Who's panicked by all of the 7900 series problems lately? Is there a DESIGN FLAW?

Seems to me like all the problems people are having with the 7 series cards occur only when they OC them.

Like in my new comp, I'm debating on either a 7900GT or 7900GTX (both eVGA), and they will be OCed. But to avoid complications, I'm getting the Zalman VF900-CU GPU cooler, so the card doesn't overheat. That seems to be where some of the problems are stemming from; the fact that people are OCing their card(s) but then they die b/c they OH.

P.S. I'm debating b/w the two cards b/c I wonder if it would be a better idea to get a more mid-rangeish card instead of a highend. No point in spending $659 (I'm in Canada) on a GTX w/ DX10 around the corner.
 
I built a few systems that were not OC'd on the video cards and they failed as well. OC may simply bring on issues a little faster.
 
Yeah I didn't even touch the card yet. It started happening to me with Oblivion right away I was trying drivers etc and then same issue in 3DBench06 and I decided to look around the forums to see what was going on and found that I was not alone. Glad to see eVGA is really stepping up to the plate on this one.
 
SAS!

Simply. Awesome. Support.

THANK YOU for popping into this thread and the [H]ardForums to let us know you guys are aware of and concerned about the issue. It's this kind of class that makes me glad I chose eVGA instead of another AIB partner.

I already got the ball rolling on my RMA request but I'll be sure to fill out this form right now as I would much rather eVGA run my replacement card through the paces before it gets shipped out to me. (That is what you meant, right? :D)

I think I can speak for everyone dealing with these issues when I say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! :D



jdarwin said:
EVGA hears our customer’s concerns loud and clear about the issues on EVGA 7900 series products. We definitely need to improve our quality control and tighten the testing procedure on the EVGA CO, KO and SuperClocked™ product line. There is no excuse for not providing the best quality products to gamers, that’s EVGA’s spirit. We don’t fear the problems or escape from the problems, we are confident the problem will be resolved shortly. Thank you for everyone’s patients and encouragement.



EVGA’s senior tech staff has already started calling individual customers who have stated and left their concerns. Please follow the steps below if you think you are experiencing some issues. Our staff will contact you promptly during business hours. Please remember this is ONLY for EVGA’s customers.



1. If you have an EVGA 7900GT/GTX series with problems (artifacting, freezing, etc.), Please visit the following page and fill out the quick form. http://www.evga.com/7900.asp

2. We will contact you directly and walk thru the issues one by one.

3. We’ll test individual card per customer using games & 3DMark06 tests.

4. We’ll cross-ship you a new card with a prepaid (ARS) shipping label to return the board back to EVGA freight paid.

EVGA will make every effort to get in contact with you in the next few days, if you require a special time or phone number other than the one registered with EVGA product please note that in form you fill out.

Thanks,
Joe Darwin
[email protected]
Click to expand...
 
Hmm, I have a eVGA 7800 GT CO, that I bought on 3/1/06. I could technically use the step up program and upgrade to the 7900 KO or something, but is it worth it with all the problems reported? Plus, Im looking at prices.. and a 7800GT is about the same as a 7900 GT nowadays =/ This sucks since I don't need to go SLi now, but planning on doing it in the future.
 
the above poster managed to get his card on 3/1. i thought i ordered mine on day one - 3/9. i guess i was mistaken. anyway i ordered 1 from newegg, and i took at face value "only 1 per customer" so i ordered the other from monarch same day. the one from newegg is sn 000017. the one from monarch is 000056 (there are more numbers preceding the zeroes, but these are the same for both my cards). both are evga co sc 7900gt. both have core vmod to 1.4v. neither has mem vmod. both are overclocked around 640/1850 always, with stock cooling. i have a low speed 120mm fan blowing on the cards. they run fairly hot anyway. i game around 15 hours or so per week. my kid sometimes uses my machine, he probably is playing oblivion. i dont like that game, i am playing f.e.a.r. and replaying farcry. both cards run perfectly.
 
seems like the eVGA cards memory OCs better than the XFX cards.. I see a lot of 1800+ speeds from eVGA cards.. pretty fast!
 
Gaiden133 said:
Hmm, I have a eVGA 7800 GT CO, that I bought on 3/1/06. I could technically use the step up program and upgrade to the 7900 KO or something, but is it worth it with all the problems reported? Plus, Im looking at prices.. and a 7800GT is about the same as a 7900 GT nowadays =/ This sucks since I don't need to go SLi now, but planning on doing it in the future.
Click to expand...


It is not as though you save any money taking the step up program. You would be far better off selling your 7800GT and purchasing whatever card you desire.
 
jdarwin said:
EVGA hears our customer’s concerns loud and clear about the issues on EVGA 7900 series products. We definitely need to improve our quality control and tighten the testing procedure on the EVGA CO, KO and SuperClocked™ product line. There is no excuse for not providing the best quality products to gamers, that’s EVGA’s spirit. We don’t fear the problems or escape from the problems, we are confident the problem will be resolved shortly. Thank you for everyone’s patients and encouragement.



EVGA’s senior tech staff has already started calling individual customers who have stated and left their concerns. Please follow the steps below if you think you are experiencing some issues. Our staff will contact you promptly during business hours. Please remember this is ONLY for EVGA’s customers.



1. If you have an EVGA 7900GT/GTX series with problems (artifacting, freezing, etc.), Please visit the following page and fill out the quick form. http://www.evga.com/7900.asp

2. We will contact you directly and walk thru the issues one by one.

3. We’ll test individual card per customer using games & 3DMark06 tests.

4. We’ll cross-ship you a new card with a prepaid (ARS) shipping label to return the board back to EVGA freight paid.

EVGA will make every effort to get in contact with you in the next few days, if you require a special time or phone number other than the one registered with EVGA product please note that in form you fill out.

