• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

GTX480 SOC off for RMA - what to replace it with ?

Buckster

Buckster

Buckster

Soldato
Joined
20 Aug 2006
Posts
9,779
any help appreciated please.

my 480 SOC (Gigabyte) is going off for repair this week- its never run at stock clocks properly (the Gigabyte high OC clocks that is)- but this week one of the fans has become very noisey -no idea why - sounds like it is almost catching on something. I de-dusted, checked for any of the blades catching on metal-work etc to no avail - so must be the bearings going on it. So off for RMA.

since this will prob take a few weeks - and I've already had enough of the HD4000 integrated lol - prob a good time to upgrade

considering the slight price difference between a oc'd version of a 670 and a 680 (50-60 quid) - is it worth getting the 680 ?For instance Gigabyte 670s (Windforce varients) go for around £300 - yet you can get a EVGA SC Signature 680 for £350 odd- but I'm guessing that even though only 50 more - prob not worth it ?

or should I just get a cheap 7950 (Gigabyte one for instance) and oc it to the max ?

only thing that puts me off the ATIs - is whether they are still as driver dependant as in the past ? My 4890 used to be fantastic in some games - and some non-optimised (including some older games) - it was not as good as my previous 8800GTX ! Including some flight sims like FSX.

I game at 1900 - although next monitor I'd like to be 2560x, and I like lots of AA applied (4 or 8x) - especially when playing flight sims.

btw - can I assume some of the older bugs with ATIs have been fixed ? for instance with my 4890 - I couldn't have a youtube video or itunes video playing in background (to listen to) whilst playing a game -as it would prevent the GPU going to full core clock speeds -it would be stuck in "media"/desktop clocks.

thanks :)

btw - I could wait for the 480 to come back - but I'm quite impatient. I suppose I could grab the 4890 out of the old PC.

thing is - with nothing really coming out GPU wise for PCs this year - I probably may as well upgrade sooner than later
 
thanks - the 7950 does sound tempting

but you are right perhaps I should wait - last time I think it did take a while I'm pretty sure it was at least 2 weeks if not longer

its with slight trepedation sending it back tbh - as Gigabyte support didn't fill me with confidence last time - I sent the 480 back as wouldn't work at stock clocks of 820 core - I get artifacts in all games, furmark etc - yet when Isent it back - they returned it as no fault found, stating they had run heaven, furmark etc all at 820 at stock core volts, with no issues! :( yet on my system best I can manage is 740 at stock core volts ! And when I say a few artefacts - I mean serious numbers - for instance run furmark and you immediately get flashes all over the screen, heaven you get missing textures, triangles all sorts etc.

I had thought it was either my mobo (old P5B Deluxe) or my old PSU - Tagan one, but since then I have upgraded to a 3770k + Gene V and a Corsair HX850 - and made not one jot of difference.

:( and they reckoned 5 hours of furmark without a glitch !

only difference was they were running on a bench - perhaps lower temps ?after 5 hours of Furmark they managed 70C !

I had option to send it back to them - but intheir report they sent me photos of the card on test (mine), and 12 screenshots of it under test etc -and I was told I would be charged if I sent it back and they re-found no fault.

very annoying- and had sort of put me off their brand. but I thought - I can't push too hard - as might be my psu

I now know the PSU and mobo were not at issue - it must be the card.
 
Last edited:
well 480SOC RMA application made today :)

re replacemet GPUs - I hear what people are saying re 7950s/7970s - but if I was to be firm in Nvidia camp - and want to stick to around £350

would you go Gigabyte 670 4gb - or something like an EVGA SC Sig 680 for same price ?

whilst I don't have a >24 inch monitor now - might I before I upgrade the GPU again ? possibly ? will games start using >2gb soon even at 1900 ? possible - so I'm half thinking as the 4gb Gigabyte should clock near to the 680 - its a better bet - even though really 350 for a 670 is a bit pricey
 
^^ prob - my 480 with the 2 fans fixed

and they'll ignore the artefacts (again !)

if it does come back with them stating it works at stock clocks with no issues I'll be at a complete puzzle/loss - as I can't imagine that there can be anything wrong at my end ?

serious artefacts in Heaven, games, and immediate strobing, flashing etc in Furmark - check

change PSU - check (HX850)

new build this year - with the HX850 and a new 3770k + Gene V - still artefacts - check

new OS - Windows 8 - check

so how can it possibly be me ? yet checks out AOK at Gigabytes end ? they reckon they tried Furmark (5 hours), Heaven, 5 games - with not one artefact

only difference they are using a Gigabyte mobo - I'm using an Asus one

only other difference they are testing on a bench - ie GPU is cool - and mine is in a case - so prob 20C warmer

only thing I can think is that

(1) Gigabyte boards apply slightly more power to PCI-E socket (doubtful)

(2) temp is the factor - ie the higher the temp - the more current the GPU IC draws (quite possible)

very frustrating

for reference - if I keep volts same (1.038V) in Afterburner, and reduce clock from 820 to 740 - card is perfect, not one artefact
 
thanks for asking

got my RMA code today (within 12 hours) - and sent today - via RM SD - so will be with them tomorrow

wrote a page of A4 describing the artefacts and how I had tested on multiple machines, different PSUs etc to no avail - so lets see what happens

if it comes back no fault found - I may be asking for some help on here to see if I can completely independently check it out :) (please)
 
yeah wishful thinking :)

I genuinely upgraded from a 570 to a 480 - for the extra memory, extra memory bandwidth etc - as a 480 SOC is no slouch at its OC'd speeds

I like games at 1900 with lots of AA (8x normally) - and the 480 feels more consistent to me than my previous 570

all be it hotter and more power hungry...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom