Strange case of EVGA support. (By the way, is there an EVGA rep here that I can talk to?)

serial__thrilla

Limp Gawd
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I have an EVGA GTX1660Ti, with a defect. When it's installed in a machine, when just sitting at desktop, it seems to be okay. (Short version of the issue) As soon as I subject it to any amount of graphical stress, the fans ramp up to like 15000 rpm, and there is nothing I can do to change that. The card is registered and is under warranty, and all that good stuff, but I need to RMA it, obviously.
I have been building my own PCs since 2001, and of course, I have tested and reproduced this issue on multiple platforms, under various 3D loads. The card is very obviously defective.
I opened a support ticket. After asking me a bunch of scripted questions and giving me a bunch of scripted suggestions, the support rep is now asking me to shoot a video and post it on some public domain, demonstrating the issue.
I've never in my life had to go through anything like that. They either don't believe me, or EVGA don't have the facility where they can test my issue?
Has anyone else had anything like that happen to them?

See below my email conversation with the support rep:


This is getting a little ridiculous. Honestly, I'm not really set up to shoot videos.
Do you not believe me, or is EVGA not able to test customer issues?


Question2/23/2021 11:41:45 AM

The temperature seems to be fine - 57-61C, but the fan RPM I can't say, AfterBurner shows the card as having 0MHz GPU and 0MHz VRAM and 0 RPM for the fans, but the fans probably spin at 5-10 times their highest user-accessible rated speed, the noise is unbelievable.
It seems like some sensor circuit on the card has become bad, and the card would need to be replaced.


Answer2/23/2021 4:45:06 PM
Hello Alex,

Thank you for replying back with your results. Would you be able to provide a video recording of the issue you are experiencing? You can upload the recording to YouTube, Google Drive, or Dropbox and share the public link with us so we may be able to review it. We look forward to hearing you soon.

Regards,
EVGA
image
Question2/23/2021 5:44:07 AM

This videocard's cooling fans start spinning at extreme speed as soon as even a little graphical stress has been given to it (such as 3rdMark, or anything like it that puts even the slightest 3-D load on the GPU).
The speed far exceeds even the highest speed setting available in the AfterBurner, or whatever 3rd party software. I have tested this on multiple platforms, AMD and Intel and the behavior is always the same.
Can I get an RMA approved to get the unit replaced?
Thank you.


Answer2/23/2021 11:14:26 AM
Hello Alex,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing issues with your graphics card. Would you be able to provide how high the fans are spinning and the temperatures of your system when you are doing benchmarks? Please try the following troubleshooting steps to see if it may resolve the issue:
  • Try reseating your graphics card or use a different PCIe slot.
  • Make sure the PCIe/VGA power cables are securely in placed, if possible try switching out the power cable.
  • Best way to tell if it is a hardware issue is to test the graphics card in a different system to see if the issue persists.
Please reply back with your answers and results so we may be able to assist you further. We look forward to hearing you soon.

Regards,
 
I'll say my EVGA story again, send my card off RMA, got same card back.... waste of time and money and they did not honor their warranty. Haven't bought an EVGA since.
 
It would probably take about 5 minutes to whip out your cell phone and record a 2 minute video that automatically uploads itself to Google Photos. Even if you didn't have gmail, it would be incredibly easy to setup an account and upload to Photos or youtube.

I don't fault EVGA for asking for a video. They probably deal with dozens of dumbasses each day that submit RMA requests that aren't really necessary.

Every cell phone has a camera and can record, so I don't buy the argument "I'm not really set up to shoot videos."
 
It would probably take about 5 minutes to whip out your cell phone and record a 2 minute video that automatically uploads itself to Google Photos. Even if you didn't have gmail, it would be incredibly easy to setup an account and upload to Photos or youtube.

I don't fault EVGA for asking for a video. They probably deal with dozens of dumbasses each day that submit RMA requests that aren't really necessary.

Every cell phone has a camera and can record, so I don't buy the argument "I'm not really set up to shoot videos."

^ This guy has the correct answer. Evga probably has to deal with completely retarded monkeys on a regular basis.

