EVGA 7900 series cards artifact/bsod fix?

[XenoS]

How is BFG customer service these days?

I haven't contacted them yet regarding this problem, but the last time I had an issue, which was regarding s-video issues on a BFG 6800GT OC graphics card several months ago, they were very friendly and helpful. The tone of several recent posts by other DFI Street members has me a bit worried though. I sure hope that I'm not stuck with $1200 bookends. :sad:

 

FWIW, I installed 3DMark06 and sure enough I have serious problems with the Deep Freeze tests, exactly the same as everyone else. So, I can check off ever single point on that list in the first post now.

 

After some searching, I'm starting to see now that this problem with the Nvidia 7900 series actually affects a lot of people, and is regardless of brand. To be honest, I knew there were issues before I bought my cards last week, but I thought it was only eVGA ones that were having problems. This kind of sucks because it's why I went with BFG instead. I never would have spent that kind of cash if I had known that it's such a wide spread issue. The symptoms are exactly the same among everyone too (as listed in the first post) no matter where you go on the net. Clearly it's something specific to the 7900GT and 7900GTX hardware, whether factory overclocked or not.

 

Like many others, I'm not really sure what to do. RMA them both now and hope I get newer cards that work properly, or wait until the problem is officially recognized by the industry and fixed, then RMA them. I can say this with absolute certaintly; the past week has been a complete nightmare. I am so worn out from trying every possible things I can think of to get them to work right, in SLI mode or solo. I am emotionally worn out, my fingers hurt from being cut so many times while working inside of my case, and am beginning to lose interest in PC's as a hobby I think. I've been starting to wonder that maybe I should just go back to my old ASUS P3B-F with a Pentium III 500, run Linux for the basics like surfing and e-mail, and just buy a nice console for all my gaming needs instead. I'm so sick of always having to troubleshoot PC related problems day after day. Everytime you fix one thing, something else takes it's place that you have to fix. It's a never ending cycle that's starting to drive me nuts. A console would be a hell of a lot cheaper in the long run too. Sigh... :sad:

[OldGuy]

I'd just get on the horn with BFG. It's not like it's a big secret these cards have issues and I'm sure any company producing these cards is well aware of it. I bought my first knowing there might be issues and it has performed just fine. Decided to go all out with SLI and the second one had to be RMA'd (XFX by the way, but just had it replaced through Newegg). Replacement card seems to be holding up.

 

If I were you having received two bad cards at the same time I'd be seriously bummed as well. Trouble shooting one item is bad enough...but two? I feel for ya man...

[XenoS]

I'd just get on the horn with BFG. It's not like it's a big secret these cards have issues and I'm sure any company producing these cards is well aware of it. I bought my first knowing there might be issues and it has performed just fine. Decided to go all out with SLI and the second one had to be RMA'd (XFX by the way, but just had it replaced through Newegg). Replacement card seems to be holding up.

 

If I were you having received two bad cards at the same time I'd be seriously bummed as well. Trouble shooting one item is bad enough...but two? I feel for ya man...

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm sure every person suffering from this problem could use some cheering up by now. I know I certainly needed it lol.

 

At the last second I decided to fill out an RMA with NCIX instead of BFG, and ask them if a refund or exchange for a different card is doable. I have a VIP membership there, plus I paid extra for their express RMA option. I have experience dealing with them and they have always been pretty good about returns in the past. Certainly doesn't hurt to ask. I gave them plenty of links to look at to make sure they see it's a very common issue with the 7900 series. If it doesn't work out then I will talk to BFG and try to do the RMA thing with them instead I guess. You had a good point there about this not being a big secret, and I agree that it's very likely all the manufacturers are fully aware of the situation. Just have to be firm and hopefully things will all work out in the end.

[Capt Proton]

EVGA is doing everything right as far as I'm concerned. Don't know why people are saying they are not doing cross RMAs. I just got one approved.

If you havean EVGA 7900 series, and are getting these problems, call them. They don't seem to be any good answering stright EMail. another good tihng to do is go on there forum for the 7900 series and locate a post by Jacob. There is an Email link in his sig. He is really helpful. For all I know, that may be more than one person. He certainly seems to do the work of more than one person.

[likewhoa]

EVGA is doing everything right as far as I'm concerned. Don't know why people are saying they are not doing cross RMAs. I just got one approved.

If you havean EVGA 7900 series, and are getting these problems, call them. They don't seem to be any good answering stright EMail. another good tihng to do is go on there forum for the 7900 series and locate a post by Jacob. There is an Email link in his sig. He is really helpful. For all I know, that may be more than one person. He certainly seems to do the work of more than one person.

 

when you get your Reload Card post some results here Nvidia 7900 Series Card "Reload Results" thread.

 

thx

[XenoS]

EVGA is doing everything right as far as I'm concerned. Don't know why people are saying they are not doing cross RMAs. I just got one approved.

