Evga, where are the answers?

I posted the following topic on evga's forum yesterday. It was locked within hours. I don’t believe I was inflammatory or trolling and that my post did not warrant locking. I felt that if one voice did not concern evga, perhaps a topic with the combined voices of the "many" would. I've read numerous posts from many evga forum members asking evga to release an updated statement regarding the 7900GT and the rumors of a redesigned card coming from NVIDIA to be used in the RMA process. It was my hope to focus these voices into one post.

It is as follows:
06/26/06


I received my RMA approval on June 19th. I received an email on June 22nd telling me my cross-ship credit application was received and being processed and that the new (third) card would be shipped in 24-48 hours. To date, I have heard nothing. My RMA email states it will expire in 14 days which will be the 3rd of July. I understand that I could receive a new email today, tomorrow or the next and things would be fine, but I can’t help but worry about the expiration date. If evga is indeed holding shipments until they have redesigned cards from Nvidia, then tell us! When I submitted my RMA, I sent emails to Jacob, Joe, and the RMA dept. asking them to contact me by phone. To this date, I have not received any responses. In those emails I mentioned my desire to replace my second broken 7900GT CO card with two 7600 GTs. I made it clear that I would be happy to pay the difference for this "upgrade" if you can call it that. I called support shortly after sending those unanswered emails and was told that exchanging the 7900GT for two 7600GTs was not possible- PERIOD. I feel it’s rather clear that there is a very real problem with the 7900GT and that sending cards back and fourth is NOT the answer. evga has the option to send me two 7600GT cards AND make more money. It is clear they would rather keep this vicious cycle going of using their customer base as guinea pigs for the mods and bios updates they are trying rather than addressing a customer's concerns. MY time is valuable too! Opening my case, changing out the video card, reinstalling drivers and then testing takes time. Time waiting for new cards and sending bad cards back is a waste of my time as well.

I've posted elsewhere that my first RMA experience went very well and that evga had won over a new customer. Now, I feel very differently. While the lifetime warranty is a plus, is it really that great of a thing if the product is junk? Why wont evga let those that want to "abandon ship" of the 7900GT to another (more expensive) card or cards in their lineup do so? I have had two defective cards in less than 60 days. I feel I have good grounds to simply ask, no, demand a full refund. I am not asking for that yet. But when you email the people at evga and you get no response- that speaks volumes to the problems they are having with their overclocked 7900s. I don’t enjoy having to visit a company's support forum every day to glean update information about my defective card! Want to know how many visits I've made to BFG Tech's forums? ZERO. As I'm sure almost everyone has, I have had to RMA a handful of products over the years. This is turning out to be THE WORST of all my experiences. The sheer lack of communication and forthrightness of evga is a major concern of many members here. When will we get the answers we need?

So from this I gather you had originally purchased a 7900 GT CO correct????
The original went bad, you RMA'd it and now that RMA card is bad, too????

Boy that really stinks.

What was wrong with the cards?????
When did you order the first one????? and how long did it take to go belly up????
Do you know anyone else in the same situation????
If we can get some names maybe we CAN do something.
I feel your pain.....emailing time after time and getting no response stinks.....I think your gonna have to start calling them,alot.

Originally Posted by magoo

I feel your pain.....emailing time after time and getting no response stinks.....I think your gonna have to start calling them,alot.

At least they are the same in reguards to they don't return phone calls either!!!

Originally Posted by Jmonti

I posted the following topic on evga's forum yesterday. It was locked within hours. I don’t believe I was inflammatory or trolling and that my post did not warrant locking. I felt that if one voice did not concern evga, perhaps a topic with the combined voices of the "many" would. I've read numerous posts from many evga forum members asking evga to release an updated statement regarding the 7900GT and the rumors of a redesigned card coming from NVIDIA to be used in the RMA process.

I believe you've answered your own question about why it was locked....I've been a moderator on a few forums and it's usually policy to lock multiple threads on the same topic. I wouldn't go tin-foil hat about it though..some of the moderators on that forum are just as outspoken on the issue as the regular posters.

