Misadvertised Product on Scan Website

[Slacky]

Hi Guys,

Just a heads up really, but i picked up what i thought was a 7950GX2 from you guys today which was listed at £292 but has now gone up:

Cant post a link so here is the code:

Scan code LN13666

Manufacturer code PV-T71U-YDDB



Thats what i ordered, but what i got is a 7900 GTX DUO. These cards are COMPLETELY different and i would urge you to check your stock and ensure that this is only a 1 off.
The 7900GTX DUO's were bugridden to say the least with extensive compatibility issues. They are the cards used by Dell in the Quad SLI XPS machines.
This is the least of the issues though, the cars is more than ONE FOOT in length!

I have already raised an E-note on your system but thought you would want to know before the orders got out of hand.

Guess ill be making the 100mile round trip back to you guys on Monday /cries

Literally laughing my ass off when i saw it though. Thought the bubble wrap packing was big because it had some other stuff with it...turns out its just that the card is actually a RIVER BOAT.

[Slacky]

For the record, the Scan comment about dimensions was put on the scan site AFTER i had bought the kit

[Chris P]

Yep these were the first release cards - they are huge

I'll look into this for you on Monday, the last time I checked these cards, with the new drivers they are detected as a 7950 GX2.

I will check the rest of the batch and amend the web site.

Regards

[Madafwo]

I am assuming this is the same card that is included in the Mix-it bundle with the X-Clio PSU.

I know a fair few people are thinking about buying it if it is infact a 7950.

[Chris P]

I am assuming this is the same card that is included in the Mix-it bundle with the X-Clio PSU.

I know a fair few people are thinking about buying it if it is infact a 7950.

I will double check on Monday

As far as I know they are the same just bigger

[charleski]

Scan code LN13666

Manufacturer code PV-T71U-YDDB



Thats what i ordered, but what i got is a 7900 GTX DUO. These cards are COMPLETELY different and i would urge you to check your stock and ensure that this is only a 1 off.

It's actually a 7900GX2, as is evident from the pictures. I've ordered one of these as well, but it's going into a full tower case that has masses of room. As far as I know, the bugs were all down to Quad SLI operation, which remains problematic with the 7950GX2 as well. Apparently the latest 91.31 WHQL drivers work fine on it.

Looking at the articles on Anand and Toms, the 7900GX2 is operationally identical to the 7950, in fact according to the Anand article, the 7900 is slightly superior in that it routes a full 16 PCIe lanes to each GPU rather than the 8 each provided by the bridge in the 7950. Both the heatsinks and fans appear larger on the 7900, though of course there's the problem with the exhaust from the bottom card in the 7900.

I suppose Scan is selling these off as they've been discontinued by nVidia, given the discount it's worth a go as long as you have a big case. But I agree, it should be made clear that this is the 7900GX2 rather than the 7950GX2, and I doubt it's a retail package as the 7900 was OEM only wasn't it?

[chuckskull]

I will double check on Monday

As far as I know they are the same just bigger

I'd like to know that too, if it is the later model card then my credit card company will be bending me over again

[Chris P]

It's actually a 7900GX2, as is evident from the pictures.

I know our tech team have tested these cards with the latest drivers and they are detected as a 7950 GX2 card hence why they are advertised as a 7950 GX2, the 900W PSU is also no longer required for Sli for this cards as previously required.

There are also some design differences over the latest release of 7950 GX2 cards, however basically the same just physically a lot bigger.

They are also OEM so I will amend the specs to show this and also make the slight differences clearer to see. As soon as Nvidia release the new drivers for 7950 GX2 to run in SLi a lot of the bugs should also be ironed out.

Basically this is a 7950 GX2 card, which is longer than the standard card and is a bargain at this price.

Regards

[charleski]

I know our tech team have tested these cards with the latest drivers and they are detected as a 7950 GX2 card

Yes, from what people are posting on the nvidia forums, these cards are recognised under the 91.31 drivers (but not the earlier beta).

The 7900GX2 was the original card for OEM Quad SLI that was released in April/May. Scan was one of the first UK vendors to offer Quad SLI OEM systems, which is probably where you got the card. After a month or so nvidia redesigned the layout of the card allowing them to make it much shorter and thus more suitable for retail release. This redesigned version was released as the 7950GX2, but apart from the size and the number of PCIe lanes to each GPU the two cards are identical.

Tom's Hardware did a pretty thorough comparison of the two when the 7950 first came out. I lifted a picture from the Tom's article to post here:

This shows the 7900GX2 at the top and the 7950GX2 below. If the pictures in your product description are correct, the LN13666 is clearly a 7900GX2. As I said before, as long as you have the space to house it, this card is operationally identical, or slightly superior to the 7950, though it requires 2 SLI bridges for Quad SLI mode and I suspect it doesn't have the HDCP hardware key present on the 7950.

[Slacky]

Yep the picture is accurate, the description however is not. Ill definately be swapping mine Tommorow, or getting a refund whatever. The card is just too big. I also intend to add a second card at a later date, and finding another of these monsters may not be feasible down the line!

[GingaNinja]

I too bought one of these thinking it was, as advertised, and 7950GX2. I don't think I'll be able to live with a 7900GX2; it's the last upgrade I'll be doing for a long time and the absence of HDCP (among other issues with the 7900GX2) is significant to me.

Ginga

[Chris P]

This card is dtected as a 7950 GX2:-

The only difference is the length of the card and HDCP but is still a 7950 GX2 card. I will make the specifications a little clearly on Monday highlighting these differences.

However if you are not happy with the restrictions the length of the card may impose we can arramge a return for you.

Regards

[charleski]

It would really avoid a lot of hassle for you if you advertised it as a 7900 GX2 SLI card. Anyone who's been following video technology for the past few months would realise what that is and it's trivial to point out that the 7950 was merely a minor redesign of this board. If you look at the drivers that are recommended in the product description, you'll find that they are for the 7900 GX2 only - QED. Personally, it was pretty obvious to me which model this card was just by looking at the pictures, but there will be people who aren't as aware of the recent history of graphics boards, and it's just good business to make sure they know what they're buying from the start. The card represents a very good deal, and an even better one in the bundle with the 750W PSU. The only reason nvidia redesigned it was because of the length issue, but it is the earlier model, and not a 7950 GX2.

TBH, I'm not that fussed about HDCP. Unless you can put your hand on your heart and swear you won't be tempted into buying a DX10 card in the next 2 years it's a non-issue, and it's going to take at least that long for the HD format war to sort itself out and allow players and discs to come down to a reasonable price (and if price isn't that much of a concern, then buying a new card won't be a problem either).

[Lee H]

If you want return the card, please contact the Returns department at the following link requesting an RMA number etc and they will assist you further.

The link can be found Here

Best Regards,

[Chris P]

After speaking to Nvidia directly they have confirmed the cards are detected as using the 7950 GX2 chipset.

I have updated the link to included the drivers required to run this card as a 7950 GX2

The web site should now be clear enough highlighting the differences between this card and the latest release.

Regards

[Pingu2003]

these are the same cards savastore were selling, they are deffinatly the 7900 but with the latest drivers show up as 7950 for some reason, i know at least 2 members who purchased this and were having performance problems, (cant speak for the latest drivers though)

notice the same product code:

PowerXS Part Number: PV-T71U-YDDB