Should a new video card be 'grubby'?

[marlinman]

Hi folks

I've just received a couple of 'new' Sapphire HD5830 Xtreme cards. The PCB side of each card is noticeably dirty. Perhaps this image shows what I'm on about. Worst area is to left of bottom-left heatsink screw. The grottiness takes the form of 'wipe trails' and also concentrations of crud around certain solder points (e.g. at top right corner of card).

When I noticed this (and more) on a 'new' Sapphire HD6950 I demanded (and got) full refund / free return freight. (Vendor claimed distributor sent reconditioned card without vendor's knowledge. Whatever...) Now I'm beginning to wonder whether I overreacted! Having said that I'm used to a few specks of dust on a new PCB and nothing more...

What say the wise sages around these parts?

 

[Borealis7]

you paid for a new card, it should be sparkling with cleanliness.

 

[Arkadrel]

you paid for a new card, it should be sparkling with cleanliness.

At the same time... meh.

If there is a finger print on it, or a bit of dust from the fabric it was made at.
Like I said... meh.

Maybe a quality controll guy manually picked up the card and expected it for faults.
Found none... however the dude left a finger print (from picking the card up, and testing it).

Throw the card out? demand your money back?.... eerrhhh.

There has to be a line though, but... it doesnt look like its been used before.
Whatever is on it, is probably from the fabric it was produced at, and wont impact the card in anyway.

 

[ViRGE]

That's normal for a new card; it's residue from the wave soldering process. It's not considered an issue because it doesn't impact the performance of the card in any way and it would be more trouble than it's worth to get it off of the assembled card.

 

[marlinman]

Given there's an explanation for the PCB grot then, is there a foolproof way to determine whether a card's been used? E.g. does the PCIe slot score the card's connector?

BTW the 6950 I mentioned above also had rust on the DVI connector's housing and crud (like part of a green scouring pad or something) trapped between a heatpipe and a screw holder on the base of the heatsink. When my expectation-filled heart (hey, look at what I currently run!) took those sights in I probably died a little inside and became overly wary of all local e-tailers...

 

[Spikesoldier]

a good way to tell if it has been used is to check out the fan. if the fan looks absolutely mint like new plastic and no dust, i would not worry about it.

of course this wouldnt stop anyone from using the card and putting a new fan on, but i think the chances of that is very distant.

 

[B00M123]

My Sapphire 6870 looks exactly like the photo of your card, with a white looking residue like substance. Nothing to worry about, ViRGE's explanation seems good. I have always wondered what that is on my GPU.

 

[marlinman]

My ASRock Z68 Extreme4 arrived yesterday and has the same crud all over it. What ViRGE said makes more and more sense as time rolls on LOL