Graphics card faulty and in warranty but retailer not repairing as "Fault not found"

oyamsiwel

I bought a graphics card which is about to run out of warranty in under a months time. At the start of the year the fans suddenly became excessively loud when idle and upon further investigation I could see the fans were beyond 100% at random when idle.

Naturally after just over 1 year of ownership I thought I just need to RMA this and they will fix it or give me a replacement. However they returned it and said no fault was found in their machine. I learned from the customer service rep that in fact they hadn't done that much testing and I reasoned that it was possible that they didn't leave the card in long enough so I sent it back for a second RMA along with the fact that I suspected that the VRM modules were having problems with heat. Same result "Fault not found" and they left it in for a day apparently.

I have given them the benefit of the doubt that it was a "software" problem or problem with my computer, although they claimed it could be airflow but there is no problem with my airflow.

I complained to the graphics card manufacturer and they said they would be willing to RMA but they would have to ship it to hong kong and I would have to pay the packaging and European leg of the journey postage costs. I would also be liable up to 100 euro EU import tax or something.

I tested the card in another machine and it has the same problem. I reinstalled the OS on my other machine and used different drivers and its the same problem. Enthusiasts for this card believe it has problems with VRM modules which can be improved maybe fixed by replacing thermal pads. I am not expert enough to do that really but I will have to have a crack after the warranty expires if these people don't cooperate although I may decide to take them to the county court.

Any advice welcome and thanks for reading. Cheers.

bris

Get an independent report from a computer repair shop and send them it. if they still refuse then you can sue them. The cost of the report should also be refunded.


That's the legal way to do it but getting them to agree to the report is much harder as they can still dispute it, meaning you have to carry through your court threat.

oyamsiwel

That is the problem, I am concerned that if I take it to court they will be able to wriggle out of it somehow and I will end up liable for the costs of the computer repair shop and their legal fees. The world is crazy, I have video proof of it.

NotRichAtAll

which make and model card is it?

oyamsiwel

XFX 390x DD

NotRichAtAll

oyamsiwel wrote: »

XFX 390x DD

next question is what size power supply do you have in your pc? also have you taken the shroud off the card to lean the fans, there are 2 90mm fans inside ip-5x

oyamsiwel

In the PC in which I used it for until the end of 2016/beginning of 2017 I used a EVGA G2 Gold 850W. It is currently sitting in a machine with an EVGA G2 Gold 750W.

I am not sure what a graphics card shroud is but I haven't done anything physically to the card at all so I would assume no.

esuhl

oyamsiwel wrote: »

That is the problem, I am concerned that if I take it to court they will be able to wriggle out of it somehow and I will end up liable for the costs of the computer repair shop and their legal fees. The world is crazy, I have video proof of it.

Double-check this, but I'm pretty sure that legal fees cannot be awarded in small claims. So the worst you'd come off is having to pay your £30 court fees and the cost of the report.

If it were me, I'd get a report ASAP and sue for damages.

Fosterdog

What sort of cooling system/s are you running?

esuhl

Don't know if it helps, but SpeedFan can monitor your GPU (etc.) temperatures:

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

oyamsiwel

@eshul - Thanks I am actually considering suing for the first time in my life! I will look into that, if that is true then I almost certainly will go to court. After reading the moneysavingexpert guide I may also try and claim for time spent on this as well as there has been a lot of time spent. From how I read it, even though the guarantee is up soon, this is largely irrelevant under the law. BTW I have already monitored the GPU temperatures and fan speed. The GPU temperature itself is normal for idle (I think 35 to 48 degrees C if my memory serves me right), there is no gpu load and then the fan suddenly kicks in and it is running 3600rpm which is a fan speed I don't even see when the GPU is at full load and at 80 degrees Celsius.

@Fosterdog - In the main system that I am supposed to be using it but that it is not currently sitting in: I have a Corsair Spec-01 case with all exit and intake areas clear. I have two intake fans 120mm I believe. I have 1 rear exhaust fan. The cooler on the GPU is just a stock cooler that was fitted on the GPU. I have an i5 4690k with stock cooler and that is not overclocked. Just for the record the graphics card is not overclocked and has never been overclocked.