BFG Fails to Satisfy

My recent encounter with BFG.... This is the letter I wrote to them....

I recently went to my local Frys Electronics store to purcahse a new Video Card. I have been a long time loyal BFG customer, so naturally I decided to purchase a BFG Card. I picked the GTX260 MaxCore 55 OC Edition.

Upon arriving home, I opened the box only to find that the HDMI Adapter, the Component Breakout Cable and the Audio Cable were missing from the package. I also discovered that the Static Pack had been previously opened and resealed with another Static Warning sticker.

I assumed I had purchased an open box item, although Frys had not marked it as such. I went back to the store, only to find that ALL of the ones on the shelf were not only factory sealed, but also were missing the cables AND had resealed static wrap.

Frys couldn't explain it. They blamed it on BFG. I also have no words to explain this, since the boxes were sealed in the shrink wrap from BFG. None of them were previously opened, and None of them had the accessories that were listed on the box included. Furthermore, all of the Static Wrap bags had the original seal torn, and a new Static Warning sticker placed over them.

Needless to say I was VERY dissapointed. I had always purchased BFG products and never encountered an issue with this.

I ultimately returned the card for a refund and purchased an EVGA GTX260 Superclocked Edition. This kind of mistake is unacceptable, you guys have lost a long time customer. This is a fine example of False Advertising and is very misleading to your customers, I would suggest you correct this issue and make sure nothing like this happens again.

I would wait for some type of response from BFG before totally giving up on them, perhaps a pallet of remanufactured cards got mixed up with a pallet of new cards.

i had the same thing happen to me with bfg cards at best buy.
i called them and they said it was normal for the bags to be resealed like that at the factory.
which sucks/// its not that i wont buy bfg its a wont buy them at best buy nomores

I've had some problems with BFG too.
My GTX285 went to RMA 3 times.

The first time they've sent it back from RMA it came without the box, just the graphic card on the plastic.

bfg suks,u cant take there stock coolers off without voiding warranty.EVEN if u say u did over the phone they void your warranty....evga FTW!!!!they have voltage tuner and want u to take your stock cooler off.step up program that bfg bit off of...to funny.bfg is horrible.evga + newegg is the ONLY way to go.

why are u buying a 260 and not on sale hardware at frys. and the accessory are subject to change

i was at frys today they are going down hill i needed a 15pin dsub (vga if u dont use the proper name) and they had 0 cables with 15 pins for under $50, then just to look i went to the gpu section they had the 5870 for $450 and a 285 right next to it for $460.

kinda OT but why did u get a 260 they are the same price as a 4890 and close to a 5850

Well I bought two BFG GTX285's a while ago and both of the static bags were opened. I think those have been quality inspected after BFG has got 'em, actually it is also mentioned in the box somewhere that the bags have been resealed. My cards did not miss any adapters though.

The quality inspection hasn't however been very successful, as I had to send the another one back straight away to BFG. Then got another one, that was as bad as the first one and also had a cut in the cooler sticker. The third one is perfect now. :D

In Finland the resellers in my understanding don't honor the warranty if you take off the cooler from ANY product and you'll have to go for the manufacturer. EVGA might be a different case though, dunno. Shipping to manufacturer usually costs a LOT unless the manufacturer is willing to pay your shipping. :)

ALL BFG cards have the inside anti-static bag with TWO seals on it. It's perfectly normal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by railmeat

bfg suks,u cant take there stock coolers off without voiding warranty.EVEN if u say u did over the phone they void your warranty....evga FTW!!!!they have voltage tuner and want u to take your stock cooler off.step up program that bfg bit off of...to funny.bfg is horrible.evga + newegg is the ONLY way to go.

Not only that but you will also void warranty if u tell them that you have oced or what is more ridiculous underclocked the card.

I have had a Nightmare with BFG too. To summarise.
Back in August 2008 I purcahsed a BFG GTX 280 OCX graphics card, this was working perfectly until Januaray 2009.
I then had to RMA this card as it started to develop pink spots after 30mins of gaming... even after reformating and trying various drivers the issue still persisted.

The RMA I received was in terrible condition, for example the card had a missing "SLI cover" and appeared to be scratched, the fan was a lot louder than my previous card, to top it all off the card died within 10minutes of gaming and then would no longer POST.

I promptly contacted support requesting for this to be RMA'd
It took 2 weeks for me to even get BFG to agree collection of the card, further more were it not for me using google to find the phone number of the UK BFG office in Wales to actually get this sorted out... I would have been waiting a lot longer!

Anyway once I did manage to speak on the telephone the people at the RMA office were most helpful and polite AND sorted it all out promptly.

