BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5900 $184.49

[metechjunkie]

Originally posted by: Naustica
I received call from Lawrence at GameVE. It seems my post at resellerratings.com got their attention. Seems the GameVE and BFG is in talks with each other trying to find out what's going on. He said BFG is shipping them special replacement shipment and it's intended to take care of some of the customers that are having problems with the card like myself. He offered to ship it out to me for free to replace my bad card but I told him I had already RMAed to BFG. He denied they are selling any used card. It seems this bad press has gotten both GameVE's and BFG's attention. If BFG doesn't resolve my problem with my card, I was assured by Lawrence that he would do what he could to correct it on his end. He also said GameVE doesn't charge any fee for replacing any defective item. He seems pretty frustrated with the bad press his company is getting from this fisasco. All in all I am satisfied that this is going to be resolved one way or another.

i went to resellerratings.com just to check out what you wrote and check gameve's rating and you were pretty nice compared to some of the other folks. it's interesting how many DOA video cards these guys are shipping. i agree with you...something is up with these guys. they ship way too many DOA video cards. also, that Lawrence guy flat out lied when he said "GameVE doesn't charge any fee for replacing any defective item". i read about six or pages of feedback at resellerratings and they do charge restocking and shipping fee for DOA and defective items.

jhlee

 

[pxc]

The A380 (5950U) BIOS does work with the BFG 5900NU VIVO. I just tested it with MS Movie Maker 2 and it works pretty well. Just find and install the vid_nvidia_capture_2.18.zip driver set. I can't find any reason to go back to the BFG BIOS anymore. VIVO was my only concern and it works.

 

[CaiNaM]

they've never even replied to may emails (gameve).

my card does work, however it came in an opened box, which according to bfg all boxes are shrinkwrapped at the manufacturer.

 

[Razorguts]

Originally posted by: emjem
And what did he say about using a Tshirt for packaging material?

Heh, I wonder what Lawrence from GameVE would say about this. It's really amazing how our thread has grown and grown into an issue that is garnering attention from GameVE to the point that they are being proactive and making calls to unsatisfied customers. Im very anxious to see what happens and how it all gets resovled.

And furthermore, I hope it is revealed who really is at fault here - GameVE or BFG?

 

[perry]

Originally posted by: RazorgutsAnd furthermore, I hope it is revealed who really is at fault here - GameVE or BFG?

How many manufs do you think keep defective, returned, open merchandise so close to new, sealed merchandise?

I do not believe that BFG got defective and new cards confused and then accidentally shipped them off to gameve.

And how come no one at gameve noticed that some of the cards they were shipping weren't shrink wrapped like the other cards?

I too forgot to mention the t-shirt packing material to Lawrence. But I made sure to send it back when I returned the card to them tonight. I used a box filled with packing peanuts, maybe I should drop gameve an email and tell em to look at that package and take notes

 

[nutDAVE3]

pxc

So you haven't had problems with the card at all? That's good to hear.

 

[howdyduty]

My GameVE BFG5900 was packed with t-shirt and retail box only. No peanuts. Also, the BFG box was not shrink-wrapped. Works ok though. Hmm.

 

[pxc]

Originally posted by: nutDAVE3
pxc

So you haven't had problems with the card at all? That's good to hear.

Nope, no problems at all. I'm very happy with this purchase. It has awesome performance for the price.

 

[acidwizard]

Perry, I'm not sure you care at this point, but when I called BFG, there was no mention of a $15 charge for an RMA. So if you want to exchange with them, you'd just be out shipping 1 way (which stil kinda sucks).

 

[zerodeefex]

dunno about everyone else, but enpc just raised their prices to $189. Just a heads up to those holding out for more price drops. Looks like the 171 they had was the all time low at that site.

 

[MattCoz]

prices are skyrocketing everywhere!

 

[metechjunkie]

Originally posted by: metechjunkie

Originally posted by: perry

Originally posted by: acidwizard
Can someone with the card let me know if there is any video bios information when your computer starts up? I think that I might have a card that someone previously flashed badly. Argh.
I did get an RMA number. Tech support was pretty good, not much waiting.

