BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5900 $184.49

[MattCoz]

It's been that low for a few days now, anyone know what they ship with the OEM cards? Does it come with all the cables? I was mainly wondering because at the bottom it says you can buy the DVi-to-VGA adapter for $7.

 

[rahdpsu]

this sounds like a good deal, will get

 

[Razorguts]

-UPDATE-

Got my BFG 5900FX from GameVE.com this afternoon (was ordered friday). Was a retail box, shrink-wrapped, included all accessories: molex splitter, DVI-VGA adaptor, VIVO Dongle, and also included Call of Duty. Also got a T-shirt, it's size large, colored white with Leadtek Graphics emblazoned on the back, and nVidia on the breast pocket.

Downloading new drivers as I write this, about to begin testing card - hopefully it isn't DOA...

The packaging sucked - only used the T-shirt for box stuffing. I used to work at FedEx and, believe me, these packages literally get thrown around quite a bit. Like I said, I'll update if it's DOA...

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: starknaked

Originally posted by: Zebo
GAmeVE is a piss poor operation.

Yes my card came dead yesterday but that's not my main issue with them... that can be fixed plus I have killer protection with my CC if not.


I'd like to talk about the card "deal" in general. No where on thier
site does it say OEM version and what I got was OEM. No shrink wrap and no
call of duty CD is the give away dispite having a retail box instead of
brown/white box. This is basically fraud on thier part. When a product is
listed on thier site a resonable customer expects full retail verions and
packageing unless specified OEM verion very clearly, as they seem to do with
many of thier other products. Newegg and every reputable site clearly lists OEM for OEM products.
Not them. "Lets not list anything and see if we get customers to bite" is thier attitude.

Third I'd like to talk about the shipping container. All it was was a fedex "LARGE"
box with no, I mean zero, packing material which left the boxed card about 10" to move
about freely. This is an aweful way of shipping and I hope it's addressed
and probably explains why my card is DOA.

Let you know on monday what they say to these issues.

Hey, question for you. Mine came the same way, in a retail box, but not shrink wrapped. Why do you consider that to not be the retail version? It has the box, all the materials, the only thing it is missing is the shrink wrapping. As for the packaging, lucky for me, I guess, I had a tshirt in the box which was big enough to serve as packing material, it took up most of the empty space in the box.

(and why is it missing the shrink wrapping, anyway?)

According to BFG, whom I called, a retail version of this cards will have 1) a triangular yellow sticker over the heat sink 2) Shrink wrap 3) COD.

I knew my card was a return and/or non-retail because not only did it have none of these things...The PCB was warped and BFG said they would never release such a product oem or retail and was obviously done by an end user.

 

[docinthebox]

Just got my BFG FX 5900 I ordered from gameve on Sunday night. It was shipped out on Monday evening and arrived now (Wed noon; I'm in SF Bay Area). Not bad for the free Fedex express saver shipping.

Got a shrink wrapped retail box with COD sticker on the box!!! I haven't opened it yet but everything looks really good. BTW, same thing, they used the T-shirt as packing stuffing. The T-shirt I got was a L-size black shirt with the ATI logo on the front left, and RADEON 9200SE on the back. Pretty nice shirt. Personally I don't care for the Radeon 9200SE but the shirt looks nice - what the heck.

So I'm a happy camper for now.

It seems that gameve is kinda hit and miss in that they occasionally would send you an item returned from another customer as new. If anyone from gameve is reading this forum, I think what they need is a "Refurbished" section on their website (like Newegg) for them to get rid of returned items, instead of sending returned items as new items to customers and pissing them off. The restocking fee they charged should help cover for the administrative and handling expenses.

Anyway, gameve should get a positive review from me on resellerratings pretty soon.

 

[ponyo]

Hope your card works. I received mine today and was defective. Yes it was shrink wrapped retail with COD.

 

[WebDude]

Well I got mine early from GameVE. It was shrink-wrapped, yellow sticker, but NO COD. It's definitely retail, so I guess they shipped some out at first with no CD inside. Just my luck to get one of them. :frown:

 

[docinthebox]

Okay I installed the card and only the analog (VGA) output works, the DVI output does not work. When I turn on the computer, if I'm in DVI mode, I get no output. However, the strange thing is, if I have both connectors on, once I boot into Windows, then the DVI output works (display properties treats it as a second monitor).

