Is this RMA replacement offer a good deal ? - Page 3 - Overclock.net

ChrisB17 · 08-22-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by gunner14

Fair enough, but they're supposed to keep a "sufficient quantity" on hand to honor their Warranty.

The cards are still available in a few places though, for example, Bestbuy still has them available...Visiontek though.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1178926024172

Not sure why they're priced at $400 though.

Yeah I told them I couldn't accept their offer. I realize the 3870 is a better card, but its not that much better than the 2900xt for me to justify upgrading to it. That plus the fact that I've spent $$$ on water blocks for both cards.

I'd be lucky to get $120 on ebay for my 2900, I've seen them selling for under $100 recently.

Nah, the cooler on the Toxic 3870 is terrible. Which means I'd have to spend on a new set of waterblocks too, plus a second card. I can't have that much hot air being dumped into my case and I really don't have the cash right now for any major upgrades.

I'm gonna wait to see what they comeback to me with, hopefully early next week.

If they offer me 2 cards for both of mine , plus cash for the loss of my water blocks I'd bite their hand off.

The cooler on the Toxic is actually very good.

Quote:

For a single slot cooler, the temperatures are great. I would have preferred higher temperatures for a quieter fan though. Nevertheless the Vapor-X cooling technology is working great and gives Sapphire the benefit of having a product (single slot HD 3870) that nobody else can offer.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/S..._Toxic/24.html

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...review-17.html

Quote:

First of all it must be said that while the Vapor Chamber is obviously a very good cooling solution, the stock HD3870 heatsink is an absolute dog. The issue comes with the fact that all the stock heatsink contains is about two dozen small copper fins that don’t take up the whole height or width of the internal air duct. Thus, as the fan spins, air is allowed to pass beside or over the fin assembly with very little of it working its way between the fins where it is really needed to help disperse the heat they hold. Add to that the fact that the fan is so far away from the copper fins and we have a perfect recipe for disgustingly high core temperatures. However, as fan speed increases, the large fan is able to push more air with greater pressure so more and more moving air makes its way THROUGH the fins above the core. We can see this illustrated quite clearly in the 50% fan speed test where the stock cooler suddenly increases its cooling capability by leaps and bounds due to a mere 15% increase in speed from the pervious test.

gunner14 · 08-22-08

Just got off the phone with their techs who seemed pretty friendly, I told them about my issue with the 3870 toxic and the lack of heat exhaust out of the case. They're gonna see if they can get me a 4870 or 4870 x2 with me playing a small upgrade "fee". Either of those would probably make it worthwhile to upgrade, from my current setup. I'd probably sell both 2900 water blocks and the second 2900xt on eBay to raise funds.

They're gonna get back to me on Monday. I'll be crossing my fingers until then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisB17

The cooler on the Toxic is actually very good.

Thanks for those links. I wasn't quite sure what the real world performance of the cooler was but now I know. I do have some serious airflow issues in my case though. My front intake just just pathetic, and I'm just nervous about any more heat in the case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TnB= Gir

How much did you pay for your 2900XT when it came out?

Got it at Newegg for $400.

If there is one good thing thats come out of losing one of my 2900's its that my computer room is a heck of a lot cooler!

rx7speed · 08-22-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by gunner14

Fair enough, but they're supposed to keep a "sufficient quantity" on hand to honor their Warranty.

to them they are still honoring their warranty as many times what they put is they will replace for the same equiv model or better. the 3870 still falls in the equiv or better catagory

Quote:

Originally Posted by gunner14

Well the latest offer I've received is for a 2900 Pro 1GB, seems like they just can't get their hands on an XT.

I'm assuming this is the card:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=340685

Also, since its the 1GB, it won't be flashable to an XT since the XT only has 512MB?

I'm also concerned about running CF with two "different" cards. I'd really rather not mix and match cards like this.

At this point I'm not particularly happy, this card is definitely a downgrade from an XT.

xt comes in both 1gb and 512mb flavors. so if you wanted you could still flash to XT though in all honesty I don't believe you would need to.
the 1gb pro is not a downgrade from a 512MB XT. it's an upgrade

. the only difference between the Pro and the XT is the stock clocks as set in the bios. easily fixed by a flash with the XT bios or even a flash of the bios to run custom clocks. with my 2900 pro I never bothered with the XT flash but I did flash the card to run around 740ish I believe stock clocks. if you did crossfire them though at that point I believe only the 512Mb of ram would be recognized by the card though.

TnB= Gir · 08-23-08

Yea I would ask for the 4870 if I were you. Sell the waterblocks and your 2900xt, and with a little bit extra, you can get a second 4870.

Swifterzor · 08-23-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by superk

graphics cards are being flooded onto the market. The GPU companies will eventually find themselves stuck to an enthusiast market only, because there will come a point (rather soon) where obselete hardware can run anything on the market, and releasing new products just wont sell anymore... Look at my 8800GTS, its two generations old, and I can run anything I want....

Your best bet is to try and sell everything for your 2900s and ask them to discount you on a second 3870. Then you can upgrade those ones at a later date...

