is a standard A400GT Box, the cooler says it's a GT, and the nvidia drivers detect it as a GT. The only difference seems to be the lower quality ram.

I've done some more testing and it seems that it is about 10% slower than it should be. This make sense due to the fact that these cards are extremely dependent on memory speeds, and the memory is 10% lower.
 
Maybe it's not switching into 3D mode correctly. The core/mem speeds in 2D mode are much slower than 3D.


I have the WinFast A400GT also, and mine is at 350/500 like it should be.

But I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck.
 
TheGamerZ said:
Maybe it's not switching into 3D mode correctly. The core/mem speeds in 2D mode are much slower than 3D.


I have the WinFast A400GT also, and mine is at 350/500 like it should be.

But I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck.
Click to expand...

Ya, I don't think it's a malfunction or anything due to the sticker on the box saying 350/450. It's just a lower grade card that works a bit slower. Kinda sucks
 
That isn't the first time LeadTek has done this. They also played with the FX5900 clock speeds before the 5900XT came out ("LX" version).

I was looking at the LeadTek 6600GT, but I'm not going to order one until I can verify the clock speeds.
 
Can you show us the site of where this false ad was?

Edit:i have leadtek..runs great,oc`s great,but i dont see why you cant return it.
 
Eshelmen said:
Can you show us the site of where this false ad was?
Click to expand...

lol...look at Leadtek's site. They state that their cards are clocked at 350/500...My card is not, even though it is a Leadtek retail boxed card.
 
default speeds for all 6800GT cards is 350 core and 500 mem(this is doubled cause the ram is DDR, so a 500MHz is technically 1GHz)

your card is fine, you just screwed something up

try using driver cleaner and installing the newest drivers
 
DermicSavage said:
default speeds for all 6800GT cards is 350 core and 500 mem(this is doubled cause the ram is DDR, so a 500MHz is technically 1GHz)

your card is fine, you just screwed something up

try using driver cleaner and installing the newest drivers
Click to expand...

Please read my original post. There is a sticker on the box that states "350/450". 2 different tools detected the memory at 450. I've installed many different drivers multiple times. Everything works completely fine at this speed, it just is lower than what it should be.
 
but you call them up? they should be open live support right now..
 
Eshelmen said:
but you call them up? they should be open live support right now..
Click to expand...
That might help in venting, but obviously LeadTek had some 2.2ns memory they wanted to get rid of.
 
pxc said:
That might help in venting, but obviously LeadTek had some 2.2ns memory they wanted to get rid of.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree and it doesn't look like I'll be able to get around this without forking over more cash. I'm just trying to get the word out that Leadtek likes to stab people in the back.

It's not like they made a mistake, they knew this card was rated at lower speeds. Since
a) they must have made a bios specifically for this card setting the speeds at what they're at

and
b) they knew of the lower speeds due to the sticker on the box.
 
Mine runs perfect...but I see your point. Leadtek thought the average person who operates a computer will not know the frequencies once they start using the card I guess, so they screwed you over on the ram or something...
 
Update:

Well, what I expected has happened. Leadtek blames the retailer and the retailer blames leadtek. I'm the one who gets screwed.

Oh well, no business from me from either the retailer or Leadtek again.

I guess since I stated Leadtek at fault, I should also mention that ATIC Computers in vancouver BC should also be to blame, as they knew about the change in specifications for this card, but did not inform the customers.

I guess this means that Leadtek might change over all of the 6800GT's to this memory speed if supply is so low. It sucks that they didn't mention this before releasing these damn things!
 
intercollector said:
Update:

Well, what I expected has happened. Leadtek blames the retailer and the retailer blames leadtek. I'm the one who gets screwed.
Click to expand...
I think it's LeadTek's fault. They're using 6800GTO spec memory on the card (Dell 6800GTOs seem to have 2ns memory). There's no leeway in specs for a "6800GT". If you're feeling brave you may want to look under the heatsink to make sure you got a 6800GT chip and not a 6800GTO.

Just as easily as LeadTek "adjusted" the memory speed, they could have taken a 6800GTO chip, enabled the disabled quad, tested it, then sold it as a 6800GT when the whole card is really a 6800GTO. That would be fraud.
 
what specs were posted for the card on the retailers website?

if you talk to the right people, i bet you could get them to swap out the card and pay for shipping.
 
felix88 said:
what specs were posted for the card on the retailers website?

if you talk to the right people, i bet you could get them to swap out the card and pay for shipping.
Click to expand...

The retailers website stated just that it was the retail A400GT card. The consumer would normally then visit Leadtek's website to see what the retail card specs are. I guess I could have contacted the retailer and asked what it was, but I don't think that should be necessary. If that were necessary, we'd have to phone them up and speak for 10-20 minutes about all the details about the card, as it could have many different things that are different, not just the clock speeds. Imagine if we had to do this with every single component that we bought. That would get a little out of hand I think.

So far, they've offered me a refund minus the original shipping and the shipping to send it back. This would mean 25 bucks out of my own pocket, and nothing to show for it in the end.

Tonight I'm going to do a bios update. If the card is an A400GT, then it should except the standard bios for an A400GT (they only have one listed). This should not void the warantee as far as I'm concerned. If it runs at 500, then great, I'll just keep it. If not, then RMA it.
 
Just noticed, my leadtek 6800GT also has the "350/450mhz" sticker on the front of the box, I'll upload a picture later when I get home.
 
mxs1030 said:
Just noticed, my leadtek 6800GT also has the "350/450mhz" sticker on the front of the box, I'll upload a picture later when I get home.
Click to expand...

Apparantly it's a lite version that Leadtek says a few were released. The retailer never mentioned there being a "lite" version, but they said that none of the 6800GT's ran at the higher (500) rated speeds.

Can you confirm that your card is running at 350/450? If so, what can you overclock to?
 
link

This is the lite version. It is discussed in this thread. Supposely it should be priced $50 less than the GT
 
inglewood78 said:
link

This is the lite version. It is discussed in this thread. Supposely it should be priced $50 less than the GT
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. Leadtek seems to be the problem if multiple retailers are getting the shaft by getting only GT lite cards.

See, the retailer really isn't at 100% fault since all the advertised to me was a A400GT, and they didn't mention the clock speeds.

Leadtek should definately CLEARLY state the difference in the cards.
 
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