If you havean EVGA 7900 series, and are getting these problems, call them. They don't seem to be any good answering stright EMail. another good tihng to do is go on there forum for the 7900 series and locate a post by Jacob. There is an Email link in his sig. He is really helpful. For all I know, that may be more than one person. He certainly seems to do the work of more than one person.

The vast majority of posts I've seen around the net on various tech forums always speak highly of eVGA equipment and their commitment to support. It's the primary reason why my last card was an eVGA, and had I known that his issue affected all of the 7900 series regardless of brand, I certainly would have prefered an eVGA over BFG myself. This is why I decided to ask NCIX for help first, that way I might perhaps be able to switch to an eVGA branded card instead, where as if I had gone to BFG I'd be stuck with them permanently.

 

So far I've gotten what seems to be a positive reply from NCIX. They said I could trade in for a 7950 GX2 if I wanted, as long as everything I send back is in prime condition and I still have the original boxes and all accessories. They also asked me if I've tried updating my system BIOS, as well as the video card BIOS, but to be honest I really don't think doing either of those will help based on what I've read about the problem we are all having. I'm already running the newest BIOS available for my motherboard, which by the way helped me achieve better overclocks than the two previous versions I had been running (and thus don't want to give that up), and to the other, well I fear updating the BIOS on the video cards as that might void my warranty or make things worse should the update fail to take. I've read it can be a fairly dangerous procedure after all.

[OldGuy]

The vast majority of posts I've seen around the net on various tech forums always speak highly of eVGA equipment and their commitment to support. It's the primary reason why my last card was an eVGA, and had I known that his issue affected all of the 7900 series regardless of brand, I certainly would have prefered an eVGA over BFG myself. This is why I decided to ask NCIX for help first, that way I might perhaps be able to switch to an eVGA branded card instead, where as if I had gone to BFG I'd be stuck with them permanently.

 

So far I've gotten what seems to be a positive reply from NCIX. They said I could trade in for a 7950 GX2 if I wanted, as long as everything I send back is in prime condition and I still have the original boxes and all accessories. They also asked me if I've tried updating my system BIOS, as well as the video card BIOS, but to be honest I really don't think doing either of those will help based on what I've read about the problem we are all having. I'm already running the newest BIOS available for my motherboard, which by the way helped me achieve better overclocks than the two previous versions I had been running (and thus don't want to give that up), and to the other, well I fear updating the BIOS on the video cards as that might void my warranty or make things worse should the update fail to take. I've read it can be a fairly dangerous procedure after all.

 

I'd jump on the 7950 and be done with any future hassles that may crop up with these 7900's...Get a new card now and enjoy yer rig.

[XenoS]

I'd jump on the 7950 and be done with any future hassles that may crop up with these 7900's...Get a new card now and enjoy yer rig.

NCIX has officially approved my RMA exchange this afternoon. My two BFG 7900GTX OC's for one eVGA 7950 GX2 plus a refund of the difference in price. However, after coming across a post earlier today in the Nvidia forums where a user discovered his ASUS board doesn't support the 7950 GX2 (as told to him by an ASUS engineer), I realized that I don't actually know whether my DFI motherboard supports the 7950 GX2 either, and that I had better find out quick before agreeing to the exchange lol. I'm hoping someone here could let me know, or point me to a list if there is one. Thanks in advance everyone!

[OldGuy]

NCIX has officially approved my RMA exchange this afternoon. My two BFG 7900GTX OC's for one eVGA 7950 GX2 plus a refund of the difference in price. However, after coming across a post earlier today in the Nvidia forums where a user discovered his ASUS board doesn't support the 7950 GX2 (as told to him by an ASUS engineer), I realized that I don't actually know whether my DFI motherboard supports the 7950 GX2 either, and that I had better find out quick before agreeing to the exchange lol. I'm hoping someone here could let me know, or point me to a list if there is one. Thanks in advance everyone!

 

Pretty sure I can add a smiley..>>>>>>http://www.nvidia.com/content/geforce_gx2_sbios/us.asp

[XenoS]

Pretty sure I can add a smiley..>>>>>>http://www.nvidia.com/content/geforce_gx2_sbios/us.asp

Thank you kindly good sir. Looks like I'm going to come out on top after all. I still get a great performance boost, plus the difference refunded which is around $500. Nope, not bad at all (thank goodness).

[UncleDavid218]

GUESS WHAT

 

I got another Superclocked from RMA... I'm loosing count how many it's been

 

AND IT DOESNT WORK

[OldGuy]

Thank you kindly good sir. Looks like I'm going to come out on top after all. I still get a great performance boost, plus the difference refunded which is around $500. Nope, not bad at all (thank goodness).

 

Be sure to post some benchies...I'm curious to see how a 7950 compares to two 7900gtx's.