Also, the video capture doesn't seem to work, even though it came with the VIVO cable. I installed the latest Nvidia WDM driver and DScaler complains that my video card does not support overlay. My old Ti4200 works fine with DScaler.

I called BFG Support and they said that they charge $15 shipping for RMA. But I should get a replacement card back within 48 hours of their receipt of the card. I'm debating whether to go through gameve or BFG.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: docinthebox
Okay I installed the card and only the analog (VGA) output works, the DVI output does not work. When I turn on the computer, if I'm in DVI mode, I get no output. However, the strange thing is, if I have both connectors on, once I boot into Windows, then the DVI output works (display properties treats it as a second monitor).

Also, the video capture doesn't seem to work, even though it came with the VIVO cable. I installed the latest Nvidia WDM driver and DScaler complains that my video card does not support overlay. My old Ti4200 works fine with DScaler.

I called BFG Support and they said that they charge $15 shipping for RMA. But I should get a replacement card back within 48 hours of their receipt of the card. I'm debating whether to go through gameve or BFG.

It sounds like your card was victim of failed 5950 bios flash. People have reported that you lose VIVO capability of the card once you flash it. I have a funny feeling that all these cards from GameVE were returns from bad flash and the company simply shrinkwrapped it again as new and sold these cards again. I have no way to prove this but it's my guess.

Also about $15 shipping for RMA, I would contact BFG again and speak with another person. I sent my card for RMA today and the tech person I spoke with didn't mention anything about that.

 

[m00n]

order'd mine on 1/31/04, got it today and dead ,(severe) atrifacting just posting on my AN7 bios screen, wont even go into windows.......
BFG is kik ass tho they shipping me a replacement. so i would say STAY AWAY from gameVE.COM!!!!!!!!!!!
IMHO opinion........STAY AWAY from gameVE =[.......... from reading here this last batch waz BUNK or returns from flash's gone BAD . Thank god for BFG's excellent service tho

 

[dirtrat]

What is going on with all of these BAD cards? Are these only cards from gameve.com ?

Originally posted by: m00n
order'd mine on 1/31/04, got it today and dead ,(severe) atrifacting just posting on my AN7 bios screen, wont even go into windows.......
BFG is kik ass tho they shipping me a replacement. so i would say STAY AWAY from gameVE.COM!!!!!!!!!!!
IMHO opinion........STAY AWAY from gameVE =[.......... from reading here this last batch waz BUNK or returns from flash's gone BAD . Thank god for BFG's excellent service tho

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: m00n
order'd mine on 1/31/04, got it today and dead ,(severe) atrifacting just posting on my AN7 bios screen, wont even go into windows.......
BFG is kik ass tho they shipping me a replacement. so i would say STAY AWAY from gameVE.COM!!!!!!!!!!!
IMHO opinion........STAY AWAY from gameVE =[.......... from reading here this last batch waz BUNK or returns from flash's gone BAD . Thank god for BFG's excellent service tho

That's the exact same error I got with my card from GameVE. Something is definitely fishy.

 

[perry]

Ordered last Friday from gameve, got it today. Bad card. Get terrible pixelation when I try to play a game or run 3DMark. My card wasn't shrink wrapped. No CoD. Bah. Having a friend fax my "receipt" to BFG tomorrow, then gotta call em up and get an RMA number. They said they'll want $15, I think I'll try mentioning all the bad cards from this certain vendor when I call, see if I can't get em to waive that charge.

Packaging was the large FedEx box with the t-shirt inside -- NVIDIA w/ Leadtek graphics. Size Large, which doesn't fit me.

FWIW, manuf date on my card is 01/07/2003!!! Over a year! No triangular yellow sticker. No shrink wrap. No CoD.

 

[ponyo]

Unbelievable. I think BFG needs to investigate these RMA cards from GameVE and see if these cards have been flashed.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: Naustica
Unbelievable. I think BFG needs to investigate these RMA cards from GameVE and see if these cards have been flashed.

Would make sense for them to do so.
And I PRAY that all of your with bad cards from GameVE are crucifying them on resllerratings. and if they have "reiviews" for the items youre doing it there right there on their site too.

newegg.com or bust!

