Since I'm in the market to get a new high-end Radeon, I've been looking at the offerings on Newegg and what I see has been disturbing. Without going all long-winded, I've seen reported failure rates as high as 50%. XFX is by far the worst offender of DOA and quickly-defective cards. Their "Double D" series of reg and ghz edition 7970s had reported failures at 44 and 50 percent respectively. Gigabyte's GV-R797To-3GD Radeon 7970 Ghz Ed 3GB had 13% of customers report defective cards while ASUS' plain old 7970 saw 39% of customers who wrote a review report a failure.
This is not an exhaustive study. Most of the 7970s I saw for sale (in stock or not) had an average 4-egg review score. And happy customers don't write reviews as often as unhappy ones (it's just human nature). So a study like this doesn't reveal comprehensive truth. It just gives a snapshot.
I almost feel compelled to spend $39 on an extended warranty. Is this just the way things go in graphics cards or are things bad in Radeon land? One thing I would say, at least for Radeon 7000-series cards is stay away from XFX!! They may offer lifetime warranties but that doesn't do you a bit of good if you get multiple cards in a row DOA!
This is not an exhaustive study. Most of the 7970s I saw for sale (in stock or not) had an average 4-egg review score. And happy customers don't write reviews as often as unhappy ones (it's just human nature). So a study like this doesn't reveal comprehensive truth. It just gives a snapshot.
I almost feel compelled to spend $39 on an extended warranty. Is this just the way things go in graphics cards or are things bad in Radeon land? One thing I would say, at least for Radeon 7000-series cards is stay away from XFX!! They may offer lifetime warranties but that doesn't do you a bit of good if you get multiple cards in a row DOA!