Warranty and Overclocking Support: ATi vs nVidia

[Blacklash]

I contacted Visiontek and asked them if I was using an HD 3870 and it died under a reasonable overclock if they would replace it. Reply with the message below.

Hi,

Any overclocking will void your Limited Lifetime Warranty.

Thanks,
VisionTek Tech Support


-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 7:40 PM
To: Technical Support
Subject: Contact VisionTek Technical Support


Customer Name:

Model of Product: Radeon HD3870

Type of card: PCI-E

Customer Inquiry: I have a simple question.

If an HD 3870 fails while under a reasonable overclock would Visiontek
replace it?

I am not talking about an outlandish overclock. Something like 825 on
the core.


I asked a like question about an 8800GT at Bjorn3d on the XFX support forum-

"I had a simple question. I believe the answer is yes and I want to double check.

I have an XFX 8800GT that comes @ 625 on the core. If I overclock the card to 660 and it fails|dies, XFX will still replace it under warranty, yes?"

Their reply-

"If you live in North America, yes. Don't just set it at that though, go up 5-10 at a time."

http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21262

I should note Evga is supposed to offer the same coverage and I did not contact them.

If anyone knows of an ATi card manufacturer that has a lifetime warranty, supports HSF replacement, and end user overclocking under said warranty, clue me in.

I might add with XFX you may transfer your lifetime warranty to another person if you are the original buyer.

So even outside of performance considerations the 8800GT or GTS still look like the thing to buy for overclockers in the states.

 

[mainomega]

Why wouldn't overclocking void your LIFETIME warranty. Do you seriously think a company would WANT you to overclock your card so that they can replace it at THEIR cost if it fails ?

 

[silent-circuit]

OCZ, BFG, XFX, and eVGA all warranty overclocking via software. (nTune, RivaTuner, ATItool, etc)

Don't know about the ATI vendors. I know "built by ATI" cards are warrantied up to the limits set in their Overdrive software. Not sure about anything above that. Visiontek, PowerColor, the others... dunno.