So, I then received my 3rd GTX 280 in Januaray 2009. Everything seemed to be fine, no issues at all, until December 2009. Sadly last month the 3rd GTX 280 card started to run hot and develop black flashing retangles (and blackscreens of death were the picture would "die" but everything else would continue fine).

Again I assumed this was a software issue so reformatted and tried various drivers... the issue still persisted.

So

I contacted BFG support, but due to Christmas Holidays etc I was not expecting (or even demanding) a quick RMA as that would be unrealistic at that time of the year.

Anyway, I got fed up of waiting so on Wednesay just gone (the 6th of Jan) I e-mailed the UK BFG office, within 1 hour of me e-mailing them, they called me and we setup the RMA... I must admit I was impressed with that level of service :up:

The weather in the UK was not that great, (ice, snow etc) so things could not get sorted in 48hours, however they were all sorted in time for this weekend....or at least I had hoped.

Today I received a BFG GTX 285 OCX as a replacement (this is my 4th card now!)
I actually thought it was quite nice of BFG to offer me a GTX 285 OCX to replace a GTX 280 OCX, as not only is the card newer, it should also a little bit faster and run cooler too :D

Unfortuantly the GTX 285 OCX card does not even POST, it just beeps with the infamous 1 long beep and 3 short beeps. (No VGA detected).

Seeing as this was an obvious hardware issue, I re-insterted the card in both PCI-e slots, reset my Motherboard's BIOS to defaults, and tried different power connectors... yet the issue still persisted.

Once again, another dead BFG card....

I e-mailed BFG this afternoon, needless to say I am NOT happy and I am using a Pentium4 socket 478 PC sitting here waiting to RMA a rather large paperweight again.

John

Just thought I would add that the RMA replacement GTX 285 OCX which was DOA was collected by Fed Ex today.
BFG do not post on a Monday so I will not be getting my 5th card until Wednesday......
John

thats why since my last 5 cards since 8800GTX were EVGA's. I had no problem at all. I RMA'ed twice with no issues at all.

eVGA eh?
Anyone know what their European warranty is like?
John

Quote:

Originally Posted by railmeat

bfg suks,u cant take there stock coolers off without voiding warranty.EVEN if u say u did over the phone they void your warranty....evga FTW!!!!they have voltage tuner and want u to take your stock cooler off.step up program that bfg bit off of...to funny.bfg is horrible.evga + newegg is the ONLY way to go.

Dude don't lie mate...that is a BIG fat lie.
I have even RMA a freakin agp 6800gt that I swap back to the stock cooler but was obvious it has been removed and they did not even bother asking for a receipt (I bought it second hand).
Also, my bro go a second hand bfg that I bought for him and sent back to Puerto Rico and it died thanks to a cheapo PS unit.
He called BFG and again not a single question about receipts or anything, RMA number given immediately. That was about 2 months ago so I doubt they suddenly turn bad :rolleyes:
If you like EVGA that is good an dandy, I do too (except their lame step up rules) but that does not mean a company like BFG or XFX is not worth it.
Regards

PS There is a BFG rep that hangs around the Hardocp forum all the time if someone needs help.

Thanks shaolin95
I might just post on there.
My worry is that they are being difficult as this RMA arrived DOA and they insisted that the card had been tested for 2 hours and said that the fault was with my PC.
However my PC works fine with a 8800 GTS 512, and my PSU (Enermax 720W infiniti) is more than man enough for a GTX 285.
I tested the card in a different PC too with a Modu+ 625W (50A on 12V Rail) and I got the same results.
Please don't tell me that the GTX 285 series are not compatible with the X38 chipset as that would be madness!
(both PC's use X38 motherboards).
My replacement GTX 285 OCX should be shipped out today....
John

My RMA GTX 285 OCX should have arrived today... it didn't :(
I have just this second e-mailed BFG to try and find out what is going on...
John

BFG GTX 285 OCX arrived today :D
However I am having a slight issue with it :(
I am getting artifacting in 3dmark Vantage and furmark, however I am rather confused as the temperature does not get that hot (88C in 3dmark Vantage and an absolute maximum of 91C in Furmark with 16xmsaa)
The artefacts are very different to what I have had before.. they are not constant and do not totally corrupt the display, they flash and then disappear (everything then returns to normal).
BFG tested this card for an hour on ATi tool (they provided me with screen dumps), this produced 0 errors. They will not accept that this card has a fault.
Any ideas?
Thanks
John

