Brand new 7970, already opened and accessories missing???.

J.D · 20 Sep 2012 at 08:38

Good morning. Although it doesn't feel too good for me opening up my so called brand new 7970, with nearly half of the accessories missing.

I excitedly opened up the parcel this morning due to the card not being dropped off till around 6pm last night and I had things to do. When I opened up the Sapphire box I noticed the sticker to seal it shut, wasn't down. Then the Sleeping Dogs game voucher popped out and I was relieved when I came to the conclusion that someone from OCUK had opened the box to place the voucher in so panic was over. The card looks good so I ran over to the PC and ripped out my 6950 to test Battlefield 3 due to changing to the 7970 from a GTX 670. I was eager to see the difference. As soon as I fired up Heaven first to make sure I was in line with what I should be scoring, coil whine. On top of that, dependant on how tight the screws are to hold the graphics card in can cause a horrible pulsing vibrating noise between 55-75%. This disappears with a little mess around though. The coil whine however is really disappointing. What really has made me livid is that the adapters are missing. That means not only has someone else been in my box rather than a trusted OCUK employee, but this card has been returned to OCUK, NOT been checked and then sent out to me :mad:

.

I paid money for a BRAND new card. Not someone else's reject. I hope OCUK can identify who this 7970 came from and retrieve what is theirs.

I want the exact same card, nothing has changed but I want what I paid for..... a brand new card and not someone's reject with missing parts. It truly has ruined my morning that I received a brand new B-Grade 7970.

Inside the box you'll find the retail bundle that Sapphire includes with the purchase of this card. You'll find a a flier for other Sapphire products, a quick install guide, the driver disc, a CrossFireX bridge interconnect, a DVI-to-VGA adapter, a 4-pin molex to 6-pin PCIe power adapter, a dual 4-pin molex to 8-pin PCIe power adapter, a mini-DisplayPort to DVI adapter, a mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapter, a HDMI cable and a case badge.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1962/2/

7970

Reviewed by: Acid (scotland)

Couldnt be more happy with this card runs very cool and quiet, murders anything i can trow at it bf3 on ultra @ 1080p 45-80 fps and it overclocks like crazy, low power and comes with a lot of extra cables for eyefinity hdmi to dvi, MiniDP to dvi, miniDP to DP so no need to buy a active DP cable also a 1.8m hdmi cable
Buy one!

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-297-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

http://i45.tinypic.com/2m3g07t.jpg

The link above (below the picture) is for the image in full size as I had to resize due to limitations set within OCUK forums.

So have I got a right to a replacement?. I bought the card on This Week Only and this has also gone back up to the original price. I really want the card, I just want a brand new one with what is meant to come with the card as stated.

The only card I've ever sent back to OCUK under DSR was the GTX 670. In all the years shopping only at OCUK, I've never had a card sent to me like this and only an exceptional service here so I'm very surprised. I have a good history of returns being minuscule, one item returned unopened which was a 5850 that I sent back to spend more money at OCUK with the HIS 6950 I bought in it's place.

I'm about to buy a IB system in the next 3 weeks, with possibly another 7970. I only shop here due to having interaction with some staff via this forum plus OCUK does provide a great service. I just feel a little apprehensive to pay my money for brand new things for this to happen. I really hope something will be done about this as something has went horribly wrong here and I feel like I've just bought a B grade 7970 for £335.99

. I'm thinking of buying the Samsung monitor for 3D gaming so I need these adapters although I've not got a clue which ones I'll need with my new system.

Schizo · 20 Sep 2012 at 08:42

post in the customer section as 5ub will reply pretty quickly in there.

LtMatt · 20 Sep 2012 at 08:43

Sorry to hear that JD, would be gutted if i got sent a reject.

I'm sure they'll get it sorted for you mate, but that is unacceptable. I imagine all of the retailers do this though, most people probably don't even notice.

J.D · 20 Sep 2012 at 08:44

schizo said:
post in the customer section as 5ub will reply pretty quickly in there.

Thank you. I take it that section is on the main forum page?.

LtMatt said:
Sorry to hear that JD, would be gutted if i got sent a reject.

I'm sure they'll get it sorted for you mate, but that is unacceptable. I imagine all of the retailers do this though, most people probably don't even notice.

Thank you mate. I waited about 2 weeks after sending the GTX 670 back as I was torn between the 7950 too. So all that time without BF3 and then this happens

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Yeah OCUK have been amazing with me all throughout my time shopping with them so I hope so. It shouldn't happen with the retailers but I agree that it will continue to happen as long as the customer is happy they can take that risk I suppose

.