I wouldn't consider the 9 series a generation.

whe3ls · 08-23-08

most poeple who rma'd there xt's got a 3870x2 in return.

gunner14 · 08-23-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx7speed

to them they are still honoring their warranty as many times what they put is they will replace for the same equiv model or better. the 3870 still falls in the equiv or better catagory

I mean I appreciate the offer for an upgrade, I'm just a bit disappointed that they don't have a larger quantity/variety of cards on hand. Given that we are in an era of CF/SLI, they should expect that somebody with a high end card may be running CF and so they should be prepared for a situation like this. I may still end up with the 3870 at this point!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx7speed

xt comes in both 1gb and 512mb flavors. so if you wanted you could still flash to XT though in all honesty I don't believe you would need to.
the 1gb pro is not a downgrade from a 512MB XT. it's an upgrade

. the only difference between the Pro and the XT is the stock clocks as set in the bios. easily fixed by a flash with the XT bios or even a flash of the bios to run custom clocks. with my 2900 pro I never bothered with the XT flash but I did flash the card to run around 740ish I believe stock clocks. if you did crossfire them though at that point I believe only the 512Mb of ram would be recognized by the card though.

I didn't think that you could use the XT bios on the 1GB card since the XT only has 512mb. I did a bit of research on the 2900 pro and the reviewer complained about latency issues with the memory on the card amongst a few other things.

It's bad enough that I'd been mixing brands for CF, and I'm not sure I'm up for mixing different brands and different cards. I had had a lot of issues getting CF to run properly and I've never been able to isolate it to one issue.

I may have some consultation work for you if I decide to go with the 2900 PRO.

Hopefully I can get this sorted out on Monday, at this point I'm not sure which card I'll end up with!

Quote:

Originally Posted by whe3ls

most poeple who rma'd there xt's got a 3870x2 in return.

I asked about that card too, but apparently the only 3870 they have is the toxic version.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Much appreciated.

rx7speed · 08-24-08

there are many 2900xt's out there with 1gb of ram.
here is just a quick link to one
http://www.google.com/product_url?q=...hl=en&sa=title
that is what I was saying they are there. just search around and you will easily find that they exist.
if nothing else here you go
http://www.google.com/search?q=2900x...en&sa=N&tab=fw
or even take a look on our forums and you will find many 2900xt 1gb owners/ex-owners.

The pro and the XT though are the same card. they commonly share the same memory, it's the same core, with teh same amount of shaders, and everything the only difference is one (the XT) has the clock speeds setup in the bios to 740, while the pro has the clock speeds setup in the bios to 600 for the core and the memory speeds for the pro are a little lower also. when I first brought my pro home first thing I ddi was overclock it to around 800mhz on the core and I believe it was around 1999mhz on the memory so they are not overclock limited either.

you can flash a pro to an XT and an XT to a pro. the only thing is if you are going to flash a 1gb pro to XT you have to use the 1gb XT bios. what point are you trying to serve by doing so though? the only change your making is that you just upped the stock clock. if I ran my pro (when it was running) at the same speeds vs your XT the results would be the same. it has been shown by many people on that that the performance between the XTand the pro are the same as long as they are clocked the same.

from my understanding also with xfire is that it doesn't matter XT or pro on the 2900 series and that they can be mixed and matched without a problem there. if nothing else though if you are still worried about it an XT and a pro being xfired together and you can't seem to find the 1gb XT bios then why not flash the XT you have to a pro that way you have two pro's?

as far as the latency issues. what issues?

I do agree with you though it would be nice if they had a good amount of stock on hand.

gunner14 · 08-25-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx7speed

there are many 2900xt's out there with 1gb of ram.

from my understanding also with xfire is that it doesn't matter XT or pro on the 2900 series and that they can be mixed and matched without a problem there. if nothing else though if you are still worried about it an XT and a pro being xfired together and you can't seem to find the 1gb XT bios then why not flash the XT you have to a pro that way you have two pro's?

as far as the latency issues. what issues?

The're was a review that I read where they talked about latency issues with the memory on the card. Can't seem to find the article at the moment.

They got back to me today and they're offering me a 4870 upgrade for $150. I'm not sure what to make of that offer, only that they're giving my 2900xt a $120 value. I funny how a $400 card can devalue so quickly eh...money pit anyone?

Here is the 4870 they're offering: for $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...69&Tpk=100247L

Or I can get this 3870 as a straight swap:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=3870%20toxic

Or this 2900 pro:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102707

At this point, I feel like the 2900 might be the least painful option. Given that I won't have to get rid of my other card, water blocks etc. I figure I'll be lucky to get $180 for my other card and both water blocks.

Told them I'd think about it and get back to them in the next couple of days.

08-23-08	#26 (permalink)
whe3ls goad ting i r dislekxic Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: spokane washington Posts: 15,869 Rep: 825 Unique Rep: 543 Folding Team Rank: 548 Trader Rating: 59	most poeple who rma'd there xt's got a 3870x2 in return. __________________ Total Posts: 666 (6.66 posts per day) Private Messages: Unread 0, Total 666. Project:Fishy updated: 5/10/09 best thread ever washington state overclockers the 450 dollars folding rig that will amaze you does your E21x0 have a fsb wall E6600@4.005ghz Q6600@4.005ghz click me 892/2000 spent

		Overclock.net - Overclocking.net > Graphics Cards > ATI
Is this RMA replacement offer a good deal ?

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)