XFX RMA trouble

[Lord of Shadows]

They have had my card for more than two months now and seem to refuse to test in BF3. They are now telling me my card is fine despite me showing them screenshots of issues? What do?

[ 12/5/2011 4:01:52 AM] Hello, when playing battlefield 3 I get graphical corruption in game after a couple hours of play. I havent used this card until recently as I havent had a pci express system to use it with. See images: http://imgur.com/a/A1MSR

[DANIEL_E 12/8/2011 7:17:51 PM] What are the idle and load temperatures of the card? You can monitor the temperature by running the utility found here http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/ . Once you run the utility go to the sensor tab. Make sure there is no excessive buildup of dust within your system, or on any fans/heatsinks. We recommend Driver Sweeper, found at http://phyxion.net/Driver-Sweeper/Driver-Sweeper/Version-3-0-0/ which will come in handy for cleaning out traces of older graphics drivers. (Make sure you have the drivers, from www.nvidia.com/download/index.aspx downloaded to your desktop.) If you had any non-Nvidia graphics adapter in the system previously (such as Intel onboard video or an ATI-based video card). Go into Add/Remove Programs, and uninstall any ATI graphics drivers as well as NVIDIA graphics drivers. Download the program, install it, but don’t run it until you’ve rebooted into Safe Mode (tap F8 during bootup) and then choose “NVIDIA Display” and “ATI Display” as the cleaning selection. Run it and then you’ll reboot into normal Windows mode in order to reinstall drivers.

[ 12/10/2011 12:33:17 AM] It is a fresh install of windows 7 so I dont think there is any driver problem and the card doesnt look dusty. I havent used it much as it has been literally sitting in the box until about a week or two ago. Temps: Idle 61C, Load 75C http://imgur.com/Mdv31,1zBU7

[ERIK_A 12/14/2011 8:32:26 PM] Hi Alex, So have you seen the issue in any other games or applications? Make sure that you have a clean install of drivers. We highly recommend Driver Sweeper, found at http://phyxion.net/Driver-Sweeper/Driver-Sweeper/ which will come in handy for cleaning out traces of older graphics drivers. Download the program, install it, but dont run it until youve rebooted into Safe Mode (tap F8 during boot up) and then choose NVIDIA Display as the cleaning selection. Run that 3 4 times, to be thorough, and then youll reboot into normal Windows mode in order to reinstall drivers. Let us know if that works.

[ 12/16/2011 6:22:20 PM] I rebooted into safe mode and ran driver sweeper multiple times, reinstalled my graphics drivers, and the problem still exists. I havent tried many other games (mainly because I want to play battlefield3, even with corruption that makes it unplayable every now again) But I dont see an issue with counter strike source or Just Cause 2.

[DANIEL_E 12/21/2011 11:43:57 PM] Try running heaven from here http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1961/Unigine_Heaven_DX11_Benchmark_2.5.html . See if the same issues occur as bf3.

[ 12/22/2011 5:43:51 AM] I ran the benchmark and I dont see the issue, but I did occasionally see what I think is vsync tearing.

[ERIK_A 12/29/2011 4:17:38 PM] Hi Alex, Which nvidia drivers have you been loading up? The latest Beta driver may help since BF3 is a new game, there could still be driver games (this is the first time i`ve had anyone contact us with a 7000 series nvidia card and BF3) http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-290.53-beta-driver.html . - Erik

[ 1/3/2012 12:27:20 AM] I`m using 285.58 release drivers and I tried some betas a while ago before the driver cleaner in hopes that it would fix things, but they didnt. -- I dont remember what version they were. I`ll try 290.53 and get back to you

[ 1/3/2012 1:04:20 AM] Still has the same issue: http://imgur.com/vPDrB http://imgur.com/Stiop

[DANIEL_E 1/9/2012 11:19:36 PM] What are the idle and load temperatures of the card? You can monitor the temperature by running the utility found here http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/ . Once you run the utility go to the sensor tab. Make sure there is no excessive buildup of dust within your system, or on any fans/heatsinks.

[ 1/10/2012 1:46:44 AM] You already asked me to do this? It`s still the same as last month Temps: Idle 61C, Load 75C http://imgur.com/Mdv31,1zBU7

[ 1/13/2012 3:37:58 AM] Could I get an RMA number? I`m sure you will get the same results if you test it in house.

