Unhappy Me: The "dead GPU" edition

[kladner]

Originally Posted by kracker

If you buy it at newegg tigerdirect etc, I believe you can reprint your receipt from past orders.

The same is true of Micro Center if you have an account with them.

I would sure try to push on this. If you can get a facsimile of the receipt, I urge you to go for it.

I was very lucky that my GTX 570 which cratered is Gigabyte. They don't care who bought it originally. The serial number tells them when it was made down to the week.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by kladner

I was very lucky that my GTX 570 which cratered is Gigabyte. They don't care who bought it originally. The serial number tells them when it was made down to the week.

UN-fortunately, the *@#%@^*! thing died again overnight. I wasn't there to hear if it made any noises like the last time. I found the system shut down all on its own. It would not restart, and produced beeps which I originally heard as "Hardware Device Failure"-(1 long, 4 short beeps.)

I pulled it and switched the monitor to the GTX 460 (now in the primary slot.) Started up successfully, and just had to reinstall the driver (as usual for any change.) I did not have time to check further then.

This afternoon, I got home and switched out the GPUs. With the 570 in place I get 1 long, 3 short beeps, i.e.: VGA not detected.

Back on the fortunate side, I find that this specimen of the card (RMA replacement) has a slightly newer date than the one it replaced. I'm about half way through the 3 year warranty.

So the GTX 570 gets another California electronic spa vacation. I wish that Gigabyte would upgrade their repair parts so these failures didn't keep occurring. How much more would it cost them to put higher voltage, higher temp electrolytic caps in?

[Batalov]

I've recently summed up the third and forth RMA experiences. Argue for a swap not a fix. Get a prepaid label, too.

Note added in the afterthought. What puzzles me is that the replacement you will be getting will have inherited some seeds of your current "registration" number. (Take a picture or a flatbed scan of the back and possibly front of your card before sending it away.) My number was changed only in a few digits, but the rest stayed the same, even though the replacement card is finally clearly different. (The 570-SO has a row of ugly green always-on led dots, plus a metal O-"band" that transfers or averages heat from some chips on the back side of the PCB to the front. I don't think this band touches and exchanges heat with the main cooler. It is also the hottest part of the card - measured with the IR thermometer.)

[kladner]

Originally Posted by Batalov

I've recently summed up the third and forth RMA experiences. Argue for a swap not a fix. Get a prepaid label, too.

Note added in the afterthought. What puzzles me is that the replacement you will be getting will have inherited some seeds of your current "registration" number. (Take a picture or a flatbed scan of the back and possibly front of your card before sending it away.) My number was changed only in a few digits, but the rest stayed the same, even though the replacement card is finally clearly different. (The 570-SO has a row of ugly green always-on led dots, plus a metal O-"band" that transfers or averages heat from some chips on the back side of the PCB to the front. I don't think this band touches and exchanges heat with the main cooler. It is also the hottest part of the card - measured with the IR thermometer.)

Thanks for the tips. What I got back from my first RMA was a replacement. The first one was made in late 2011, the second in early 2012. I certainly want to hang on to the 500 series. The 660 mentioned in your linked post would be distinctly inferior to a 570. I hope I can pull off a similar negotiation. I also wish I'd remembered your previous post before I filled out the web form. I suppose that I can still call in response to their first communication on this go-round.

[kracker]

Soo, I'm getting absolutely nowhere for a rma, so I think I'll have to buy another probably... a Radeon HD 7790 or a GeForce 650 Ti. Does anyone have a 650 Ti, and if so a few benchmarks on it?

Thanks

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by kracker

Soo, I'm getting absolutely nowhere for a rma, so I think I'll have to buy another probably... a Radeon HD 7790 or a GeForce 650 Ti. Does anyone have a 650 Ti, and if so a few benchmarks on it?

I would also welcome input to this question.

I will be shortly (read: in the next quarter) be building a new workstation for myself.

My requirements are:

1. Linux CUDA solution space. (OpenCL is a great idea, but CUDA is where it's at for all the work I do.)

2. Being able to drive multiple monitors (starting with four -- wishing to be able to go up to eight (I realize the latter will require more than one GPU)).

3. GPGPU computational stability. I'm more than happy to trade GHz Days / day for stability under all the tests we have available (including CUDALucas and CUDAP-1). (Note: currently (and potentially forever) the Nvidia drivers don't allow down clocking on consumer class cards.)

4. Electrical efficient. Power costs are very high here in Bim.

Any insight anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[kracker]

Originally Posted by chalsall

I would also welcome input to this question.

I will be shortly (read: in the next quarter) be building a new workstation for myself.

My requirements are:

1. Linux CUDA solution space. (OpenCL is a great idea, but CUDA is where it's at for all the work I do.)

2. Being able to drive multiple monitors (starting with four -- wishing to be able to go up to eight (I realize the latter will require more than one GPU)).

3. GPGPU computational stability. I'm more than happy to trade GHz Days / day for stability under all the tests we have available (including CUDALucas and CUDAP-1). (Note: currently (and potentially forever) the Nvidia drivers don't allow down clocking on consumer class cards.)

4. Electrical efficient. Power costs are very high here in Bim.

Any insight anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

If you require CUDA, nvidia is the only way to go.

I think "basically" on a single card, nVidia Surround does 4 monitors max(from 5xx ?), AMD Eyeinfinity does 6. Again, only if your card is high enough to have those ports....

Anyways, I am still wondering if anyone has a 650 Ti or even a 660.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by kladner

So the GTX 570 gets another California electronic spa vacation. I wish that Gigabyte would upgrade their repair parts so these failures didn't keep occurring. How much more would it cost them to put higher voltage, higher temp electrolytic caps in?

RMA approval received.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by kladner

RMA approval received.

Nice. Were any incantations or prestidigitation needed?

[kladner]

Originally Posted by only_human

Nice. Were any incantations or prestidigitation needed?

Not really, though I did not try to follow Batalov's advice concerning shipping charges. Consequently I had to propitiate the FedEx gods with a $15 sacrifice.

I just gave the same description of symptoms that appears above.

[kracker]

Originally Posted by kladner

Not really, though I did not try to follow Batalov's advice concerning shipping charges. Consequently I had to propitiate the FedEx gods with a $15 sacrifice.

I just gave the same description of symptoms that appears above.

Maybe I'll buy a Gigabyte card.