Warning to those Considering the XFX 7800GT

[Woofmeister]

I am the proud owner of two XFX 7800GTs. The cards have performed flawlessly for months and I am very happy with my purchase. I have been a major champion of the XFX 7800GT on these forums as I believed it was the best value in video cards today. I have consistently argued here and in other forums against those who have claimed that it is preferable to pay the premium for an EVGA or BFG 7800GT rather than the XFX because EVGA and BFG provide much better customer service. I reasoned that, because you are unlikely to have a problem with a video card and because XFX backs their cards with a double lifetime warranty, customer service concerns were overrated. I have even gone so far as to actively encourage people to buy the XFX 7800GT when deals on the card are posted. All of that comes to an end now. I don?t relish admitting it, but I was wrong.

Back in November, without any public announcement, XFX began shipping a new version of the 7800GT styled the ?Extreme Edition? (Part Number PV-T70G-UDE7). The Extreme Edition differs markedly in appearance from the standard XFX 7800GT (Part Number PV-T70G-UDF7) and features a black PCB, a copper heat sink and a green neon fan. This is an Extreme Edition. The standard XFX 7800GT is the NVIDIA reference design. This is a "standard" edition. The cards I own are ?standard? XFX 7800GTs.

The Extreme Edition differs in other ways than appearance; it has a 4 pin MOLEX power connector instead of the reference 6 pin PCI-Express power connector and neither of the Extreme Edition?s DVI ports is dual-link DVI. I am led to believe that the NVIDIA reference design for the 7800GT includes a dual-link dvi port. Despite the ?Extreme Edition? hyperbole, both 7800GT versions have exactly the same factory overclock out of the box of 450MHz/1.05GHz. You would think that both cards have the same BIOS, but they obviously don?t.

The Extreme Edition appears to be plagued with problems?program crashes and lockups in a variety of 3D apps. Numerous people have also complained that the fan on the Extreme Edition runs at full speed all the time, even while running in 2D. Take a look at the XFX forums to see how common these problems are. To make matters worse, XFX has been receiving consistent and numerous reports of these problems since early December and not only has XFX failed to remedy the problems, they?ve not even acknowledged that any problems exist! That?s just inexcusable!

So, until XFX fixes the problems with the Extreme Edition, my advice is not to buy any XFX 7800GTs, even if you think you?re buying the ?standard? edition. Vendors frequently substitute different versions of the cards depending on inventory and there?s no way you can assure yourself of getting the right XFX card. It?s just not worth taking the risk when purchasing a BFG or EVGA 7800GT practically assures you of a problem-free experience and those companies will apparently also stand behind their product with real technical support if something goes wrong.

No, I don?t work for BFG or EVGA and yes, I?m still totally satisfied with my own XFX 7800GTs. I just don?t think that my positive experience with XFX will be of much consolation to you if you are unlucky enough to get stuck with an Extreme Edition.

 

[Thorny]

Thanks for the heads up. I gave up on XFX after two DOA's in a row. Customer service acknowledged the cards were bad and offered to replace, but I'd rather have a card that works the first time.

 

[imported_Rampage]

Yup.

I go either Evga or BFG, and for good reason.

 

[CP5670]

I guess it's a good thing I went with EVGA for my cards, as I came very close to jumping in on that $290 ZZF deal on these XFX cards but found the EVGA ones soon after for only $10 more. The fan speed problem is interesting though as there have been many similar complaints about the EVGA CO cards which, like the XFX cards, use GTX fans rather than the standard GT ones. I haven't had any problems with this on my cards though and was able to lower the fan speeds through Rivatuner. The only issue I noticed was that if I used different 2D and 3D fan speeds, the driver took a long time (10 minutes or more) to switch back to 2D mode after I had closed a game, but this seems to be a driver-related thing.

I remember at one point there were no less than five different versions of these XFX extreme cards in circulation, each different in some slight way. The one pictured on Newegg is actually about an inch shorter than a normal 7800GT and has a very different power circuitry layout from the reference cards.

 

[imported_Rampage]

Or you could just buy a Evga 7800GT for $275 like mine?
As far as I've ever seen, XFX has always been junk.. why would that change. Just because people started to actually buy them? Think not.

