Anyone have a Sapphire Radeon 6950 2gb Dirt 3 Edition card?

[ManBearPig]

And wanna check something for me? It looks like these copper pipes are corroded/had something sprayed on them. I can't find any pictures where these are clearly visible (in the ones i do, it looks like they're not copper but silver colored which is why i think its a spray). Probably nothing but I wanna be sure since one of the seals was broken (99% by the packaging since everything else was on there lol, nevertheless...). Here are a couple pics:

Thanks yall.

 

[Stuka87]

The green looks similar to copper oxidation. Unless its not actually green, and simply looks green in the photos.

The silver ones you see are most likely plated, as plating copper is very common and easy to do.

Its possible yours has some sort of coating, but my guess is its bare copper. Which is going to oxidize.

 

[NTAC]

Just plug it in, fire it up, play BF3 for 5 hours and watch the temps

 

[RavenSEAL]

Just plug it in, fire it up, play BF3 for 5 hours and watch the temps

I don't think that's the point...

 

[Rvenger]

And wanna check something for me? It looks like these copper pipes are corroded/had something sprayed on them. I can't find any pictures where these are clearly visible (in the ones i do, it looks like they're not copper but silver colored which is why i think its a spray). Probably nothing but I wanna be sure since one of the seals was broken (99% by the packaging since everything else was on there lol, nevertheless...). Here are a couple pics:


Thanks yall.

Probably a reaction from the different metals. Its like nailing galvanized steel nails to aluminum, it will corrode over time. Usually excessive moisture will accelerate the issue.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. I have a coolermaster Vortex 752 HSF that is turning green too. As long as your not keeping it next to a humidifier, I think you will be just fine.

 

[Steverman]

Hey man I just registered to say that I have the exact same corrosion on the metal. But mine also didn't come with a plastic cover on top of the graphic card. I can see scratches on my card. Should I return it? I just received it today.

 

[ManBearPig]

I don't think that's the point...

Haha yeah, I just wanna see if it's normal, should be silvery, or should be copper. Though I cant wait to fire it up.

I can't really tell based on other peoples pictures.

The green looks similar to copper oxidation. Unless its not actually green, and simply looks green in the photos.

The silver ones you see are most likely plated, as plating copper is very common and easy to do.

Its possible yours has some sort of coating, but my guess is its bare copper. Which is going to oxidize.

It looks silvery. Like a spray on silver liner or something.

 

[ManBearPig]

Hey man I just registered to say that I have the exact same corrosion on the metal. But mine also didn't come with a plastic cover on top of the graphic card. I can see scratches on my card. Should I return it? I just received it today.

Hmm that's weird as hell. You got the Dirt 3 edition too? Or the one that looks the exact same w/o Dirt 3? Where'd you buy it from? Thanks a lot for registering lol, googling isnt bringing anything up about this.

 

[Steverman]

Yeah the one from Newegg that just got out of stock. I'm just worrired about no plastic cover and the scratches.

 

[ManBearPig]

Yeah the one from Newegg that just got out of stock. I'm just worrired about no plastic cover and the scratches.

I just sent Sapphire an email and posted this in a few other forums so I'll let you know what i find out. I'm actually not sure the top was covered in plastic (i forget, i'll check again) but i definitely remember the side w/o the pci slot being covered.

 

[NTAC]

Both mine came with a plastic sheet protecting the plastic cover and fans... I definitely remember it because it was a BITCH to take off

Whatever glue they used was a bit too much in some areas.

 

[ManBearPig]

Official tech support says this:

This is normal for the card, all our cards are build like this.

Tech

But that short response isn't satisfying enough for me lol so if you can, email them at: tech@althonmicro.com

I'm exchanging the item though due to the seal being broken. I thought it was because of packaging and they even offered me $28 to keep it, but it makes me pretty damn nervous since the area around the seal was so fucked up. Ill let you guys know how it looks.

Oh yeah, this has plastic on it.

 

[NTAC]

Official tech support says this:



But that short response isn't satisfying enough for me lol so if you can, email them at: tech@althonmicro.com

I'm exchanging the item though due to the seal being broken. I thought it was because of packaging and they even offered me $28 to keep it, but it makes me pretty damn nervous since the area around the seal was so fucked up. Ill let you guys know how it looks.

Oh yeah, this has plastic on it.

Yeah it definitely sounds like your packaging situations was not ideal... and for $200+ or whatever you ended up spending for the card you probably want peace of mind, so I think that's probably the right move to make.

 

[IAteYourMother]

metal discoloration?? Should be fine. Ever wonder why the Statue of Liberty is green even though it's made of copper?

 

[ManBearPig]

Well yeah, I get that, but there's a shit load of copper piping everywhere else besides near the fans that looks perfectly fine so I wasn't sure. Anyway, I'll figure out soon what's going on when I get the replacement.

 

[cmdrdredd]

My card looked like that and it even had the plastic covering the fan. It runs fine.

 

[ManBearPig]

Thanks. Im still exchanging though due to the broken seal.

 

[Steverman]

Me too. Anyone know what policy Newegg has for sent pre-owned items that's supposed to be new.

 

[Subyman]

It looks like braze or something from the manufacturing process or heat distortion from the fabrication of the heatsink. It doesn't look to be anything unusual.

 

[notty22]

I think the op's card is probably new. I would have tried it myself to see if it worked perfectly before starting the whole return process.

 

[lavaheadache]

I'm shaking my head as I read this...

 

[ManBearPig]

I think the op's card is probably new. I would have tried it myself to see if it worked perfectly before starting the whole return process.

I wanted to, but the rest of my shit isn't here so I can't just test it and send it back if it's messed up, and I didn't really feel like getting it all set up, finding out it was messed up, then being without a GPU for a few days.

The $28 would've been nice, but the packaging was kinda really fucked up...maybe I can find the pic I took for amazon.

Also, lavaheadache...how the hell am I supposed to know if that's normal or not when all the other heat pipes look perfect. And I don't have a lot of experience with handling GPUs. The ones I did handle were cheaper and had no...whatever this is...on the heat pipes.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Me too. Anyone know what policy Newegg has for sent pre-owned items that's supposed to be new.

Newegg doesn't send anything other than what they advertise. In otherwords they clearely list open box items and don't sell used product.

 

[ManBearPig]

The seal area looked pretty bad. Here's a pic:

It's probably nothing but I wanted to by absolutely sure (even for $28, which is not too small a sum of money (10% of the item)).

 

[Rvenger]

If it works and they are offering you $28. I would care less about the seal being broken.