XFX - 70+ Business Days.....Too Long?

Nibathy

Nibathy

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 18, 2010
Messages
115
So I have had an open ticket with XFX for my HD5870 XXX Edition for 70 Business days (2 weeks after I received the card NEW), and my card is still not reliable.

I have had 2 RMAs so far, but now it is taking a week to even get replies from the techs.

Am I just getting the cold shoulder in hopes that I just write off my $400 purchase?

Bottom line: Is 70 Business days too long? -- Yes or No?


How would you handle the situation?
 
70 business days? that is 14 weeks, almost 3 and a half months.. dang that too long for any RMA
 
Yeesh. That's way too long.
Have you spoken with any supervisors? Can it be elevated from the tech level?
 
What is wrong with your card that they can't fix?

I would think two RMAs.....so three separate GPUs ........would not have the same identical problem.

Have you considered other variables?

I've had two XFX 5870s and now two ASUS 5870 E6 models and not a single issue.
 
Yes, it's too long. I'm waiting to get my replacement stock 5870 back and it's been almost 2 weeks since it arrived at their service center.
 
If you PM me your ticket number I can look into the case details, however from your description it does sound like we have sent at least 2 replacements to you so far. But again, PM me the ticket number and I can take a look at it.
 
2 months for what now seems to be like 3 RMAs?

going by that alone, I'd say no, it's not too long, and the fact that you've already gotten 2 replacements(which means you've had problems with 3 cards) I'd start to suspect other components being the issue.
 
magoo said:
What is wrong with your card that they can't fix?

I would think two RMAs.....so three separate GPUs ........would not have the same identical problem.

Have you considered other variables?

I've had two XFX 5870s and now two ASUS 5870 E6 models and not a single issue.
Click to expand...

The first 2 had the exact same issues. I was told they spent a long time testing the first replacement card, to make sure it was working before they sent it to me.
When I got it in the mail, I put it in and was getting the same crashes, in 15 minutes I was able to get multiple crashes. They kept telling me it was my hardware conflicting with the card. After many many many calls and trials of different settings, they finally RMAed again.
When they received the card and did their own testing, it came back as faulty as well.

This 3rd card at least finally has different issues, but issues none the less.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
2 months for what now seems to be like 3 RMAs?

going by that alone, I'd say no, it's not too long, and the fact that you've already gotten 2 replacements(which means you've had problems with 3 cards) I'd start to suspect other components being the issue.
Click to expand...

And that is a very reasonible thing to suspect. I myself had suspected that as well.

Until I got the 3rd card, and the issues of the past 2 cards mysteriously went away and new ones started happening.

Also, these cards were tested in 2 different machines with every driver since original in box disk (9.18?) to 10.6, and multiple BIOS.


And it is 3 months for 1 RMA and 1 cross-ship.
 
do you have other graphics cards you can test with? maybe something is wrong with other components
 
Nibathy said:
And that is a very reasonible thing to suspect. I myself had suspected that as well.

Until I got the 3rd card, and the issues of the past 2 cards mysteriously went away and new ones started happening.

Also, these cards were tested in 2 different machines with every driver since original in box disk (9.18?) to 10.6, and multiple BIOS.


And it is 3 months for 1 RMA and 1 cross-ship.
Click to expand...

isn't this the third RMA :p? if so, then when did you get the second card? that would be the time you spent on 2 RMAs(1 rma + 1 cross ship)

anyway, while I agree it's weird, why don't you post your system specs for the hell of it
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
isn't this the third RMA :p? if so, then when did you get the second card? that would be the time you spent on 2 RMAs(1 rma + 1 cross ship)

anyway, while I agree it's weird, why don't you post your system specs for the hell of it
Click to expand...



Card #1 = original purchase
Card #2 = RMA
Card #3 = cross ship

System specs are in the signature.
 
What did XFX say was faulty?

This is too wierd to believe.

Not saying you haven't done all the right things, but I have had scores of GPUs from every vendor around and not had this sort of problem.

It's too bad, for sure.
 
too weird, did the two RMA ed cards have the problems you described when XFX tested them?
Not unheard of, but if your PCE-e pins are bent or jammed, they could make every card you plug in have problems.

My recommendation, when you get an RMA, try a complete different motherboard ( or system) first. Not just a new one, but one that you KNOW works.

Nibathy said:
Also, these cards were tested in 2 different machines with every driver since original in box disk (9.18?) to 10.6, and multiple BIOS.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you plugged it into your primary, saw that you had problems, and then tried it in another system.
You dont need different drivers. just the two at most are enough.

Could be your Power supply also. What was the PSU in the second system? Is your Antec 1000 new also?

Basically, you have 3 hardware options:
A) The vid card
B) the Mobo
C) the PSU.

It sound like XFX has ruled out the vid card, so you have check the other 2. Sorry, i know you dont want to hear that, but **it happens.

Edit: Is the system working now with a different vid card? If not, plug in another older vid card if you have one and see if it works.
 
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sounds like theres another problem with your system instead of the card.
 
Filter said:
sounds like theres another problem with your system instead of the card.
Click to expand...

STOP! - NO! Bad forum readers, BAD! *bop on nose*

Honestly, in 70 business days (3 months), we ruled out hardware, all of it.

They even made me contact ASUS, and Nvidia to ask "Are there any known compatability issues with driver/mobo and ATI HD5870.." (Bet you can guess the response).

The first 2 cards were defective, plain and simple.

"Your recent returns ref: XCR***** has recently completed the testing process with the following status: {KYU**** = FAULTY}. "

That is the the sum of what XFX has told me in regards to what their testing yielded.

I already have a good grasp on WHAT is wrong with the 3rd card, but have only had a single suggestion from XFX regarding this new set of issues.
 
Then.........is 3 months too long?
No.

It sounds like XFX and you are both doing a good job trying to fix the issue.

At this point, I think it's time to cut your losses.
Buy a different card and call it a day.
 
keep with XFX as it sounds like they are trying very hard to help you. 3 months is not too long for 3 cards and all of the testing and shipping that has been going on. I can understand it is frustrating, but it should work out.
 
The problem is, XFX is not giving good advice on what to try next anymore.
That stopped with the first card when I got astounding quotes like "...I have this exact same card at home. Mine works just fine..."

So at this point it is basically me troubleshooting issues with their card by my lonesome.
 
Nibathy said:
The problem is, XFX is not giving good advice on what to try next anymore.
That stopped with the first card when I got astounding quotes like "...I have this exact same card at home. Mine works just fine..."

So at this point it is basically me troubleshooting issues with their card by my lonesome.
Click to expand...

That's usually how RMAs go with the user expected to bear the brunt of much testing as it is his specific system that is usually the issue. You are fortunate to get this support and 3 RMAs already, most other ATI AIBs would not even go that far and some would have taken months to get back to a single ticket.

What have you done to troubleshoot yourself? Have you tried the card in a totally separate and different system (no shared components)? What steps do you take to replicate the crashes? What are the specific issues? Have you tried another 5870?

Before I RMAd, I always made sure to try the card in at least 3 systems and try to borrow or temporarily buy another version of my card to try as well. I know that is a huge inconvenience but that's the price you pay for a lot of computer hardware sometimes but it pays off because it saves me time in how long I need to isolate the problem and get a solution without going months without a working card.

I'm not saying that getting back a faulty card is impossible. I myself recieved a broken 8800GTX from XFX during one RMA.

Do yourself a favor and exhaust all the options or consult with other users or even just give us details of what is going on with your system before you you send it back for the 4th RMA.
 
you havent even mentioned in this thread what problem the 3rd card is experiencing.
 
mnewxcv said:
you havent even mentioned in this thread what problem the 3rd card is experiencing.
Click to expand...

Probably because the thread is about the XFX taking 70 business days to address issue that shouldn't have taken more than 30 business days to address. How customer service for a lot of people is, basically, becoming aggrevated to the point of just buying something else and taking a loss.
 
Nibathy said:
Probably because the thread is about the XFX taking 70 business days to address issue that shouldn't have taken more than 30 business days to address. How customer service for a lot of people is, basically, becoming aggrevated to the point of just buying something else and taking a loss.
Click to expand...

They have not taken 70 days to not address you. They have addressed you many times and you have gone through 3 RMAs.

Addressing sadly does not always mean resolution when it comes to PC hardware. This kind of thing happens when you are dealing with so many different brands of hardware and variables in users setups and software.

Do yourself a favor and tell us what is wrong and exhaust all your testing options first. Otherwise, sell your card and buy something else. Some things just don't work together and since you've already gone through 3 cards, maybe that is true for you.
 
Nibathy seems a bit vague on the details. So I can't really form an opinion on whether 70 business days is too long. Though I'm sure even under the best of circumstances, something must be sucking.

I've gone through similar experiences (not quite this long though) with another company. RMA was taking a while. I just bought a second card. And eventually ebayed the original once the RMA was done. Lost a little money on the deal, but at least I wasn't without a card for too long.
 
Firstly,
2 RMAs = 3 cards
3 RMAs = 4 cards

I have on card 3 so.....2 RMAs.

Secondly,
I have never claimed it has been 70 days without response, I claim the case has been open for 70 days. So in essense, it is 70 days to address the one issue. I conclude if you fix one issue by causing another that it is one big rolling issue.

What detail is lacking that would have you think I am being vague. Half the questions and statements are patially incorrect, due to lack of people reading.

And what if this was the only large purchase I could make for the year, I am just SoL because I can't afford another $400 card while I wait for my $400 card to be fixed?
 
Nibathy said:
The first 2 had the exact same issues. I was told they spent a long time testing the first replacement card, to make sure it was working before they sent it to me.
When I got it in the mail, I put it in and was getting the same crashes, in 15 minutes I was able to get multiple crashes. They kept telling me it was my hardware conflicting with the card. After many many many calls and trials of different settings, they finally RMAed again.
When they received the card and did their own testing, it came back as faulty as well.

This 3rd card at least finally has different issues, but issues none the less.
Click to expand...


what have you tried differently on your hardware side?

to me if they rigorously tested the card before it was sent to you and you exhibit the error in 15 minutes, then return the card to them that shows it as being faulty i'd suspect something in the system is causing the card to go defunct.

if they sent a tested/working card to you and then in 15minutes of it being in your system it went fautly, it was either damaged in shipping or something happened to it in your system.

If this is teh case then its no wonder it has taken 3 months to try and fix the issue without a resolution. There may well be an undocumented incompatability that is damaging the card (at no fault of you) and it may never get resolved by them just sending out good cards.

I don't say this in a bad way just that you could spend another 3 months and you'll still be at the same place. Is it too late to seek a refund from retail? Another option is maybe a fresh RMA + sale to recoup the cost and seek something else.

What issue are you expereiencing? When they described the fault what exactly was it?
 
Nibathy said:
Firstly,
2 RMAs = 3 cards
3 RMAs = 4 cards

I have on card 3 so.....2 RMAs.

Secondly,
I have never claimed it has been 70 days without response, I claim the case has been open for 70 days. So in essense, it is 70 days to address the one issue. I conclude if you fix one issue by causing another that it is one big rolling issue.

What detail is lacking that would have you think I am being vague. Half the questions and statements are patially incorrect, due to lack of people reading.

And what if this was the only large purchase I could make for the year, I am just SoL because I can't afford another $400 card while I wait for my $400 card to be fixed?
Click to expand...

The whole point is that we don't care about the length of your customer service experience given the fact that what you experienced is not unheard of and has happened to many posters in this forum from all sorts of companies. It's also not unreasonable although it is unfortunate. We have had poster after poster in this thread ask about your setup and ask about your issues and you have refused to give any details and this thread is just you complaining about CS. This is a hardware forum. We are not the BBB. Give us some details about your issues, testing procedures, what setups you have tried, troubleshooting, etc. This is how we are trying to help you. Otherwise, just sell your card and buy something else. That you are without hardware for a long duration of time is the nature of RMAs. If you had experienced serious problems with your first card early on, you should have returned/exchanged it to the store instead of RMAing it.
 
