Well, here's a little anecdote that shouldn't fail to amuse. Well, maybe.
Read this article at HardOCP so you know what's going on with the 7900 series cards. I'm not the only one that's having trouble...there are people with cards that are at NVIDIA-set reference speeds that are dying. I'm just having more trouble than most.
I picked up an eVGA 7900GT CO (factory overclocked, 500/1500) in early April from Newegg. Worked for a while, and then it died (artifacting, would not run stable when underclocked). Requested RMA from eVGA through their cross-shipment program.
Recieved N563 #2 a week later, same as the one from Newegg. Opened the box - hooray, the bottom of the metal bracket is totally warped/sticking out - bad enough that I couldn't plug into the lower DVI port. (Wouldn't fit into the case, either.) Called eVGA, ranted and was bumped up to a 7900GT KO (N564, same exact card but with a larger and quieter cooler). Sent both N563s back.
Recieved N564 #1 a day later (next-day air). Worked wonderfully for a while...until it started to slightly artifact at times and randomly freeze/stutter while gaming. Called eVGA, dealt with an idiot tech that said that it's obviously a problem on my end with the PSU (dur, you said at least 19A on a +12v rail, my PSUs do just that, moron). Called again after the heated exchange, mentioned "7900GT" and "problem" and was told "yeah, we're having a lot of trouble with those cards these days." RMA requested on Thursday, card recieved yesterday.
So now I have a "new" (they're actually refurbs, or they call them, "recertified" - something I'm not happy with) N564/7900GT KO sitting next to me...and the metal bracket is warped, though not as bad as the second. It will not fit properly as a result. Waiting until Monday to give them an earful.
Summary: I have recieved four cards so far. 0/4 have met my expectations. It is almost two months since my initial purchase and I am still without a fully-working video card.
What the bloody hell happened to "quality assurance"? I'm not trying to be picky here - for $320, I just expect a card that works/isn't damaged. =\ So now I'm left to wonder what I should do since I can't get my money back...other than continuing to RMA until they send one that works.
The joy of a 7900GT...not
koneko
B Ephekt
I always hold out for a month or so when new cards come out for this reason.
Zaxan Razor
Nvidia Cards are bad, even when not made by a third party company..do yourself a favour and convert 
That is particularly bad luck tho, i hope you manage to get it sorted eventually!
That is particularly bad luck tho, i hope you manage to get it sorted eventually!
B Ephekt
Actually, ATi's new/current drivers are horrid. I'm back to my 7800GTX after returning a 1900XTX. I gave ATi a shot after many years, but I won't be going back any time soon.
koneko
Quote:
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Originally Posted by B Ephekt
I always hold out for a month or so when new cards come out for this reason.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Zaxan Razor
Nvidia Cards are bad, even when not made by a third party company..do yourself a favour and convert
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- NVIDIA cards have generally (always) been made by board makers ("third party companies"). They supply the designs and chips, a company over in moon-land produces the card, eVGA/BFG/xFX/whoever tweaks them to sell to sucke...er, consumers.
- That's right, I'll convert, because I want to deal with ATI's bulky win32 drivers/CCC that requires .NET Framework to do anything useful without a third-party program.
- Oh, yes, I'll convert, because I'd also like to deal with a lack of proper Linux support while I'm at it.
- Go be a fanboi elsewhere.
Lurid
I lol'd horribly at the bulleted response, xD Sorry to hear about your troubles, though they should have known they had issues coming when nVidia told them the newer cards were almost maxed. I agree with you though, what the hell happened to QC?
Lord Iowerth
Koneko ... ATI for the win
(you knew this post was coming)
EDIT:From what I hear from you and online research: only the factory OC'd units are defective.
First line of my post is now "Non-oc'd 7900GT for the win"
EDIT 2: well, no, i'm mistaken: apparently they are all borked. NVIDIA fix now plzkthx, I want to build a new machine.
(you knew this post was coming)
EDIT:From what I hear from you and online research: only the factory OC'd units are defective.
