Need advice- buyer of my 2 GTX580s is blaming me for problems!

JonSmith said:
No way you'd power 2 GTX 580s on even the best 550W PSU, they can draw up to 25A @ 12V. He won't even power one with some crappy no name 550W PSU.

Here's my advice. The Nvidia product page for the GTX 580 lists the minimum system power requirement as 600W:

http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-580/specifications

He has admitted to running the devices out of specification by attempting to plug not just one, but two into his 550W PSU. I would use this point.
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This is a good leg to stand on,

When you put up your 580's for sale, did you have the required specs listed down below stating the required minimum power requirement? that would be a bonus.

But even so, on Nvidia's page it clearly states a minimum oh 600W is needed for a SINGLE card.

It might be worth looking into the above and seeing if by any chance at all having a lower wattage could cause damage to the cards?

Hope you get a swift resolution with this mate. Good luck!
 
Update: Thanks so much for your continued interest and support guys,

I'm drafting an email containing some questions about the various things you've mentioned, including:
(if possible) a definite name/brand of the 600W PSU, and his friend's
whether he used two PCI-E connectors, 6 pin and 6+2, x2, properly
if he's tested his old graphics card in the various systems he's using (i wouldnt be surprised if he has a motherboard fault, or faulty RAM or some crap)
photos of the older gear if possible
photos of the new gear if possible
the official report or at least the diagnosed error that the professional independent technician gave
further full spec and age of parts
what earthing methods did he take when installing my GPUs
etc

Thanks again guys. I'll write that into a brief and friendly email and keep you updated.
 
I personally would be tempted to get him to send you them back and test them yourself, eBay will go on his side anyway so if you can get the cards back they will most likely be fine and you can sell them on again. Without being able to say for certain I'm reasonably confident that the cards are fine but the psu he has simply can't power them. I had a 580 in my rig with a 1200w Ocz psu, was fine for a while but had no end of troubles with the system not working, assumed it was the graphics card so upgraded to a pair of 7950's which developed the same problem.

Turned out the psu was to blame by being crap and my 7950's are still going strong in my rig and the 580 is still happily working in a mates.

If he's not particularly technical and can't get hold of a decent psu I'd offer to take them back and test them with a decent power supply and go from there.
 
Hi again guys. Taking all of what you said into account, I just dropped the buyer this email just now. Please tell me what you think, I think I covered everything.

I'm sure it's a little annoying and/or suspicious, but hopefully he'll answer me in sequence and either admit to starting up the cards on a sub-par PSU, or just identify an issue that he has, like his motherboard ain't even plugged in, like.

I'm also on to Paypal to remove my account whilst things are still hunky dory. Can't afford to mess around.

I flippin' well hope he's just been an idiot and they actually do work for him eventually, because I just want my nice things to be fine and not to reflect badly on me because of someone else's error. Nor do I want someone to swindle me for a load of money. Sigh.

MESSAGE:
'Hi there (buyer). I hope you're well.
Firstly please accept my apology for taking so long to reply; I've had unexpected work coupled with a family emergency that's taken up my entire weekend. Now let's see if we can resolve this issue.

Please excuse the long list, but I've put together some questions that might help us.

-To backtrack a little, could you please tell me the make/model of the first two power supplies you said you put both of the cards into, yours and your friend's.
-What is the output capacity of those PSUs- can you verify the 12V rail voltage across the PCIE cables for them please?
-What power connectors did you use to connect to the GPUs- PCI or molex?
-What earthing methods did you take when installing the cards, and the power supplies?
-You mentioned you had the problem assessed by an independent PC engineer. Could I see the report that they issued? What is the qualified engineer's assessment regarding what may have caused the damage?
-Did you use the correct power connectors for the motherboard, including 24pin ATX, and 4 or 8 pin power, whichever is required.
-What GPU power connectors are you using with the new PSU?
-Did you perform a clean uninstall of your old graphics drivers, using a tool like Display Driver Uninstall? This helps to remove remnants of driver files and registry entries etc, that could interfere with new cards. I've had issues before on a previous PC, and had to use an uninstaller tool.
-Did you put your previous graphics card back into the system? And have you tried with any alternative graphics cards that also work.
-Finally could you send me photos of the components you're using- the new power supply etc, or better yet a quick video to show the graphics cards installed with the new PSU, and the system not working.

As I've said, please excuse the long list... but I hope to help to get to the root of the issue for you.
Many thanks. (me)'
 
Your email looks perfectly acceptable to me and you have every right to be suspicious. I think the other party has cocked up on installation and is in some sort of denial phase over the whole matter.

All the best in your pursuit of your cash or getting your working cards back.
 