Rusty0611 · 20 Sep 2012 at 08:46

As above post in CS.

LtMatt · 20 Sep 2012 at 08:50

J.D said:
Thank you mate. I waited about 2 weeks after sending the GTX 670 back as I was torn between the 7950 too. So all that time without BF3 and then this happens .

Yeah OCUK have been amazing with me all throughout my time shopping with them so I hope so. It shouldn't happen with the retailers but I agree that it will continue to happen as long as the customer is happy they can take that risk I suppose .

You had a 670? How come you switched? You play bf3? Excellent, you might be able to help post findings on the minimum fps you can expect on full ultra with 4xaa on a 670.

Hope it all gets sorted, keep us updated.

J.D · 20 Sep 2012 at 09:02

Rusty0611 said:
As above post in CS.

Thank you Rusty, post made.

LtMatt said:
You had a 670? How come you switched? You play bf3? Excellent, you might be able to help post findings on the minimum fps you can expect on full ultra with 4xaa on a 670.

Hope it all gets sorted, keep us updated.

The only Nvidia cards I've had are as follows, MX 420, 7600 GT, 8800GTX and the 670. Rest has been ATI/AMD. The 670 was really powerful in BF3 don't get me wrong, I just didn't know about the wonder drivers and with the price drops, it made me regret getting the 670 and that is not how a purchase should ever make you feel

. I've still to play Metro2033 and Crysis 2 which favour the AMD cards so I sent it back. It was the quietest card I've ever used though

.

In BF3 on the GTX 670 as I said the card performed really well. I was very happy with it but with 4xAA however, you could feel the strain with the GTX 670 sometimes on a 64 player Caspian Border conquest. With FXAA though, it was perfect. This was at 1920x1200 though which is the resolution I game at. When I find out what's happening I'll let you know as well give you my take on BF3 between the two cards after things hopefully get sorted out. I only gamed about 1-2 hours on the GTX 670 so I do not have a wealth of experience to give anything other than a rough estimate.

Rusty0611 · 20 Sep 2012 at 09:04

I think it's disgraceful if someone has returned it and they've put it out as new.

Hopefully they'll be able to clarify what's actually happened.

LtMatt · 20 Sep 2012 at 09:09

J.D said:
In BF3 on the GTX 670 as I said the card performed really well. I was very happy with it but with 4xAA however, you could feel the strain with the GTX 670 sometimes on a 64 player Caspian Border conquest. With FXAA though, it was perfect. This was at 1920x1200 though which is the resolution I game at. When I find out what's happening I'll let you know as well give you my take on BF3 between the two cards after things hopefully get sorted out. I only gamed about 1-2 hours on the GTX 670 so I do not have a wealth of experience to give anything other than a rough estimate.

Welcome back to the dark side my friend, glad to have you aboard.

Jimlad (ocuk member) said the same thing when i asked him to try ultra with 4xaa on his 670, it just wasn't smooth. Same with the 7950 id imagine, 2xaa is probably better for those cards.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with bf3 and a 7970, keep us updated!

fiveub · 20 Sep 2012 at 09:17

Seen the post in the customer service forum. Someone will be on it shortly.

J.D · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:03

Sorry it's taken me a little while to reply and for the negative feel I may have left on the forums regarding OCUK. 5UB has been brilliant helping me out behind the scenes.

I may have jumped the gun with my assumption that it was a rejected/used card. 5UB confirmed that this is now what Sapphire are providing with the card from checking through some stock. It seems as if Sapphire have changed a few things but failed to tell the consumer :mad:

. I may be wrong on why Sapphire have done this but hear me out please.

I had a little look at the Sapphire cards on the OCUK site as well as review sites to compare.

Well after I took a picture of the card, I noticed there were 2 DVI outputs when only one is in the features. There were also 2 less mini-display ports.

As displayed on your website.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/popup_image.php?prodid=gx-297-sp&imgid=3

clearly not the card presented in the details. however!, if you look at the vapor-x model (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=gx-303-sp&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938). you'll see it has the exact same outputs. it gets even more peculiar, the vapor-x, on top of having the exact same outputs as the card i received, also has a blue pcb. all the review sites have the card i bought with a black pcb, one dvi port, 2 mini display ports and a hdmi port. it now gets strange when you look at the contents of the vapor-x. it has the exact same contents that i received compared to what i should have with the sapphire cards advertised. i'm not blaming ocuk, i blame sapphire.

as to why?. well that puzzling me. why would they put the 7970 oc fan on the vapor-x?. with different display options, it's clearly the vapor-x card i've received, just with a different cooler. well i have a theory, i checked the asic quality in gpuz which reported 60.8%, so i think these are poorly performing vapor-x that haven't made the cut and re-badged, cooler changed and put out as the sapphire oc