First line of my post is now "Non-oc'd 7900GT for the win"
EDIT 2: well, no, i'm mistaken: apparently they are all borked. NVIDIA fix now plzkthx, I want to build a new machine.
EagleEye33
omg you got screwed repeatedly. I feel sorry for you man. 0/4 is just not right. Seeing as how you cant get your money back I guess your gonna have to RMA till they work.
You said you had a 6600, i'd try seeing if you can talk your way into just getting a 7800 (same series, one model down doesnt hurt).
Sorry i can't offer any extra help as I have an ati card. Not a fanboy or anything it was just cheaper then the nvidia equivilent at the time I built my comp :P
You said you had a 6600, i'd try seeing if you can talk your way into just getting a 7800 (same series, one model down doesnt hurt).
Sorry i can't offer any extra help as I have an ati card. Not a fanboy or anything it was just cheaper then the nvidia equivilent at the time I built my comp :P
Josh
Quote:
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Originally Posted by B Ephekt
Actually, ATi's new/current drivers are horrid. I'm back to my 7800GTX after returning a 1900XTX. I gave ATi a shot after many years, but I won't be going back any time soon.
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The new ATI Catalyst 6.5 Drivers have given many people performance boosts with there X1800s, X1900s, X1600s, all the X series! Including the 9xxx Series.
EF2NYD
Lessoned learned : Don't buy eVGA.
As for ATI, their cards are notorious for being supplied with terrible coolers and die out as a result. Good chips but horribly manufactured.
As for ATI, their cards are notorious for being supplied with terrible coolers and die out as a result. Good chips but horribly manufactured.
koneko
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Josh
The new ATI Catalyst 6.5 Drivers have given many people performance boosts with there X1800s, X1900s, X1600s, all the X series! Including the 9xxx Series.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by EF2NYD
Lessoned learned : Don't buy eVGA.
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HAY GUYS LETS ALL GO BUY XFX CARDS LAWL, O WAIT THEY DUN HAV SUPPORT BOARDS NOMOAR LAWL
Getting offtopic...needing suggestions on what to do at this point (other than RMA again). Maybe I'll try to argue for a refund at this point...
kvndoom
Believe me, I've been fearful ever since I read that article. I have an XFX 7900GT, specced at 520/1500. I hope it won't die, but I know better than to trust it. Personally, Leadtek is my brand that I don't trust. I've owned 4 Leadtek cards, a Geforce2, which artifacted, its replacement which artifacted after the warranty ran out, a 6800GT which simply died, and its replacement which simply died after the warranty ran out. I drew my own conclusions about Leadtek after the last fiasco (a 385$ video card with a 1 year warranty... the paltry 20$ I saved over the other brands cost me HUGE in the long run), and now spend my money elsewhere.
The fact that they're sending you refurbs is so freaking lame though. What's a refurb? A card that SOMEBODY ELSE sent back! I don't want somebody else's used, broken, then repaired shit! I'd cuss them out 8 ways till Sunday if I were you. Tell 'em if they send you another used card that they'll be hearing from a used lawyer. Threat of leagal action tends to work better than black coffee for large corporations. But yeah, 400$ is a lot to pay for a lemon, especially when it gets replaced by another lemon. Ugh.
The fact that they're sending you refurbs is so freaking lame though. What's a refurb? A card that SOMEBODY ELSE sent back! I don't want somebody else's used, broken, then repaired shit! I'd cuss them out 8 ways till Sunday if I were you. Tell 'em if they send you another used card that they'll be hearing from a used lawyer. Threat of leagal action tends to work better than black coffee for large corporations. But yeah, 400$ is a lot to pay for a lemon, especially when it gets replaced by another lemon. Ugh.
Zaxan Razor
Quote:
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Originally Posted by koneko
Normally, I would too...except that I couldn't hold out for much longer with my 6600GT.
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Anyway, i always buy mid range cards, because i can't justify spending over £250 at the most on something for my computer (unless its buying a new one)..and in my experience, mid-range NVidia cards are horrible, truly, truly horrible. I have never had an Nvidia card that has lasted longer than 6 months.
