[UPDATED] Reassuringly expensive Palit GTX 1080 gloriously kicks the bucket!

[erixx]

Nice thread & nicely autocarroted

 

[Kanan]

Ok, finally got an update people: the tl;dr version is that I got a full refund for the card back to my credit card and still have to chase for the £26 DHL shipping cost back to them for the first card.


Now for the detailed version, I got a cold/flu a couple of weeks back which put everything on hold for a week. While I felt miserable and was off work, on the bright side I managed to veg out in front of the TV and binge watch The Blacklist. I did however, email Scan requesting a full refund. It turns out I'm entitled to it under the Consumer Rights law after allowing them to fix the problem once, which failed and because I initially reported the problem within 6 months.

It also turns out that I am actually entitled under the law to have free shipping back to them for faulty goods and a reimbursement for my £26 in shipping the first card back to them. I asked for this in the email and also for them to arrange collection of the second faulty card.

They email me back with a second RMA number along with a patronising reply that they can only refund £5 since that's what it costs them to ship it. They also said that they don't normally arrange collection after 28 days, but will do so in this instance as a "good will gesture". That's complete bollocks of course, because their expenses and internal processes do not override the law. I still have to chase for this.

I then sit on returning the card via DPD as per their free return procedure (pack card, print shipping label, take to collection point) due to this sickie, but eventually do so after about 10 days. I eventually get an email from Scan saying that I will be refunded the full £659.99 that the card cost me and a couple of days later it duly shows up on my credit card. Kudos to them for not trying to pretend that the card works or attempting to only give me a credit note, but I still have to get my £26 back.

A bit embarrasingly, I now do not have 660 quid sitting on my credit card, but only a small amount as I'd done a bit of spending on it which I hadn't payed off yet, sigh. This spending included the £349 PS4 Pro which I use to play online with my console friends. But heck, it's a creative way to pay it off!

While I could just rush out and replace the card with another 1080, given how close we are to the release of the 1080 Ti this March and AMD's Vega, it will be prudent to wait 4-8 weeks before buying another card. In the meantime my 780 Ti is still capable and even with the significant limitations it has compared to the 1080. I've now updated my system specs to reflect this. I won't bother with SLI even though I still have the second one.

So, my verdict on Scan customer service as of this point is a 6/10. It would have been around a 9 if they hadn't tried to stiff me over the shipping and the fact that when I tried to assert my rights I had to email them THREE times to get a proper response (ignored the first time) and even then refused to fully address my query. At least they didn't try to pretend that the second card worked and gave me that refund without quibble, so definitely not all bad and I would buy from them again. However, I prefer Amazon if possible, who wouldn't give me any hassle at all. They weren't selling this card at the time I bought it, only from a few weeks later.

Not bad, but you credit Wccftech as a source of information way too much, a mistake which you do rather frequently. Still, waiting for Vega/1080 Ti is probably a good move before you buy another expensive graphics card.

 

[qubit]

Not bad, but you credit Wccftech as a source of information way too much, a mistake which you do rather frequently.

lol it's not a mistake to quote Wccftech; that's just your opinion. In fact, Wccftech are often used as source articles for news on here, plus other members make threads based on their articles, so there's nothing wrong with using them.

I'm glad we at least agree on waiting to buy another graphics card. Mind you, the way this brexit is wrecking this country's economy, I might end up waiting awhile before upgrading the card and the CPU to the latest technology. Sorry about the politics, but it's negatively affecting the buying decisions of us enthusiasts including me.

 

[EarthDog]

Wccftech is hit or miss at best...I wouldn't source them without a disclaimer...at minimum. They are click bait.

But the logic that other people use it so it's ok, is unequivocally asinine.

 

[Kanan]

I'm glad we at least agree on waiting to buy another graphics card. Mind you, the way this brexit is wrecking this country's economy, I might end up waiting awhile before upgrading the card and the CPU to the latest technology. Sorry about the politics, but it's negatively affecting the buying decisions of us enthusiasts including me.

Yeah politics... first of all that shitty brexit is bad for peoples lives I think, but let's concentrate on tech shall we. What about buying a GPU at mindfactory.de for example? A lot of people in europe buy their stuff there because it's the best shop price wise. I guess the shipping is a bit high to UK, but if prices are 50-100 lower it's worth a shot. That's all pre-brexit so it's probably "ok".

 

[qubit]

hmmm thanks, I'll check that place out when it's time to upgrade.

 

[qubit]

After quite a while now, I have an update on my GTX 1080 situation.

I didn't buy another GTX 1080 straight away after getting the refund for the faulty one, since the GTX 1080 Ti was just around the corner. I knew it would bring 1080 prices down, which it did and there was the possibility that I might get one, depending on the exact details of price and performance.