. poor show by sapphire if true.

here is the vapor-x and it's contents on two review sites. techpower and tweaktown. blue pcb, same outputs and same contents.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/sapphire/hd_7950_vapor-x/
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/sapphire/hd_7950_vapor-x/2.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/48..._3gb_overclocked_video_card_review/index.html

As you'll see below, what the Sapphire OC I bought is meant to be.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1962/1/
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1962/2/

Here is the picture of the card next to my 6950. Links are full size images.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2i70a6r.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/f0407r.jpg

You can also compare the cards I'm talking about on OCUK.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-297-SP
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-303-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

So, do you think I need professional help or that I've got a point here?. It's clearly a Vapor-X card as you can tell by the PCB colour as well as the display outputs. Also 60.8% ASIC when I'm already thinking that these are poorly binned Vapor-X cards. Even 1.25v at stock :eek:

. Also having the exact same contents as the Vapor-X. It would have been nice for Sapphire to have been honest rather than hope nobody bothers about it. I really hope these are not poorly binned cards thrown into a Sapphire OC box with the fan/heatsink for £359.99.

5UB as I said, has been superb. I've been sent an email to return the card and hopefully soon I'll have my gaming rig back. Back to the 6950 till the refund gets sorted out and I think after all the waiting I'm just going to get the 7970 Lightning, or maybe go with the card Lt.Matt advised me from the start, the standard MSI reference cooler with an OC. I want a 7970 but just do not want anything like this to happen again and I'll be very wary buying anything Sapphire for a while. Thank you OCUK and I apologise for the judgement of error on your behalf.

whyscotty · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:08

Glad its been sorted

LtMatt · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:11

Thanks for updating us and filling in the blanks.

Good to see that it had nothing to do with ocuk after all.

As long as you don't mind the reference fan JD i can recommend the MSI 7970 OC cards. Thetinsnail (ocuk member) also brought a couple and he has been pleased with his, though he won't be heavily overclocking as hes using xfire so fan noise isn't an issue for him as it stays below 50%.

Did you actually test to see how well it clocked?

J.D · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:29

whyscotty said:
Glad its been sorted

Thank you Scotty. Another few days of stress like this I'd end up like Gandalf, hair white as snow

.

LtMatt said:
Thanks for updating us and filling in the blanks.

Good to see that it had nothing to do with ocuk after all.

As long as you don't mind the reference fan JD i can recommend the MSI 7970 OC cards. Thetinsnail (ocuk member) also brought a couple and he has been pleased with his, though he won't be heavily overclocking as hes using xfire so fan noise isn't an issue for him as it stays below 50%.

Did you actually test to see how well it clocked?

Thank you for the support

.

Yes I made a mess of it by blaming OCUK. With the lack of contents, the different PCB, the different display ports and the sticker being loose that seals the box I presumed OCUK were at fault, and we all know what presumption can do

. OCUK are at no fault, it's been Sapphire. 5UB also sorted me right out so I feel a bit bad for getting a bit emotional in the first place. I was just so gutted after looking forward to trying out the card.

As for the noise of the reference fan. How does it compare to the reference fan of the 6950?. If it's not too bad I could go for it. Failing that, I'll get the lightning. I know more money but after the headache today, I just want a decent card and that is why I went for the Sapphire OC, if it was the black PCB I reckon it would have been a much better card.

One BIOS was 950/1450 the other 1000/1500. Both stock voltages were 1.256v :eek:

. Top clock was 1175Mhz which I tested after finding out the ASIC was 60.8% whilst investigating earlier. No matter the play on the voltage, it wouldn't pass or play a game at 1200Mhz. The coil whine was pretty noticeable too. I reckon even more now that these are poorly binned Vapor-X cards. Why Sapphire have done this, I'm lost?. The contents of the box and the display outputs have changed yet Sapphire have not mentioned this to OCUK.

I hope anyone else that has got a Sapphire OC in the last 2 weeks could maybe enlighten us on what card they received.

Rusty0611 · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:32

Don't worry about it mate. It was a natural assumption to make. The only thing you probably should have done differently upon reflection would be to post in the CS section first although by the looks of it you didn't know you could/didn't know it existed on the forum.

But you've came back and updated accordingly so no harm done

.

Glad to hear it's all sorted.

LtMatt · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:33

J.D said:
Thank you Scotty. Another few days of stress like this I'd end up like Gandalf, hair white as snow .

Thank you for the support .

