Overheating Sapphire X1950pro

[cptwhite_uk]

I've narrowed down the cause of my PC crashing to a defective X1950pro bought from you guys around November time last year. It appears this is a known issue, specially with Sapphire cards. If I were to RMA this I'd not really be interested in getting a replacement since it's possible the same thing would happen again.

Can you offer a refund after such a long period of time? Would this be for the amount I paid for the card, or the amount it currently now sells for?

Also it's possible I've ditched the original packaging (but I do have the receipt). Would this affect me receiving a refund?

I'd appreciate it if someone can enlighten me on my options. I definitely have the receipt, and it's definitely within it's 1 year warranty period.

Cheers

Edit: Please state if a refund is an option with/without packaging. Ta.

[Thor]

I've narrowed down the cause of my PC crashing to a defective X1950pro bought from you guys around November time last year. It appears this is a known issue, specially with Sapphire cards. If I were to RMA this I'd not really be interested in getting a replacement since it's possible the same thing would happen again.

Can you offer a refund after such a long period of time? Would this be for the amount I paid for the card, or the amount it currently now sells for?

Also it's possible I've ditched the original packaging (but I do have the receipt). Would this affect me receiving a refund?

I'd appreciate it if someone can enlighten me on my options. I definitely have the receipt, and it's definitely within it's 1 year warranty period.

Cheers

Edit: Please state if a refund is an option with/without packaging. Ta.

If it's only down to Overheating then why not just put a better cooler on it?

[cptwhite_uk]

Because

a) it's not guaranteed to solve it
b) why should i be inclined to spend more money to fix a problem which shouldn't be there anyway?

That being said I would happily fit an AC Accelero if Scan wish to send me one to try and fix the problem myself. on the previso that if this fails to correct the problem the card would still be replaced. Also I believe my warranty is invalid if I remove the heatsink...so I'm not going to touch it if that's the case.

Lots of messing around I know for something I could probably fix myself, but why risk not being able to fix it, when I'm still in warranty. I'll let the guys at Scan decide what they'd prefer to do...

[JimNastics]

Can I just chime in here as someone who has suffered in the past with a Sapphire X1950pro, with the exact same problem as cptwhite. This is an extremely well documented issue, it is the VRM chips at the end of the board which are not suffuciently cooled, and crash the card when they overheat. There are no guaranteed fixes for this problem, it is a manufacturing defect which Sapphire refuse to accept. Strange that they released the "Ultimate" edition of this card a few months later with different / improved cooling.

Anyway, cptwhite, do not bother tring to fit an aftermarket cooler. Like you say, for a start it will void your warranty, why should you do this when the card obviously isn't fit for purpose? Then, If you do this you'll need to find a way to cool the VRMs yourself. The Arctic Cooling VRM heatspreader module does not work, I've been there done that and thought it was the answer to my prayers... it wasn't. The last thing I tried was attaching a Zalman to the GPU and ramsinks to the VRAM, and more ramsinks to the VRMs using thermal adhesive. When this incredibly didn't work either, I tried to remove a ramsink from a VRM, and accidently yanked the VRM out with it. That was when I decided it really wasn't worth it, threw the card against a wall, and ordered an 8800gts.

£130 out of pocket and months of mucking around. Just get rid of that card and forget about it, Scan should be able to sort you out.

[Thor]

Because

a) it's not guaranteed to solve it
b) why should i be inclined to spend more money to fix a problem which shouldn't be there anyway?

That being said I would happily fit an AC Accelero if Scan wish to send me one to try and fix the problem myself. on the previso that if this fails to correct the problem the card would still be replaced. Also I believe my warranty is invalid if I remove the heatsink...so I'm not going to touch it if that's the case.

Lots of messing around I know for something I could probably fix myself, but why risk not being able to fix it, when I'm still in warranty. I'll let the guys at Scan decide what they'd prefer to do...

Fair enough, I replaced my 8800GTX cooler as soon as I brought it, watercooled & silent now
>Didn't even fire the stock cooler, heh.
I doubt very much that you'd be entitled to a Refund considering it's been over 30 days since you brought it, if you had rma'd it within the first 30 days then they would have given you a refund, perhaps they will give you a replacement and if that goes wrong too then maybe u will be able to get a refund off that? > No harm in asking anyways.

[Dreaming]

If it's only down to Overheating then why not just put a better cooler on it?

I did this attempting to fix it, but it still had the problem, and now I've invalidated the warranty lol. But we live and learn.

Also Sapphire X1950pro. On the sapphire forums they say you need one of those enermax galaxy psus to run it and if you've got something less, its obviously because you're not running it with the right amps.

So I got a GTS instead which shock horror runs beautifully.

Really upset with sapphire actually, its a very well documented problem.

edited to add: I've done almost the exact same as JimNastics! lol. Except I didn't throw mine against a wall, its in a box in anti static wrap.

[cptwhite_uk]

bump ...can a Scan employee let me know my options?

[Blitzen]

I did this attempting to fix it, but it still had the problem, and now I've invalidated the warranty lol. But we live and learn.

Also Sapphire X1950pro. On the sapphire forums they say you need one of those enermax galaxy psus to run it and if you've got something less, its obviously because you're not running it with the right amps.

So I got a GTS instead which shock horror runs beautifully.

Really upset with sapphire actually, its a very well documented problem.

edited to add: I've done almost the exact same as JimNastics! lol. Except I didn't throw mine against a wall, its in a box in anti static wrap.

The Sapphire forums are obviously an ingenius place to get information then.

[Oldjim]

Yup - tried the Sapphire forums and despite the fact that the sticky at the top says you need 25 amps on the 12v rail any problems at all get the response "it's your power supply" even when the capacity is much higher. They seem to be in total denial about temperature problems.

[danroyle]

I've narrowed down the cause of my PC crashing to a defective X1950pro bought from you guys around November time last year. It appears this is a known issue, specially with Sapphire cards. If I were to RMA this I'd not really be interested in getting a replacement since it's possible the same thing would happen again.

Can you offer a refund after such a long period of time? Would this be for the amount I paid for the card, or the amount it currently now sells for?

Also it's possible I've ditched the original packaging (but I do have the receipt). Would this affect me receiving a refund?

I'd appreciate it if someone can enlighten me on my options. I definitely have the receipt, and it's definitely within it's 1 year warranty period.

Cheers

Edit: Please state if a refund is an option with/without packaging. Ta.

matt your options are

bfore 28 days doa full refund
after 28 days if card is faulty a replacement card of same or better quality

and as scan still sell the sapphire x1950 pro all you would get is a replacement if they find it faulty mate soz
however if it is faulty you could ask for a different brand as a replacement and as i have been recently flamed to hell and kindly informed by some people that scan are wonderful i am sure they will give you a different brand as a replacement

[Barrichello]

If it's only down to Overheating then why not just put a better cooler on it?

Does not work - i tried it

[Lexeus]

Is this problem only on the old version of the sapphire card or on the new version with the fan at the back plate side of the card as well ??