[MARK_C 1/16/2012 6:06:43 PM] Hello Alex, I have authorized your RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) so that you can send your XFX product (*******) in for service. Your RMA number is *****. Please copy and paste the following link into your browser, http://xfxstorage.com/Support/pca_rma_tc_ns.pdf This form contains all the details for sending your product in for warranty service. Please read this document carefully before sending your product in. The address being used for return shipping is: ***** If for some reason you need to use a different return shipping address or telephone number then please notify us immediately at rmashipping@xfxforce.com. Include your ticket number as the subject line. Changing the address in your online profile will NOT update the return address on the RMA.

[ 1/22/2012 5:37:24 PM] Alright, I`m sending it in. The serial number is: *******, the serial number you quoted was of the original 7950 agp card I originally RMA`ed before getting this pci-e card that I could not use.

[DANIEL_E 1/24/2012 7:19:08 PM] We’ll notify you once we receive your rma and it has been scanned into testing.

[ 1/29/2012 5:04:19 AM] It has usps signature confirmation: 2310 1590 0000 2303 9943

[MARK_C 1/31/2012 10:51:25 PM] We will let you know once it is checked in to testing. Thank you. Mark

[WILLIAM 1/31/2012 10:55:46 PM] We have received your recent returns ref: ******. Your returns will be passed to the RMA department for testing and diagnosis. We will notify you on completion. Thank You. XFX Support Team

[DANIEL_E 2/8/2012 10:55:53 PM] We have performed extensive testing on the card you sent in and have not been able to find any issues with it. At this point I am confident that the product is fully functional and the issue you described is not related to the card. We would like to send the card back as it is fully functional. Please let us know if there is anything in particular you would like to have tested before we do so. Thanks, Daniel

[ 2/9/2012 2:34:01 AM] Could you send me a screenshot of the card in a large 64 player battlefield 3 level looking over the entire scene?

[MARK_C 2/10/2012 6:43:46 PM] I will let Daniel know.

[DANIEL_E 2/11/2012 12:27:53 AM] We don`t have battlefield 3, but we did put the card through crysis overnight for about 16 hours and when we got here in the morning it was still running good. Daniel

[ 2/11/2012 12:57:53 AM] I think it has something to do with battlefield 3 using quite a bit of video memory compared to the 512mb vram on board. You can use my account for testing purposes only: username: user@domain.com password: ****The entire game can be downloaded online through origin

[ 2/11/2012 12:59:09 AM] Wait, the password is actually: ******-- origin didnt like my short password

[MARK_C 2/13/2012 9:35:09 PM] Hello Alex, We all own Battlefield 3, it just isn`t in the RMA lab. I will let Daniel know though. Thank you. Mark

[DANIEL_E 2/15/2012 1:52:17 AM] We aren`t able to test this card in bf3. Since the card is limited to dx10 it means bf3 would run in dx10. We ran the card for over 16 hours in crysis overnight and it ran fine. Crysis runs in dx10 just as bf3 would and crysis is just as demanding. Daniel

[ 2/16/2012 1:19:41 AM] They are different games that use different code, just because the card works in one title doesnt mean that it works in all titles. The card has an issue in BF3, the only game I am using the card for. I don`t believe it is temperature related, as it shows up pretty quickly in BF3 on the large maps. Why aren`t you able to test in BF3?

[MARK_C 2/17/2012 12:24:36 AM] Hello Alex, So, what you are saying is that you didn`t test it in any other games but we have tested in a bunch of them. The card is working fine. Thank you. Mark

 

[PersonalJ]

It's an Nvidia 7950? It's probably driver related, that card is ancient, put it in your spare parts bin.

 

[dukenuke88]

7950? jeez i'm surprised it can even run the game

 

[Lord of Shadows]

It's a 9800gtx, I was going to use it after I returned my xfx 6970 (cause they swapped to cheaper parts) and was waiting for the 7970. I'm planning on sticking it in a computer with a intel i5 2500k for my brother, but he wants to play BF3 with me.

 

[PersonalJ]

It's a 9800gtx, I was going to use it after I returned my xfx 6970 (cause they swapped to cheaper parts) and was waiting for the 7970. I'm planning on sticking it in a computer with a 2500k for my brother, but he wants to play BF3 with me.