In the 21st century if you dont know how to shoot and upload a video, now that everyone and their grandma has a cellphone, its time you enlightened yourself and got with the digital age. Their request is not absurd. Just shoot he video and upload it. What does it take? 5 mins?

If this is too much of a hassle, just dont do the RMA and buy a new graphics card...
 
Call them. Itll get taken care of in one call.

If youd rather not make the call go to evga forums and post there what youve posted here. One of the reps will get you taken care of.

EDIT- What is this kindergarten? Theres no reason to treat anyone poorly. Pissing on fellow forum members is just classless.
 
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^ This guy has the correct answer. Evga probably has to deal with completely retarded monkeys on a regular basis.

In the 21st century if you dont know how to shoot and upload a video, now that everyone and their grandma has a cellphone, its time you enlightened yourself and got with the digital age. Their request is not absurd. Just shoot he video and upload it. What does it take? 5 mins?

If this is too much of a hassle, just dont do the RMA and buy a new graphics card...

Maybe EVGA should state that in their warranty.

* Note: Will only honor warranty if ample video evidence is uploaded.

Really, that is lame. I don't know of any company that requires videos for warranty. Not entirely unreasonable but a good bit more strict that practically every other company in a similar field.
 
You should set up google drive. fast easy loads of space and you can link it to the tech. I agree with others. You can have this done in 20 mins. put some music on while you do it.
 
Maybe EVGA should state that in their warranty.

* Note: Will only honor warranty if ample video evidence is uploaded.

Really, that is lame. I don't know of any company that requires videos for warranty. Not entirely unreasonable but a good bit more strict that practically every other company in a similar field.

Or people could just go the extra little step to accommodate the request of a company known for great customer service. Or you could always buy Gigabyte, MSI or Asus who dont require a video but also get zero customer service....
 
I'll say my EVGA story again, send my card off RMA, got same card back.... waste of time and money and they did not honor their warranty. Haven't bought an EVGA since.
Always cross-ship, it's faster and this can't happen.
 
Always cross-ship, it's faster and this can't happen.
I don't think cross ship was even an option when this happened. EVGA sent me the RMA info, I sent the card in, they played cops and robbers with it, and sent the broken card back to me after a couple of weeks.
 
Never had a problem with EVGA on RMAs. Video proof might be something new and it most likely helps them determine that RMA is valid and the user isn't lying and wasting their time. My PSU took a shit right before Thanksgiving where the +12v would drop all the way down to 10.2 while under load. Submitted my RMA, they asked the simple questions then just wanted a screenshot or quick video of the problem showing voltage drop on that rail. I did a quick screen recording with Shadowplay & took a SS of HWinfo64 showing voltage under load, sent that in and had a new PSU on the way the following morning. Time from initial RMA claim to receiving my replacement PSU was under a week & then I just had to send my faulty PSU in once I confirmed that the replacement was working properly. Overall 10/10 for me
 
I've had to RMA / return 2 3070's to EVGA in the last several months. They didn't ask for a video.

The first one I RMA'd I offered a picture as one power connector was lit up and clearly indicating the problem. They were going to have me follow a bunch of scripts, but, I'd tested the card on 2 different systems and a third power supply and the same problem was evident. Cross shipped that one as I knew supply was super tight. It took about 2 weeks to get the replacement. RMA was smooth and even $ exchange. No out of pocket on my end, just the pending charge on the cc that was released after they received the defective card.

The second I decided to return for a refund, as I had a total of one 3070 working out of three shipped to me by EVGA, at that point. I had to pay for shipping to them and they deducted shipping to me when they refunded the card. Stupid - as I lost $40-$50 on shipping their broken card both ways but lesson learned. This is why I prefer the south american river store for easy returns on defective electronics.

Prior to this, I've only had one other RMA with EVGA - a GTX 780 years ago with a faulty fan. I've been buying SLI'd card setups for my gaming PC and one off's from them since the 7800 GTX KO days.

