Radeon HD 3870X2 RMA

[wesleyaldred]

Hi Wesley,

Ok, The only point we can make is if as you say it is a compatability issue, the customer was not informed at the time of purchase that it was not compatible with Gigabyte boards, and it has been working for over half a year fine, So there is a deeper issue here.

Also, why does your returns tracking website say a fault was infact found?

Is there nothing we can do to make you try a gigabyte board, even if it means sending the card back again?

I never said it was a compatibility issue I suggested that was the only obvious remaining explanation.

It says faulty becuase we were willing to process the card as such for the customer and issue a new replacement, not becuase we actually diagnosed a fault, the notes would confirm this.

We are not going to issue a further RMA for this item, we offered a much better replacement to a brand new card and this was refused, we tried to help the customer, but ultimately this was dismissed as such we are not going to process this any further, the card has been physcially tested not faulty when used with an Asus motherboard.

Wesley

[Wills]

So what do we do now then, Go back to ATI themselves?

[Stanman]

So what do we do now then, Go back to ATI themselves?

Why not try GB might be a solution out there?

[Wills]

Yes, thats a possibility, however, I still cant get my head round how the card worked fine for 6+ months. Remember its not my card, im just the messenger, however i was dissapointed to hear that scan have refused to deal with my mate regarding this card again.

[Cichlidash]

It is strange that the card worked for 6 months before this issue started to manifest itself but as Scan tested the card twice and both times it did not show a fault it does appear to be some issue with GB boards, I have no idea why Scan can not test on a GB board but did your mate ask Scan if the card would work with his motherboard before ordering it?
Scan does seem to have done its best to help your mate here but he rejected a card which would be superior to what he had sent in for testing, so really what more can Scan have really done to help him?
While the cost of the original card may have been higher than a 1gig 4850 is currently hardware devalues very quickly, I brought a 7800GT when the 7XXXX series was current for around £214 that would not mean I would expect to have it replaced with a 260 if it went wrong now just because of what I paid for the 7800GT is what a 260 sells for now.

[Jonj1611]

It does seem very odd the card worked fine for 6 months and then stopped working in your friends motherboard, or any gigabyte board. Scan seem to have done what they could to alleviate the problem and come up with a solution.

However if the card has become faulty just in Gigabyte motherboards then while that does sound out of this world if Scan refuse to deal with you then write to Trading Standards explaining everything you have here. They would be your best bet now, if Scan is still refusing to deal with you.

Jon

[bibio]

Hi,so is the onus on a retailer ie they are responsible for say,any PC part & its compatibility with all other PC parts?Or is the onus on the buyer selecting those parts?Or who as to do all the extensive research etc,& might still not be able to guarantee 100% compatibility at point of sale,or in the future(especially say after something like a Bios update,or changing of other parts).



Cheers BOB

ps i assume it to be different when buying a complete PC,were the retailer as selected all the bits & pieces.

[Wills]

bibio, no-one is blaming scan for any compatibility claims, they didnt claim anything, however im pretty sure its not a problem with the 3870x2 with gigabyte boards, if it was a common problem i think we'd have heard alot more of it!!!!

We just cant see how you havnt found the fault, its a piece of p*ss to reproduce as I showed in the video (It does the same thing in 3+ boards (all gigabyte and WORKING fine with other graphics cards)

It if was me, I probably would have taken the offer of the 4850, however it wasnt my choice. On the other hand if i'd spent £270 about 7 months ago id expect the warranty to still be honoured (if the testers could manage to find a fault, im sure scan would honour it, I just cant see how they have been unable to reproduce the problem. Id quite like to come and watch you test it but that wont happen I know.

[wesleyaldred]

bibio, no-one is blaming scan for any compatibility claims, they didnt claim anything, however im pretty sure its not a problem with the 3870x2 with gigabyte boards, if it was a common problem i think we'd have heard alot more of it!!!!

We just cant see how you havnt found the fault, its a piece of p*ss to reproduce as I showed in the video (It does the same thing in 3+ boards (all gigabyte and WORKING fine with other graphics cards)

It if was me, I probably would have taken the offer of the 4850, however it wasnt my choice. On the other hand if i'd spent £270 about 7 months ago id expect the warranty to still be honoured (if the testers could manage to find a fault, im sure scan would honour it, I just cant see how they have been unable to reproduce the problem. Id quite like to come and watch you test it but that wont happen I know.

If you want to come to the store with the card, please feel free.

[bibio]

Hi,you have certainly done the changes with that card ie diff cards in your Gigabyte board,problem card in other none gigabyte boards.
Even thinking about say,thickness of contacts on card or width between contacts on mobo slot,why do other cards work in the Gigabyte.Only 2 scenario's i can think of is Gigabyte slot as bigger width between contacts than other mobo's,& also that card is thin at the contacts compared to other cards.If Gigabyte as a slightly bigger contact width gap,a maybe even slighly warped card might not make full contact/contacts.
Strange one whatever.


Cheers BOB

ps hope you solve this strange problem,you have certainly done a lot of elimination type testing.

[Wills]

Hi,

Yep Bibio we have done alot of testing, thats why I find this so strange, and Wesley It'd be great if we could come in, however travelling 325 miles each way isnt really feasible. Anyway one more point to add after some further tests:

The faliure occured most often when the case was upright, in its normal position, when laying down it *seemed* to be a little better (less frequent).

[Bhavv]

Your friend said no to replace a 3870 X2 with a 4850???

If I were you I would advise him to rethink that offer.

The 1 Gb 3870 X2 actually still only has 512 Mb of texture memory available as it is 512 Mb per core, not 1024 Mb. The card can only utilise 512 Mb of memory at any time.

I would have surely taken a 512 Mb 4850 as a replacement. Problem fixed, better GFX card.

Other places wouldnt even offer a replacement if the product was tested as non faulty, and some would even charge to ship it back to you.

[Wills]

Bhavv, as I have stated before, If it was me id have had the 4850, as this was a generous offer from scan, however the other side of the story remains, the 3870x2 is still faulty, and its still under warrenty.

[bibio]

Hi,nothing loosened on the board with time,heat etc(with you mentioning orientation of card etc).


Cheers BOB

[Wills]

On the Motherboard? I shouldnt think so as it worked with every other graphics card we tried in it.