That's an old series still, I would agree with XFX it's driver related. Just buy a new card, that one is worth like $20. I really wouldn't have even wasted the money shipping it to them.

 

[dukenuke88]

agreed...even a 9800gtx is old and slow for BF3.

if you look online, you can prob find a gtx 460 for cheap...which is WAY ABOVE and beyond a 9800GTX...i know because I went from a 9800GTX+ to a GTX 460 back in 2010

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=gtx+460

 

[Vegasr]

That's an old series still, I would agree with XFX it's driver related. Just buy a new card, that one is worth like $20. I really wouldn't have even wasted the money shipping it to them.

Agree. TIme to put that relic to rest and enjoy a newer gen card and get some better game playing experience.

 

[Retsam]

Yeah, no offense but, if in testing it works fine in most things but only has issues in a single game, there are other causes for graphical issues than bad hardware..... If a video card is bad, its going to be bad in everything, not one single game. Its gotta be driver related. Testing for a bad video card is pretty easy to do, I would only assume the XFX rma guys are competent enough to do that.

I do agree with others, a 7950 is extremely old, consumes a lot of power, produces much heat etc... However, I dont see the issue with them replacing it as long as youre fine with that.

For the life of me, I cant even comprehend a two month RMA. I mean, what the f***? Why would you even be waiting that long? I would have been pissed and demanded a cross-shipped replacement of some sort after a week.. Is this how XFX RMA service goes these days?

 

[{NG}Fidel]

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Totally agree with this guy

 

[Solomutt]

2 things:
1. It's XFX
2. It's old, and has no value.

Move on to Sapphire, and a low end 6800 series.

 

[Crazy Chuckster]

You should be able to find a used 460 for around 100 bucks. It will bel ight years ahead of that 9800. It really isnt worth the silicon that its printed on at this point....

 

[xpclassified]

I have an isue like this before and RMA my card so many times but iit end up it was my PSU going bad.... get a PSU tester and test yur PSU...

 

[XFXSupport]

They have had my card for more than two months now and seem to refuse to test in BF3. They are now telling me my card is fine despite me showing them screenshots of issues? What do?

I looked up this case, and as a correction; we have not had this unit for 2 months, our support staff has been troubleshooting with you for two months, but the card has been with our RMA center for a little over 2 weeks not 2 months.

Most of our RMA's normally get processed in 3-4 business days (that includes testing, and any repair/replacement). In these sort of cases where we cannot find an actual hardware fault with the card we do try work with people instead of just sending the unit back, which as you can see here does add time to the process.

 

[Retsam]

Well, there you go an XFX rep. What a prime example of how people love to distort the facts when they complain about crap. So they have only had your card for a few weeks, that is quite different from two months.

 

[fps4ever]

Ummm...so take a rest for a bit after 2 hours of play then go back at it...problem solved.

 

[buttons]

I had an XFX 6850 that failed on me, their support responded within 30 minutes of my emailed questions, etc. I shipped the card in, got one back in two weeks.

I was pretty happy with their support. I borrowed a friends Nvidia 7950 and it was damn terrible performance even on a simple game like world of warcraft low resolution on medium settings was barely smooth. Id get a 2nd hand ATI 5770/6770 for like $75-80 and put the nvidia 7950 to rest.

 

[Gorilla]

I had an XFX 6850 that failed on me, their support responded within 30 minutes of my emailed questions, etc. I shipped the card in, got one back in two weeks.

I was pretty happy with their support.

That's nice. It just took me a month from start to finish to get a XFX card replaced, and the replacement didn't even work. So now I get to do it all again.

 

[fps4ever]

That's nice. It just took me a month from start to finish to get a XFX card replaced, and the replacement didn't even work. So now I get to do it all again.

I can certainly sympathize with your situation but not someone who RMA's an old card because one game gets artifacts after 2 hours of game play.

 

[AjFreimuth]

I didn't read all the reply's. but my Mobile 9800gts 1gb can run BF3 on my laptop...

 

[{NG}Fidel]

I think Xfx is fucking you over.
They made sales based on there customer support and warrenty service. Advertised double lifetime warrenties and everything. Yet here they cannot replace a 9800 even though its proving to artifact in games? The issue is not a driver related issue. I have not seen a bunch of threads going about with 8800 or 9800 series users bitching about driver errors. Sure you should buy a new card already but you already bought a card with a fucking lifetime warrenty. Now suddenly, because your card is old and you can buy something much better they dont have to honor the warrenty they pledged to you? Rediculous. They owe you a card with equal performance that doesnt artifact. If you can prove its artifacting in game then they should help you.