Thanks,
Joe Darwin
[email protected]
Click to expand...


This is total crap. I wish XFX would do this..... cross ship a new card AND pay for return shipping. XFX pisses me off.

My 7600gt XXX edition is such crap that it artifacts even in Hitman blood money. I have to pretty much turn the memory down to almost-stock vanilla speed. Now why the fark did I pay extra for this?
I paid a $30 premium for this card, and now I have to send it back at my own expense and be without a card for 2 weeks.
Boycott XFX.
 
havuk88 said:
I sold 2 evga 7800gtx ko to upgrade to the 7900gtx for the faster speeds and the extra 256mb of memory, got them last monday from monarch and they both are crapping out with the color dots,tearing,major artifacting, and the blinking screen when exiting d3d games requiring a hard reboot :rolleyes: I requested an RMA yesterday but at this moment I'm not real optimistic because i have read about others being on their 3rd and 4th RMAs.. how can they send out defective RMAs?

This has to be killing their bottom line with all the bad cards we keep seeing.
Click to expand...


easy for you to say.

If you were an XFX customer, you'd be killing your bottom line repeatedly shipping crap back, not to mention the ridiculous downtime without a gfx card.
 
I'd appreciate it if a mod/admin could edit out the 'Is there a DESIGN FLAW?' from the thread title here. It sounds a little too conspiracy theory especially in light of recent revelations. :)
 
Well Nvidia had a problem earlier with certain chips not being able to do hardware encoding/decoding. The lower models were able to do it but the high-end models purchasers were left out to dry.

So its valid they look into if its a design flaw.

Ofcourse no company in there right mind would admit to it. Most likely youre gonna see a quick chip and PCB revision.

Just find it extremely odd Nvidia boast about how many partners it has yet couldnt see this coming nor keeps a eye if those partners are putting Nvidia brand in a bad light.. After all its still their NAME BRAND on the chipset and the core of the product.
 
Blue Falcon said:
It doesn't really look like they acknowledged the problem to me, more like "Nothing to see here, these aren't the droids you're looking for... move along".

Still at least we know they've taken notice of the issue... I am certainly hoping for the best. I've got an RMA in progress for my 7900GT and all I can hope is that eventually I'll get a good one.

I still tend to believe that there is a serious design flaw especially in light of the recent discoveries with the voltage regulation IC's that are heating up more than any other component on the cards (save the GPU itself). Those photos taken with the FLIR thermal camera are quite impressive (and worrysome).

[EDIT: Added FLIR photos]

Here are photos taken of someones XFX 7900GT card using a FLIR heat-sensitive camera. The red and white hot area in the images is focused in the area of the ICs said by many to control memory voltage. These are the ones everyone has been putting aftermarket ramsinks on to try and cool off.

http://www.bbpix.com//files/1/videogroot.JPG[IMG]

[IMG]http://www.bbpix.com//files/1/xfx%20probleem1.JPG[IMG]

[IMG]http://www.bbpix.com//files/1/xfx%20probleem.JPG[IMG]

NOTE: These are not my photos, I simply uploaded them to an alternate source so as not to steal bandwidth from someone else.[/QUOTE]


Might I assume that the BFG 7900GTX boards have this chip under the obverse heat sink. I cannot find it on the reverse side. From what I can tell, this pic seems to have a replacement GPU HSF.

And here I was all ready to place some copper sink on this little puppy.

TIA,
d
Click to expand...
 
Noetic said:
Might I assume that the BFG 7900GTX boards have this chip under the obverse heat sink. I cannot find it on the reverse side. From what I can tell, this pic seems to have a replacement GPU HSF.

And here I was all ready to place some copper sink on this little puppy.

TIA,
d
Click to expand...


Yeah on the GTX cards these components are on the front of the board. :)
 
I just asked this in another thread, but for the sake of good exposure, whoever gets a "modded" card back from eVGA 1st, please post images if there are physical mods to the card (jumper wires, etc..). I am VERY curious to see what they did to mod the cards.
 
Blue Falcon said:
Yeah on the GTX cards these components are on the front of the board. :)
Click to expand...

Thank very much for the rapid response. If that is the case, then the chip is probably under the large black sink under the huge GPU HSF. Heck, I am trying to figure a way to assure that this card does not toast. Perhaps BFG had a slightly better design? Who knows?
 
i'm about to get a 7900GTX in like a week but after seeing all the problems people r getting i think i'm having second thoughts...i currently have an EVGA 7800GTX and its working perfectly..should i get another for SLI or should i take the chance and go with the 7900GTX...Need help on a decision..
Thanks ...
 
-=Cobra=- said:
i'm about to get a 7900GTX in like a week but after seeing all the problems people r getting i think i'm having second thoughts...i currently have an EVGA 7800GTX and its working perfectly..should i get another for SLI or should i take the chance and go with the 7900GTX...Need help on a decision..
Thanks ...
Click to expand...
I was just reading another thread how seemingly lots of peeps are having trouble with the A8N SLi Premium motherboard too ... :p

follow your heart young padawan ...

I have the same mobo as you and an eVga 7900GTX also .. I wouldnt hesitate to get another one personally (on both accounts)
:)


[F]old|[H]ard
 
Blue Falcon said:
I'd appreciate it if a mod/admin could edit out the 'Is there a DESIGN FLAW?' from the thread title here. It sounds a little too conspiracy theory especially in light of recent revelations. :)
Click to expand...
Recent revelations reveal that eVGA is rereleasing 7900's with a revised pcb and extra circuitry...I think your thread title was pretty spot on. ;)
 
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