RMA downgrade? Trying to decide what to do next, need input

L

Lockout

n00b
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Nov 23, 2007
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Ok, so my 2-year-old BFG 7800GTX OC died on me a few weeks ago... I sent it in for an RMA last Friday, and I received the replacement today. I was pretty impressed by the return time, but after opening the package and seeing an 8600GT inside, I'm not really sure how satisfied I am.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't going from a 7800GTX to an 8600GT somewhat of a downgrade? All the benchmarks I can find seem to indicate this being true. I mean, I had heard all of these great stories of BFG's RMA service sending upgraded cards as replacements, and though I tried my best not to get my hopes up beyond getting an equal replacement to my GTX, I can't help but feel a little disappointed by this.

I'm faced with a dilemma here, so I'm looking for some input.

Do you think I should...

A) Talk to BFG about it, and see if I can get something that's at least on par with the 7800GTX's performance?

Or...

B) Suck it up, throw it on eBay, and buy something halfway decent? (A potential problem with this option is the fact that the 8600GT isn't in a retail box, so I'm not sure how much I could get for it.)

Thanks in advance.

[Edit] Final update - All is well now. As I mentioned in other posts down below, BFG offered me a 7900GTX, which I accepted. When I shipped back the 8600GT the first time, I got another 8600GT back by mistake, but after posting about it here I was contacted through the forums by someone from BFG who set things straight. He shipped out a 7900GTX for me as soon as he could and e-mailed me a prepaid shipping label for sending the 8600GT back. My experience with BFG wasn't the greatest initially, but they seem to have made up for it, and now I'm pretty satisfied.
 
talk to them. They might even upgrade to an 8800GT if you press them hard enough since they obvioulsy no longer have the 7800 or 7900 series in the warehouse.
 
Lockout said:
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't going from a 7800GTX to an 8600GT somewhat of a downgrade? All the benchmarks I can find seem to indicate this being true. I mean, I had heard all of these great stories of BFG's RMA service sending upgraded cards as replacements, and though I tried my best not to get my hopes up beyond getting an equal replacement to my GTX, I can't help but feel a little disappointed by this.

I'm faced with a dilemma here, so I'm looking for some input.

Do you think I should...

A) Talk to BFG about it, and see if I can get something that's at least on par with the 7800GTX's performance?

Or...

B) Suck it up, throw it on eBay, and buy something halfway decent? (A potential problem with this option is the fact that the 8600GT isn't in a retail box, so I'm not sure how much I could get for it.)

Thanks in advance.
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A for sure, and yes, 8600 GT is a downgrade form even a regular 7800 GTX, i have a 7800 GTX Club3D stock, and i bought a evga 8600 GT for my brothers puter ( cheap ass .. hehe ) and i tried it in mine, i had worse performance wiht the 8600 GT than my 7800 GTX =/
 
That's a definite downgrade. Call BFG and raise hell, personally I think that they should have at least given you a low end 8800GTS (320mb) card, or one of the new 8800gt 256mb cards. The fact is that no matter how you look at it the 8600GT is not in the same league as the 7800GTX.
 
That is a downgrade. I would contact them and get something better.
 
I think this is a small downgrade and what they should of done is shipped a 8600GTS not the 8600GT.

A 8600GTS will probably beat the 7800GTX in most newer shader intensive games and loose in older ones, so probably call it even, but NOT the GT.

The Toms Charts are hardly accurate but offer a rough idea, they also show the 8800GT loosing in other tests.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=714&model2=855&chart=286
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=714&model2=855&chart=277


Maybe they might allow you to step up at a cost to something decent?.
 
Well, I've sent them an e-mail. I tried to keep it relatively civil (though a bit manipulative) instead of going into bitch-mode right away. We'll see what comes of it.

I'll be sure to update this thread with the outcome, if/when they reply.
 
Lockout said:
Well, I've sent them an e-mail. I tried to keep it relatively civil (though a bit manipulative) instead of going into bitch-mode right away. We'll see what comes of it.

I'll be sure to update this thread with the outcome, if/when they reply.
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GL,hopefully they'll bend and send you something a tad more powerful.
 
Manny Calavera said:
Its a small downgrade,key word being small.I had PNY do this with two TI4400's that died on me.
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off topic, but i had 2 pny 4400's crap out on me also. if you took off the hs/f, you could see that they were not in fact 4400's, but were early rev 4600's. and also probably a bad batch, seeing as how many of them died.
this is a small downgrade. guys bought the 7800gtx as a gamers card. in no way is the 8600 gt considered a gamers card. imho, it doesnt matter that the 8600gt almost matches the 7800gtx benchmarks. the gt is a $120 card. the gtx was a $400-$500 card. when it was bought, it was a high end card. they should at least send him a 8800gt or gts, especially since he is the original owner. if your in- warranty 32" tv died, would you be satisfied if it was replaced with a newer 20"?
 