Spare-Flair said:
The whole point is that we don't care about the length of your customer service experience given the fact that what you experienced is not unheard of and has happened to many posters in this forum from all sorts of companies. It's also not unreasonable although it is unfortunate. We have had poster after poster in this thread ask about your setup and ask about your issues and you have refused to give any details and this thread is just you complaining about CS. This is a hardware forum. We are not the BBB. Give us some details about your issues, testing procedures, what setups you have tried, troubleshooting, etc. This is how we are trying to help you. Otherwise, just sell your card and buy something else. That you are without hardware for a long duration of time is the nature of RMAs. If you had experienced serious problems with your first card early on, you should have returned/exchanged it to the store instead of RMAing it.
Click to expand...

No one refused anything, my specs have been in my signature since the original post. Hardware forums it may be, but if people can't read, then that is no fault of mine.
The sheer lunacy involved to think after 70 busniess day noone thought to check the hardware is ridiculous.

Go start your witch hunt elsewhere.


In regards to the cards going faulty, that is up to debate, I am speaking with a rep atm and some new things may be coming to light.

And also, people are focusing on the first 2 cards, and they aren't even in my posession nor are they relevant anymore.
 
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It's hard to tell if 70 days is too long when you haven't mentioned what your problem is and what steps you have gone through to resolve it.

It too me about 45 days for me to resolve my own problems with my PC when I was troubleshooting my RAM, and that was because the problem was initially intermittent, and the symptoms applied to 3-4 different potential errors.

If they've sent you multiple cards, then most likely you've lost 10-15 business days to shipping if not more, plus all the time required to test (on both ends) plus any communication between the two of you. From what you have said so far, I think you have a right to be frustrated, but I don't think XFX has provided subpar support. If they replace your card and you are still having issues, I would double check your own hardware.

And before you respond to me about how you have and it's not on your end, I've only had a problem with one video card ever in my history of gaming on a computer (and that's 20+ different video cards across probably 7-8 generations). The one which was a problem was actually a 5870, and the issue I experienced was a gray screen. Replacing it fixed the issue.

Why don't you post what the problem is? I'm willing to bet the problem you are attributing to the card is actually a BIOS or driver issue.
 
Rizen said:
It's hard to tell if 70 days is too long when you haven't mentioned what your problem is and what steps you have gone through to resolve it.

It too me about 45 days for me to resolve my own problems with my PC when I was troubleshooting my RAM, and that was because the problem was initially intermittent, and the symptoms applied to 3-4 different potential errors.

If they've sent you multiple cards, then most likely you've lost 10-15 business days to shipping if not more, plus all the time required to test (on both ends) plus any communication between the two of you. From what you have said so far, I think you have a right to be frustrated, but I don't think XFX has provided subpar support. If they replace your card and you are still having issues, I would double check your own hardware.

And before you respond to me about how you have and it's not on your end, I've only had a problem with one video card ever in my history of gaming on a computer (and that's 20+ different video cards across probably 7-8 generations). The one which was a problem was actually a 5870, and the issue I experienced was a gray screen. Replacing it fixed the issue.

Why don't you post what the problem is? I'm willing to bet the problem you are attributing to the card is actually a BIOS or driver issue.
Click to expand...

The screen goes black and sound continues to play. The system will stay like that until someone retarts the machine. It does not respond to keyboard mouse commands at that time. If you act quickly, you can switch to desktop and see the driver stop responding and recover, at that point the FPS DROPS from 80 normally to about 7 and remain that way until you restart the application.



The original issue was 2 fold; streaming video would cause audio crackling (turned out to be hardware acceleration in flash causing this) and the 2nd was artifacting in ICCT, Furmark in addition to full out grey screen, occasionally they would show the actual BSOD under the grey screen. These crashes provided a mini-dmp file. Current issues does not, because it doesn't crash it just sits there black screen + music (non-loop).
 
Nibathy said:
The screen goes black and sound continues to play. The system will stay like that until someone retarts the machine. It does not respond to keyboard mouse commands at that time. If you act quickly, you can switch to desktop and see the driver stop responding and recover, at that point the FPS DROPS from 80 normally to about 7 and remain that way until you restart the application.



