Have I Been Ripped Off?

[TrevorMcPoonage]

Just under 2 years ago I bought all the parts for my new pc build, including a EVGA 9800GX2. It recently started playing up, so i had it sent back under it's two year warranty (extended to 10 year as I had registered it within 30 days of purchase). What they sent me back was a EVGA GTX 260 216 core version. I have looked this card up, and it is not as good as my old 9800GX2 by a long shot.

What should I do?

[zalbard]

You have IMO. How about asking them to send you something better, 275 at least?

[TrevorMcPoonage]

It's an GTX 260 Core 216 SSC edition. Can somebody confirm that this card is indeed worse than the 9800GX2?

I play empire total war, crysis, call of duty modw2. So which crad would be better for these games. I dont want to open it yet as i might try to send it back.

[WARDOZER9]

Here is the only comparison I could find with both cards in it.

GTX 260/280 vs. 9800GX2

Hmm, after reading that, they'd have to send you a GTX 280 or GTX 285 to give you a card with similar performance o_O. Send them that link and tell them you want something that is comparable to what you had and that you are a bit insulted by the GTX 260 being slower almost completely accross the board.

Now I know the GTX 260 they used in that review could have been a 192 but I was looking at the GTX 280 numbers tbh and that lost to the 9800GX2 more than it won so I'd say it's failry safe to assume that the GTX 260 Core 216 SSC is no GTX 280 and therefore would be even slower.

I'd honestly push for a GTX 285 or GTX 280 SSC.

[malkiewicz]

The 9800GX2 is still considered to be an excellent card and it beats the GTX 260 & GTX 280 in most tests. The only real issue with the 9800 is that the card runs hot IMO...

[TrevorMcPoonage]

Yes that's what I thought. Thankyou very much for that link Wardozer9.

Yeah the 9800GX2 did run hot, I managed to cool it down by leaving the fan on 100% when running games, and took off the case to clean out the dust. it was reaching 100 degrees even with fan maxed out at one point, but it was full of dust. After I cleaned it out it never went past 82 (which I believe is acceptable although not good).

[zanzabar]

the entire g200b line is EOL so i dont think that they would give up a 275 or 285 without a fight, i would ask for a 295 as u sent in a dual card and u should want one back then they will say no but they may offer a 285 or 275

[overclocking101]

I would call them on the phone and get immmediate results if you do it voa email they may just boink you around for a while. the phone always works best for me with evga

[TrevorMcPoonage]

Ok, but what number do I call? The number on the support section is based in germany and I dont speak german? lol.

[lowfat]

That is definitely not a fair card to get back for warranty. Hopefully they can set things straight.

[H2O]

Yeah you're kind of in a tight spot as the GTX275/280/285 are EOLed and EVGA is neither receiving any new boards nor selling them. You could wait a month or so and see if Nvidia comes out with a new midrange card (I believe they were showing GTX375s at CeBIT) or you could ask for an upgrade to a GTX295 and pay the difference.

[zanzabar]

you could also ask for a full refund of the original perches price since they cant give an equivalent, then buy something better like a 5870

and call the worst that could happen is that they have no1 that speaks what u do buy i doubt that will happen as most people in business speak English or have some1 who dose that u can speak to who they work with

[LiquidReactor]

It's an GTX 260 Core 216 SSC edition. Can somebody confirm that this card is indeed worse than the 9800GX2?

I play empire total war, crysis, call of duty modw2. So which crad would be better for these games. I dont want to open it yet as i might try to send it back.

In all those games your new card is going to be moderatly to severly better. Remember 9800GX2 has only 512mb ram per card while GTX 260 has 896mb which counts a lot in ETW or MoDW2. As for Crysis...well who the cares since neither of those cards will make it playable on a 24" anyways.

[TrevorMcPoonage]

Here is the reply to an email I sent to EVGA as an enquirey.

Dear Mr. xxxxxxx

The GTX 260 Core 216 is more powerful than the 9800 GX2.

While it is correct that there are benchmarks where the GX2 wins, the GTX 260 wins where it matters: In higher resolution (1600 and above) and with Antilaliasing enabled (4x or above.) You also have more effective RAM (896 for the single GPU instead of 512 MB for each GPU) which enables you to choose higher texture resolution with no impact on performance.

The GTX 260 is based on the GT200 chip and also offers a better architecture compared to G92 with larger on-chip caches and better thread scheduling. This helps to get a real-world performance close to 100% of the theoretical peak performance.




Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards

My monitor's max resolution is 1680 x 1050 so is this card better or not?

[ReverendMaynard]

Here is the reply to an email I sent to EVGA as an enquirey.

Dear Mr. xxxxxxx

The GTX 260 Core 216 is more powerful than the 9800 GX2.