 

[Wolfshanze]

My LAST THREE video cards have all been BFG (5900, 6600GT & 6800GT), and all three are still running like champs (I have three PCs in the house... the BFGs just pushed out the previous cards to pasture).

As good as the BFG customer service is, I haven't had to use it yet (all my cards run great).

 

[WT]

Well written post, Woof .... when you make those valid points and give links to back everything up you have covered the bases and done your work. I wish you the best of luck getting your situation resolved, along with the other XFX users having issues. I have recommeded XFX up to the NV6 series cards (the 6600GT cards had heatsink issues unfortunately) so I have seen this too many times from that company, so I no longer recommend them. I am using an EVGA card currently and this will be the first time I stick with the same vendor when I upgrade my card.

 

[McArra]

I have one of those and have had CERO problems :S It works good, at full speed yep but is not loud... what's the real problem?

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: Woofmeister
I am the proud owner of two XFX 7800GTs. The cards have performed flawlessly for months and I am very happy with my purchase. I have been a major champion of the XFX 7800GT on these forums as I believed it was the best value in video cards today. I have consistently argued here and in other forums against those who have claimed that it is preferable to pay the premium for an EVGA or BFG 7800GT rather than the XFX because EVGA and BFG provide much better customer service. I reasoned that, because you are unlikely to have a problem with a video card and because XFX backs their cards with a double lifetime warranty, customer service concerns were overrated. I have even gone so far as to actively encourage people to buy the XFX 7800GT when deals on the card are posted. All of that comes to an end now. I don?t relish admitting it, but I was wrong.

Back in November, without any public announcement, XFX began shipping a new version of the 7800GT styled the ?Extreme Edition? (Part Number PV-T70G-UDE7). The Extreme Edition differs markedly in appearance from the standard XFX 7800GT (Part Number PV-T70G-UDF7) and features a black PCB, a copper heat sink and a green neon fan. This is an Extreme Edition. The standard XFX 7800GT is the NVIDIA reference design. This is a "standard" edition. The cards I own are ?standard? XFX 7800GTs.

The Extreme Edition differs in other ways than appearance; it has a 4 pin MOLEX power connector instead of the reference 6 pin PCI-Express power connector and neither of the Extreme Edition?s DVI ports is dual-link DVI. I am led to believe that the NVIDIA reference design for the 7800GT includes a dual-link dvi port. Despite the ?Extreme Edition? hyperbole, both 7800GT versions have exactly the same factory overclock out of the box of 450MHz/1.05GHz. You would think that both cards have the same BIOS, but they obviously don?t.

The Extreme Edition appears to be plagued with problems?program crashes and lockups in a variety of 3D apps. Numerous people have also complained that the fan on the Extreme Edition runs at full speed all the time, even while running in 2D. Take a look at the XFX forums to see how common these problems are. To make matters worse, XFX has been receiving consistent and numerous reports of these problems since early December and not only has XFX failed to remedy the problems, they?ve not even acknowledged that any problems exist! That?s just inexcusable!

So, until XFX fixes the problems with the Extreme Edition, my advice is not to buy any XFX 7800GTs, even if you think you?re buying the ?standard? edition. Vendors frequently substitute different versions of the cards depending on inventory and there?s no way you can assure yourself of getting the right XFX card. It?s just not worth taking the risk when purchasing a BFG or EVGA 7800GT practically assures you of a problem-free experience and those companies will apparently also stand behind their product with real technical support if something goes wrong.

No, I don?t work for BFG or EVGA and yes, I?m still totally satisfied with my own XFX 7800GTs. I just don?t think that my positive experience with XFX will be of much consolation to you if you are unlucky enough to get stuck with an Extreme Edition.

i have 2 7800GT extreme editions from XFX, both run impecably and they dont have 4 pin molex connectors....thats fo sure! they have the black 6 pin PCI-E connectors, dark blue PCB, copper cooler, and neon green fan with green LED's

that pic you posted is perculiar.....same HSF, but yeah that PCB is black and theres a 4 pin Molex. i wonder if this is what they are selling now? or what they were going to sell?

either way my 2 XFX 7800GT EE's are running perfectly, never crashed, never gotten too hot, and i dont have any way to test the Dual Link DVI (anyway i can test that, or check to see if they are?)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7800__Series.html

(scroll to XFX Geforce 7800GT Extreme LED Edition)

thats what i have, and they have a blue PCB, VIVO etc.....are these the same?

