9800 Pro A freaking Chip Fell Off

[J-Mag]

I was removing my ramsinks, when a little chip fell off. :bang head
I was actually removing the ramsinks cause I was going to try to RMA my card, hehe I guess I know why it was garbling randomwebsites and 3d apps.

P.S. Anyone know what the stock thermal paste is on the 9800 series?

[speed bump]

First this should go in the ATI section.

Second you modified that card by adding ramsinks therefore voilating the warrenty, so you can't return it. To do so is unethical and with a post like that SSS might be coming for.

Finally the thermal paste on your 9800 isn't all that great, so if you don't mind voiding your next warrenty I suggest Artic Silver.

[koss20100]

but all he did was add ramsinks how can ramsinks cuz much prob. the card should be able to perform bettter with em i dont think its unethical ...

unless of course he oc'ed it or something.. thtz a diff story

[JigPu]

You can call a reason for refusing to RMA something stupid, but the fact is that ATI still dosen't allow it. The waranty (http://www.ati.com/support/rma/warranty.html) specifically says: "this warranty does not apply to the software component of a product or a product which has been damaged due to accident, misuse, abuse, improper installation, usage not in accordance with product specifications and instructions, natural or personal disaster, or unauthorized alterations, repairs or modifications."


How good are your soldering skills, or do you know anyone who may have skills enough to repair the card? You can't RMA it, but with some work it might have life again. Can you take any pics of the chip that fell off or where it fell off from?

JigPu

[9mmCensor]

http://overclockers.com/articles753/

You mod it, you risk it.

[aNTiChRisT]

but all he did was add ramsinks how can ramsinks cuz much prob. the card should be able to perform bettter with em i dont think its unethical ...

unless of course he oc'ed it or something.. thtz a diff story

OCing it is really nothing, installing ramsinks is a big thing.

~t0m

[Oni]

You're still voiding your warranty if you overclock it. Same as w/ your processor.

[J-Mag]

How good are your soldering skills, or do you know anyone who may have skills enough to repair the card? You can't RMA it, but with some work it might have life again. Can you take any pics of the chip that fell off or where it fell off from?

JigPu

I have never soldered anything in my life... I have read a couple articles about it but thats pretty much it. I Wouldn't really be to opposed to trying. I was initially going to post a pic, but for some reason the server wouldn't let me. Is there a size limit for an individual image upload?

[9mmCensor]

OCing it is really nothing, installing ramsinks is a big thing.

~t0m
technically your running the hardware out of spec, and the warrenty is void. altho some manufactures dont care about simple overclocking.

[football]

technically your running the hardware out of spec, and the warrenty is void. altho some manufactures dont care about simple overclocking.


Gainward sells it's products "Golden Sample" by it's ability to overclock, and grants a RMA if it should fail.

Adding ramsinks with thermal tape actually voids a warranty?

[Cerberus2k7]

Gainward sells it's products "Golden Sample" by it's ability to overclock, and grants a RMA if it should fail.

Adding ramsinks with thermal tape actually voids a warranty?

You can call a reason for refusing to RMA something stupid, but the fact is that ATI still dosen't allow it. The waranty (http://www.ati.com/support/rma/warranty.html) specifically says: "this warranty does not apply to the software component of a product or a product which has been damaged due to accident, misuse, abuse, improper installation, usage not in accordance with product specifications and instructions, natural or personal disaster, or unauthorized alterations, repairs or modifications."

[football]

So are you saying that adding ramsinks is unethical, if something should fail on the card and you RMA it?

[9mmCensor]

So are you saying that adding ramsinks is unethical, if something should fail on the card and you RMA it?
Its unethical that you knowingly void a warrenty, then use the said warrenty, which is voided. So yes.

[Spacepiston]

I would RMA it. I could say more, but I dont think I need to.

[felinusz]

I would RMA it. I could say more, but I dont think I need to.

RMAing hardware you've done work on is simply unethical. It's breaking the agreement the customer makes when they purchase the product in the first place. A warranty is a manufacturer's guarantee that the product won't be faulty; when you RMA a piece of hardware you've overclocked or modified, you are abusing that guarantee.

We all have taken a hit in the pocketbook at some point when we broke something; you just have to take it and move on.

That said, sometimes manufacturers will repair hardware that you've broken, and voided the warranty on, but for a fee. ASUS has fixed a few motherboards that I killed through bad BIOS hot-flashing, or clumsiness (lots of cut traces via a screwdriver being the best example) , and charged me about ~$50 plus shipping both ways each time.

I don't know if ATi will do this however. Call anonymously and ask.

[9mmCensor]

I would RMA it. I could say more, but I dont think I need to.
I think we already covered, the "you cant RMA it for X reasons" issue. :temper:

[koss20100]

I bet a million those ram sinks are there soo you can over clock it .. tht alone voids the warranty .... the way i feel about the ramsinks (ALONE) is tht its only their for better cooling and thus if the card fails to work its not really something you did (like adding a hs on a cpu)BUT you still void the warranty and unless their policies change live with it!!

P.S. LEARN TO MOD/OC YOUR CARD *AFTER* THE WARRANTY EXPIRES

[Spacepiston]

Ill buy it off you for 20 bucks. I want the chip too though.

[dicecca112]

please conduct business like that via PM

Ill buy it off you for 20 bucks. I want the chip too though.