Try upping the card fan RPM higher to see if it helps

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowie

i had the same thing happen to me with bfg cards at best buy.
i called them and they said it was normal for the bags to be resealed like that at the factory.
which sucks/// its not that i wont buy bfg its a wont buy them at best buy nomores

so let me get this straight, its a normal practice for BFG, yet you blame the retailer, even though BFG said its normal?:shrug:

yes because when i brought bfg cards from the egg they were not factoy resealed only at best buy did they come resealed

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMH

Try upping the card fan RPM higher to see if it helps

Thanks for the suggestion. I think you may have a point there as the fan does not really spin up more than 60 or so % in furmark @ 1920*1200 and 16X FSAA

I contacted BFG and they said that they were able to run 3d Mark Vantage for 3hours using Forceware 191.07

I will upgrade my drivers from 186.18 to 191.07 to see if that resolves the issue. If not I will have to investigate the fan profile.

I am running with an Enermax Infiniti 720W PSU which should be enough for a GTX 285 OCX as it has 56A? On the combined 12V RAIL as opposed to the minimum 42A required.

Previously I was happyily running a GTX 280 OCX for 8months before it developed artifacting issues, however those artifacts were much worse than this ocassional flickers or corruption which disapear and then re-appear.

The issue suggests something is getting warm.. but not too hot, perhaps an improved fan profile might help?!? :confused:

Anyway I will try the 191.07 forceware drivers. MY VGA BIOS is an odd version too, never seen it online and google does not bring up any matches?

John

How can anyone possibly go through 5 video cards that quick?

I highly doubt this would occur out of normal usage... What are you running your PCI-E frequency at and how are the rails on your PSU? Is your OC stable too?

I as well, got my bfg warranty voided, when i mentioned to a lady on their tech support line, that I had overclocked the card with riva tuner. She basically said, you just voided your warranty and ended the call. I was lucky it was within 30 days of buying it, so i just returned it to newegg. Never will buy BFG again

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dopamin3

How can anyone possibly go through 5 video cards that quick?

I highly doubt this would occur out of normal usage... What are you running your PCI-E frequency at and how are the rails on your PSU? Is your OC stable too?

All stock, (100Mhz PCI-E)

The LED's on the Enermax are showing Green (all rails normal) I have not gone through 5 video cards, I have gone through 2 ;)

My intiall GTX 280 worked for 3months, then BFG RMA'd out a card which died after 10mins (I class this as DOA).
I then got another GTX 280 which worked for 8 months then developed serious artifacting issues.
BFG Sent out a DOA GTX 285 which would not POST or anything.
I now have a GTX 285 which has very minor graphical corruption which comes and goes.

Apparently the fans just do not want to spin up enough to cool the card?!?

According to GPU-Z even when the card is at 88C the fans spin up from 40% to 58% (65% in furmark).

I contacted BFG regarding this issue and they said that the card has no problems as they fully tested it using ATi Tool (1hour, no artifacts) and 3dmark Vantage (3 hours). They used Forceware 191.07

I intially tried Forceware 195.62WHQL, but because of the artifacting I reverted back to 186.18WHQL, sadly the issues remain

Hopefully upgrading from driver 186.18 to 191.07 will resolve the issue. BFG were able to run 3dmark for 3 hours and had no issues, they also ran ATi Tool for 1 hour as well. (They provided me with screen shots to prove this and state that the card has no defects).

John

I have installed Forceware 191.07
The issue still persists.
This is data from GPU-Z when running Furmark.

Code:

Date , GPU Core Clock [MHz] , GPU Memory Clock [MHz] , GPU Shader Clock [MHz] , GPU Temperature [°C] , PCB Temperature [°C] , GPU Temperature [°C] , PCB Temperature [°C] , Fan Speed [%] , Fan Speed [RPM] , Memory Used [MB] , GPU Load [%] , Memory Controller Load [%] , Video Engine Load [%] , 2010-01-15 17:58:13 , 300.0 , 100.0 , 600.0 , 66.0 , 58.0 , 58.5 , 58.8 , 40 , 1478 , 72 , 2 , 4 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:58:14 , 300.0 , 100.0 , 600.0 , 65.0 , 58.0 , 57.5 , 58.8 , 40 , 1479 , 70 , 3 , 6 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:58:15 , 300.0 , 100.0 , 600.0 , 65.0 , 58.0 , 57.5 , 58.8 , 40 , 1477 , 70 , 1 , 4 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:58:16 , 300.0 , 100.0 , 600.0 , 65.0 , 58.0 , 57.5 , 58.8 , 40 , 1476 , 70 , 1 , 4 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:58:17 , 300.0 , 100.0 , 600.0 , 65.0 , 57.0 , 57.5 , 57.8 , 40 , 1477 , 63 , 1 , 4 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:58:18 , 300.0 , 100.0 , 600.0 , 65.0 , 57.0 , 57.5 , 57.8 , 40 , 1478 , 63 , 1 , 4 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:58:19 , 300.0 , 100.0 , 600.0 , 64.0 , 57.0 , 56.5 , 57.8 , 40 , 1477 , 63 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1917 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:17 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 88.0 , 62.0 , 80.8 , 62.8 , 53 , 1932 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:18 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 89.0 , 62.0 , 81.8 , 62.8 , 54 , 1942 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:19 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 88.0 , 62.0 , 80.8 , 62.8 , 53 , 1946 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:20 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 89.0 , 62.0 , 81.8 , 62.8 , 54 , 1957 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:21 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 89.0 , 62.0 , 81.8 , 62.8 , 54 , 1965 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:22 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 89.0 , 62.0 , 81.8 , 62.8 , 55 , 1969 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:23 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 89.0 , 62.0 , 81.8 , 62.8 , 55 , 1991 , 434 , 99 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:24 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 89.0 , 63.0 , 81.8 , 63.8 , 55 , 1996 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:25 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 89.0 , 63.0 , 81.8 , 63.8 , 55 , 2003 , 434 , 99 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:26 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 63.0 , 82.8 , 63.8 , 56 , 2022 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:27 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 63.0 , 82.8 , 63.8 , 56 , 2020 , 434 , 99 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:28 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 63.0 , 82.8 , 63.8 , 56 , 2026 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:29 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 63.0 , 82.8 , 63.8 , 56 , 2047 , 434 , 99 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:30 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 64.0 , 82.0 , 64.0 , 56 , 2049 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:31 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 64.0 , 82.0 , 64.0 , 57 , 2050 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:32 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 64.0 , 82.0 , 64.0 , 57 , 2058 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:33 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 90.0 , 64.0 , 82.0 , 64.0 , 57 , 2075 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:34 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 64.0 , 83.0 , 64.0 , 58 , 2075 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:35 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 64.0 , 83.0 , 64.0 , 58 , 2075 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:36 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 64.0 , 83.0 , 64.0 , 58 , 2093 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:37 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 64.0 , 83.0 , 64.0 , 58 , 2101 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:38 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 64.0 , 83.0 , 64.0 , 58 , 2098 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:39 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 65.0 , 83.0 , 65.0 , 58 , 2104 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:40 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 65.0 , 83.0 , 65.0 , 59 , 2125 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:41 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 65.0 , 83.0 , 65.0 , 59 , 2128 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:42 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 65.0 , 83.0 , 65.0 , 59 , 2125 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:43 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 65.0 , 83.0 , 65.0 , 59 , 2141 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:45 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 91.0 , 65.0 , 83.0 , 65.0 , 59 , 2135 , 434 , 99 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:46 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 92.0 , 65.0 , 84.0 , 65.0 , 60 , 2148 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:47 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 92.0 , 65.0 , 84.0 , 65.0 , 60 , 2152 , 434 , 98 , 47 , 0 , 2010-01-15 17:59:48 , 702.0 , 1332.0 , 1584.0 , 92.0 , 65.0 , 84.0 , 65.0 , 60 ,

Furmark then crashes. As you can see the Fan never goes over 60% yet the card is 92C!! That surely is not right.
Would an improved fan profile resolve this issue?
John

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnZS

Just thought I would add that the RMA replacement GTX 285 OCX which was DOA was collected by Fed Ex today.
BFG do not post on a Monday so I will not be getting my 5th card until Wednesday......
John

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein

Sorry couldnt resist the irony of your sig. :D

Hehehe
You are right, I guess I was a bit insane hoping that RMA'ing my graphics card would give me a nice working one as opposed to a broken one.

I am really angry with BFG right now :(

They are not going to take this card off my hands. It is defective purely and simply defective.

The issues follow it around in TWO other systems.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::down::down::down ::down:

John

Thanks; Now I know which manufacturer to avoid if I need an Nvidia card.
BFG will not see a dime from me--ever.

And never tell them you overclocked the card or took off the stock heatsink. And if they refuse to honor warranties properly, contact your credit card company and reverse the charges. THEN send the card back to them.

Thats weird because I'm running 2X gtx295's in quad + a 9800gt for physx
and they work just as good as when i bought them almost a year ago.

In my experience,BFG is a very good company with a great warranty.
You have a lifetime warranty if you register right away i believe.

Receiving multiple defective cards in a short period of time usually points to user error,or something on your end.No pun intended.

