Is this normal? See Pic

[Space Monkey]

Hi guys,

Just took delivery of my new BFG 8800GTS and it looks damaged too me? I havent had a decent graphics card for years so just wanna be sure before I RMA it!

Why o why cant things just arrive as they should? With this I have now also had 5 factory damaged motherboards and now 1 GFX card,

What you reckon?

Thanks

 

[steve258]

You can RMA it but TBH if the card works I'd just use a plier to bend it straight. It's not worth the time and money to send it back just for this. As long as it doesn't corrupt the PCB it should work fine.

It happened to the first decent card I've bought as well; it was a X1800XT but instead at the bottom like yours mine's bent at the top.

 

[gjrc]

just bend it back?

 

[Space Monkey]

My worry is that IF I chose to try and bend it back and it say snapped or the like then I would have zero warrenty or recourse and what if it does bend back ok but looks damaged would that invalidate any future warrenty claims?

Not sure?

Thanks

 

[steve258]

It shouldn't snap but like you say it will leave a mark if you apply too much force. Try using a small plier with no teeth.

I'd test to see if it works first but the problem is with that bent you won't be able to fit it in the case.

 

[Space Monkey]

Im not worried about the return costs for postage as the company is responsible for that payment as I found out when I spoke to the Trading Standards office when I had the other mobo probs. (Must stress not by OCUK)

My gut says just RMA it as its obviously damaged and when you pay £200 for a single item then it should be all ok!

Thanks for the confirmation that its not my eyes failing me

I'll see how I get on with the RMA.

Peace

 

[Jed Shields]

If it's taken a knock that's caused that you really don't know what else has been damaged. You might easily fix the plate but if there's something else wrong then you've probably hampered your warranty claims if they can see you've messed about with it. I'd send it back ...

 

[z0mbi3]

It's just bent!

Straighten it and try it out. If it's not wokring properly then return it. You can't void your warranty by testing it.

 

[Kanifee]

Put a cloth around the metal and then bend it, this should protect the metal from marking. that shouldnt snap just take your time the metal these are made out of is pretty flexibal when its bent so you shouldnt have any trouble.
like i say cover the metal with thick enough cloth and regardless of pressure applied(though you wont need much to correct the bend) if wont mark, then if something else turns out to be wrong with it RMA it anyway like you were going to.

 

[ClarkyAC]

how well do you trust yourself? If you somthing wrong like bend it and leave a mark it may void warrenty.. If the plate is bent it is most likely that its had some sort of impact, meaning that the card itself may be faulty. If thats the case and you have **** it up by bending you cant send it back

 

[Wizzkidy]

My 8800GTX had exactly the same problem as this, I bent it back and all was OK, its no big deal

 

[Scougar]

Just bend it back in place. They are made of flexible(ish) metal so will be fine. Depending on your case, you may even be able to fit it like that! I would just bend it with my fingers though. It isn't a big issue unless it has damaged something else on the PCB... try it and if something is send it back as broken under warranty. I don't see the issue here.

Matthew

 

[Cuchulain]

On a lot of cards those backplates simply screw off, if that's the case with this one then I'd take it off before bending it.

 

[Scougar]

That is a very good point. You can simply press it straight

To be honest, it would be cheaper and less hassle to buy a new backplate if he's really worried. But hey... whatever.

Matthew

 

[HeX]

Just bend it with your fingers, will take all of 2secs. I bend card backplates all the time if they don't line up to the mobo, never had a problem with it.

 

[Fothsn]

I can’t believe your sending it back for a RMA because of that Simple 2 minute job, take the RMA route expect a 2 week wait for you new card. I know what I’d do, but hey that’s me

 

[Scougar]

Yup fussing over nothing. If the pcb was damaged or the cooler then it is a different matter.

Just bend it slightly (straight) and put it in, install drivers and start playing!

Honestly, not being nasty, but your worrying over nothing.

Matthew

 

[deshepherd]

I remember several years ago doing a "big upgrade" from P3-450 to Athlon XP1700+ and finding that when the retailer (not OcUK!) had stuck the OEM CPU on the square of foam to send it to me that they'd managed to bend on of pins so it stuck out at 90 degrees. Briefly thought I'd need to send it back but then impetuosity got the better of me, stuck some sleeving from a cable over the pin and bent it back into position and everything was fine!

(N.b. reminds me from years ago of someone finding an "easter egg" in an early Sygnetics TTL datasheet book ... buried in the middle was a datasheet for a "write only memory" chip ... at first glance it looked like any other datasheet until you realized that a WOM was clearly a spoof and then on closer examination found all the graphs on the datasheet were also all spoof including one which claimed to graph "pins vs insertions"!)

 

[killersheep34]

I can’t believe your sending it back for a RMA because of that Simple 2 minute job, take the RMA route expect a 2 week wait for you new card. I know what I’d do, but hey that’s me

Agree'd totally with this.

Just bend it back, stick it in, if it don't work, then RMA it. Now that you've posted this on OcUK, if they have an issue with it point them to this post. I'm sure it's what they'd probably tell you to do too.

 

[willhub]

OMG its just a piece of metal hell I had to bend that myself for on my GT for it to fit in my case properly its really a waste of time RMA'ing over a piece of bent metal. If its not working when you put it in THEN RMA it and if it makes you geel better just bend it again.