I have had 2 Ati Cards, Radeon 9750, which lasted 8 months, and still works perfectly, but i recently upgraded to an X850, which is superb also, and ive had no problems with it so far.
The new Catalyst Drivers are pretty solid, and i dunno what you mean about ATi's software, despite having three processes running, it still uses less resources than NVidia's..
koneko
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Zaxan Razor
Who's the fanboi?? Idiot..
The new Catalyst Drivers are pretty solid, and i dunno what you mean about ATi's software |
Try reading what you quoted again, in particular the part about "Linux support."Idiot...
Go try and use ATI drivers on Linux and see for yourself. Compare to Linux + NVIDIA drivers. Go on. No? /shoo
Ghozer
nVidia just make the components, and 3rd party companies make the cards as a whole..
I personaly also prefer ATI, for MANY Reasons, on the ONE time i have had to call them.. thier customer service far exceeds nVidias/any 3rd party nVidia
The Quality and stability of the cards (taking into account Build quality, quality of the coolers etc) they usually seem better built, and dont look 'cheap' -- Since I do Video/Photo editing, I have looked at 100's of different cards, 3rd parties and not, and I have to say that ATI has the best colour reproduction (Closer to the 'real' original colour) - the image quality (AA/AF etc) DISABLED seems higher than the closest nVidia, and I have NEVER had a problem with drivers... even when upgrading cards..
nVidia, you have to piss around with the drivers just to upgrade the card..
I personaly also prefer ATI, for MANY Reasons, on the ONE time i have had to call them.. thier customer service far exceeds nVidias/any 3rd party nVidia
The Quality and stability of the cards (taking into account Build quality, quality of the coolers etc) they usually seem better built, and dont look 'cheap' -- Since I do Video/Photo editing, I have looked at 100's of different cards, 3rd parties and not, and I have to say that ATI has the best colour reproduction (Closer to the 'real' original colour) - the image quality (AA/AF etc) DISABLED seems higher than the closest nVidia, and I have NEVER had a problem with drivers... even when upgrading cards..
nVidia, you have to piss around with the drivers just to upgrade the card..
thrice
Intel Integrated Graphics is the solution...
or just keep RMAing
or just keep RMAing
Zaxan Razor
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Originally Posted by koneko
Bit defensive, are we? Gee, I don't know, maybe if ATI introduced drivers that didn't suck, I'd consider their products
Try reading what you quoted again, in particular the part about "Linux support."Idiot... Go try and use ATI drivers on Linux and see for yourself. Compare to Linux + NVIDIA drivers. Go on. No? /shoo |
personaljihad
The EVGA 7900gt's have been having issues, If you had at least read the newegg customer reviews before you purchased it you would have seen this.
koneko
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Originally Posted by Zaxan Razor
I don't use Linux? so this is a pointless argument.
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Who started this thread again? Hm...I think I did, a thread about a NVIDIA product. You're the one that jumped in with fanboi "BUY ATI ZOMG" comments, I believe?
Linux support obviously matters to me. /shoo
Quote:
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Originally Posted by personaljihad
The EVGA 7900gt's have been having issues, If you had at least read the newegg customer reviews before you purchased it you would have seen this.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by koneko
I picked up an eVGA 7900GT CO (factory overclocked, 500/1500) in early April from Newegg.
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No widespread issues (no more than usual with a new release) in early April. And once again...not limited to eVGA.
Serafita Kayin
I spoke to my nVidia source over this.
koneko, call eVGA, tell them exactly what you have, what it's doing, and mention the fact that RMA rates are up to 10% on these cards. If necessary, cite the Inquirer. They are legally obligated to make this right, and from my long experience with eVGA, they don't give a shit what you do to these, they'll fix it. If necessary, mention the fact that you are a mod for a very heavily visited forum. They don't want any more bad press.
I sent in a card, told them it had a waterblock on it and it died at stock getting ready for overclocking. You know how I got the new card?
Bare, prepped for waterblock.
They have THE best warranty in the industry. Use it.
