Returning my MSI R7950 Twin Frozr

[JJ24]

So I've been having some issues with my computer since I built it about 3-4 weeks ago.

Primarily it has only been issues with specific games, those being Star Wars The Old Republic, and World of Tanks. Was able to play other games without issues (Guild Wars2, Far Cry, Crysis, Diablo 3) but then I started seeing the occasional flicker in windows / browsing the web where text would go unreadable or fragmented. And had some weird errors when playing videos on Hulu/Youtube.

I contacted MSI and went through the hassle of doing what they suggested even though I had done most of those things anyway.... and finally got an RMA number to send the card back this week.

Here are some screen shots of what it was doing in World of Tanks:

Spoiler

So now I am running my new system off an old 6790 card... lol

 

[chimaxi83]

What were the temperatures like? That looks similar to a possibly unstable overclock and/or high temps. That, or just a bad card.

 

[JBT]

I have heard that some of those Twin Frozr's have bad TIM applications from the factory. It might just require poping its top and reapplying.

 

[JJ24]

Temps were always good ... and I had these errors while running it at Stock settings.
I did OC it some as well but it never mattered as far as the artifacts were concerned.

Temps while playing World of Tanks or SWTOR or Guild Wars were always in mid 60C. Temps playing Farcry3 or Crysis2 were a little higher like 68-70C.
Highest I ever saw the temps was running Furmark at 1920x1200 high settings for like 15-20 minutes It got upto 78C

I also tried multiple driver versions... 12.10, 12.11, 13.1, 13.2 beta4
Had the same artifacts with all of them.

***
BTW Just put my old 6790 back in the computer today... Played WoT for maybe 2 hours, 0 artifacts. So I am confident the card was the issue not my RAM or anything else... Now assuming that remains true while waiting on my card to come back to me I'll be happy! B/C that MSI card was running things really really well aside from the stupid artifacts. I was getting great FPS in Far Cry and Crisis and Prototype2...

 

[JJ24]

Wanted to come back and update this thread for anyone else who has to deal with MSI in the future...

FedEx'd my card back to them on the 9th... They emailed me this morning with a UPS Tracking saying my RMA was complete and was being sent back to me. Should have it by the end of the week.
I emailed them and asked for any detailed info on my RMA, if my card was deffective and repaired and was being set back or if I was getting a replacement or if nothing at all had been changed?
The response wasn't much but they said there was a defect in my card and the card being sent back is a replacement, not my original. I'll know for sure once I get it, b/c I used a sharpie to make a couple very small marks on the card in a hard to see spot so I can look for them.
Anyway turnaround time from when I first started the Tech Support ticket to getting my card back is approximately Feb 2nd - Feb 27th... Not bad in my opinion.

 

[daveybrat]

Cool, let us know how the new card works. I have an MSI GTX 660 card and was wondering how well the RMA process works.

 

[chimaxi83]

I've had one RMA experience with MSI, and it was decent. RMA'd a TF III 6950, turn around time was just about two weeks. They sent me what looked like a refurb, very clean and like new though.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

RMA is hit or miss, I've had good experiences and bad. I had a board get delivered to a city 1600 miles away from me... It took almost 6 months from the time I sent the board in til I got the board back (ASUS).

 

[wand3r3r]

Yeah I think MSI/EVGA are probably the two best manufacturers.(?) They have the best warranty policies, solid products, and seem to go above the competitors in some respects. (can replace the cooler etc.)

Asus was also on my top list until I had to RMA a card.

Asus lied to me saying that I can rma a card without a cooler, then slowly communicated back and forth that it's not happening and tried to charge the full price. When I called and was stuck on hold for 3 hours they promised to do everything to smooth it out (i.e. fix it) and after a few days I got a notice they shipped it back to me.

I will not buy ASSUS any more, that was enough for me. Granted that was a special case, but they told me in writing 2x that it was ok, on the phone 2x it was ok, and then just f/&% you and returned it. I wasted a lot of time with that.

btw your title could be RMA'ing or even exchanging card, not returning.

 

[Face2Face]

My first 7950 TF3 was a dud. I brought it home and two days later it was doing the same thing as yours. I brought it back to the store and exchanged it. I only buy video cards local now. I have had two many issues with RMA's in the past. I may pay more up front, but it's still worth it because you pay for shipping a videocard back. Like when I had to exchange my GTX 280 three times because everyone one of them was over-heating. Yeah good old BFG quality control

 

[Remobz]

RMA is hit or miss, I've had good experiences and bad. I had a board get delivered to a city 1600 miles away from me... It took almost 6 months from the time I sent the board in til I got the board back (ASUS).

You think you have it bad?

I am about 3,000 miles away from the US border and to RMA anything in the USA is a mini nightmare of sorts. The price alone for shipping and handling just to get it to the RMA location is not worth it. Might as well suck it up and buy a new one.

 

[DefDC]

I am in the process of an RMA of my GTX460 TF. I sent it on the 11th of Feb. Last Wednesday, they finally acknowledged they received it. It's been sitting in the "processing' status ever since...

 

[Tweak155]

You think you have it bad?

I am about 3,000 miles away from the US border and to RMA anything in the USA is a mini nightmare of sorts. The price alone for shipping and handling just to get it to the RMA location is not worth it. Might as well suck it up and buy a new one.

I don't see this as the same. If ordering products that have warranty in the USA causes a huge hassle then quit ordering those products. Order products with local warranties.

This sounds like user error.

 

[JJ24]

Got the new card back in on Friday, but due to work didn't have a chance to get it installed until Sunday afternoon.

It is a different card then the one I sent in, it is still with the 6 and 8 pin connector instead of two 6 pin like some people have been seeing recently. According to GPUz the Asiic? Asicc? quality is 93% on this new card, it was if I remember correctly 86% on the one I RMA'd.

Stock vcore is showing at 0.993mv, 880 Core Clock, 1250 Mem Clock. Without changing the vcore I bumped the Core Clock upto 1000 and left the mem the same. Working like a charm, playing World of Tanks, Tera, Simcity5, and anything else I've thrown at it.

So far its working great, only time will tell but I hope that what MSI is doing on these RMA is actually making 100% sure the card they send back to users is one that is going to work properly.

 

[KevinH]

Got the new card back in on Friday, but due to work didn't have a chance to get it installed until Sunday afternoon.

It is a different card then the one I sent in, it is still with the 6 and 8 pin connector instead of two 6 pin like some people have been seeing recently. According to GPUz the Asiic? Asicc? quality is 93% on this new card, it was if I remember correctly 86% on the one I RMA'd.

Stock vcore is showing at 0.993mv, 880 Core Clock, 1250 Mem Clock. Without changing the vcore I bumped the Core Clock upto 1000 and left the mem the same. Working like a charm, playing World of Tanks, Tera, Simcity5, and anything else I've thrown at it.

So far its working great, only time will tell but I hope that what MSI is doing on these RMA is actually making 100% sure the card they send back to users is one that is going to work properly.

Sounds like you got a gem.