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B-Grade checks

beany_bot said:
Weird.

Just checked their site. They say B-Grade is "B Grade items may have been used, have damaged packaging, missing accessories or a combination of these.

Some items may have scuff marks or slight scratches but should otherwise be an operable product."

So...by rights... Can be essentially a used, second hand item.
M
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Yes I took that into account, but I had expected a lightly used/ repaired or stuff missing in box/box damage...(B Grade)

What I got was a straight out used product with some minor damage and potential issues NOT a "B grade" unit in any sense, it looks to have done at minimum 6 months work judging by dust accumulation and general condition.
box is very tatty and apart from driver disc and very tatty quick user guide there was little else in box.

I also noted on pcb its a rev 1.0.....,Im back at work now so will check when I get home tonight to see if the serial matches the box.
 
I should have added that I did phone OCUK to be fair and all they said is return it if your not happy.
The chap I spoke to was adamant that they bench/benchtest all B grade items.

Im in a quandary really, do I bother wasting my time running to it see what occurs or just send it back?
I have the 14 day thing then the 90 day B grade warranty.

What would you do in this situation?
 
I have just ordered a B-Grade item ..and I will post here as to how it is when I get it ....would just say though...never had any issues with b grade befor :)
 
Ordered 3 B grade graphics cards from OCUK over the last few years. All of them worked perfectly! Currently using a b grade 1060 at 2.2ghz.
 
stickyjamfinger said:
I have the 14 day thing then the 90 day B grade warranty.
?
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just in case you don't know, you also get what's left of the manufacturer's warranty on top of those 90 days.

As for what to do... if you are unhappy with the product in any way, return it. You're spending £100s on something... it better be exactly what you want.
 
Bantu said:
just in case you don't know, you also get what's left of the manufacturer's warranty on top of those 90 days.

As for what to do... if you are unhappy with the product in any way, return it. You're spending £100s on something... it better be exactly what you want.
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So I got an B Grade Asus mobo and well all know they tell you to go to retailer for RMA, are OCUK obliged to deal with it.
 
The B Grade product page warning seems to make it pretty clear that OcUK will have nothing to do with it after 90 days are up. Equally, I'm pretty sure you're not entitled to the manufacturer's warranty unless they allow it to be transferred to a second owner (like EVGA), since it's technically a used item. You might have some luck anyway dealing directly with them, but I very much doubt OcUK will do anything (which rules out any sort of warranty with many companies, like Asus, who refuse to deal with end users directly). The massive red warning wouldn't be there otherwise.
 
I've had information directly from OcUK that you get the manufacturers warranty on the product i bought (and it was LG who i believe don't allow warranty transfer).

Best thing to do if you see something you like on the B-grade is talk to OcUK, either in person,phone or on the pre-sale queries forum. They can answer questions on warranty.. and then you have it in writing.
 
Aretak said:
The B Grade product page warning seems to make it pretty clear that OcUK will have nothing to do with it after 90 days are up. Equally, I'm pretty sure you're not entitled to the manufacturer's warranty unless they allow it to be transferred to a second owner (like EVGA), since it's technically a used item. You might have some luck anyway dealing directly with them, but I very much doubt OcUK will do anything (which rules out any sort of warranty with many companies, like Asus, who refuse to deal with end users directly). The massive red warning wouldn't be there otherwise.
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Statutory rights still apply to items sold as B-Grade. That would previously be SOGA and now whatever replaced it (but is largely, mostly the same).

I've previously used SOGA to have a refurbished laptop replaced FOC by the seller, outside of their "refurbished warranty" period.

