Even As Graphics Card Prices Skyrocket, Build Quality on the Decline?

[btarunr]

So you finally fork out four-figures for a performance-segment graphics card that had a $350 predecessor a couple of generations ago, and what do you find? Misaligned thermal pads, poorly installed cooling, and other build quality flaws. Reddit and other social media platforms show a noticeable increase in people with fairly premium graphics cards that have manufacturing defects that can lower the product life. One such user, kamaloo92, posted pictures of an ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti OC with a missing block of thermal pads over a row of memory chips. GDDR6X chips are capable of heating in the high-90s Celsius, and a poorly cooled block of memory can cause artifacting in the long run. This, from a company that prides itself in its manufacturing standards.

Another horror story comes from obamaprism3, who posted pictures of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition with a poorly installed memory thermal pad that was so placed so far off, that it overlapped with the cooler's main base, posing severe risk of overheating and performance loss to the GPU. Staying with Founders Edition, a user named antonyjeweet discovered a worker's finger cot stuck under a memory thermal pad of their insanely expensive RTX 3090 Founders Edition card. Recently, we did the story of a PowerColor RX 6700 XT with protective film over thermal pads still in place.



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[eidairaman1]

Evga with bad solder as well...

 

[Hyderz]

well the graphics cards are selling like hot cakes... at a really high price, i think the manufacturers dont really care about a few gpu that is badly made...
with this amount sold they can cover it up

 

[Deleted member 185088]

One issue could be trying to satisfy the demand, those issues seem to be mistakes rather than an effort to reduce costs, maybe a consequence of pushing workers much more than usual.

 

[maxfly]

One issue could be trying to satisfy the demand, those issues seem to be mistakes rather than an effort to reduce costs, maybe a consequence of pushing workers much more than usual.

I agree. I wonder what the average production schedule looks like right now? 3 shifts, 24/7 is my assumption.

 

[Tardian]

A finger cot is a medical device used to cover one or more fingers in situations where a full glove seems unnecessary. ... A toe protector or toe cap is very similar, but shorter and of greater diameter.

Finger cot - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I am waiting for the latter to crop up.

 

[Marshal_90]

live broadcast from a GPU manufacturer factory:

Charlie Chaplin - Factory Scene - Modern Times (1936) - YouTube

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

well, I am even more fortunate to have a GPU that doesn't have these problems while paying at its MSRP. a big fat L to those who bought these batches of GPUs while paying 50-100% more over MSRP.

 

[watzupken]

I don't think the price of the GPUs has anything to do with quality here. Rather, manufacturers may be trying to produce GPUs at top speed and less people due to COVID measures. So when you are overworked over a prolong period of time, quality issues like this happens. And to be honest, I don't think the number is that high to be of concern. Even in normal circumstances, products with poor QC can also "escape".

 

[Haile Selassie]

 

[Adrian Andrzejewski]

These are the consequences of exploiting workers in factories. They are overworked, tired and therefore make human mistakes.

 

[katzi]

These are the consequences of exploiting workers in factories. They are overworked, tired and therefore make human mistakes.

I came here to say this, I am glad someone else did too.

I really do genuinely feel for all the factory workers being worked raw to the bone to pump out GPUs and other hardware. Mistakes happen, to err is to human.

 

[Tardian]

I came here to say this, I am glad someone else did too.

I really do genuinely feel for all the factory workers being worked raw to the bone to pump out GPUs and other hardware. Mistakes happen, to err is to human.

In my case, it is cosmic rays.

 

[zlobby]

 

[TheUn4seen]

At times like this it's all about quantity, not quality.

 

[Rithsom]

If you can help it, avoid buying anything that is short in supply. Not only would you save money by not buying in a time when scalper prices prevail, you would also avoid getting a rushed product with likely quality issues. Not contributing to long hours for line workers is another benefit.

 

[BSim500]

Even before shortages, "Premium" brands stopped being an indicator of build quality years ago. I saw quite a few EVGA 1060 / 1070 / 1080s with bad VRM cooling (for the sake of a $0.10 thermal pad). At the same time I saw "budget" brands like KFA2 / Galax with full coverage (every VRM + VRAM) pads under the heatsink down to and including even the lowly GTX 1050 2GB, despite the latter not really needing it.

 

[Raven Rampkin]

Welcome to 2013.

 

[Red392]

Even before shortages, "Premium" brands stopped being an indicator of build quality years ago. I saw quite a few EVGA 1060 / 1070 / 1080s with bad VRM cooling (for the sake of a $0.10 thermal pad). At the same time I saw "budget" brands like KFA2 / Galax with full coverage (every VRM + VRAM) pads under the heatsink down to and including even the lowly GTX 1050 2GB, despite the latter not really needing it.

Damn! A tencent thermal pad?! They really own everything!

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Pretty much why I wait for the dust to settle before I buy expensive hardware now I do not live to keep ups/ fedx/... in business with rma shipping costs
20 series space invader deaths were an eye opener lol

 

[bonehead123]

Can anyone say MOOOOOH.........

GPU mfgr's taking every possibility to MILK the consumer even moar with cheaper parts and/or super speedy or non-existent QA/QC to get them out the door while prices are sky-high, which only serves to increase their margins....

TSK TSK TSK..SHAME ON THEM

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

Is this what zombie apocalypse will look like? People emptying shelves of tech to hole up in their homes hoping it all dies over. Were the movies all a lie?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Jr. scalpers are born
They pretty much know someone will pay twice as much as they did at bestbuy/ micro center/... the closest to msrp there is, all they had to do is stand in line
Some even pay people to do it as well don't hate the miners hate the game it's a sellers market.

 

[Arc1t3ct]

Build quality has always been poor in my experience...

 

[zlobby]

Can anyone say MOOOOOH.........

GPU mfgr's taking every possibility to MILK the consumer even moar with cheaper parts and/or super speedy or non-existent QA/QC to get them out the door while prices are sky-high, which only serves to increase their margins....

TSK TSK TSK..SHAME ON THEM

More like shame on the guys who spend on such overpriced pieces of trash.

Is this what zombie apocalypse will look like? People emptying shelves of tech to hole up in their homes hoping it all dies over. Were the movies all a lie?

Until a small crew of tactically trained, armed forces arrive at the said home. Then it's more or less free loot.