I've been a silly boy, but is that the final word ?

[g8ina]

Hi guys,

I bought a new gfx card in September (ATI X1650Pro), and after a month the small fan got clogged up with dust. Me being the impetuous type, and needing the PC to work, I took the fan out and placed an 80mm system fan on the board. Now the card has failed entirely and I cannot find the three small screws to put the old fan back on the card.

I rang for an RMA but when I explained this to Mark I was told I had voided the warranty.

Is this the last word, or can some kindly soul take pity ?

David

[Adamb]

Hi,

Unfortunately as you have modified the card this would result as warranty void

Regards,

[rabbid]

You didnt remove the heatsink, just the failed fan assembly? And tied or somehow mounted a larger fan onto or blowing over the heatsink? Did you then monitor the card temps?

Unless you damaged it further with a badly positioned replacement fan, I would have thought you can get 3 small machine screws from a local hardware shop in the right style and colour to refit the original fan assembly.... That would be your moral decision to make!

Strictly speaking though warranty will still be voided, but some of these cards use totally inappropriate (under performing) coolers in the first place IMO. I know its easy with hindsight but best to return it as faulty at the time of the original fault to cover yourself.

Edit: They might originally not honour a waranty claim anyway as it was clogged with dust? It must be the owners responsibility to ensure the equipment is maintained and kept unclogged? (Design fault excepted!)

[Dreaming]

I had a similar issue with an X1950 pro a while back. Basically the design was flawed (do a google, hundreds of people were affected - it was mainly sapphire cards using the stock design, who refused to admit it was the VRM heatsink and instead said everyone didn't have a sufficient PSU, even with corsair / antec neo he etc.), but I knew if I returned it to Scan it would most likely be 'no fault found' and get charged £20, (as it was intermittent), so I fitted a Zalman VF900 or something and that didn't fix it, so then I got annoyed and bought an 8800GTS. Don't know if I'd get a sapphire again.

I'm sure if you need to though you can probably sort the card out. Assuming there's proper heatsinks on there, maybe point a desk fan at it when open / suspend some 120mm at high RPM and see if that resolves it. If you fix the heat issue then the card isn't broken at least

[rabbid]

mmm, it makes me mad that these manufactureres release products with poorly designed and under spec cooling or other components, then expect the customer to suffer or handily void their warranty by fitting a cooling system that works. One reason now I choose Palit, even tho its a budget brand at least the stock coolers actually do the job.

RE the VRM issue, do you think once it has been 'cooked' then subsequently even if you cool it properly it still has problems? Maybe if you pre-emptively change the cooling before the VRM gave issues it might be ok? (a bit moot point now I know as its all well in the past!)

[Dreaming]

mmm, it makes me mad that these manufactureres release products with poorly designed and under spec cooling or other components, then expect the customer to suffer or handily void their warranty by fitting a cooling system that works. One reason now I choose Palit, even tho its a budget brand at least the stock coolers actually do the job.

RE the VRM issue, do you think once it has been 'cooked' then subsequently even if you cool it properly it still has problems? Maybe if you pre-emptively change the cooling before the VRM gave issues it might be ok? (a bit moot point now I know as its all well in the past!)

Well on mine the issue was that it would reach a certain dangerous temperature and turn off. Normally cards restore themselves (and you may get a 'windows has recovered from an error' message) when they cool down, but the x1950 didn't in this case. So you had to reset the PC. This could happen even if the temperatures were as low as 60*C on the core. Turning down the voltage helped a lot, but in the end I just couldn't get it running nicely enough and couldn't be bothered with the hassle.

May fix it one day, and use it in another system.

[w3bbo]

Surely you cant expect Scan to replace the card after you modified it? I do sympathise with you though. When you say the card no longer works does it actually show any display or is it totally black?

[Robbie G]

Just get some screws and fudge it back on. I'm surprised you plastered this on the forum tbh .

[Saracen]

This might have voided your warranty, but it hasn't voided your statutory rights.

For up to 6 YEARS from purchase, you have certain basic Sale of Goods Act rights, including that a product must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, etc. Within the first 6 months after purchase, the law states that there is a presumption that any failure was due to an fault inherent at the time of sale, in which case you have a claim against the retailer, unless they can prove otherwise. After 6 months, that burden of proof switches and it'll be assumed to have not been an inherent fault, unless you can prove it was.

So there's at least two issues here. Firstly, if the fan clogged within a month, is that due to you using it in an excessively dirty or dusty environment, or due to a design fault that caused it to clog? Secondly, having replaced that fan, did the fact that you'd replaced it contribute to or cause whatever resulted in the total board failure?

Even in terms of Sale of Goods Act, this mess doesn't strike me as entirely open and shut, but I'd certainly say that it is NOT the case that you've categorically blown your chances.

BUT .... unless an agreement can be reached with Scan, ultimately, Sale of Goods Act claims are decided by the courts, not the retailer. As this is within 6 months, Scan would have to establish to the court's satisfaction that your actions caused the failure, not any inherent fault, precisely because of that statutory assumption of where the burden of proof lies. Are you prepared to push it as far as a court (Small Claims) if need be?


Essentially, what I'm saying is that, yes, you've voided the warranty, but that isn't your only basis for taking this forward. If you do, you may or may not win, but unless it can be clearly established that you directly caused the fault (and of course, it may be that that IS the case and can be proven to be so), then I'd say you stand a decent chance. After all, you shouldn't have been needing to replace a gunked up fan within a month in the first place!

[g8ina]

Interesting points guys, thanks.

The screen is totally black, so the card is NBG.

I think I agree about the inadequacy of the fan as supplied, and I will send a mail to Powercolour to see what they say. I am however resigned to the fact that I have stuffed 50 odd quid.

Cheers

[sammie377]

I would send a nice E mail to Powercolor just explaining as you have here, your attitude is such that I would help you if I were in customer services, you have been upfront and honest and in my book that counts for everything.

Have a try the guy might be like me.