OK I got a PowerColor Radeon X1950PRO 512MB card back in September and it started making a hell of a racket a few days ago so I contacted PowerColor to figure out what I could do as its obvious that the fan was about to go out. Their technical support started off nice enough but after they realized that they had a problem they told me that it was because dust had gotten into my computer and they weren't going to warranty it. Has anyone else come across this? How am I suppose to stop dust from getting into my PC?
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PowerColor Support told me dust in my computer broke their card
- Thread starter Yacko
- Start date
Rofl what a joke of a company...
Yes, having a very dusty computer can cause problems with fans, but to flat out not honor their warranty is stupid to say the least. Guess Sapphire isn't the only joke ati manufacturer (see the long thread in the ati section)
Have any pics of the computer insides?
Yes, having a very dusty computer can cause problems with fans, but to flat out not honor their warranty is stupid to say the least. Guess Sapphire isn't the only joke ati manufacturer (see the long thread in the ati section)
Have any pics of the computer insides?
thats crazy, no way normal dust buildup would ever break a fan under normal circumstances, dust will always get in the most you can do is clean out dust filters in the case if you have any and blow out your case every few months (depending how much dust you actually accumulate inside the case)
What you are supposed to do is call back and speak to someone who isn't incompetent.
Send them the pictures. The only way the dust could cause problems was if it was taking over the computer.
Try and talk to a manager or someone higher up?
Gorankar
[H]F Junkie
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Read the warranty, and use it against them if possible. If the warranty does not specifically state, "we don't warranty our products unless operated in a clean room", you prolly have a chance of getting them to honor their warranty.
Keep bucking it up the line. Be insistant, but polite.
Did you send them the card? If not, how the hell would they know what was wrong with it?
If all else fails report them to the Better Business Bureau. It may not do anything for you personally, but it may help others later down the road. Well, at least it might make some lawyers rich, and cost Power Color some money in a class action.
Keep bucking it up the line. Be insistant, but polite.
Did you send them the card? If not, how the hell would they know what was wrong with it?
If all else fails report them to the Better Business Bureau. It may not do anything for you personally, but it may help others later down the road. Well, at least it might make some lawyers rich, and cost Power Color some money in a class action.
Sir Random
Weaksauce
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- Nov 3, 2005
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- 103
A guy rma'd a faulty 7900GS to Overclockers.co.uk, and they refused to even check it because it was too dusty. They just returned it with this note:
"REJECTED: Warranty void - Heatsink Fan is absolutely caked in tar/nicotene and dust - Likely cause of overheating and corruptions."
He posted the full story on his webpage (with pictures) here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kbyiers/7900gs_106686.html
.
"REJECTED: Warranty void - Heatsink Fan is absolutely caked in tar/nicotene and dust - Likely cause of overheating and corruptions."
He posted the full story on his webpage (with pictures) here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kbyiers/7900gs_106686.html
.
alg7_munif
Supreme [H]ardness
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- Oct 9, 2006
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- 5,862
Moral of the story, clean up your card before rma it
You (and by extension the OP) shouldn't have to - not for a ~2 month old card. I live in a pretty dusty place, and own 2 cats to boot, and my system doesn't get that bad after that length of time. It's even better now w/ a filtered case (the Armor).
F*ck Powercolor. They need to warranty the card, unless it is absolutely overflowing with dust bunnies maybe I would buy the damage argument - but again not gonna happen in 2 months. Take pictures of the card and case if you haven't already, post here, send to PC if you haven't...Hell post to other boards to warn people of shitty PC customer service. If trying a 3rd time doesn't net you someone else that isn't an asshat, I'd escalate the issue (such thing as a higher tier RMA rep there perhaps?) - hey it's America - sue the bastards!
Come to think of it - where did you get the card - Newegg or...? Some companies, inc. some of the ATI partners pretty much require you to go through the retailer for the first year at least. Maybe trying through your vendor may help?
[edit] Oh, and the Egg's return for replacement policy, assuming you used them is 30 days unfortunately - too bad the HSF didn't crap out sooner, else wouldn't be an issue here....Still there may be something they can do for you. A high volume retailer like Newegg may have some more clout w/ PC than a 'lowly' end user.
And assuming the guy in the oc.co.uk link wasn't scamming anyone (no reason to think so), and the pic provided of the card was representative of the state in which they were sent the card in the first place.... I would have to say that oc.co.uk are a DO NOT USE retailer. I mean WTF, is a user supposed to void their warranty (since EVGA/XFX are the only ones I know of that OFFICIALLY allow cooler removal), remove the cooler and bathe the HSF in order to get anywhere? It's f*cking dust people! I do hope that guy has/will send it over to the Trading Standards office (like the BBB but with some actual balls), they had no right to deny him (given the limited evidence) an RMA/replacement card. The fact that he seems to have written (typed?) confirmation of shipment of a replacement, I'd say it's pretty much a slam dunk in his favor.