The original issue was 2 fold; streaming video would cause audio crackling (turned out to be hardware acceleration in flash causing this) and the 2nd was artifacting in ICCT, Furmark in addition to full out grey screen, occasionally they would show the actual BSOD under the grey screen. These crashes provided a mini-dmp file. Current issues does not, because it doesn't crash it just sits there black screen + music (non-loop).
Click to expand...
The grey screen appears to be a hardware issue with the 5870 as far as I have been able to gather. It has improved through drivers although some people still experience it - my borked 5870 experienced grey screen crashes, and replacing the card solved the problem.

The black crash does sound like a potential hardware issue, but it's tough to say. You mentioned you can see that the display driver is failing to respond if you alt tab fast enough.

- Are you overclocking your video card?
- How are you cooling it? i.e. stock, aftermarket, water..
- What temperatures are you experiencing under load?
- Did you clean install the video card or did you upgrade from another manufacturer?
- Is this game specific or does it occur under any 3D game?
- Have you tested your PSU? Antec is a great brand and I've never had any problems with their power supplies, but..
 
Rizen said:
The grey screen appears to be a hardware issue with the 5870 as far as I have been able to gather. It has improved through drivers although some people still experience it - my borked 5870 experienced grey screen crashes, and replacing the card solved the problem.

The black crash does sound like a potential hardware issue, but it's tough to say. You mentioned you can see that the display driver is failing to respond if you alt tab fast enough.

- Are you overclocking your video card?
- How are you cooling it? i.e. stock, aftermarket, water..
- What temperatures are you experiencing under load?
- Did you clean install the video card or did you upgrade from another manufacturer?
- Is this game specific or does it occur under any 3D game?
- Have you tested your PSU? Antec is a great brand and I've never had any problems with their power supplies, but..
Click to expand...


- Are you overclocking your video card?
*No, I planned to OC once verifying it as stable - it never got that far
- How are you cooling it? i.e. stock, aftermarket, water..
*stock
- What temperatures are you experiencing under load?
*varies between cards - OCCT on 2nd card got to 86c? others low 70c (my logs are at home)
- Did you clean install the video card or did you upgrade from another manufacturer?
* all 3 cards drive sweepered prior to install. again every driver from in box 9.* version to latest 10.6
- Is this game specific or does it occur under any 3D game?
*Crashes have occurred in WoW, Dragon Age, Crysis Demo (probably the demo itself crashing), Civ 4, OCCT stress (not all cards were tested in all games)
- Have you tested your PSU? Antec is a great brand and I've never had any problems with their power supplies, but..[/
*My antec 1000 as well as my brother's Antec 850.
The 1000 is new, the 850 is tried and true for years.
I had SLIed nvidia cards which still work fine in this system.
 
Nibathy said:
- Are you overclocking your video card?
*No, I planned to OC once verifying it as stable - it never got that far
- How are you cooling it? i.e. stock, aftermarket, water..
*stock
- What temperatures are you experiencing under load?
*varies between cards - OCCT on 2nd card got to 86c? others low 70c (my logs are at home)
- Did you clean install the video card or did you upgrade from another manufacturer?
* all 3 cards drive sweepered prior to install. again every driver from in box 9.* version to latest 10.6
- Is this game specific or does it occur under any 3D game?
*Crashes have occurred in WoW, Dragon Age, Crysis Demo (probably the demo itself crashing), Civ 4, OCCT stress (not all cards were tested in all games)
- Have you tested your PSU? Antec is a great brand and I've never had any problems with their power supplies, but..[/
*My antec 1000 as well as my brother's Antec 850.
The 1000 is new, the 850 is tried and true for years.
I had SLIed nvidia cards which still work fine in this system.
Click to expand...
Did you try flashing to the newest BIOS available for your motherboard? I doubt it's the motherboard, but a possibility perhaps. ASUS boards are usually solid.

Did you try or had XFX offered a newer video card BIOS?