I am in the same boat as you...I'm on my second bad 7900GT KO SC and waiting before I rma again. I suspect they haven't shipped your rma card because they are waiting on the new batch to arrive...I do agree that they should communicate this to you if that's the case however. I place most of the blame on Nvidia for this fiasco..I suspect they cut some corners on the specs in order to put out a high performance card at a price point that would be competitive with ATI's similar offerings. EVGA and the other vendors are probably near the breaking point having to deal with this in addition to the normal rate of rma's for the other cards.

Originally Posted by magoo

So from this I gather you had originally purchased a 7900 GT CO correct????
The original went bad, you RMA'd it and now that RMA card is bad, too????

Boy that really stinks.

What was wrong with the cards?????
When did you order the first one????? and how long did it take to go belly up????
Do you know anyone else in the same situation????
If we can get some names maybe we CAN do something.
I feel your pain.....emailing time after time and getting no response stinks.....I think your gonna have to start calling them,alot.

Yes you are correct. I am awaiting my third card. Both cards started acting up about two weeks into playing. The second card didn't show any signs of failure until I had a chance to play uninterrupted for 3 to 4 hours. Boy, its nice to get a block of time to PLAY the day away!

I don’t have hard feelings for the Mod. As I said, I'm sure he was doing what he thought best. I had hoped to generate more of a dialog with other evga card owners in hopes of getting evga's attention. I certainly don’t want to be the guy calling evga every 4 hours with nothing to say other than "where’s my card...where’s my card..." I'm just frustrated like many others. I'll wait if it means getting the "FIXED" card redesigned by NVIDIA. Just tell me that’s what’s going on. No more hearsay, or rumors or anecdotal evidence. I want an official word.

As for the reason for the original problems; Its my theory that NVIDIA is working on removing the head room available in the non- flagship cards. This way they can offer many levels of cards with all the pipes, rops, etc open, but they will limit your ability to overclock the performance from say a 7900GT to 7900GTX. Forcing us to pay for more performance. No more free rides so to speak. But that’s just my 2 cents........

Maybe I'm just lucky but I have 3 7900GTX's from them, well 2 7900GTX's and 1 7950GX2 now. But I've had the 7900GTX's since launch and never had a problem with them. I feel bad for you guys paying hundreds of dollars and having to spend 50% of the time you own it without using it.

Man that really sucks. This is my 2nd evga card and I have never had any problems from them. I just received my 7900GT KO Superclocked card today it it runs great so far. It will overclock to 600/840, but i'm running it at 600/800. The only gripe I have was that when I got my card it wasn't secured in the container properly, one of the backplate screws was off tumbling around in the box, and my backplate was bent. It is still slightly bent but i was able to pretty much straighten it back out and put the screw back on it. It fit into my pc with no problems. I hope you get all your problems worked out, evga is pretty easy to work with when you have a problem. I will keep testing and looking for problems if any exist. I will post back and let you guys know if I run into any problems. I hope I got one of the cards out of the new batch without any problems. Now if you will excuse me I'm going to go and pray that I don't have any problems with my brand new video card.

i love my x1900 XT


lol

I am currently working on my 2nd RMA for an EVGA 7900GT KO SC. I have a suspicion that there is no fix in place at the moment. I don't believe that the currently shipping cards are tested or manufactured any differently. It is a complete crap shoot whether or not any given 7900 is going to be defective. I am currently at a 100% defect rate. I also expect my latest RMA to run fine for a couple days and then die of NSDS.

I thought about waiting to RMA until the "fix" is implemented; but then I realized that I might be able to actually use an RMA replacement card to game until it breaks. I can then just send it in for another. That way, I can at least game for a few hours a week instead of none. EVGA's cross-shipping RMA policy doesn't cost much, as they pay for the shipping...

Plus, every card that fails in my computer is one less available that some unsuspecting consumer can obtain and get frustrated with.

I am certainly regretting ever buying a 7900 card. When I finally get tired of serving as EVGA's 7900GT KO SC burn in tester, perhaps I will look into an ATI X1900XT. I know I will be giving up EVGA's wonderful warranty, but which is better: a solid, reliable product with a one year warranty or a never-ending RMA circus with a lifetime warranty and free cross-shipping?

eVGA isn't required to let you trade for two 7600 cards. Unless they stated so in their EULA, FAQ, etc. then get over it and get another card. I had to RMA my first 7900gtx, and the second worked fine, now I'm stepping up.

