8800 GTX Problem

[cue8chalk]

I got my hands on a BFG 8800 GTX OC a while ago that was broken and I thought I'd be able to fix it. I'm not the original owner so I can't go for a warranty replacement/fix, nor can I return it to the store.

When I put the card in my system, it allows the system to boot as if nothing is wrong, however I get nothing displayed on the screen. Weird thing is, it passed the POST and booted all the way to Windows (I know because I had to shut it down by cutting power and I got an error message next time I booted Windows saying it didn't shut down properly).

My guess is that whoever had this card tried to flash the BIOS on it and something went wrong.

I have an ASUS Maximus Formula motherboard (X38 chipset) which doesn't support SLI, so I was wondering if I would be able to throw in another PCI-E card and use that as a display to try to flash the other card. I tried putting in an ATI card (to avoid confusion with the NVIDIA card) but nvflash didn't find any NVIDIA cards in the system.

I'm wondering if that has anything to do with X38 and SLI incompatability, the ATI/NV combo, or just a bricked card? What do you guys think? My gut tells me if I can re-flash this thing it should work fine. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[Digital_Trans]

I've owned BFG cards in the past that someone had gave me and I was able to RMA it for a replacement. Unless they ask you for a sales receipt or something don't say more then you need to. Unless you want to be the honest nice guy who comes in last and follow the rules then you're S.O.L. Good luck!
Think outside the box tell them it was a gift last X-Mas be creative and get a replacement. Remember! let them ask the questions and don't ramble on and on about the card. Good luck! :D

[Pimpdad]

I've had to RMA with BFG a couple of times and they did ask for a sales receipt even though the card had a lifetime warranty on it. Good luck.

[cue8chalk]

I've had to RMA with BFG a couple of times and they did ask for a sales receipt even though the card had a lifetime warranty on it. Good luck.

Well, looks like I've been blessed - I wasn't asked for a sales receipt at all! For what it's worth to them, they've got my loyalty if they're willing to support their products like that - even if it was just a fluke :)

[john19055]

I wish I could find a deal like that on a 8800GTX.

[SLippe]

I just RMAd a AGP 6800GT OC and they sent back an AGP 7800GS. No receipt required.

[Tomato]

Yes, You can flash a secondary card while posting to a primary card with NVFlash: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/819/NVFlash_5.57.html

[cue8chalk]

Yes, You can flash a secondary card while posting to a primary card with NVFlash: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/819/NVFlash_5.57.html

That didn't seem to work for me. That is, it didn't recognize the nVidia card. I was wondering if maybe it was because I am on an X38 motherboard which doesn't support SLI (even though I wasn't using SLI, but had two graphics cards in the system with the nVidia being in the 2nd slot), or if the card was just toast. Either way, the RMA has been put in and I shipped the card to BFG yesterday, so it worked out!