F*ck Powercolor. They need to warranty the card, unless it is absolutely overflowing with dust bunnies maybe I would buy the damage argument - but again not gonna happen in 2 months. Take pictures of the card and case if you haven't already, post here, send to PC if you haven't...Hell post to other boards to warn people of shitty PC customer service. If trying a 3rd time doesn't net you someone else that isn't an asshat, I'd escalate the issue (such thing as a higher tier RMA rep there perhaps?) - hey it's America - sue the bastards!
Come to think of it - where did you get the card - Newegg or...? Some companies, inc. some of the ATI partners pretty much require you to go through the retailer for the first year at least. Maybe trying through your vendor may help?
[edit] Oh, and the Egg's return for replacement policy, assuming you used them is 30 days unfortunately
- too bad the HSF didn't crap out sooner, else wouldn't be an issue here....Still there may be something they can do for you. A high volume retailer like Newegg may have some more clout w/ PC than a 'lowly' end user.And assuming the guy in the oc.co.uk link wasn't scamming anyone (no reason to think so), and the pic provided of the card was representative of the state in which they were sent the card in the first place.... I would have to say that oc.co.uk are a DO NOT USE retailer. I mean WTF, is a user supposed to void their warranty (since EVGA/XFX are the only ones I know of that OFFICIALLY allow cooler removal), remove the cooler and bathe the HSF in order to get anywhere? It's f*cking dust people! I do hope that guy has/will send it over to the Trading Standards office (like the BBB but with some actual balls), they had no right to deny him (given the limited evidence) an RMA/replacement card. The fact that he seems to have written (typed?) confirmation of shipment of a replacement, I'd say it's pretty much a slam dunk in his favor.
sorry, but i don't believe it... he has no way to prove that he didn't blow that card off and THEN take a picture of it. Face it, alot of hardcore computer nerds who play wow 24/7 have pretty disgusting computers... gotta vaccum every now and then boys n girls
Sir Random
Weaksauce
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- Nov 3, 2005
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That's not the point, the card was operating well within normal temps, but those guys never even checked it. Do you think a car's warranty should be void if the owner lets it get dirty?
I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have at least blown/vacuumed it off before sending it back. Everything is going to get a layer of dust, but a thin coating on the fan blades isn't going to change much. Only having air pathways blocked off would do that.. and well, if he sent it back with enough gunk to block passages then he deserves to get screwed. I have to assume that he wasn't that foolish though. I've never heard a single good thing about ATI-partners RMA practices though.. so maybe this is par for the course. I'd hope not though.. ATI needs all the help they can get in the enthusiast market.
I don't back their stance but I worry about statements like
"How am I suppose to stop dust from getting into my PC?"
"Any way you can" would be the answer to that one - it's not supposed to be there and certainly isn't an inevitability. Mine used to get full of dust, and I got sick of having to back off my clocks due to overheating, so I thoroughly cleaned and then dust-proofed it.
There are no gaps in the case that aren't filled with something (open holes suck dust in), all intakes now have dust filters (the main fan has a premade one, while the side grilles have vacuum cleaner filters screwed to the inside of the case, there isn't an overabundance of fans (again, unstructured fans are inefficient and invite dust) and I have an ionising air purifier constantly running next to the PC. Oh, and I started turning it off at night when I'm not using it.
I opened it up the other day to check on it, and it's collected no dust at all in two months, looks brand new in there. With two overclocked X1900s and their huge-ass fans that's quite impressive.
"How am I suppose to stop dust from getting into my PC?"
"Any way you can" would be the answer to that one - it's not supposed to be there and certainly isn't an inevitability. Mine used to get full of dust, and I got sick of having to back off my clocks due to overheating, so I thoroughly cleaned and then dust-proofed it.
There are no gaps in the case that aren't filled with something (open holes suck dust in), all intakes now have dust filters (the main fan has a premade one, while the side grilles have vacuum cleaner filters screwed to the inside of the case, there isn't an overabundance of fans (again, unstructured fans are inefficient and invite dust) and I have an ionising air purifier constantly running next to the PC. Oh, and I started turning it off at night when I'm not using it.
I opened it up the other day to check on it, and it's collected no dust at all in two months, looks brand new in there. With two overclocked X1900s and their huge-ass fans that's quite impressive.