Is your XFX reference or non-reference design? (If the fan is in the center it is non-reference). If it's reference, you could try force-flashing an ASUS, ATI or other reference card BIOS and see if that has any affect. (You can revert this later if need be).

I would run MSI Afterburner in the background when you launch a game and see if you can watch the voltage on the video card, and see what it is running in game.

Did you try the card in other computers besides yours?
 
Nibathy said:
The screen goes black and sound continues to play. The system will stay like that until someone retarts the machine. It does not respond to keyboard mouse commands at that time. If you act quickly, you can switch to desktop and see the driver stop responding and recover, at that point the FPS DROPS from 80 normally to about 7 and remain that way until you restart the application.



The original issue was 2 fold; streaming video would cause audio crackling (turned out to be hardware acceleration in flash causing this) and the 2nd was artifacting in ICCT, Furmark in addition to full out grey screen, occasionally they would show the actual BSOD under the grey screen. These crashes provided a mini-dmp file. Current issues does not, because it doesn't crash it just sits there black screen + music (non-loop).
Click to expand...

The first issue sounds similar to a sleep issue that I have seen before. Try switching DVI ports on the back of the card. I had a very similar issue whenever I got a new monitor or a new vid card. It take a week or so, but the issue clears up. In my case, the screen would go blank (as if sleeping) and it would not wake until I restarted. What I found was that if I switch from one DVI port tot the other, it goes away. I already had this happen to me on 2 different vid cards and with 2 different monitors. Not exactly the same as yours maybe, but similar.
 
Rizen said:
Did you try flashing to the newest BIOS available for your motherboard? I doubt it's the motherboard, but a possibility perhaps. ASUS boards are usually solid.

Did you try or had XFX offered a newer video card BIOS?

Is your XFX reference or non-reference design? (If the fan is in the center it is non-reference). If it's reference, you could try force-flashing an ASUS, ATI or other reference card BIOS and see if that has any affect. (You can revert this later if need be).

I would run MSI Afterburner in the background when you launch a game and see if you can watch the voltage on the video card, and see what it is running in game.

Did you try the card in other computers besides yours?
Click to expand...

Not only did we use the original 875/1300 bios, we got the new 900/1250 bios, and even tried the stock 5870 850/1200 bios.
I tried flashing to ASUS, but encountered issues, and reflashed to 900/1250 current BIOS.

Voltage stays constant unless alt tabbing. Issues for first 2 cards significantly diminished if profile was set for 900/1250 for all 3 power states (low, med, high), but utimately did not fix them. 3rd card, no such luck, profile does nothing, so I now have it locked again.

I have even tried JUST the driver only, no CCC.
 
Megalomaniac said:
The first issue sounds similar to a sleep issue that I have seen before. Try switching DVI ports on the back of the card. I had a very similar issue whenever I got a new monitor or a new vid card. It take a week or so, but the issue clears up. In my case, the screen would go blank (as if sleeping) and it would not wake until I restarted. What I found was that if I switch from one DVI port tot the other, it goes away. I already had this happen to me on 2 different vid cards and with 2 different monitors. Not exactly the same as yours maybe, but similar.
Click to expand...

I am using the HDMI cable (yes i have tried different cables), not the DVI, though I have tried the DVI and got same issues, even tried switching while screen was black... same thing. Sleep for monitor and OS are disabled.

I indeed tried multiple computers, 1 stick of RAM, setting ram voltage manually etc. Both Muskin, and G.Skill mem in both systems.
 
The majority of these memory, voltage tweeks, cable changes etc etc, where not under recommendation of XFX, this was just my own testing beyond what they recommended.

Their recommendations pretty much stayed with, try this BIOS, try these Drivers.....it is probably a (and I quote for card #2) "...perfect storm of minor compatability issues...".
 
I've actually had the issue you mention in the past on a previous system. Unfortunately I can not remember for the life of me how I fixed the issue, HOWEVER the reason I am posting is because I DO remember that it was a configuration or software issue, and I did not have to replace or exchange any or my hardware.

Have you tried a FRESH windows install with EVERYTHING(CPU, RAM, etc) at Stock settings yet?
 
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