What's the most RELIABLE customer service when replacing card and what

[heizenbrg]

I'm looking into buying an Nvidia Geforce 670 from newegg or amazon, but I noticed a lot of people get bad cards and some have difficulty returning them. Being an absolute noob that's still getting info on how to build a pc, I do not want to have this problem. What brand is more reliable in comparison of these cards?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130785http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130785

Already overclocked an 4gb of ram for future. I'm already set up, no need to mod anything if I get this card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-125-423&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=25&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

Looks like its got better cooling, got it off Tom's reviews

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130782

its 30$ cheaper if I buy soon.

 

[Maxx_Power]

EVGA is good, has always been good at taking care of its customers. They may still have life time warranties on some of their top products (check into it).

XFX used to be good service wise, but lately they have been cutting warranties, restricting service terms.

Gigabyte from what I have heard is also okay, but their GPUs (reliability wise, not service) are below that of EVGA and ASUS from local computer store RMA/Sales rates.

 

[blazorthon]

Buy directly from Amazon and you are covered by Amazon. Amazon has been great for me even recently, so that's probably a good idea if you buy something at Amazon.

A seller tried to give me a 2x2GB memory kit when I paid for a 2x8GB memory kit. I demand a refund and they ask me to return them. I return them and many weeks later, they still haven't refunded my money. I email Amazon about it and they refund my money the next day. They even paid me back for the shipping fees!

However, Newegg tends to have fewer DOAs and also gives much more information about a product as well as generally has slightly more intelligent reviews (although many are still obviously ignorant of almost all but how to wire the computer they're building, if even that). I prefer buying from Newegg overall.

Of Nvidia's brands, EVGA generally has the best customer service.

 

[Sunius]

I'd get this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162118

It has 3 years warranty, good cooling and a hefty overclock. 4 GB VRAM too!

 

[heizenbrg]

EVGA is good, has always been good at taking care of its customers. They may still have life time warranties on some of their top products (check into it).

XFX used to be good service wise, but lately they have been cutting warranties, restricting service terms.

Gigabyte from what I have heard is also okay, but their GPUs (reliability wise, not service) are below that of EVGA and ASUS from local computer store RMA/Sales rates.

I have a EVGA 8800 GT that's been working great for 4 years now, never gave me problems. What about ASUS? They seem pretty trustworthy and the GPU's seem reliable.

Buy directly from Amazon and you are covered by Amazon. Amazon has been great for me even recently, so that's probably a good idea if you buy something at Amazon.

A seller tried to give me a 2x2GB memory kit when I paid for a 2x8GB memory kit. I demand a refund and they ask me to return them. I return them and many weeks later, they still haven't refunded my money. I email Amazon about it and they refund my money the next day. They even paid me back for the shipping fees!

However, Newegg tends to have fewer DOAs and also gives much more information about a product as well as generally has slightly more intelligent reviews (although many are still obviously ignorant of almost all but how to wire the computer they're building, if even that). I prefer buying from Newegg overall.

Of Nvidia's brands, EVGA generally has the best customer service.

Amazon has been a !itch lately, DONT BUY their phones from amazonwireless, they cancel you orders without notice, was about to get a Nexus for 1 cent...
Lol Im one of those who doesn't know anything about cable routing, this is my first build 😀

 

[blazorthon]

I have a EVGA 8800 GT that's been working great for 4 years now, never gave me problems. What about ASUS? They seem pretty trustworthy and the GPU's seem reliable.



Amazon has been a !itch lately, DONT BUY their phones from amazonwireless, they cancel you orders without notice, was about to get a Nexus for 1 cent...
Lol Im one of those who doesn't know anything about cable routing, this is my first build 😀

When I said wire the computer, I didn't mean wire it cleanly, just getting the wires connected to the right parts so the computer will power on. That's literally the limits of many builders when it comes to computer knowledge and it's not like you need to know how to do that in order to do it. All cables only go in the proper slot in the proper way.

The problem builders usually aren't even first time-builders such as yourself, but are people who have built several computers. They're just idiots who think that they know what they're talking about. Don't get disheartened if you don't know cable routing too well, it's usually fairly easy if you give it a try and there're plenty of places for help if help is needed (such as Tom's Hardware forums). The problem with many people isn't not knowing enough; it's thinking that they know everything about something when they don't know much at all about the subject.

 

[Maxx_Power]

I have a EVGA 8800 GT that's been working great for 4 years now, never gave me problems. What about ASUS? They seem pretty trustworthy and the GPU's seem reliable.

EVGA is good, really really good. The best part about them that I know of, is that they are consistent.

ASUS is also very good reliability wise. Unlike (unfortunately I will have to quote names) Gigabyte, PowerColor, HIS, Diamond, etc etc, ASUS usually gives you a PWM controlled fan where as others barely ever toss in a 3 pin fan with speed sensors on mid to lower range cards (take a look at the last 3 generations of cards on the AMD side, 5600 series, 6600 series, 7700 series). ASUS also (as far as I can tell) ALWAYS cleans off the flux and PCB mask residue when their cards enter retail, take a look at a Gigabyte, it has a slime of clear paste all over it that some find dirty. In reality, this means nothing reliability wise, but you can see that ASUS actually takes an extra step to clean their cards physically. Lastly, some features on ASUS cards are fairly unique that others haven't bothered with for reliability like the power fuse and glued-down GPU die (like space shuttle and cellphone and military equipment, to resist shock and creep).

