XFX HD 5870 not living up to it's advertised speed. What should I do?

[HeXploiT]

I bought the XFX Radeon HD 5870 XXX Edition (overclocked version of the 5870) 3-4 months back and because of the now infamous locking/stripes problem I've had it clocked down that entire time from 875/1300 to 825/1225 because it simply cannot handle the factory overclock.

I've been hesitant to RMA because from my location it would probably take a couple weeks or more for the entire process.

SO....

I have two ideas now.

Should I ONE:

RMA the card.

Or B:

Flash this card to the vanilla version of the XFX 5870 and sell it as such.

Which sounds like a better idea?

 

[CitanUzuki]

RMA man! When you pay good money for something it should work.

 

[MagickMan]

RMA, for sure.

 

[Rifter]

RMA before they run out of stock and you end up getting screwed like everyone who has tried to return a 4890 OC XFX card.

 

[toyota]

RMA for sure

 

[whitesammy]

sucks to hear that happened. what was causing the power strip problem? im interested in where this ends up.

i think there's a XFX warehouse in Cali and could take at least a week or maybe even more for you to get back your card. hope you have a spare.

Good Luck OP

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

They might have an advanced RMA process where you pay for a pre-shipped card and when they recieve your RMA they refund the money/credit.

RMA though. I am in the middle of one now with an EVGA Classified 760 A1

 

[zerogear]

RMA - I had the same problem as you, RMA it and get a brand spankin' new XXX edition.

 

[HeXploiT]

Alright looks like I'll RMA.

 

[KIAman]

I would plead to XFX that because of your location, you want your RMA cross-shipped so as to minimize your downtime.

I've done a cross-ship before with EVGA and they wanted a deposit which gets refunded once the card reached their doors.

 

[HeXploiT]

I would plead to XFX that because of your location, you want your RMA cross-shipped so as to minimize your downtime.

I've done a cross-ship before with EVGA and they wanted a deposit which gets refunded once the card reached their doors.

I'll try that thank you.

 

[ArchAngel777]

RMA - I had the same problem as you, RMA it and get a brand spankin' new XXX edition.

Very rarely will an RMA result in a brand new replacement. You will end up getting someone else's card that the RMA department was unable to duplicate for said problem.

 

[tweakboy]

Yes they do have RMA in Los Angeles...

 

[Bateluer]

I'd RMA as well. It was advertised with certain features, and you're not getting them.

 

[nemesismk2]

Very rarely will an RMA result in a brand new replacement. You will end up getting someone else's card that the RMA department was unable to duplicate for said problem.

When I have used RMA I have always had a brand new replacement not something which has been used. Have never had to RMA anything XFX related so is that XFX type of RMA?

Another vote for RMA it

 

[HeXploiT]

Well RMA'd it and xfx declared it as faulty. They sent me "something" via fedex yesterday. Let's hope it's the updated version of the card. Should have it in a week. Good thing I'm only playing Left4Dead 2 and Rome Total War now. Both seem to be playable on my 8600GT.

 

[HeXploiT]

Well it took some time but I finally received my RMA back from XFX. The box was standard and had all the accessories minus a game but the card did not look new although it's in excellent shape. Something strange though. XFX replaced the XXX version of the card with a newer XXX version but the clocks on the overclocked version of the card are supposed to be 875/1250(stock is 850/1200) and mine is set to 900/1250. I have seen no other XFX 5870 card with the core set to 900. It's almost as if someone individually set this card higher at the factory. Strange. Should be fun to see how far I can push it. Way to go XFX.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Well it took some time but I finally received my RMA back from XFX. The box was standard and had all the accessories minus a game but the card did not look new although it's in excellent shape. Something strange though. XFX replaced the XXX version of the card with a newer XXX version but the clocks on the overclocked version of the card are supposed to be 875/1250(stock is 850/1200) and mine is set to 900/1250. I have seen no other XFX 5870 card with the core set to 900. It's almost as if someone individually set this card higher at the factory. Strange. Should be fun to see how far I can push it. Way to go XFX.

Black Edition like this?

http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/reviews/reviews/xfx-hd-5870-black-edition-tested

Sounds like a nice little upgrade for free... score!

 

[HeXploiT]

Black Edition like this?

http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/reviews/reviews/xfx-hd-5870-black-edition-tested

Sounds like a nice little upgrade for free... score!

Don't think so. The fan on my card is on the back as apposed to centered.

 

[overclocking101]

yep rma, for sure, tell them straight up if you get the second card ad it has the stripe issue you wont buy XFX again. you spent good money (REAL good money considering how much they are) on that card and its absurd to have to clock it down. now the issue is something to do with the drivers apparently but who knows ati may fix it but at what cost?? slow running games?? one game works another doesnt??

 

[faxon]

That's a ref design cooler, the ref actually cools a lot better. My non ref cards need their fans run 10% higher to hit the same temps as ref design, have two of each all stock clock. The ref design cards tend to OC better and you can also flash em to MSI bios to use afterburner with em if you really want to push the clocks

 

[faxon]

Acording to shmee, his ref cooler XXX is supposed to be 875, bit it also came with 900 default clock, apparently they're sending out newer ones with higher clocks. Says his is doing 950 with a slight voltage adjust using RBE tool from guru 3D

 

[MJinZ]

I had 2x Reference XXX cards and both ran just fine at stock (overclocked) clocks.

 

[ew915]

Ref cards FTW man i wouldn't trade my ref card for one of the new ones specially i can adjust the vcore via software.
I've done 1050mhz under water easy

 

[MagickMan]

Yeah, ref is the way to go. 2x5850s @1000/1300.