Complaint Review: XFX - Ontario California

XFX support is automated and doesn't care about their DESIGN FLAW

Heres my chat with support:

My card recently came back from an RMA (RMA CODE) and it's still overheating. I'd like to know what kind of fix was done on the card because I explained the problem before sending it and now it's STILL NOT WORKING. Did the technicians even check the VRM temps before sending me the card back?

I've paid for overseas shipping to XFX and nothing was done to fix my card, plus now I've discovered there's a design flaw on those cards, explained here: overclock.net/t/1200211/stay-away-from-xfx-7970-black-edition-design-flaw/110

Since this involves cutting heatsinks it would void the warrantry, but it seems the only option is for XFX to give me another card (different model) if there's a design flaw, check this post: overclock.net/t/1200211/stay-away-from-xfx-7970-black-edition-design-flaw/110#post_20410765

What will be done to fix this?

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For reference, this is how the VRM cooling looks:i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww350/F1REFOX2107/P1070539.jpg

Theres NO AIRFLOW to the VRMs, hence the crashing and overheating.

The card temp is OK, does not go above 70C, but the VRM goes PAST 100C, crashing @ 110-120C

RESPONSE:

Hello, It sounds like you are certainly having a cooling failure. Typically this is resolved by replacing OR servicing your video card. Every 5-6 months one should examine their video card and clean it with compressed air to rid of the dust. (Ignore Warranty Void stickers in NORTH AMERICA ONLY). If the fan was recently cleaned, the next issue could be Thermal Paste between the Metal cooler and the GPU itself. If the card is not more than 2 years old it typically won”t be thermal paste unless you tampered with it in the past. If both the cooler is clean and pasted, please confirm that it is a faulty fan by simply inspecting the fan itself during operation, confirming that is running at full speed when manually setting it to 100 or viewing it when your computer is under load. Does it spin freely when flicked with a finger when not powered on? If the fan is faulty, we will send a replacement cooler (DEPENDING ON STOCK). You will not void the warranty if you replace your current cooler with our replaceme

Nt cooler. Some coolers come with thermal paste already applied, others do not. Please be sure your replacement does and if not, acquire some since we do not provide it. In order to ship your replacement we need your name, telephone number a correct shipping address. All this information can be confirmed on the account information tab in the support section of our website [306]. Please reply to this ticket whether or not is the fan, or if it is something else. We will send the replacement cooler soon after. It takes 3-5 business days and you will NOT receive a tracking number. Mark

Please reply with

Shipping Name:

Shipping address:

Telephone Number:

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My response:

As I said, I just recieved my card back from XFX RMA, 100% clean and new, so a dirty card is not the issue. I doubt it's a thermal paste issue because the RMA would have fixed that, though I'm not sure what they did since the card was not fixed (they probably cleaned it and maybe changed the cooler).

The fans are working fine at any speed, the card temp does not go above 65-70C in extreme stress testing WHOEVER, the VRM temps go above 120C and that's why the card crashes.

The problem is that the heatsink below the right side cooler is blocking the VRM's and they are not being cooled (they do not recieve air). As I found out on the internet and on the previous pictures I've sent you, apparently SOME double dissipation cards have this issue, which would be solved by cutting the heating sinks above the VRMs, or by installing accelero extreme cooler which does not have this problem.

This picture is how the heatsinks look below the right side cooler, blocking any airflow to the inside of the metal case which is supposed to recieve cool air i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww350/F1REFOX2107/P1070539.jpg

If you send me a replacement cooler without this issue it would fix my situation, but I'll ask you to plase check if the replacement does not have the same issue. I'm not sure if ALL the DD coolers are the same or if they got revised after a while because some people have the same issue as me (several people) while others do not. If the heatsink design is the same on the replacement cooler, I'll just open my card up and cut the heatsinks myself to get air to the VRMs.

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Their response, AGAIN, after almost 30 days:

Hello, It sounds like you are certainly having a cooling failure. Typically this is resolved by replacing OR servicing your video card. Every 5-6 months one should examine their video card and clean it with compressed air to rid of the dust. (Ignore Warranty Void stickers in NORTH AMERICA ONLY). If the fan was recently cleaned, the next issue could be Thermal Paste between the Metal cooler and the GPU itself. If the card is not more than 2 years old it typically won”t be thermal paste unless you tampered with it in the past. If both the cooler is clean and pasted, please confirm that it is a faulty fan by simply inspecting the fan itself during operation, confirming that is running at full speed when manually setting it to 100 or viewing it when your computer is under load. Does it spin freely when flicked with a finger when not powered on? If the fan is faulty, we will send a replacement cooler (DEPENDING ON STOCK). You will not void the warranty if you replace your current cooler with our replacemeNt cooler. Some coolers come with thermal paste already applied, others do not. Please be sure your replacement does and if not, acquire some since we do not provide it. In order to ship your replacement we need your name, telephone number a correct shipping address. All this information can be confirmed on the account information tab in the support section of our website [306]. Please reply to this ticket whether or not is the fan, or if it is something else. We will send the replacement cooler soon after. It takes 3-5 business days and you will NOT receive a tracking number. Mark

Please reply with

Shipping Name:

Shipping address:

Telephone Number: