Gainward are scum, i got a card from an ebay store, plastic wrapped and brand new, the heatsink fell off by itself (i had not been screwing with it) and the card was toast. the ebay store was no longer trading at that point, so i contacted gainward who said
"we do not accept RMA requests other than from authorised Gainward retailers, please contact your retailer"
I explained the situation in more depth, and they sent me back an e-mail along the lines of
"Dear Valued Customer!!!!
Return the card to an authorised retailer!!!!"
and then they ignored all future e-mails that I sent them. I have reported them to UK Trading Standards, with no resolution (I can't afford or be bothered to sue). I'm pretty sure that under UK law if the retailer closes, then the manufacturer is responsible for honoring the warranty.
I'm buying BFG or Sapphire in future.