It's a different card, brand new one, with the exact same issue. It hit 100C in less than a minute during the Furmark bench.
It took maybe two minutes in the GRID menu to hit 103C, & then worse in game.
Same exact little artifacts, stuttering/chugging as a result.
I messaged DC about getting a refund...but then i realized i am screwed, since the replacement card is a different serial number than what's on the box (BFG doesn't send new boxes).
So they will reject the refund i already know.
So i'm pretty much screwed.
I phoned BFG & sat on hold for about an hour...
But then i got the sweetest talking customer service girl on the phone lol.
I learned that my previous RMA was nothing more than a replacement.
They basically just sent a new one my way without checking anything. (hence why i got another bad one).
For this second RMA they are paying the shipping & it's going to the US somewhere where they will actually test the card & supposedly test the new one as well.
So i'll be without it for another couple weeks at least, & then i've got a great chance of getting another defective one back, since i doubt they will actually test my replacement.
There are people on nVnews who have gotten four cards bad so far, or others, three.
I pretty much expect to get another bad one back, but i'll keep sending them back.
I will very likely sell the first good one i get & replace it with a 4870 1 GB, as i really have no desire to support a company who cannot even attempt quality control.
Don't think that last comment refers to this fiasco only either.
There's the insanely massive issue with their notebook chipsets/mobile GPUs as well, not to mention their desktop chipsets that have been problematic at best in the last few years.
It's become pretty apparent they are working hard to cut every corner possible at the expense of reliable products.
Some will take that as n7 being biased, but rest assured, that's not the case.
Anyone who does any research will see the same thing i am right now.