BUT, ASUS in the last half a decade has sucked donkey @ss at service, mobos, GPUs, laptops, etc. There is a fairly well developed web forum opinion on RMA with ASUS resulting in unnecessary suffering of the user.

 

[blazorthon]

EVGA is good, really really good. The best part about them that I know of, is that they are consistent.

ASUS is also very good reliability wise. Unlike (unfortunately I will have to quote names) Gigabyte, PowerColor, HIS, Diamond, etc etc, ASUS usually gives you a PWM controlled fan where as others barely ever toss in a 3 pin fan with speed sensors on mid to lower range cards (take a look at the last 3 generations of cards on the AMD side, 5600 series, 6600 series, 7700 series). ASUS also (as far as I can tell) ALWAYS cleans off the flux and PCB mask residue when their cards enter retail, take a look at a Gigabyte, it has a slime of clear paste all over it that some find dirty. In reality, this means nothing reliability wise, but you can see that ASUS actually takes an extra step to clean their cards physically. Lastly, some features on ASUS cards are fairly unique that others haven't bothered with for reliability like the power fuse and glued-down GPU die (like space shuttle and cellphone and military equipment, to resist shock and creep).

BUT, ASUS in the last half a decade has sucked donkey @ss at service, mobos, GPUs, laptops, etc. There is a fairly well developed web forum opinion on RMA with ASUS resulting in unnecessary suffering of the user.

I like HIS for some things. They tend to make some well-cooler cards. PowerColor, Gigabyte, and Diamond, like you said, don't seem to put as much effort as Asus into their products, but HIS does have some very good cards even today. AS for their customer service, I don't know about them. I haven't had to return an HIS card recently.

 

[Maxx_Power]

I like HIS for some things. They tend to make some well-cooler cards. PowerColor, Gigabyte, and Diamond, like you said, don't seem to put as much effort as Asus into their products, but HIS does have some very good cards even today. AS for their customer service, I don't know about them. I haven't had to return an HIS card recently.

I absolutely agree. HIS has some of the best cooled cards, and they are one of the few companies that does non-reference styled blowers that are directly exhausting to the outside and are quieter, cooler than the reference designs (unfortunately sometimes a bit big). HIS is known for good cooling before everyone in the GPU market jumped on the same ship. If only HIS was a bigger player with more cards sold, then we'd know if HIS cards are, on the average, reliable or not.

 

[blazorthon]

I absolutely agree. HIS has some of the best cooled cards, and they are one of the few companies that does non-reference styled blowers that are directly exhausting to the outside and are quieter, cooler than the reference designs (unfortunately sometimes a bit big). HIS is known for good cooling before everyone in the GPU market jumped on the same ship. If only HIS was a bigger player with more cards sold, then we'd know if HIS cards are, on the average, reliable or not.

A friend of mine recently bought an HIS Radeon 7950. Only complaints were that his other 7950s were nowhere near as good in several ways (some had artifact problems, others were simply too hot and loud) and the HIS card was slightly more than a two-slot card rather than the two-slots that it was marketed as because the cooler stuck out a little too far, but said that it was worth the better card. One sample isn't nearly enough to prove reliable or not, but it does say more in favor of HIS than if it would if it was having problems.

 

[Maxx_Power]

A friend of mine recently bought an HIS Radeon 7950. Only complaints were that his other 7950s were nowhere near as good in several ways (some had artifact problems, others were simply too hot and loud) and the HIS card was slightly more than a two-slot card rather than the two-slots that it was marketed as because the cooler stuck out a little too far, but said that it was worth the better card. One sample isn't nearly enough to prove reliable or not, but it does say more in favor of HIS than if it would if it was having problems.

I was thinking of trying (having had some old HIS cards) HIS again sometime, but now I'm leaning towards Nvidia/EVGA for this generation, so we'll see when NV finally shows all its cards this round.

 

[blazorthon]

I was thinking of trying (having had some old HIS cards) HIS again sometime, but now I'm leaning towards Nvidia/EVGA for this generation, so we'll see when NV finally shows all its cards this round.

To be honest, I'm leaning the other way with HIS/AMD, but the 670 is still a good card with a good price and EVGA is as good as it gets for customer service (which is great). The 660 TI and the 680, on the other hand, kinda suck in comparison in too many ways. Nvidia seems to truly love making only a few cards in their line ups that don't have too many seriously bothersome quirks and once AMD got their prices and drivers in order these last few months, it became apparent that Nvidia hasn't changed, granted it also became apparent that although AMD is often first to market with a new generation (sometimes by very long times), they are also still slow to fix early issues with their drivers and pricing until Nvidia gives them a kick in the rear.

 

[heizenbrg]

Best answer selected by heizenbrg.