Why didn't you just put in for a step up and not RMA? This is eVGA.

Originally Posted by Carnage311

Man that really sucks. This is my 2nd evga card and I have never had any problems from them. I just received my 7900GT KO Superclocked card today it it runs great so far. It will overclock to 600/840, but i'm running it at 600/800. The only gripe I have was that when I got my card it wasn't secured in the container properly, one of the backplate screws was off tumbling around in the box, and my backplate was bent. It is still slightly bent but i was able to pretty much straighten it back out and put the screw back on it. It fit into my pc with no problems. I hope you get all your problems worked out, evga is pretty easy to work with when you have a problem. I will keep testing and looking for problems if any exist. I will post back and let you guys know if I run into any problems. I hope I got one of the cards out of the new batch without any problems. Now if you will excuse me I'm going to go and pray that I don't have any problems with my brand new video card.

wow i had a similar problem with my card...i received my card and knew something was up before i even put it in the pc... the little fan in the cooler.. wasnt even secured down with the screws... they were bouncing around inside the box..i called support and the support guy was like,,, ummmm there not supposed to be like that...like the person i quoted i easily fixed it by just screwing it in...i havent had any problems yet but(knock on wood)i feel your pain though...not hearing any info sux

Every eVGA card I have ever had (4), I have had to adjust the backplate, :P

However, everytime I have received one of their cards, it was packaged safely.

sorry to hear your problem. don't be so quick to replace your 7900gt with dual 7600gt's. i have a evga 76000gt that has problems. as evga requested, i will be sending this card back for a replacement. i asked for a refund but they declined. they won't fool me again. the question i have is do they offer free cross ship service? i can't be without my computer for a week or two.

This isn't eVGA's fault, these cards come from Nvidia. If you're going to blame anyone, blame Nvidia.

Originally Posted by Spoudazo

This isn't eVGA's fault, these cards come from Nvidia. If you're going to blame anyone, blame Nvidia.

But Nvidia does warranty the card eVGA Does. I bought the card caues eVGA's name and I found they fell way short of their reputation.
So yes it is eVGA's fault.

Originally Posted by Spoudazo

This isn't eVGA's fault, these cards come from Nvidia. If you're going to blame anyone, blame Nvidia.

Nvidia is not overclocking the video cards... If the issues are related to the companies (eVGA, BFG, etc.) overzealously overclocking the video cards, it's THEIR fault, not Nvidia's! I think there might need to be better guidance from Nvidia to the companies over the overclocking of the cards.

Originally Posted by ir0nw0lf

Nvidia is not overclocking the video cards... If the issues are related to the companies (eVGA, BFG, etc.) overzealously overclocking the video cards, it's THEIR fault, not Nvidia's! I think there might need to be better guidance from Nvidia to the companies over the overclocking of the cards.

My stock clock 7900gtx had to be RMAd. . .

I still have no idea why some people pay for an overclocked card. Coolbits+4 minutes = the same result, or better.

Originally Posted by LoveMyQ90U

But Nvidia does warranty the card eVGA Does. I bought the card caues eVGA's name and I found they fell way short of their reputation.
So yes it is eVGA's fault.

Why don't you just put in for a step-up, and get a 7900gt or something?

Originally Posted by Spoudazo

My stock clock 7900gtx had to be RMAd. . .

I still have no idea why some people pay for an overclocked card. Coolbits+4 minutes = the same result, or better.

Well most cards these days are stock overclocked so.... All the top brands(EVGA, BFG, XFX) are already overclocked. I pay for those brands for the warranty.

What sucks is, it seems that the reason so many 7900 cards fail is BECAUSE they are overclocked higher than Nvidia intended. I guess faulty voltage regulators ive heard. Or something along those lines.

Originally Posted by Spoudazo

Why don't you just put in for a step-up, and get a 7900gt or something?

LOL!

The 7900 series are the ones that are having the most problems!

I made that mistake and "Stepped Up" from a 7800GT that worked perfectly to a 7900GT that has been RMA'd twice.

I just got a notice that my third 7900GT has been shipped...

Want to place bets that I have to RMA a third time (fourth card)?