Okay here we go.
I've received a formal ebay return request, so he hasn't attempted to answer any of my questions, he has instead just read through the email and thought I can't be arsed with this. The attached message/reason to ebay is as follows:

'Item was purchased as working, on first receipt item were placed into a working PC and did not work. I informed seller that they didn t work but I would purchase and try a more powerful PSU, this I did and the item still didn t work, I ask (again at my expense) for an independent PC engineer to check the item and he also reported that he could not get them to work. I informed the seller of this and asked for a refund, after a few days he sent me an email asking me questions about the item. I replied and informed him that everything that you would do to test these graphics cards in a normal situation was done, i.e. trying them in known good machines and even getting an independent engineer to check them. The reply I received to this email was, instead of the offer of a refund, as expected, a list of questions more suited to an electronic repair workshop. It boils down to, I purchased a pair of working PC graphics cards, and in receipt received a pair of cards that did not work, I believe I have been more than fair in spending time and extra money to rectify the situation, and, am not able to invest more time or money, I purchases a product not a project. Therefore, at this time I request a full refund. Malcolm'

...any thoughts? I'm still trying to disconnect my bank etc from my Paypal before they chase me for it, because it's going to come to that.

EDIT: This made me laugh.
'The reply I received to this email was, instead of the offer of a refund, as expected, a list of questions more suited to an electronic repair workshop.'
Well, he did state that him and his mate have 20+ years PC building experience.
 
Oh great. I've just checked my Paypal and they've already placed a temporary hold on £160 worth. I was trying to disconnect my details before this happened... I was about to call them to get to do it because it said 'pending transaction' for the past few days. ****.

Any help?
Pretty sure I'm buggered now. Can't remove any details whilst there is a pending transaction and it's been like that for days. Was waiting for it to clear whilst honestly replying to the seller.

EDIT: Ebay says 'if there's a problem, you an ask us to step in after 21st May'. Might try that.
 
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Just make sure you get the cards back. Decoupling your Paypal account just makes things look even more suspect from your end unfortunately.
 
claypigeon101 said:
Oh great. I've just checked my Paypal and they've already placed a temporary hold on £160 worth. I was trying to disconnect my details before this happened... I was about to call them to get to do it because it said 'pending transaction' for the past few days. ****.

Any help?
Pretty sure I'm buggered now. Can't remove any details whilst there is a pending transaction and it's been like that for days. Was waiting for it to clear whilst honestly replying to the seller.

EDIT: Ebay says 'if there's a problem, you an ask us to step in after 21st May'. Might try that.
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As soon as eBay receive proof of postage ie a tracking number from the buyer then they will almost straight away release the refund to them.

They will take the money either from your PayPal account if the money is still in there or from your bank account that is linked to your PayPal account.

In other words you loose this time.
 
mattcrane said:
They will take the money either from your PayPal account if the money is still in there or from your bank account that is linked to your PayPal account.

In other words you loose this time.
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Yup.

On spoffle's recommendation I was trying to shut my Paypal before it came to this, but it looks like I'm too late. I've tried every day for the past week.
 
Just wondering (i have not read this whole thread) but do you know the serial numbers on the cards you sent? Friend of mine sold a couple of xeon cpu's on the bay, guy got them next day the buyer messaged saying they were faulty, didn't post at all. My mate agreed to take them back. Once he got them back he noticed the casing seem'd way more damaged. He checked a photo he had of the cpu's he sent to find the part number on the cpu was different! Was all a scam. Just lucky my mate took photo's of the serial and part numbers etc etc

Doesn't help you too much I know. But might be worth checking if you can.

I do not like the bay. . . :mad:
 
It's an unfortunate situation. I suppose the best you can do is hope the cards are still working when you get them back so you could try to sell them again.

I'll definitely be taking down serial numbers and taking pictures proving things working before I sell in future.

Only the buyer will know for sure what really happened with the cards.
 
kaku said:
I'll definitely be taking down serial numbers and taking pictures proving things working before I sell in future.

Only the buyer will know for sure what really happened with the cards.
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Yes guys, for those of you that haven't experienced this yet, make sure you learn from my method and mistakes. Take photos, videos of working equipment, and make note of serial numbers. And security mark your stuff!
And big thanks to these guys that have helped me so far.

I think I'll try and contact ebay and find out the consequences of refusing this return until ebay 'step in', and maybe try and fight them. Either way I want my cards back... but I don't want me contesting them officially to stop me from getting my cards back damnit.

I'm particularly looking forward to spoffle's response on this..
 
savagesam117 said:
The fact he didn't answer any of the questions kinda says he's in denial.
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I wouldn't say that for sure. I mean, imagine if it was the buyer posting here, instead of the seller - people might say he was just wasting time by asking questions or trying to apportion blame onto the buyer instead.

Like I said, only the buyer truly knows for sure what happened. I'd like to hope he's being honest and it's just an unfortunate series of events. If he is trying to make the OP pay for his own mistakes I'd like to think it would come back to bite him eventually, but the sad truth of the matter is that some people just go through life being like that.
 
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