 

[McArra]

He is talking about Black edition, which I own and works pretty well. I believe those people are having PSU problems or in most cases they don't even know how to set up properly a PC.

 

[videopho]

Personally, I'm very happy with my xfx 7800gt (standard) card's performances overall and its price point (paid $239.99 AR + 30$ worth of sold off two games COD2 & F/C).
Nonetheless the post is very informative and feel bad for those who have had issue with it.

 

[erwos]

I was actually thinking of buying a new rig in the March/February time frame, and, amazingly, I was thinking of putting exactly that card in it (case w/ window means internal component appearance actually matters!). Thanks for the heads-up - I'll be sure to investigate further before I make a purchase.

-Erwos

 

[Dravic]

Back in November, without any public announcement, XFX began shipping a new version of the 7800GT styled the ?Extreme Edition? (Part Number PV-T70G-UDE7). The Extreme Edition differs markedly in appearance from the standard XFX 7800GT (Part Number PV-T70G-UDF7) and features a black PCB, a copper heat sink and a green neon fan. This is an Extreme Edition. The standard XFX 7800GT is the NVIDIA reference design. This is a "standard" edition. The cards I own are ?standard? XFX 7800GTs.

The Extreme Edition differs in other ways than appearance; it has a 4 pin MOLEX power connector instead of the reference 6 pin PCI-Express power connector and neither of the Extreme Edition?s DVI ports is dual-link DVI. I am led to believe that the NVIDIA reference design for the 7800GT includes a dual-link dvi port. Despite the ?Extreme Edition? hyperbole, both 7800GT versions have exactly the same factory overclock out of the box of 450MHz/1.05GHz. You would think that both cards have the same BIOS, but they obviously don?t.

Both cards were at the time listed separately on newegg. it wasnt a secrect/new version..

They have acknowledged the shipping screw up. There were some UDE7 shipped in UDF7 packaging. It wasn?t done on purpose. They even included the UDF7 accessories in the packaging as evidence by the 6 pin y splitter meant for the UDF7 still being shipped with the incorrectly packaged UDE7.

They even have a specific post at the top of the geforce 7 series forum stickied for this very issue.

XFX forum post

The Extreme Edition appears to be plagued with problems?program crashes and lockups in a variety of 3D apps. Numerous people have also complained that the fan on the Extreme Edition runs at full speed all the time, even while running in 2D. Take a look at the XFX forums to see how common these problems are. To make matters worse, XFX has been receiving consistent and numerous reports of these problems since early December and not only has XFX failed to remedy the problems, they?ve not even acknowledged that any problems exist! That?s just inexcusable!

So, until XFX fixes the problems with the Extreme Edition, my advice is not to buy any XFX 7800GTs, even if you think you?re buying the ?standard? edition. Vendors frequently substitute different versions of the cards depending on inventory and there?s no way you can assure yourself of getting the right XFX card. It?s just not worth taking the risk when purchasing a BFG or EVGA 7800GT practically assures you of a problem-free experience and those companies will apparently also stand behind their product with real technical support if something goes wrong.

There is no vendor substitution going on, there are a few threads on there forums discussing the rma process, and issues people have had.

The extreme edition does appear to have some issues, including the fan running at high 100% of the time.

If you didnt get what you ordered just RMA. Lets not hammer xfx for a mistake they are openly willing to fix.. there was no shady substitution going on.


My guess is that they ran short on UDF7's and the specs were identical as the UDE7 so someone decided to shipped people the UDE7 extreme edition cards. I doubt whoever made the decision even knew they had different power connectors, as the UDF7 6 pin y connector was still being shipped with the UDE7 cards, in UDF7 packaging.


Either way, they have acknowledged the mistake, and provided anyone who wants the UDF7 card a way to obtain it. Just as i did.