For the rest of you, get off it. I've spent more on video cards this year than most new PCs cost, and I'm not yet finished, and that's average for a year. I've got enough experience to tell ya this-there is none "better" overall, merely for a different situation. This is not the FX days. If you can't keep a card more than 6 months, RMA it. After that, examine your own usage.
koneko, call eVGA, tell them exactly what you have, what it's doing, and mention the fact that RMA rates are up to 10% on these cards. If necessary, cite the Inquirer. They are legally obligated to make this right, and from my long experience with eVGA, they don't give a shit what you do to these, they'll fix it. If necessary, mention the fact that you are a mod for a very heavily visited forum. They don't want any more bad press.
I sent in a card, told them it had a waterblock on it and it died at stock getting ready for overclocking. You know how I got the new card?
Bare, prepped for waterblock.
They have THE best warranty in the industry. Use it.
For the rest of you, get off it. I've spent more on video cards this year than most new PCs cost, and I'm not yet finished, and that's average for a year. I've got enough experience to tell ya this-there is none "better" overall, merely for a different situation. This is not the FX days. If you can't keep a card more than 6 months, RMA it. After that, examine your own usage.
MaglorD
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Zaxan Razor
Who's the fanboi?? Idiot..
Anyway, i always buy mid range cards, because i can't justify spending over £250 at the most on something for my computer (unless its buying a new one)..and in my experience, mid-range NVidia cards are horrible, truly, truly horrible. I have never had an Nvidia card that has lasted longer than 6 months. I have had 2 Ati Cards, Radeon 9750, which lasted 8 months, and still works perfectly, but i recently upgraded to an X850, which is superb also, and ive had no problems with it so far. The new Catalyst Drivers are pretty solid, and i dunno what you mean about ATi's software, despite having three processes running, it still uses less resources than NVidia's.. |
I'm just waiting for ATI's 6.6 drivers before I update from 6.4.
Tyil Thunder Arrow
I have used ATI before didn't like the drivers or performance. Now I use BFG NVidia cards in all my builds. Have not had one complaint from a customer yet. Plus you gotta love the BFG for their service.
As far as the whole ATI-vs-Nvidia stuff goes. It is all a matter of opinion. I truly believe neither is better than the other. It is a matter of preference. I chose NVidia because I have had some troubles with ATI. I have a friend that swears by ATI. We both play the same games and both build rigs for others.
The whole peeing match over which is better is pointless. Really!
As far as the whole ATI-vs-Nvidia stuff goes. It is all a matter of opinion. I truly believe neither is better than the other. It is a matter of preference. I chose NVidia because I have had some troubles with ATI. I have a friend that swears by ATI. We both play the same games and both build rigs for others.
The whole peeing match over which is better is pointless. Really!
EagleEye33
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Serafita Kayin
I spoke to my nVidia source over this.
koneko, call eVGA, tell them exactly what you have, what it's doing, and mention the fact that RMA rates are up to 10% on these cards. If necessary, cite the Inquirer. They are legally obligated to make this right, and from my long experience with eVGA, they don't give a shit what you do to these, they'll fix it. If necessary, mention the fact that you are a mod for a very heavily visited forum. They don't want any more bad press. I sent in a card, told them it had a waterblock on it and it died at stock getting ready for overclocking. You know how I got the new card? Bare, prepped for waterblock. They have THE best warranty in the industry. Use it. For the rest of you, get off it. I've spent more on video cards this year than most new PCs cost, and I'm not yet finished, and that's average for a year. I've got enough experience to tell ya this-there is none "better" overall, merely for a different situation. This is not the FX days. If you can't keep a card more than 6 months, RMA it. After that, examine your own usage. |
)
Mustache Mayhem
actually I've never had a problem with hardware from ati.. the software (especially the all in wonder) used to take some knowledge to setup correctly.. nvidia is 3rd party manufactured and I have had problems with the hardware on some of the cards- fans going out being one of the big issues.. overclocking is another.. that's all I can say though
koneko
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Serafita Kayin
Call eVGA, tell them exactly what you have, what it's doing, and mention the fact that RMA rates are up to 10% on these cards. If necessary, cite the Inquirer. They are legally obligated to make this right, and from my long experience with eVGA, they don't give a shit what you do to these, they'll fix it.