All depends how many emails you're willing to send ;)
 
I bought a windforce 780ti from B-grade earlier this year, had clearly been used heavily in the past judging by the vast amounts of dust on it, gave it a dust off and it's as all good.
Then I found out that one of the fans had a bad bearing and was being noisy. Luckily my previous card was a windforce 760 so I just swapped the fans over and gave them both a thorough clean.
Checked performance and it was all good! Never had a problem with that card except the heat in my core 500 (itx).
Sold the card in advance of the 480 launch (couple weeks prior). About 2 months later my buyer contacted me telling me it had stopped working. Upon further questioning he said "thanks, nvm" and hasn't said anything since.
Oh yeah, I got it for £160

After my success with the 780ti I saw a basic cheap 144Hz monitor and jumped on it. Came with everything I needed and most of the original packaging and was in perfect condition.

For what you pay you seem to either get a bad deal or a very nice surprise. The prices on B-grade are really all over the shot.
 
Ok so I've calmed down a bit since my initial disappointment had dinner and a beer...:)

I've plugged the Fury X in and booted it up, nothing, and again...nothing, tried three times and all three display ports.
It eventually came to life when I tapped delete to get into bios, perhaps I should have reset it first, I had a stable OC on the CPU so was reluctant to disturb it.
Anyway I've now booted into windows and have installed the Amd drivers.

What's your opinions on how to test the card over next few days to see if there is an issue?
What stress test/programs do you recommend?

I admittedly got the card very cheap but having thought about it I'd like to keep it if it's ok, it will get a water block on it anyway so am not worried about the stock cooling arrangement.

Thanks.
 
Just run the usual stuff - loops of Valley/Heaven/FireStrike/Time Spy and some intensive games. 3DMark has a stability test built-in now, so that's a decent option. At least one of them will trigger any issues if there's an issue to trigger.
 
Ok thanks, never really buggered about with benchmarking stuff, have run a couple of shortish tests all good so far, will report back for the benefit of others in a day or two.
Despite my early reservations regarding the poor cosmetic condition of the Fury X I think I rather did get a bargain after all as my fps in the games I play has gone up around 40% compared to the OC'd R9 290.
I think maybe they should clarify in the B grade description the reason/condition more clearly, as I'm now super wary about B grade stuff!
 
I saw that Fury X, my mate was contemplating getting it but you got in first, good luck with the card, give it a thorough bench. :)
 
FoxEye said:
Not whenever I look. Normally it's £5 off a £200 product with a 30 day warranty. Just makes me wonder what the guy who prices B-grade items is smoking :p
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Issues are normally they don't update the B grade prices and revise them very often so they can end up being more money than new especially if they have been in stock for ages.

Take the recent price drop of 980ti to £350. There were some B grade 980ti at £400 in that section based on their original selling price of £600 which was a good price for a B grade item but not once the retail had dropped to £350.

Normally a quick webnote or phonecall will get the item back to its original discount percentage.

Same happened with my last purchase, a Benq 4k screen. I think it was listed at originally £750 reduced to £530 in B grade but the prices of new had dropped over time and was on TWO with £100 off at £595 so I sent a quick webnote asking it somebody could look at the price of the 3 screens they had in B grade and they dropped them to £380 from memory. A steal at half its original price.
 
varkanoid said:
Considering the monitor lottery over brand new ones I wouldnt touch b grade monitors. Personal opinion.
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I totally agree. We know about the panel lottery, and even if it's been returned pristine with all accessories, there's a good chance that the previous buyer was annoyed by the BLB, or it had dead pixels, or some such thing that the manufacturer considers "acceptable" and "normal" :/
 
Not sure I'd do another B grade item tbh... I bought one for a PC I built for my Dad. DOA sadly and my dad passed away so returned for a refund which OCUK thankfully gave me (Think they could've instead given me a equal replacement?) but despite the card being faulty I had to spend £10 returning it by recorded mail iirc
 
GhostWKD said:
Not sure I'd do another B grade item tbh... I bought one for a PC I built for my Dad. DOA sadly and my dad passed away so returned for a refund which OCUK thankfully gave me (Think they could've instead given me a equal replacement?) but despite the card being faulty I had to spend £10 returning it by recorded mail iirc
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Are you not entitled to a postage refund as item is faulty?
 
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