Yes I made a mess of it by blaming OCUK. With the lack of contents, the different PCB, the different display ports and the sticker being loose that seals the box I presumed OCUK were at fault, and we all know what presumption can do . OCUK are at no fault, it's been Sapphire. 5UB also sorted me right out so I feel a bit bad for getting a bit emotional in the first place. I was just so gutted after looking forward to trying out the card.

As for the noise of the reference fan. How does it compare to the reference fan of the 6950?. If it's not too bad I could go for it. Failing that, I'll get the lightning. I know more money but after the headache today, I just want a decent card and that is why I went for the Sapphire OC, if it was the black PCB I reckon it would have been a much better card.

One BIOS was 950/1450 the other 1000/1500. Both stock voltages were 1.256v . Top clock was, 1175Mhz. No matter the play on the voltage, it wouldn't pass or play a game at 1200Mhz. The coil whine was pretty noticeable too. I reckon even more now that these are poorly binned Vapor-X cards. Why Sapphire have done this, I'm lost?. The contents of the box and the display outputs have changed yet Sapphire have not mentioned this to OCUK.

I hope anyone else that has got a Sapphire OC in the last 2 weeks could maybe enlighten us on what card they received.

Don't feel bad, kicking up a fuss gets results. I think its understandable to think its been opened. I would have re-acted the same way im sure.

Anyway its great its all been sorted.

According to the reviews ive read the 7970 blower is slightly quieter than the 6950 blower, i doubt theres a lot in it tbh. What's important for me is pure performance.

1.25 stock volts? Wtf thats mental. Good thing you sent it back, that is just wrong.

Rroff · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:40

J.D said:
It seems as if Sapphire have changed a few things but failed to tell the consumer . I may be wrong on why Sapphire have done this but hear me out please.

This is something that really annoys me - quite often cards are sent to review "retail" packed with every additional cable and goodie known to man but the retail cards you can actually buy won't have half of that.

I bought a monitor recently in which every review stated it came with 2 additional cables (for the market/version I was buying) - when mine turned up they weren't there and were listed as "optional" in the manual.

J.D · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:59

Rusty0611 said:
Don't worry about it mate. It was a natural assumption to make. The only thing you probably should have done differently upon reflection would be to post in the CS section first although by the looks of it you didn't know you could/didn't know it existed on the forum.

But you've came back and updated accordingly so no harm done .

Glad to hear it's all sorted.

Thank you for making me feel better mate. Yeah in future I'll go straight to the CS section as I have never needed to use it so didn't know it was there. Hopefully the only time I'll need to know where it is, is to advise others where to go

.

Yeah no harm done until I realise that I'm the only person not receiving Haribo with my orders. Joking of course

.

LtMatt said:
Don't feel bad, kicking up a fuss gets results. I think its understandable to think its been opened. I would have re-acted the same way im sure.

Anyway its great its all been sorted.

According to the reviews ive read the 7970 blower is slightly quieter than the 6950 blower, i doubt theres a lot in it tbh. What's important for me is pure performance.

1.25 stock volts? Wtf thats mental. Good thing you sent it back, that is just wrong.

Thank you Lt.Matt, you're all being very supportive and I appreciate that lads

. I was absolutely gutted when I started to find out the super duper card I'd read reviews on, had my heart set on wasn't even the card I've been looking at.

I might get the 7970 MSI OC as I can tolerate the fan noise with my headphones on. If not it will be the lightning for sure so MSI have my money regardless. I'll wait till I get the refund and see what is on offer but it'll be one of the two cards unless something else is just too good to let go (apart from Sapphire lol). Yeah at 1.256v it was ridiculous and that was like the 5th thing wrong with it

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Rroff said:
This is something that really annoys me - quite often cards are sent to review "retail" packed with every additional cable and goodie known to man but the retail cards you can actually buy won't have half of that.

I bought a monitor recently in which every review stated it came with 2 additional cables (for the market/version I was buying) - when mine turned up they weren't there and were listed as "optional" in the manual.

Yeah, you get a fright when you open the box as did I this morning. What is bothering me is that the card I got was essentially the Vapor-X model (Blue PCB and same display ports as the Vapor-X, card I thought I paid for has different outputs), with high voltage, very low ASIC with the 7970 OC heatsink fan.

stephenmarr · 20 Sep 2012 at 18:00

I had 2 of them Sapphire dual x 7970's and both had terrible coil whine.
Rma both of them and now have an MSI 7970 Lighting and couldnt be happier.

humbug · 20 Sep 2012 at 18:03

It has to be said this place has great service, Others would have told you to do one.... (politely)

Glad to see you sorted.