 

[MattCoz]

xtreme gear just bumped the price up from 155 to 167, ouch

 

[Razorguts]

Regarding the GameVE cards: mine was shrinked wrapped, with CoD, etc., everything had the marks of being "retail", in fact on my invoice it clearly denotes RETAIL. Note that on the website when ordering, it says nothing (doesnt say retail nor OEM).

However, when first installing, etc., I was tinkering and gonna OC it with powerstrip. What's strange is the core clock was defaulting to 300 instead of the stock 400MHz, though the RAM was 850 (where it should be). I found that it was due to the memory timing also defaulting to "standard", though when I set it to "performance", the core clock went up to 400, ram 850 same. I did OC it to an impressive 475/950, and it netted me an additional 700marks in 3dmark2k3. Seemed stable. But everytime I boot my system, it defaults to the 300/850... very frustrating. I alsop havent checked if the DVI out is fried or not... I'm strictly a gamer with no LCD, so honestly it wouldn't bother me... But knowing that this card could have possibly been sold, flashed/fried, returned, then re-sold, that pisses me a little.

** Here's something that may be a clue if it's a return - did anyone's card actually come sealed in a static-protect bag? Mine was just "sandwiched" between the inner-box plastic. Looks like it may be that way intentionally, but almost all PCBs Ive bought come in the anti static bags.

Any ideas? Yep, sounds like GameVE is up to no good... Let's storm resellerratings and overwhelm them with bad reviews. We should at least do this much for getting that free T-shirt

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: Razorguts

** Here's something that may be a clue if it's a return - did anyone's card actually come sealed in a static-protect bag? Mine was just "sandwiched" between the inner-box plastic. Looks like it may be that way intentionally, but almost all PCBs Ive bought come in the anti static bags.

Mine also came just "sandwiched" between inner-box plastic with no anti static bag. I'm told the card should had plastic cover over the heatsink. Mine did not. Did yours have it?

I'm having mine RMA by BFG themselves. I don't want another DOA card from GameVE which I'm sure I'll get if I RMA to them and pay their crappy RMA fee on defective item. What kind of company charges fee to exchange defective item? :disgust:

I hope BFG investigates GameVE because they are potentially ruining their reputation.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Razorguts
Regarding the GameVE cards: mine was shrinked wrapped, with CoD, etc., everything had the marks of being "retail", in fact on my invoice it clearly denotes RETAIL. Note that on the website when ordering, it says nothing (doesnt say retail nor OEM).

However, when first installing, etc., I was tinkering and gonna OC it with powerstrip. What's strange is the core clock was defaulting to 300 instead of the stock 400MHz, though the RAM was 850 (where it should be). I found that it was due to the memory timing also defaulting to "standard", though when I set it to "performance", the core clock went up to 400, ram 850 same. I did OC it to an impressive 475/950, and it netted me an additional 700marks in 3dmark2k3. Seemed stable. But everytime I boot my system, it defaults to the 300/850... very frustrating. I alsop havent checked if the DVI out is fried or not... I'm strictly a gamer with no LCD, so honestly it wouldn't bother me... But knowing that this card could have possibly been sold, flashed/fried, returned, then re-sold, that pisses me a little.

** Here's something that may be a clue if it's a return - did anyone's card actually come sealed in a static-protect bag? Mine was just "sandwiched" between the inner-box plastic. Looks like it may be that way intentionally, but almost all PCBs Ive bought come in the anti static bags.

Any ideas? Yep, sounds like GameVE is up to no good... Let's storm resellerratings and overwhelm them with bad reviews. We should at least do this much for getting that free T-shirt

I will say the BFG's ive bought retail from BB never come with anti static. One was a 5700ultra for my son the other a 5800 which had some noise problems and when this "deal" poped up I returned it.

---------

OK folks I got my second DOA card from GAMEVE this afternoon. At least this one boots to BIOS screen but gives vertical lines on the screen in sets two, each running the length of the screen. Each two sets of lines are spaced about 2" apart then they repeat. The card causes windows to reboot during loading.

I inspected this card VERY carefully before and during unpacking. Again it's a return I feel. While the card had shrink wrap, it did'nt look factory. Very loose on the corners as one would expect from a smaller consumer level shrink wrap instrument. It came with the COD, again shrink wrap looked home made but still wraped. NO YELLOW TRIANGUALR sticker over the heat sink. and there were greese finger prints on both the bottom and top (size of thumb and finger repectivly) of the chrome heat sink. I don't know what kind of scam they are pulling but I given them a chance with this card. Now it's off fedex to return both cards and take it up with CC company.