 

[XFXSupport]

Had to edit from bad info.

 

[{NG}Fidel]

Well still lifetime warrenty is lifetime warrenty.
Its not, "well your card is really old, we could replace it for you but we would rather you buy a new card"
It just scares me cause I have lots of XfX in my rig exactly for the warrenty. If this user cannot get his card replaced or at least even tested in BF3 then I am starting to think i made a bad choice.
Its not like the user is making things up. He experienced the issue and is stating whats occuring very specificly and he even sent you guys the unit to test.
Somehow you guys dont have BF3 in your testing?
That blows me away.
An RMA comes in experiencing issues in BF3 and you guys test any other game but the one hes having an issue in?
If he didnt register his card or he volt modded it or something I can understand turning him down.
But so far the only reason I have seen given is that he should buy a new card anyway.
Well thats not hte point of a lifetime warrenty.

 

[XFXSupport]

We haven't rejected the RMA in any way. And we still may arrange to replace the unit. A vast majority of returns we get in we are able to replicate the reported fault pretty quickly, there are some that dont; but in those cases we do try to work with people on that.

 

[fps4ever]

@ {NG}Fidel

Maybe you should read what OP wrote. It displays corruption after a COUPLE HOURS of game play in BF3. So they should play 2+ hours of BF3 and then what? I guess they should buy every game on the market to test 3/4 year old graphic cards on...

Here's a suggestion, turn the graphical settings down or maybe take a 5 minute break after a couple hours...I'm all for rma'ing when needed but this is a joke.

 

[XFXSupport]

Also in regards to our testing, our primary test beds are kept offline for the most part. They are not connected to a network unless windows updates, driver updates, or other software updates are being rolled out to them. This is done to prevent malware from tainting our test beds. So testing applications/scenarios can be tricky.

 

[{NG}Fidel]

@fps4ever I read it already but thank you for reminding me. Thats very thoughtful of you...
Still BF3 should not have issues like that regardless of if its 2 hours or 10 minutes.
I know that if my copy of BF3 started showing corruption after 2 hours I would be upset. I wouldnt just say oh well gotta play a different game then.. Also yeah I would hope that any company that offers a rock solid warrenty would test a graphics card for at least two hours. As for the "and then what" Well the and then what would be finding out if the issue can be replicated. 7950s were not cheap. The OP put in well over 2 hours of work to afford one. he purchased an XFX card for peace of mind. He is finding out now that he didnt get that peace of mind.



@XFX support. I can understand keeping test beds offline for security reasons.
I am very intrested in how this case progresses. It would be nice if the OP could step in a post some more as well. End user error is a possibility that cannot be ignored.

 

[XFXSupport]

I would also like to add this; This is indeed regarding a 9800gtx unit. The whole 7950 business came into the mix because that was actually the video card . Back in 2009 we actually sent this 9800gtx card as a replacement for his original 7950gt AGP card.

 

[{NG}Fidel]

@xfx I knew I knew I had my info right the first time.
Does this customer have the lifetime warrenty.

 

[XFXSupport]

Yes they do. They registered that 7950gt within 30 days of purchase, as a result the replacement we sent in 2009 is also covered.

 

[Nside]

I looked up this case, and as a correction; we have not had this unit for 2 months, our support staff has been troubleshooting with you for two months, but the card has been with our RMA center for a little over 2 weeks not 2 months.

Most of our RMA's normally get processed in 3-4 business days (that includes testing, and any repair/replacement). In these sort of cases where we cannot find an actual hardware fault with the card we do try work with people instead of just sending the unit back, which as you can see here does add time to the process.

I had an XFX RMA go rather well, (for an RMA anyway) and they gave me the benefit of the doubt. This is most definitely a compatibility issue with the Nvidia driver though, considering it seems to work with older games, even though they are graphically intensive as well... old hardware with a new game, don't be surprised when they cut off support to the card (not XFX, I'm talking about Nvidia)

Cut your losses, toss the card into a cheap build for someone who just wants to play WoW, and buy something a little more recent.