I don't see it on my card. But I don't see it with my GF 2 MX either. In fact, I don't even see the BIOS status screen where the memory and drives are detected. Hit power on the computer and the first screen I see is my LILO boot screen. Takes a couple seconds for the monitor to show an image. I'm not relying on the lack of video bios display as an indicator that my card is screwed up, YMM(will)V.

mine is the same way. no video info at all at initial boot screen. first screen i see is my cpu and memory info. my prior visiontek card showed video card info prior to this screen. i do remember sandra reporting a "??" for the manufacturer as well (i have NOT flashed with a different firmware). i'll check tonight if sandra is able to give me the bios rev #.

jhlee

just installed Coolbits and my defaults are:

2D
300 Core / 850 Memory

3D
400 Core/ 850 Memory

Also according sandra, i get the following, but no firmware rev #.

Windows Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900
OEM Device Name: Nvidia Corp ??? (0331)
OEM Hardware ID: FUN_0, VEN_10DE, DEV_0331, REV_A1
Revision: K / 2 (161)

not sure what all this means, but i hope it helps!

jhlee

 

[Ardy]

Just got my card from Newegg...Does appear to be factory sealed....doesn't show any signs of handling....but didn't come with COD and box had no sticker,yet when I placed my order it showed COD in the picture...I think that's why they took the pictures down.....don't know yet if I'll request it or not.Not like Newegg...

 

[pxc]

SiSoftware Sandra

Device Information
Device Type : VGA Video Adapter
Device ID : bus 1, device 0, function 0
Windows Device Name : NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
OEM Device Name : Nvidia Corp ??? (0333)
OEM Hardware ID : FUN_0, VEN_10DE, DEV_0333, REV_A1
Device Name : Leadtek Research ??? (0333)
Product ID : VEN_107D, DEV_2978
Revision : K / 2 (161)

Power Management Features
Version : 2.00
Supports Clock Slow-down : Yes
Supports D1 PM State : No
Supports D2 PM State : No
Supports PME# : No
Supports PME Clock : No

AGP Capabilities
Version : 3.00
Command Queue Length : 32
Fast-Writes Support : Yes
Over 4GB Addressing Support : No
Isochronous Mode Support : No
Addressing Support : 32-bit
Data Transfer Modes Support : 4x 8x

Device Capabilities
Latency Timer : 248 clk
I/O port resources : Yes
Memory resources : Yes
Bus Master Capable : Yes
Special Cycle Recognition : No
Memory Write & Invalidate : No
VGA Palette Snoop : No
Parity Error Response : No
Address/Data Stepping : No
System Error Line : No
Fast back-to-back Transactions : No
Detects Parity Errors : No
Supports System Error Line : No
Supports Parity Line : No
User Defined Format : No
66MHz Bus Support : Yes
New Capability List : Yes
Device Select Timing : Medium
Multi-Function Device : No
Header : 00
Interface : 00

Hardware Resources
Memory Range : FD000000
Memory Range : F0000000
Irq. No. : 16
INT Pin : A#
Dynamic Management : Yes

New default clocks:
Standard (2D) 300MHz/950MHz
Performance (3D) 475MHz/950MHz

overclocked to:
510MHz/980MHz (= 31.3GB/s bandwidth, 2.04ns speed, *only* an 8% overclock over 2.2ns rated speed)

 

[modedepe]

And furthermore, I hope it is revealed who really is at fault here - GameVE or BFG?

I don't see how it could be bfg. You'll notice that 90% of the cards that are doa came from gameve. Besides, somebody said they rma'd their card to gameve and ended up recieving the same one a few weeks later.

 

[Lanyap]

I ordered mine from NE. Here are some of the things I noted about packaging.

The shrink wrap on mine had several rows of tiny holes to allow breathing and prevent moisture buildup in the box. Most manufacturers use this method with their shrink wrap on video cards. You have to look at the shrink wrap at an angle under a good light to see the tiny holes. If you don't see the tiny holes then there is a good chance it was rewrapped by someone other than the manufacturer.

The power cable, video cable and DVI/VGA adapter were all in their own sealed plastic bag.

The card comes in an unsealed plastic clamshell case. Most video card manaufacturers use sealed or unsealed antistatic bags these days. The plastic clamshells were used a lot for video cards in "the old days" (e.g. Matrox 8MB Milleniums).

For those booting up and not seeing the video initialization messages, you might try doing a warm reboot (i.e. restart in Windows or CTRL_ALT_DEL under DOS) after you have been up and running for a few minutes and the monitor is warmed up. You have a better chance of seeing the video messages this way if it exists.

Too bad gameve decided to screw around and send what appears to be customer returns due to bad flashes. If it truly was BFG then shame on them.