On a side note, Corsair asked me for a video this week with regards to a pump failure on their pump res combo I had last weekend. It took them 2 days to respond to the RMA and I had pulled and replaced the pump the same day so I told them no. Now, they have me sending the pump to Taiwan... I expect it will take a month to get this replaced.

So, this video trend may continue and increase from multiple manufacturers. Add a few extra hurdles and some will give up and buy a new device somewhere else.
 
I'm a bit surprised with the OP flaming, sure it's not the end of the world, but it is certainly an uncommon step. I have never had to shoot a video for an RMA of any type. Outside of some really exotic issue, if any vendor I work with asked me to do this I would find a new vendor. It's a waste of my time.

If you want to make this a normal step then go ahead and make an RMA app with a built in tool for recording and uploading videos straight to support. It shouldn't be on the end user to just "figure out".

This is just a company being cheap. Unfortunately stupid users are a cost of doing business that companies typically eat. The alternative is to inconvenience all of your competent users because of a few idiots. It's sad to see EVGA take this path. Maybe it's just a temporary thing to reduce RMA during a massive card shortage. I sure hope so.
 
I used to frequent the evga forums and saw their tech support staff bend over backwards helping people resolve issues left and right. Some that quite frankly didnt deserve the time of day but they still took care of them just the same.
My only rma was a x99 classified. It was fast and painless. I walked them through my troubleshooting process and that was that. I had a new mb in 10 or 11 days, no cross shipping. EVGA is as good as it gets.
 
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EVGA has excellent support and RMA, just a take any video with your phone to appease them and I'm sure they will keep the process going for you. They've generally gone above and beyond anytime I've had to talk to them. They've RMA'd a bad card for me, helped me with a step-up program issue, sent additional pads and hardware free of charge when I had one of the early 1080's with insufficient backplate attachment.

People love to talk smack on EVGA but their support is still the gold standard IMO.
 
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EVGA has excellent support and RMA, just a take any video with your phone to appease them and I'm sure they will keep the process going for you. They've generally gone above and beyond anytime I've had to talk to them. They've RMA'd a bad card for me, helped me with a step-up program issue, sent additional pads and hardware free of charge when I had one of the early 1080's with insufficient backplate attachment.

People love to talk smack on EVGA but their support is still the gold standard IMO.

Agreed.. I remember having to RMA a card and they ended up going above and beyond upgrading me to the newest card that year. I have not bought an EVGA in several years but I would always go back when upgrade time rolls around.. Good company and great customer service indeed.
 
Did you make sure all the fans were spinning? If one goes out/is blocked/whatever, the others can spin at 100% after anything that would put load on the system occurs, even if the temperatures are fine. It happened to me once when I was working on a SFF build.
 
the fans ramp to like 15000 rpm

fans probably spin at 5-10 times their highest user-accessible rated speed, the noise is unbelievable.

Here is the OP’s issue. PC fans generally just can’t spin at “5-10 times” their rated speed. Fans will hit their max RPM at either full voltage or full PWM signal, there is no magic way for the fans to spin 5x their max without something else going horrendously wrong. So the EVGA rep wants a video to call out the OP on this.
 
Maybe EVGA should state that in their warranty.

* Note: Will only honor warranty if ample video evidence is uploaded.

Really, that is lame. I don't know of any company that requires videos for warranty. Not entirely unreasonable but a good bit more strict that practically every other company in a similar field.
I recently dealt with Corsair and Logitech RMA and both asked for videos.
 
Install EVGA Precision X which will update bios on EVGA automatically.

Worth a shot to see if it fixed the issue.

Otherwise honor their request, and make a very public video of the faulty Fans on YouTube. Won’t take too many of these public videos before EVGA shuts that practice down.

As far as easy path. Imgur has a public video sharing function and is the simplest of simple ways to share a video from your cell phone.
For example:


My EVGA 3080 is loud under RTX load in Cyberpunk too as my video shows. My Asus Tuf OC 3080 is basically silent in comparison.
 
Install EVGA Precision X which will update bios on EVGA automatically.

Worth a shot to see if it fixed the issue.