By that logic all you have to do is hold onto a video card for two years and send it back once there is a good chance they don't have the old ones in stock. If that was standard practice I'd be sending back old video cards from 5 years ago expecting to get an 8800GTS in return.
 
Dethred said:
By that logic all you have to do is hold onto a video card for two years and send it back once there is a good chance they don't have the old ones in stock. If that was standard practice I'd be sending back old video cards from 5 years ago expecting to get an 8800GTS in return.
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and by your logic all a company would have to do is send you back a pos card and claim they were out of stock of your model. great way ro save inventory space. money, too.
and why would you want an 8800gts anyway? arent you the "nvidia just lost a customer" guy? (noticed your gtx)
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1181433
 
So they just offered me a 7900GTX OC. It's no 8800GT of course, but it sounds like a pretty reasonable replacement. ;)

Anyone know how the noise level of the 7900GTX compares to the 7800GTX?

Edit: The e-mail says it's a 256MB version... all the 7900GTXs I see in google searches are 512MB. Think it's a typo?
 
Will you have to pay for shipping the mistake card back to them, or will they pay for the shipping to them and also to you.
 
mle said:
Will you have to pay for shipping the mistake card back to them, or will they pay for the shipping to them and also to you.
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They'll pay to ship it back, but I assume I will have to cover the cost to ship it to them. I'm not going to push my luck for $8. :)
 
I almost had the same issue with Gigabyte, where they offered a slight downgrade. The good news is they emailed the offer first and I was able to prevent it from being an issue. I had hoped to get one of the newer offerings as they offered to allow me to pay for any difference, but when it came down to discussing a 3850/3870/8800 they just did not seem to really want to discuss it anymore. This is mostly likely due to supply being exceptionally limited.

I just would have discussed it being a downgrade in the application you currently run etc, which is likely how you went. They seem to have good support and I can see what they were thinking, but I have to praise them for fixing it in the end. Glad to see both Gigabyte and BFG offering such solid support to their customers.
 
*sigh*

So I sent back the 8600GT on Monday to get it replaced with the 7900GTX they offered. Got a package today, and... they sent me the same 8600GT. :confused:

It's a good thing I bought an EVGA 8800GTS 512MB last week, or I'd be extremely annoyed by this point. As it is now I'm just disappointed.
 
Now you should definitely raise hell with 'em! I find that completely unacceptable. Interestingly though, i had a very good experience with BFG, and a bad one with eVGA. Keep pushing!
 
Try calling vs. emailing if you can. Usually talking to someone puts them more on the spot than sending an email.
 
if their e-mail said that they were going to fix the issue by sending you a 7900GTX, then there is even more reason to bitch and complain until you get a suitable replacement.
 
Someone from BFG contacted me through the forums earlier today and said he'd look into it for me. So I'll hold off on any bitching for the time being. ;)
 
When I mailed in my 7800GTX OC to them for replacement I got back a revised one with a fan that was at full blast the whole time, and never quieted down for 2D mode, and only like 1/2 of the people even knew they had a product that was like that. So I was extremely unhappy with that thing, sold it and got an 8600GTS which is more of a side-grade to the 7800GTX OC, and even only while I OC'd the 8600GTS did it compare fully. The 8600GT is a definite downgrade, glad to hear you're trying to sort it out though.

Anyway, I've long since sold the 8600GTS and the Shuttle XPC my computer was in at the time, I went to an 8800GTS 320MB (paid for 640MB and in the mail came a 320MB with a 640MB serial number and a 640MB box... whatever, PNY wasn't touching that one.) and have also sold that now to a friend and went with an 8800GT.
 
(paid for 640MB and in the mail came a 320MB with a 640MB serial number and a 640MB box... whatever said:
Whoa, WTF? Did you post about that here? If so, I missed it. I would have called them on it, a company's QC rep would rather hear about a screwup like that than have multiples of lost customers trolling about. :mad:

I guess it worked out for you in the end though, 8800GT is the card of the year. :cool:
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XFX replaced my 7800GT with a 8600GTS XXX, a nice bump for me. Wish this all happened sooner since I am building a new box in the near future.

I'd think it be a small, if any, upgrade for you, but hard to say...
 
I am going thru the same issue. My trusty 3DFUZION/BFG 7600GT blew taking the MB and monitor with it. They sent me a 8500GT only 1 DVI port.

I complained and they took my shipping info and said they will take care of me.

6 emails and a week later nothing so I threatened a BBB filing and then they said they would finally swap me with a 7600GT but after the holidays is over.

They were going to leave me hanging.

I may just as well refuse to put another 3dfuzion board in my computer if there is chance of a blowout like that again. And Im not spending any more money to send the 8500GT back.

I have my sights set on a $130 XFX 8600GTS after Xmas
 
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