My RMA Experience

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Hey dudez.

If you don't already know, my 9700 Pro died a few weeks ago. It would not power up or anything. I tried it in 2 different comp's to be sure. So I sent it into ATI knowing that I probably wouldn't get RMA due to the fact that I modded the heatsink.

One week and a half later, I got a box at my door. Seems ATI had tested the card, and oddly enough found nothing wrong with it. BUT, they replaced it with a new one as a precaution.

Man was I impressed, and surprised.

So thanks to ATI for their quick service, this is my first time RMAing anything, and I really was impressed. Too bad I already replaced it with a 9800 Pro.

[darkmiasma]

how much

[b00bie]

good thing to know as I recently got my 9800PRO :)

BTW since you had a 9700 before, do you consider it to be a big upgrade for you to go to 9800?

EDIT: I know they're similar cards, so I am wondering what kind of differences you see if any ;)

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Originally posted by b00bie
good thing to know as I recently got my 9800PRO :)

BTW since you had a 9700 before, do you consider it to be a big upgrade for you to go to 9800?

EDIT: I know they're similar cards, so I am wondering what kind of differences you see if any ;)

Honestly man. No real difference. It is slightly faster, but not enough to jusify spending the extra money. If you are looking for a 9xxx series card, then the 9700 pro is a better buy when you overclock it. My overclocked 9700 Pro actually got MORE 3dmarks in 03 than my stock 9800 pro did. Overclock the 9800 Pro, and it beats it nicely.

The one thing I DID notice however, is I swear the IQ is BETTER on this 9800 Pro than it was on the 9700 Pro, and the 9700 Pro IQ was awesome.

[b00bie]

Originally posted by -=Gib-McFragger=-
Honestly man. No real difference. It is slightly faster, but not enough to jusify spending the extra money. If you are looking for a 9xxx series card, then the 9700 pro is a better buy when you overclock it. My overclocked 9700 Pro actually got MORE 3dmarks in 03 than my stock 9800 pro did. Overclock the 9800 Pro, and it beats it nicely.

The one thing I DID notice however, is I swear the IQ is BETTER on this 9800 Pro than it was on the 9700 Pro, and the 9700 Pro IQ was awesome.

What power supply you using?
I am waiting for the xaserIII which has 7 fans on it, and a 420W PSU. When I hook em all up, the mobo, PCU fan and this card, I hope I don't run into any probs. Right now I'm running it optimized and waiting for the better PSU.
Just ordered it and should be here thursday :D

[saturnotaku]

Originally posted by -=Gib-McFragger=-
The one thing I DID notice however, is I swear the IQ is BETTER on this 9800 Pro than it was on the 9700 Pro, and the 9700 Pro IQ was awesome.

Trust me my friend, you're not the only one who noticed this. The IQ on my 9800 Pro compared to my old, modded 9500 is definitely better. I just tested RTCW with the Omega Cat 3.5s and after some tweaking, I have it running at a constant 70 fps at 1280x1024, 6xAA, 16X quality aniso. Doesn't get any better than that if you ask me. Next I'll have to work on maxing out GTA3 (with the RealGTA mod) and Vice City.

[GlowStick]

Can i ask what Heatskink mod you did to your 9700p, and did they send it back with stock everything?

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Originally posted by GlowStick
Can i ask what Heatskink mod you did to your 9700p, and did they send it back with stock everything?

I removed the thermal tape and shim, and applied AS3.

They actually said they couldn't find anything wrong with it when they tested it, which I find odd, because it was totally dead.

But..............dramatic pause.........they replaced it with a new one just in case, complete with the 5 year warranty starting over. :eek:

[GlowStick]

Originally posted by -=Gib-McFragger=-
I removed the thermal tape and shim, and applied AS3.

They actually said they couldn't find anything wrong with it when they tested it, which I find odd, because it was totally dead.

But..............dramatic pause.........they replaced it with a new one just in case, complete with the 5 year warranty starting over. :eek:

OH wow, basicly you have 2 things.

1, its a good excuse for you to build another rig, i mean you already have an extra video card!

or you could sell it on ebay : P

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Originally posted by b00bie
What power supply you using?
I am waiting for the xaserIII which has 7 fans on it, and a 420W PSU. When I hook em all up, the mobo, PCU fan and this card, I hope I don't run into any probs. Right now I'm running it optimized and waiting for the better PSU.
Just ordered it and should be here thursday :D

I am using this (http://www.envynews.com/review.php?ID=493) power supply, which I reviewed. :D

[5150 Joker]

Originally posted by -=Gib-McFragger=-
Honestly man. No real difference. It is slightly faster, but not enough to jusify spending the extra money. If you are looking for a 9xxx series card, then the 9700 pro is a better buy when you overclock it. My overclocked 9700 Pro actually got MORE 3dmarks in 03 than my stock 9800 pro did. Overclock the 9800 Pro, and it beats it nicely.

The one thing I DID notice however, is I swear the IQ is BETTER on this 9800 Pro than it was on the 9700 Pro, and the 9700 Pro IQ was awesome.


This is exactly what I noticed, especially about the IQ! I even made a post about it on R3D about the IQ. However, after o/c I beat my previous 9700 pro by over 1000 pts in 3dmark03 which is a big gain.

[GlowStick]

Originally posted by 5150 Joker
This is exactly what I noticed, especially about the IQ! I even made a post about it on R3D about the IQ. However, after o/c I beat my previous 9700 pro by over 1000 pts in 3dmark03 which is a big gain.

Did you think there was a diffrence in IQ?

diffrent AA algorhtihms or 2d iq? becaus that could be pritty much have to do with the output quality?

[5150 Joker]

Originally posted by GlowStick
Did you think there was a diffrence in IQ?

diffrent AA algorhtihms or 2d iq? becaus that could be pritty much have to do with the output quality?

Yes I definitely noticed a difference in both 2d and 3d IQ right away. The colors seemed more saturated than the 9700 pro and clarity overall was better. The AA algorithms are likely the same, it's probably a hardware tweak that ATi did that improves the quality of the output.

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Yea I agree on that one. Probably just a small tweak ATI did to improve overall IQ. Whatever they did, it worked. ;)

[The Baron]

Maybe a better VGA connector, similar to what caused poor output on some GF cards?

[GlowStick]

Yeah, they could be useing parts that provide a cleaner signal, since ati controls most of the production of the cards they choose what stuff to buy.

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Originally posted by The Baron
Maybe a better VGA connector, similar to what caused poor output on some GF cards?

I am using DVI, not VGA. ;)

[The Baron]

Originally posted by -=Gib-McFragger=-
I am using DVI, not VGA. ;)
Damn you, Marilyn Manson! ;)

[muzz]

Originally posted by The Baron
Maybe a better VGA connector, similar to what caused poor output on some GF cards?

I thought the issue was crappy RF filtering on some cards?
I saw some hacks to fix the issue years ago.