Okay, I gots me a problem that I need opinions on. Read on then fire away.
I built my own computer and she was sweet. In it was 3870X2 (£280) which was fitted with an EK Acetal waterblock (£80). It was great, performance was excellent and core temperatures on the GPU never exceed 52 degrees C - no matter how long my FarCry session was or how far I pushed the overclocking.
Then it all went wrong. The 3870X2 failed about two weeks ago for some unknown reason and I had to RMA it back to Ebuyer. I have to admit Ebuyer were pretty good. They tried to send me a replacement card but they didn't have any in stock so they gave me £250 store credit to spend. While it wasn't the £280 I originally spent you can now buy a 3870X2 for £210 - so that's what I did. I bought a Gecube 3870X2 OC Edition for £210 and was going to have the £40 balance refunded to my credit card.
So yesterday my brand new 3870X2 arrives. I whip it out of the box and instantly see that it's been fitted with a non-reference cooler (unlike the picture on Ebuyer, which I accept is for illustrative purposes only) Now while the non-reference cooler is pretty sweet, the fitment holes are drilled in different places in the PCB so now my waterblock won't fit it.
So here's the possibilities that I have:
1. Keep the 3870X2 and sell the waterblock. It's been two weeks since I've had a working computer and I'm falling way behind on the Hexus Folding table (SammyD1986). This means that I'll have a working computer in minutes - but it won't be watercooled which is what I wanted.
2. Return the 3870X2 and buy another 3870X2 that appears to have a reference cooler. Frankly, they're all being phased out now and I don't think that any companies are still using a reference design during this end-game. Getting another card without a RC would just be a pain in the backside.
3. Return the 3870X2 and get the £250 refunded. Sell the waterblock someplace and I should have about £290 to spend on an 9800GTX (£230) and a waterblock (£60ish). It'll take a bit more time but should get me the same performance that I had before only without two GPUs to power/cool. However, I have a Asus Maximum Formula MoBo with an X38 chipset. That means no SLI'ing in the future...
4. In 10 days I'm going on holiday to the USA for three weeks. Should I return the 3870X2, sell the waterblock and just suck it up and wait until I get back from holiday and have the prospect of buying either a 4870 or a GT260/280? I'm sure we've all seen the - possibly bogus - website showing a 4870 benchmarking faster than a 9800GX2. That's pretty tempting stuff...
So, thanks for sticking with me through that massively long description of my problem. Let me know what you think. Your opinion counts!


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