Otherwise honor their request, and make a very public video of the faulty Fans on YouTube. Won’t take too many of these public videos before EVGA shuts that practice down.

As far as easy path. Imgur has a public video sharing function and is the simplest of simple ways to share a video from your cell phone.
For example:


My EVGA 3080 is loud under RTX load in Cyberpunk too as my video shows. My Asus Tuf OC 3080 is basically silent in comparison.

Lol on selling a 3080 without a backplate, the PCB is already flexed on the end in that video. In other news, a 2060 KO I ordered from them arrived in a totally crushed box with no packaging material inside, think someone else had a similar experience recently. Reached out to CS, let's see what they say....
 
I'm out here taking 5 second video gifs of my system just to show RGB transitions.

I'd gladly make whatever the hell short video is needed to RMA a $$$ component. Especially if it cuts down on back and forth troubleshooting.
 
I think the “5x-10x “ their rated speed claim is what probably triggered evga. I am guessing OP was just exaggerating, but I bet evga figured that claim was a reason to have video proof. We all know it’s not electrically possible on a non modified system.
Also OP - I’d use evga precision X when dealing with them.

they have their reasons for asking. Hopefully you’ve already done a video and have a rma in progress.
 
I recently had an interaction with Glorious PC regarding my Model O Wireless and they too asked me to upload a video for my issue. This might be the norm during these restricted times.

I'm just taking a guess, but I'm thinking that EVGA, and other hardware manufacturers, have limited stock of replacements on hand. So I'd wager that these video requests are being used to verify RMA requests for customers who really need one. As others have mentioned, sometimes people request an RMA when the issue can be resolved via troubleshooting.

I don't mind providing a short video if it means my ticket request can move forward.
 
The time it took to write this thread was probably longer than what it takes to shot and upload a video. He could have already be having a brand new card on his way if he just complied with the request. Problably was lying about the issue that's why he mad that he has to prove it.
 
Also OP - I’d use evga precision X when dealing with them.
I'd also recommend uninstalling other apps that modify GPU profiles (like Afterburner) while using Precision X. This sounds more like a software issue, such as Afterburner not interacting with another manufacturer's card correctly or multiple programs trying to manage the fans at the same time. Even if you test using different systems, if those systems all have the same programs installed the problem will persists across platforms.

You can manually set fan curves in Precision X (I know you can with Afterburner as well), try setting a heat tolerant/low noise curve.
 
Kinda funny the OP hasn't been back to answer any questions in his thread.
 
EVGA is as good as it gets for Customer Service on GPUs. Leaving EVGA for another brand because of this would be the dumbest thing since you will be getting worse service with ANY other brand 100% guaranteed.
If you don't want to take a video and upload it and have to buy another GPU, that's fine, but you have to understand what kinds of crap these customer service people have to deal with on a daily basis.
Asking for a video to confirm a problem in action is very useful for troubleshooting no matter how detailed you make it out in writing.

Being in IT, if someone calls me with a problem, I ALWAYS ask the user to reproduce the error when I am remoted in so I can better understand it, not exactly the same, but same concept.
Also being in IT, one of the things I dread is having to call tech support since I usually know way more than a level 1 tech about my problem.

I had to use a warranty on a TCL 55inch roku TV (Wifi not working). I already narrowed the problem down to the wifi chip itself (everything else was working, including ethernet), before I called TCL support.
I of course went through their scripted troubleshooting process which was very basic (restart TV, update firmware, try Ethernet), and had a heck of a time getting past that with them. I eventually did and they sent out a warranty tech after about 2 hours of talk time total. Almost a complete waste of my time yes, however they have to consider the lowest common denominator that knows nothing of electronics. But it was either that or buy another TV, but not everyone just has $300 just laying around collecting dust. If they has asked for a video of the problem instead I would have done that in a heartbeat!
I feel you, but you have to work the system sometimes.
 
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Kinda funny the OP hasn't been back to answer any questions in his thread.
Agreed. I've learned that if you're having problems with online support you should just call them up. I've had to do it with intel, ebay, paypal, etc. The issue gets resolved much quicker when you hit a roadblock.
 
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