I would pay 20 more from newegg after this fiasco.

 

[Razorguts]

This yellow triangular sticker that is supposedly on the "true" retail BFG cards - what does the sticker say? Is it attached to the heatsink side, or PCB side?

Also, you think anyone returning the card would also return their included copy of CoD? Someone recently said their CoD was shrinkwrapped, albeit a "suspect" wrap job (possibly a return wrapped by el-cheapo wrapper at GameVE?). My CoD was wrapped as well, in fact I just opened it to check for fingerprints or other signs of previous ownership, but saw none - Both CDs were seated firmly in the case, felt like a brand new CD does when pulling it out.

----

Lastly, and I thank you in advance for lending me your ears - if we can indeed uncover some foul play with GameVE (whatever that foul play is), it might be worth a shot to contact MaximumPC and their WatchDog column because this is *exactly* the type of fraudulent business practice they scout. We've got enough posts on this thread to sift through and compile something very worthwhile.

 

[metechjunkie]

Originally posted by: Razorguts
This yellow triangular sticker that is supposedly on the "true" retail BFG cards - what does the sticker say? Is it attached to the heatsink side, or PCB side?

i bought mine at fry's with CoD for $199. I was going to return it when i saw this deal, but after reading all the "hit & misses" decided to keep it. just installed and no problems...haven't try OC yet.

The yellow sticker says "CAUTION PLEASE REMOVE THIS PROTECTIVE COVER BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT!". the sticker is actually on a clear plastic over which surrounds the heatsink and the fans (front side of the card). i really don't think it matters if had this or not.

As for CoD, yes it does come shrink wrapped. you should be able to tell if it's wrapped by the retailer since mine is wrapped like a music CD (like those very smooth plastic that's difficult to open without a knife or something sharp). if it's the heat gun plastic wrap type, then most likely it was re-wrapped by the retailer. the wrap i got was folded at the spine (where the title of CD usually goes).

the DVI to VGA converter, power splitter, and the doggle should have come in a sealed plastic bags. and lastly, the paper cd sleeve for the driver should be sealed, whereas the videostudio 7 sleeve is not.

hope this helps.
jhlee

 

[ponyo]

Metechjunkie,

Thx for the info on your card. Mine did not come with yellow sticker or plastic cover over heatsink. The paper cd sleeve for the driver was not sealed also. My shrinkwrap on the box is cheap loose kind and not like the hard tight shrinkwrap I usually get with other products. I have no doubt that GameVE is repackaging returned defective merchandise and selling as NEW. I've already wrote a review at Resellerratings.com. Everyone, please stay away from GameVE.com. It's not worth it.

 

[acidwizard]

I'm having problems with my BFG 5900 similar to docinthebox. No DVI output, VGA output is somewhat scrambled with vertical lines. There's also no video bios info when starting up. Windows XP doesn't seem to recognize the card and I get a blue screen shortly after I log in. Also, somehow the card screws up lilo (dual-booting with linux).
I bought this card from newegg - unfortunately it didn't come with CoD. Guess I'll try it in my other computer in the morning. I really don't want to RMA it, as I think paying $15 for BFG to fix the card I just bought is just ridiculous.

 

[metechjunkie]

btw, what's the easiest way to check my core & memory speeds? i loaded the latest forceware from nvidia's website and it doesn't diplay it. or is there one included in bfg driver cd (which i didn't bother even opening).

jhlee

 

[Razorguts]

Originally posted by: metechjunkie
btw, what's the easiest way to check my core & memory speeds? i loaded the latest forceware from nvidia's website and it doesn't diplay it. or is there one included in bfg driver cd (which i didn't bother even opening).

jhlee

Well, you can use powerstrip. It has lots of utilities, but I use it to OC the card. Once you're in powerstrip, go to Performance Profiles, then Configure... it should default to the stock core/mem clocks, but as I stated in an earlier post, mine defaults to 300 instead of 400 for the core, the mem seems OK, defaults 850 which is stock...

I also tried SiSoft Sandra to give me a profile of core/mem, but to no avail...

I do recall the older nVidia drivers letting you tweak these same settings, but I also havent found these settings in the new forceware drivers...