YMMV - ATI Atlantis Radeon 9500 128MB Video Card w/TV-Out & DVI by SapphireTech -- 162.99 @ GoogleGear

[Finalnight]

mine is scheduled to arrive I monday, should I refuse shipment?

PS: I wish I had known about all-star shop before.

 

[vlad]

I read this thread and ordered from allstarshop. Card arrived today - red PCB, L memory. I put it in, softmodded it, and it was recognized as a 9700 with no problem. However, there are artifacts, and the system has frozen a few times. I browsed the forums that are frequented by Unwinder (the guy who wrote the RivaTuner softmodder). It helps being Russian, like the guys who discovered the mod in the first place Anyway, it seems that if you're getting artifacts, this is because the newly "activated" pixel pipelines just are not functioning correctly, and no amount of software tweaking (drivers, other mods, BIOS) will help you. So I guess I'll pay the $15 restocking and wait for another good deal.

 

[Finalnight]

So Should I:
A: Refuse Shipment
B: Accept Shipment

If I go with B and it is a black should I:
A: Return it
B: Mod it to 9500 Pro

 

[elanarchist]

Finalnight, doubt you'll have much luck modding it into a 9500 pro. Doesn't seem like the black one mods very well at all.

 

[Chu]

Originally posted by: Finalnight
So Should I:
A: Refuse Shipment
B: Accept Shipment

If I go with B and it is a black should I:
A: Return it
B: Mod it to 9500 Pro

Just called googlegear.com about this. Instead of just asking about my specific card, I asked if they still had the red pcb in stock. The answer was yes. When I asked them why I got a black one instead, they sure did backtrack in a hurry :|

-Chu

 

[Finalnight]

better go with allstarshop then, because I heard even if you dont get a Red that is moddable, they overclock like crazy.

 

[elanarchist]

Just called googlegear.com about this. Instead of just asking about my specific card, I asked if they still had the red pcb in stock. The answer was yes. When I asked them why I got a black one instead, they sure did backtrack in a hurry

Whats up with this? Can you explain further? Are they cherry-picking cards to send out to people, as in, the people who called get the red one and those who don't get the black one? Thats messed up beyond belief!

Edit: (10 minutes later after above post)
Ok, called googlegear again. Spoke to someone in the sales department about red PCB, said that it should be no problem. Pulled the same trick and asked why I got the black one, lady abruptly transfered me over to the returns department. CSR there said that he would have to talk to the manager about replacing the board. Crossing my fingers that I can get it all worked out.

 

[Chu]

Originally posted by: elanarchist

Just called googlegear.com about this. Instead of just asking about my specific card, I asked if they still had the red pcb in stock. The answer was yes. When I asked them why I got a black one instead, they sure did backtrack in a hurry

Whats up with this? Can you explain further? Are they cherry-picking cards to send out to people, as in, the people who called get the red one and those who don't get the black one? Thats messed up beyond belief!

The actuial conversation was something like this:

Me: I'm intereted in part # <whatever>. Do you know if this board has a red pcb or black pcb?

CS: Yes, this is/should be the red PCB model (the answer was a DEFINATE yes the last time I called, this time it was should be).

Me: Well, I ordered one on friday, and <insert story of last call /w red gaurentee here>, so why did I recieve a black one?

CS: Well, it is our policy not to gaurentee specific version, etc . . .

Next call was to the RMA department. Apparently, they didn't get the memo about the red vs. black issue, because their first question was "so the only difference is the color?." When I started to explain why people care about the color, he thought I was talking about overclocking before I clarified a bit more about exactly what the soft mod involved.

Needless to say, the RMA department dit NOT get the memo . . .

-Chu

 

[Finalnight]

yeah, because softmod is a driver tweak and technically shouldnt void the warranty.

 

[Allen7]

Originally posted by: Finalnight
yeah, because softmod is a driver tweak and technically shouldnt void the warranty.

LOL, warranty for what??? A 9700 performance card with a $160 price tag??? If the software mod doesn't work it's defective?? Get really kids.

This card was like $150 2 months ago when the Russian site first introduced the hardware mod. And now $162.99 is a hot deal Don't expect to get any more then what you paid for. If you got it to work, great. If you don't, too bad. That's how much you paid for.

 

[Chu]

Originally posted by: Allen7

Originally posted by: Finalnight
yeah, because softmod is a driver tweak and technically shouldnt void the warranty.

LOL, warranty for what??? A 9700 performance card with a $160 price tag??? If the software mod doesn't work it's defective?? Get really kids.

This card was like $150 2 months ago when the Russian site first introduced the hardware mod. And now $162.99 is a hot deal Don't expect to get any more then what you paid for. If you got it to work, great. If you don't, too bad. That's how much you paid for.