While it is correct that there are benchmarks where the GX2 wins, the GTX 260 wins where it matters: In higher resolution (1600 and above) and with Antilaliasing enabled (4x or above.) You also have more effective RAM (896 for the single GPU instead of 512 MB for each GPU) which enables you to choose higher texture resolution with no impact on performance.

The GTX 260 is based on the GT200 chip and also offers a better architecture compared to G92 with larger on-chip caches and better thread scheduling. This helps to get a real-world performance close to 100% of the theoretical peak performance.




Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards

My monitor's max resolution is 1680 x 1050 so is this card better or not?

Not better. Also, look at the price point of both cards at their time of release. I remember the 9800GX2 was $649.99 - $700, and the GTX260 216 was around $349.99 - $400 (in Canada). I've owned both of these cards in their prime and the GX2 was and still is a beast in comparison. The 260 216 is a great card but at their respective release times, they were in a completely different class. The 260 216 would be high end (285 would be enthusiast) and the GX2 would have been considered enthusiast.

I wouldn't accept anything lower than a GTX285 for replacement.

[labs23]

Snip...

My monitor's max resolution is 1680 x 1050 so is this card better or not?

You could've mentioned your res. before... It sounds doable TBH(the 260-for the res.-if they won't send you another.) but way ain't good enough.

At that res. and at that purchase of the GX2, I think I would want at least with the GTX275 to start with-all factors considered...

[JohnZS]

That is very harsh, IMHO eVGA should have given you at least a 275, preferably a 285 as those will deliver roughly equivalent to better performance.
Nobody likes the pain of having to go through an RMA, I cannot believe they downgraded you!
Keep fighting them.
John

[TrevorMcPoonage]

Im not trying to get a better card, If they had another 9800GX2 Id say just give me that. My problem is I am mildly OCD, and whenever something breaks I need to replace it with something equal or better, so I feel like things are always moving forwards...never backwards. Weird huh? But my point is I will feel totally ripped off if this card performs worse in my games, and it will eat me up inside ... but seriously... it will .

It's not at all about the price point for me....i do not want a modern card of equal value of mine at the time of purchase (£399 ). I think a GTX285 is being wishful tbh (it is significantly better is it not).

[ReverendMaynard]

A GTX295 would be significantly better, imo a single vanilla, none oc'd GTX275 or 285 would be even steven if you look at launch pricing.

[TrevorMcPoonage]

Yes but the way I look at it, at the time of purchase I payed for the performance of a 9800GX2. Not a GTX295 which didnt even exist at the time. If you look at the modern cost of a 9800GX2 it's not worth the same by a long shot, even brand new.

I've had almost two years of good gaming out of it so I've had some moneys worth, but considering the price I payed £399 Im not happy it broke. Not one bit. As they say.. you get what you pay for. I payed for 9800GX2 performance and thats what I want. Nothing more.. nothing less. But more would be nicer

[ReverendMaynard]

That's not how warranty works...or at least the business I run. When a part is discontinued, and goes EOL before the warranty period ends it is up to the manufacturer or reseller to either provide a repaired unit, a unit with comparable or BETTER performance.

[WARDOZER9]

I would get ahold of them and tell them you want a GTX 280 or GTX 285. Send them a link to this thread as well so they can see you're already publicly unhappy with what you were sent and everyone is behind you saying that you are getting screwed which means everyone that see's this thread will have thier faith in eVga shaken. That should get thier attention

[JAG87]

IMO, they should be giving you a card of equal or greater value. Performance is entirely subjective and dependant on the application.

The EVGA rep over there is getting too technical, the card isn't sold as 512MB, it's sold as 1GB to the customer. The average person does not understand and neither is concerned with the details he is talking about.

If the MSRP on your card was $599 lets say, they should be replacing it either with the same card (which they don't have anymore, too bad for them not you) or with a card that has an MSRP of $599 or more. In this case, GTX295.

That is my view on it. I would call and flame them.

[prava]

Just call them and complain then. GTX280 - 285 is the minimum you can ask them to give you...

[WARDOZER9]

IMO, they should be giving you a card of equal or greater value. Performance is entirely subjective and dependant on the application.

The EVGA rep over there is getting too technical, the card isn't sold as 512MB, it's sold as 1GB to the customer. The average person does not understand and neither is concerned with the details he is talking about.

If the MSRP on your card was $599 lets say, they should be replacing it either with the same card (which they don't have anymore, too bad for them not you) or with a card that has an MSRP of $599 or more. In this case, GTX295.

That is my view on it. I would call and flame them.

Don't listen to this guy, at all.

Just go for a card of equal performance as that is what you are entitled to, you paid for a performance level when you bought your card therefore that is what you are entitled to for a replacement.

Also for gods sake don't flame eVga as they will be less likely to help you so as I said, ignore JAG87 as he has no clue what he's talking about and his advice is as bad as it gets.

Sorry Jag but you seriously need to stop trying to help people because you are just plain wrong and anyone will with thier head screwed on straight will agree. Stop handing out bad advice.