They have THE best warranty in the industry. Use it. |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by EagleEye33
or else this thread will go on forever on another ATI vs. Nvidia bout
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Edit: Called up eVGA, ended up talking to J. Freeman (again - I talked to him last Thursday)...difficult to describe the "bent metal backplate but not as serious as a prior card" issue with broken Engrish. (He got the idea that it wouldn't fit in the case, so it's all good.) New ("recertified," no doubt, something that I'm still unhappy about) card being shipped out soon, these two N564s are going back as soon as I recieve the second shipping label. Frustrating.
Lord Iowerth
So I just got back from the future, right? (shh don't tell anyone, i've already got people asking me for lightsabres and all sorts of junk) and I just want to say: don't do it, koneko ... there's no Guild Wars in jail ...
kvndoom
That, my friend, belongs in the Guru Hall of Fame.
Ristaron
Can we continue the argument without the technical stuff? It's hilarious to watch the bickering, but my brain is too tired to understand model numbers and why tech support is stupid.
Thanks
<EDIT:> I suppose I shouldn't be surprised... I'm in the tech section.
Thanks
<EDIT:> I suppose I shouldn't be surprised... I'm in the tech section.
Ghozer
That... Lord Iowerth --- is CLASS! -- Well Written xD
-- Well Written xD
devils wraths
i have a 7900 gt and mine has been fine but evga is one company i wouldnt buy from most of there cards i brought have broke after a couple of months. if its an nvidia card i normally buy from xfx or gigabyte.
AlbinoChocobo
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Originally Posted by MaglorD
The 6800GT sits in my regular machine, for surfing email etc.
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That's it, I'm officialy small fry ..
Lasher Dragon
Quote:
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Originally Posted by AlbinoChocobo
Oh my gosh. Just a bit off topic, I'm playing guild wars on a plain 6600 ... Must be a bit under the one koneko is trying to replace ...
That's it, I'm officialy small fry .. |
Hey, it got me through over 1k GW hours, and probably about 400-500 BF2 hours (Yes, it ran BF2! Yes, it looked like ass! Had max draw distance though, so I spent most of my time sniping hehe)
Bane of Worlds
Lord Iowerth that is pure class and keep up the work
anyway this argument is pointless IMHO
but I had better experiences with Nvidia since ATI cards tend to have driver and installations problems for some odd reason
eVGA isn't a great company to buy v cards from since my buddy had problems with them
my cards are from BFG oh for yall Doom fans it's not that big ******* gun
overclocked right out of the box but you can overclock it more if desired since their stock fan is actually good
my oldest Nvidia card has died yet which is on my 2nd computer
anyway this argument is pointless IMHO
but I had better experiences with Nvidia since ATI cards tend to have driver and installations problems for some odd reason
eVGA isn't a great company to buy v cards from since my buddy had problems with them
my cards are from BFG oh for yall Doom fans it's not that big ******* gun
overclocked right out of the box but you can overclock it more if desired since their stock fan is actually good
my oldest Nvidia card has died yet which is on my 2nd computer
Mistress Mindbender
Best card I ever had was a BFG FX 5500 OC.... even without chipset drivers installed (yeah, I know) it worked flawlessly for 2 years.
In feb/06 I upgraded to an EVGA 7800 CO GS card. Was enticed by the lifetime warranty, and step up program. Card was a little unstable at clock speeds, slightly underclocking fixed the problem. Even with underclocked I don't regret my purchase, although I never figured out exactly if it was the card or the system that caused the crash. EVGA tech support suspected that it was my power supply, seemed a little unlikely. The second tech I spoke to said that my system was unstable because I had my ram maxed, he suggested to take out 1 chip and try the card. Oddly enough I couldn't seem to crash the system when overclocking the card.
I am currently in the process of stepping up to an EVGA 7900 GT KO SC - SLi, hopefully its one of the good onces since they claim they are fixing the problem.
Having to play on a $150 ATI card loner makes me miss my Nvidia 7 series (A difference of 3000 in 3Dmark06).