I really don't want to turn this into a flame war, but if you read the post I made a while up when I finally deicded to purchase this, I basically said that if the soft mod did not work, oh well, my problem.

What happened though is they advertised they had one product (I asked specifically about the red pcb)-- and sent me another (black pcb). This has nothing to do with warranty.

-Chu

 

[Finalnight]

yeah, if you order a case full of cherry coke and I send you lemon lime, how would you like it if I just said tough luck kids, its just the flavor. and you misinterpreted my post as well, I meant that the CSR who was calling it "overclocking" is incorrect.

PS Thread orginator should mark this as dead.

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: elanarchist

Just called googlegear.com about this. Instead of just asking about my specific card, I asked if they still had the red pcb in stock. The answer was yes. When I asked them why I got a black one instead, they sure did backtrack in a hurry

Whats up with this? Can you explain further? Are they cherry-picking cards to send out to people, as in, the people who called get the red one and those who don't get the black one? Thats messed up beyond belief!

Edit: (10 minutes later after above post)
Ok, called googlegear again. Spoke to someone in the sales department about red PCB, said that it should be no problem. Pulled the same trick and asked why I got the black one, lady abruptly transfered me over to the returns department. CSR there said that he would have to talk to the manager about replacing the board. Crossing my fingers that I can get it all worked out.

Well, haven't received a phone call yet. Called them up again, they said to wait until Monday. Can't say I'm all that optimistic now about getting the product I ordered.

 

[przero]

I got a black one. Can it be modded to 9500 Pro? CSR said it was a known issue they were working on at the present time. I told her I called and was told they were red boards prior to ordering the board. They are supposed to e-mail solution on Monday. But if this will mod to a 9500 Pro, i may save the $24.45 restocking fee and keep it. Any ideas?

 

[przero]

Shoulda' used NewEgg!

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: przero
I got a black one. Can it be modded to 9500 Pro? CSR said it was a known issue they were working on at the present time. I told her I called and was told they were red boards prior to ordering the board. They are supposed to e-mail solution on Monday. But if this will mod to a 9500 Pro, i may save the $24.45 restocking fee and keep it. Any ideas?

Its possible to mod it a 9500 pro, but don't count on it. Try the site here and download their hacked version of the ATI drivers. The drivers basically enable 4 extra rendering pipelines like there are in the 9500 pro and 9700. But, its not guaranteed to work. Much better to complain like I am trying to do to try to get the red PCB one which will definetly take the 128 bit ---> 256 bit memory bus hack (doubles memory bandwidth) and which may also take the 4 to 8 pipelines hack. That way, at least if you don't get the 4 extra pipelines you at least are guaranteed the extra memory bandwidth.

 

[przero]

Thanks for the link. I am complaining too, but I don't know if it's worth $25.00 to RMA if they don't offer a Red board.

 

[Finalnight]

Looks like I am gonna be getting a black one I guess, oh well, looks like I will be joining in pushing for that "solution".

I will either ask them for a "free" rma if it is not capable of any mod, or I will ask them to give me a heavy discount on the board if I am successfully able to mod it to 9500 Pro. Either way, they is gonna pay.
Btw, what did you guys tell them when you called them.

 

[przero]

That I got a black board, when in fact I had called immediately prior to ordering and was assured I would get a Red board.

 

[Finalnight]

and they said? sorry if I am bugging you, I am trying to gather as much info as possible (going into war mode).

 

[przero]

CSR said it was a known issue they were working on at the present time. Her supervisor was not in today, but they are supposed to e-mail solution on Monday.

 

[przero]

before you go into war mode see if you get a red one. Then be nice to the CSR/RMA personand try to plead for concessions. Matbe if we all try we can salvage a workable solution. i'm gonna see if mine hack into a 9500 PRO.

 

[Finalnight]

Well, there are three ways I can end up happy (in order of preference):
1. Red board that mods into a r9700 with no artifacts
2. Black board that mods into a r9500pro with no artifacts
3. discount or hassle-free rma

 

[przero]

How much discount you got in mind?

 

[Finalnight]

well, if its a radeon 9500 that is completely unmoddable and overclocks bad then probably 15% which equals $25 but I will have to see how it works in my system, if it is too slow then I would want a free rma.
if it overclocks somewhat (10-15% overclock) then 10% which equals $16
if it overclocks heavily (as some have been known to, ie 15-25%) then 5% which equals $8 or some coupon of some sorts (maybe some free software, i dunno)
if it mods to a 9500 with no artifacts then I don't need anything, and will be quite content
if it mods to a 9700 they are getting super high marks from me on resellerratings and bizrate

PS were you able to hack it?