 

[Lanyap]

Originally posted by: modedepe

And furthermore, I hope it is revealed who really is at fault here - GameVE or BFG?

I don't see how it could be bfg. You'll notice that 90% of the cards that are doa came from gameve. Besides, somebody said they rma'd their card to gameve and ended up recieving the same one a few weeks later.

I would suggest that people who are RMA'ing back to gameve or BFG use a small tip permanent black marker to put their initials and "AT" in a small inconspicuous place on the the PCB to allow other people here who may receive this card in a future to identify it as a return.

 

[HFC]

Originally posted by: perry
Got a message from Lawrence at gameve.com, and I called him back.

... Of those 27, 10 are problems like reported here -- stuff not working out of the box. He said he's getting 10 of them in on Friday, from BFG, for us 10 people.... .

I returned mine over ten days ago so this didn't JUST happened....

 

[metechjunkie]

Originally posted by: pxc
SiSoftware Sandra

Device Information
Device Type : VGA Video Adapter
Device ID : bus 1, device 0, function 0
Windows Device Name : NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
OEM Device Name : Nvidia Corp ??? (0333)
OEM Hardware ID : FUN_0, VEN_10DE, DEV_0333, REV_A1
Device Name : Leadtek Research ??? (0333)
Product ID : VEN_107D, DEV_2978
Revision : K / 2 (161)

New default clocks:
Standard (2D) 300MHz/950MHz
Performance (3D) 475MHz/950MHz

overclocked to:
510MHz/980MHz (= 31.3GB/s bandwidth, 2.04ns speed, *only* an 8% overclock over 2.2ns rated speed)

are you sure it's stable at this speed? try running 3dmark2001 se and see if you find any defects in the image or lockup. if it passes, compare the score vs not oc'd. if it doesn't lockup and passes, the score might be actually lower oc'd vs stock.

jhlee

 

[Baysurfer]

Has anyone bought their card from compuhq.com? Any good/bad experiences with them?

I was gonna buy from ENPC, but they jacked up their prices on this card to $189 :frown:

 

[pxc]

Originally posted by: metechjunkie
are you sure it's stable at this speed? try running 3dmark2001 se and see if you find any defects in the image or lockup. if it passes, compare the score vs not oc'd. if it doesn't lockup and passes, the score might be actually lower oc'd vs stock.

Yeah, I'm sure it's stable at that speed. That's not even the maximum speed it will run at, the core tests fine at higher speeds and I might try faster core clocks later. I don't have 3DMark2001SE installed anymore, but the score increased in 3DMark03 by more than 200 points over 475/950 default speed to a little short of 6400 points. I decreased the memory speed from 1.03GHz since that was giving artifacts. And I've also been playing several games, none lock up or have artifacts.

I'm not a n00b. I've been overclocking 3D cards for more than 5 years, since the Rendition V2100.

 

[Magelord]

I got mine from New Egg last eve and again, the Packaging was definately Factory... and again NO CoD GAME...

Well, i am still happy with the card.

The CD has Windows Blinds and some nice Skins.. I am using the BFG silver one...

Im wondering if Newegg would send CoD to me since it was pictured in the ad when I bought the card...

They do Have an OEM version CD for 29 bucs..
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=32-133-114&depa=0

 

[Bucksnort]

Lawrence at Gamevu sounds a bit like Baghdad Bob dosen't he? Could it be the same person?
For any of you that like me are waiting for Newegg to get the BFG back in stock I received this reply from BFG regarding if cod is still packaged:

This promotion has ended, so unless Newegg still had some in stock, the new stock they get will not have the CD bundled.


_________________________

Marketing Dept.
[BFG Technologies

And this is from Compuhq:
This item is full retail , unopened box. and it does not come with the Call of Duty game.

 

[ctk1981]

Checked some of the prices today. Early this morn most places still had it for 174-200 etc. GameVE is out of stock. ENPC has raised prices to 261.00. I went ahead and got mine from Comp-u-plus for 199.00 with 2nd day air shipping.

 

[docinthebox]

Originally posted by: Ctkelly
Checked some of the prices today. Early this morn most places still had it for 174-200 etc. GameVE is out of stock. ENPC has raised prices to 261.00. I went ahead and got mine from Comp-u-plus for 199.00 with 2nd day air shipping.

ENPC has it for $184.49:

link