Keep in mind that if you can get a card that you can make stable by slightly underclocking (I know thats another rant, about not what you paid for ect..) Keep that one for a little bit until they get their issues resolved. You still have your lifetime warranty.
In feb/06 I upgraded to an EVGA 7800 CO GS card. Was enticed by the lifetime warranty, and step up program. Card was a little unstable at clock speeds, slightly underclocking fixed the problem. Even with underclocked I don't regret my purchase, although I never figured out exactly if it was the card or the system that caused the crash. EVGA tech support suspected that it was my power supply, seemed a little unlikely. The second tech I spoke to said that my system was unstable because I had my ram maxed, he suggested to take out 1 chip and try the card. Oddly enough I couldn't seem to crash the system when overclocking the card.
I am currently in the process of stepping up to an EVGA 7900 GT KO SC - SLi, hopefully its one of the good onces since they claim they are fixing the problem.
Having to play on a $150 ATI card loner makes me miss my Nvidia 7 series (A difference of 3000 in 3Dmark06).
Keep in mind that if you can get a card that you can make stable by slightly underclocking (I know thats another rant, about not what you paid for ect..) Keep that one for a little bit until they get their issues resolved. You still have your lifetime warranty.
Josh
Quote:
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Originally Posted by koneko
I'd rather miss out on "performance boosts" than deal with piss-poor drivers.
You do realize 7900 problems aren't just limited to eVGA, right...? HAY GUYS LETS ALL GO BUY XFX CARDS LAWL, O WAIT THEY DUN HAV SUPPORT BOARDS NOMOAR LAWL Getting offtopic...needing suggestions on what to do at this point (other than RMA again). Maybe I'll try to argue for a refund at this point... |
What is so 'piss-poor' about the drivers, huh?
felinette
I've had both nVidia and ATI cards--can't say I prefer one over the other. One interesting note about a problem I posted here a couple of months ago--when I got a new machine with 7800GTX cards in SLI, it couldn't run GW at anything but my monitor's native resolution. My old machine, which had an ATI 9800XT card, could run it at all resolutions. It turned out that nVidia is aware of a problem with their drivers that causes imaging problems if you try to run a game at anything but your monitor's native resolution with VSYNC on. So you either have to turn VSYNC off, or run at the native resolution, which isn't always possible depending on the game. So on that score, ATI came out ahead, but I've never had a serious problem with either make of card.
EiS
ATI are one of the best simple way to get around there drivers is use 3rd party drivers like Omega drivers i have been useing them ever since i have been useing ATI and never a problem and hey the Omega drivers do use that shit ass CCC crap they got rid of it and use the original control panel which ATI should of stuf with in the beggining i know the actul ATI drivers suck but if you use the Omega drivers i'm pretty sure you will never have a problem like me and with the HS thats easy too if your spending the money to get a kick ass card i'm sure you can spend the what like extra 30 buck to get a after market cooler like the Sliencer series or even the Zalmans are good coolers and even Thermalright has a sweet VGA cooler you could use but thats just me i never use the stock cooler with anything like my X800XT Platinum that cooler was never even used still bend new as soon as i got the card i had the ATI sliencer 4 already took the card out of the box took off stock cooler put on sliencer and put it in my comp and has been there since smooth with no problems
Lasher Dragon
Black Forsaken
Quote:
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Originally Posted by devils wraths
i have a 7900 gt and mine has been fine but evga is one company i wouldnt buy from most of there cards i brought have broke after a couple of months. if its an nvidia card i normally buy from xfx or gigabyte.
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koneko
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Josh
My point was, the performance BOOST is what makes the drivers good.
What is so 'piss-poor' about the drivers, huh? |
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=770434
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-410738.html
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-393111.html
Hint: not all of these issues have been resolved.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Black Forsaken
Quote:
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by koneko
You do realize 7900 problems aren't just limited to eVGA, right...?
HAY GUYS LETS ALL GO BUY XFX CARDS LAWL, O WAIT THEY DUN HAV SUPPORT BOARDS NOMOAR LAWL |