You said your PSU volts are good judging by the green light.Green light doesn't mean your 12v rails are within range.Try bowering a video card from your buddy, and take a quality multimeter and test your 12 volt rails on load.;)

i bought a bfg 280 and it died sent it back to them ... 5 days after my card arrived to them i had a brand new 285 sitting on my doorstep ... yes 285! so im loving BFG right now :)

I hope your replacement graphics card works Copengagen69.
nge769
I do not have a multimeter sadly, however everest reports my 12V rail to be 12.10V.
I have only ever seen this dip to 12.04V a few times, but then it goes back up to 12.10V. Is that normal?
Before the BFG GTX 280 OCX the previous card I had running in this system for over a year was a Point of View Geforce 8800 and that had no issues at all.
John

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnZS

I hope your replacement graphics card works Copengagen69.
nge769
I do not have a multimeter sadly, however everest reports my 12V rail to be 12.10V.
I have only ever seen this dip to 12.04V a few times, but then it goes back up to 12.10V. Is that normal?
Before the BFG GTX 280 OCX the previous card I had running in this system for over a year was a Point of View Geforce 8800 and that had no issues at all.
John

Software voltage 99% of the time is totally off, inaccurate by a lot, at best!Don't trust it ! Borrow a multimeter from somewhere, and if you want, ill show you how to test your rails safely:) .PSu's over time degrade(start to produce less power) .
Either way its good to know how your psu is functioning,it will determine how long components last and for stability reasons also.

BTW,my 12v rail shows 12.04 also on software,but in reality (manually tested)its 12.27.

I have used BFG cards since my 7800GTX and I have never had any problems with their customer service. I have RMA'ed 1 9800gx2, and 2 gtx 295 recently after my toughpower 1200w with wacky power fluctuations killed them giving me wonderful error 43 in device manager. These were on koolance WB's, I never ever mention that i have altered anything from stock as most manufacturers would sy the same thing if you OC your cards. They have always been prompt and quick with replacements and RMA's no questions asked!! If they won't replace it, go to the store, buy another one, then return the broken onr for a refund.....done this before at Fry's LOL!!! :P

nge769
I would be most interested in this, however my PSU (Enermax Infiniti 720W) is still in warrantry ideally I would like this process not to involve breaking any seals or opening up the PSU or Graphics card.
The BFG Graphics card is the bane of my life at the moment as BFG have (as of yet) not responded to my e-mail (see my other thread here )
I am at a total loss...stuck with a defective GTX 285 OCX.
John

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnZS

nge769
I would be most interested in this, however my PSU (Enermax Infiniti 720W) is still in warrantry ideally I would like this process not to involve breaking any seals or opening up the PSU or Graphics card.
The BFG Graphics card is the bane of my life at the moment as BFG have (as of yet) not responded to my e-mail (see my other thread here )
I am at a total loss...stuck with a defective GTX 285 OCX.
John

Don't worry,you don't have to open the psu or the video card for that matter.
Its a very easy painless process.You can test on your six pin power connector on your video card.

Connect your red positive probe from your multimeter to the yellow wire on the video cards six pin power connector (Doesn't matter, any yellow wire) then connect your black probe to any metal part inside of the case.

Now,turn on your multimeter and turn the dial to dc volts,its the symbol with
the big V with a line over it and also dotted line over it(like this, __ ---) .

While your computer is idle, wright down your volts then run vantage to stress your system and see the fluctuation of the 12v rail (how low they drop under stress)..Post back with your results.

For me, I'm running 2X GTX295's(Quad sli) and a 9800GT for Pysx(thats 5 gpu's)a 975xe,multiple drives and a bunch of other stuff on a Enermax Galaxy 1250W.

My results were 12.27v @idle and 12.19 @load, thats rock solid rails:)

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your advice. Its a bit risky as BFG are now making noises that I might get an RM A. I dont think my PSU is an issue as I ran Vantage 10x on a mates 9800GX2 this evening as a process of elimination. Surely thats about the same power consumption?
John

Perhaps ask for a different card? 260x2, 275, 280, 295?
Money back would be perfect but not sure they will go for that.

Well, I did request a GTX 280 OCX as that was my original card, however they said that they do not have anymore :(
So they offered to step me up to a GTX 285 OCX (I was happy with the gesture), sadly both GTX 285 OCX cards I have been sent were defective.
I would not like to downgrade to a 260 or a 275 and I cannot see BFG offering me a GTX 295 purely because those were more expensive than the GTX 280 and they are premium dual GPU cards.
My promised last chance RMA number did not arrive this morning :(
I will give it another 36hours....
John