ATI and Sapphire 9800pro warranty

[GTX_SlotCar]

Recap: the Sapphire 9800Pro I bought in Jan/Feb died a couple weeks ago.
Since it had an ATI part number (listed on their site), I requested an RMA#
and received it 15 minutes later. I just got the card back this morning, not
fixed. The note that came with it said it wasn't their product. You have to
give them the serial and part numbers to get the RMA, and the numbers are
also listed on their site. It really seems they could have saved me the time
(and 10 bucks) and not issued the RMA in the first place. They didn't offer
to fix it "out of warranty" either (for $75) which is what they say they'll
do on their web site. Oh, they also marked the top of the note "modified
board" because of the ramsinks I had installed.

Well, now I'll try Sapphire and see what happens. This isn't looking good.

Gary

 

[Jamco]

yeah, i tried taking my 84 chevy nova to the toyota dealer, cause it had a
toyota engine and parts, but they told me i had to go to chevy!!

 

[JD]

Another comparison would be to take a 2003 Pontiac Vibe to Toyota for
warranty work at Toyota since their Matrix is basically the same. I am sure
90% of the part numbers would be the same between the two vehicles so why
not eh!?

 

[Airman QPD]

Went through the same thing recently with a Sapphire 9600XT bought in
Feb. ATI said Sapphire was liable, Sapphire said send it to ATI. Newegg
sent an RMA number and replaced the board quickly even though I had
replaced the stock cooling fan with an Artic Silencer and wasn't real
careful putting the original back on to ship to Newegg.

Anyway, try the seller. You might get lucky. Can't say enough good
things about Newegg.

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

yeah, i tried taking my 84 chevy nova to the toyota dealer, cause it had a
toyota engine and parts, but they told me i had to go to chevy!!

And I suppose Chevy sent you back to Toyota to fix the Toyota engine?

These Sapphire cards are ATI oem products. They're built for ATI by
Sapphire. They say 'built by ati' and have no Sapphire markings on them.
When you look up the part # on ati's site, it's there. Before issuing an
rma#, ati checks your serial# and part#. Why not just refuse the rma # ?

I'm sure sending it to Sapphire will be a 2 month ordeal. I was hoping to
put it in my kids' computer to replace their Ti4400. I bought an eVGA 6800GT
and it's working fine so far. We'll see what happens.

Gary

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

Another comparison would be to take a 2003 Pontiac Vibe to Toyota for
warranty work at Toyota since their Matrix is basically the same.

Well, except the car isn't labeled "Toyota".
The right comparison would be that I take my Vibe to Pontiac and they tell
me to take it to Toyota. Or, in this case, refuse to fix it after saying
they would, but don't tell me to take it anywhere.

Gary

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

Yes. I remember something about this. Did you post it before?
I bought the card from Newegg the day they started the price drops, then
hopped over to this newsgroup to let everyone know about the new pricing.
I took off my Silencer, but left the ramsinks on. It's a profession looking
job and the board looks perfect. The ramsinks I used even match the single
little black HS already on the 9800Pro.
I was excited this morning when my package came back from ATI. I saw that it
was my original card, and I really like the ramsinks I put on. You can
imagine my disappointment when I read the packing list.
I don't expect much satisfaction from Sapphire (maybe I'll be surprised),
but your last post about Newegg taking care of it had kept my hopes alive
that there may still be a good outcome to this.

Gary

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

Newegg just issued me an RMA #. I'll send it in and keep my fingers crossed.

Gary

 

[First of One]

Toyota service and customer care is just as shitty, and I wouldn't be
surprised if the parts are more expensive there...

 

[Noozer]

Went through the same thing recently with a Sapphire 9600XT bought in
Feb. ATI said Sapphire was liable, Sapphire said send it to ATI. Newegg
sent an RMA number and replaced the board quickly even though I had
replaced the stock cooling fan with an Artic Silencer and wasn't real
careful putting the original back on to ship to Newegg.

I'm seeing a lot of ATI based cards going back for RMA... I'm starting to
notice that many had one of those VGA Silencers on them. My own card started
acting up a week after I put the Silencer on my card and it's normal again
now that the original sink is back.

If anyone has had their ATI card fail, can you post here and let us know if
you had changed the heatsink???

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

I'm seeing a lot of ATI based cards going back for RMA... I'm starting to

notice that many had one of those VGA Silencers on them.

I've noticed the same thing, and I had one on mine. My GPU wasn't cracked,
but I wonder if that bracket on the bottom of the card is doing some damage.

Gary

 

[Sam Higgins]

Recap: the Sapphire 9800Pro I bought in Jan/Feb died a couple weeks
ago.
Since it had an ATI part number (listed on their site), I requested an
RMA#
and received it 15 minutes later. I just got the card back this
morning, not
fixed. The note that came with it said it wasn't their product. You
have to
give them the serial and part numbers to get the RMA, and the numbers
are
also listed on their site. It really seems they could have saved me
the time
(and 10 bucks) and not issued the RMA in the first place. They didn't
offer
to fix it "out of warranty" either (for $75) which is what they say
they'll
do on their web site. Oh, they also marked the top of the note
"modified
board" because of the ramsinks I had installed.

Well, now I'll try Sapphire and see what happens. This isn't looking
good.

How did you attach the ramsinks?

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

How did you attach the ramsinks?

Arctic Silver adhesive mixed 50/50 with AS5. Neither is electrically
conductive. The theory is the adhesive holds, but they can be removed if you
have to. I figured I was still better off leaving them on.

Gary

 

[Mike]

my Sapphire card died and it took 6 weeks to get another one. I know I will
never buy "powered by ATI" cards ever again, I'll just pay extra for an ATI
card

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

Did you ever have a VGA Silencer on it, Mike?

Gary