Well, I didn't get a 1080 Ti, since it's such a lot of money and my old CPU wouldn't take full advantage over it - I aim for 144Hz solid, vsynced or FastSynced. It's £700-£800 depending on model and Volta probably isn't too far away now, plus my 2700K is old and a bit on the slow side now - I've seen it limit framerates with my Palit 1080 to well below 144fps, so the problem will only be worse with a faster card. Also, I game at 1080p, so the very fastest card isn't a pressing requirement like it is with 4K, but more of a luxury. It does help when using 3D Vision though.

Upgrading to the latest CPU isn't an option for the time being, unfortunately. I could try overclocking it again, which makes a significant difference. Stock speed is 3.5GHz.

So, I looked around and saw that at Amazon, the same Palit model I had before, but now costing just £500 instead of £600 and this bad boy, the Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme for just £549, a card that normally sells for £600. It's gone back up to £600 as I write this. I bought both of them to compare and return one.

So, the Palit, once again, excellent performance and very quiet, especially with that coil whine. Tried the Zotac, a bit faster due to the stock overclock and fans actually very slightly quieter, just like TPU's review, which is great, since quietness is very important to me.

The coil whine performance was interesting, because in some scenarios, it's quite a bit noiser than the Palit and others it's quieter, so there's not much in it to be honest. Just depends what game or benchmark you're running. The main thing, is that the coil whine (typically an irritating buzzing sound) will actually be masked by the game noises anyway since the volume is quite low. Even the slightest amount can get a bit annoying though which is why I scrutinize it so much.

The Palit is quite light and build quality just feels adequate for the job, like many cards out there. However, the Zotac simply looks amazing, it's larger, feels built like a tank, extremely solid and quite heavy, giving me more confidence in its long term reliability, so I chose that card in the end. That price reduction really helped too. I'm sure there are better quality components underneath the bonnet which justify the £100 price premium it normally has over the Palit.

btw, I got the Cooler Master HAF 922 case specifically to accommodate large graphics cards and it's done well, but this large Zotac actually takes up almost the whole length available to it, so it can only just fit comfortably in the case. Wow.

I reckon in a year or so I'll upgrade my CPU, to a faster card and a 4K monitor and by then 4K capable cards will be much cheaper as the technology progresses.

 

[Vayra86]

After quite a while now, I have an update on my GTX 1080 situation.

I didn't buy another GTX 1080 straight away after getting the refund for the faulty one, since the GTX 1080 Ti was just around the corner. I knew it would bring 1080 prices down, which it did and there was the possibility that I might get one, depending on the exact details of price and performance.

Well, I didn't get a 1080 Ti, since it's such a lot of money and my old CPU wouldn't take full advantage over it - I aim for 144Hz solid, vsynced or FastSynced. It's £700-£800 depending on model and Volta probably isn't too far away now, plus my 2700K is old and a bit on the slow side now - I've seen it limit framerates with my Palit 1080 to well below 144fps, so the problem will only be worse with a faster card. Also, I game at 1080p, so the very fastest card isn't a pressing requirement like it is with 4K, but more of a luxury. It does help when using 3D Vision though.

Upgrading to the latest CPU isn't an option for the time being, unfortunately. I could try overclocking it again, which makes a significant difference. Stock speed is 3.5GHz.

So, I looked around and saw that at Amazon, the same Palit model I had before, but now costing just £500 instead of £600 and this bad boy, the Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme for just £549, a card that normally sells for £600. It's gone back up to £600 as I write this. I bought both of them to compare and return one.

So, the Palit, once again, excellent performance and very quiet, especially with that coil whine. Tried the Zotac, a bit faster due to the stock overclock and fans actually very slightly quieter, just like TPU's review, which is great, since quietness is very important to me.

The coil whine performance was interesting, because in some scenarios, it's quite a bit noiser than the Palit and others it's quieter, so there's not much in it to be honest. Just depends what game or benchmark you're running. The main thing, is that the coil whine (typically an irritating buzzing sound) will actually be masked by the game noises anyway since the volume is quite low. Even the slightest amount can get a bit annoying though which is why I scrutinize it so much.

The Palit is quite light and build quality just feels adequate for the job, like many cards out there. However, the Zotac simply looks amazing, it's larger, feels built like a tank, extremely solid and quite heavy, giving me more confidence in its long term reliability, so I chose that card in the end. That price reduction really helped too. I'm sure there are better quality components underneath the bonnet which justify the £100 price premium it normally has over the Palit.

btw, I got the Cooler Master HAF 922 case specifically to accommodate large graphics cards and it's done well, but this large Zotac actually takes up almost the whole length available to it, so it can only just fit comfortably in the case. Wow.

I reckon in a year or so I'll upgrade my CPU, to a faster card and a 4K monitor and by then 4K capable cards will be much cheaper as the technology progresses.

Cool story, now for the real meat of it, what clocks are you getting out of it?

Because the whole point of the AMP! is to go as far as air allows you to, at the very least

 

[qubit]

Cool story, now for the real meat of it, what clocks are you getting out of it?

Because the whole point of the AMP! is to go as far as air allows you to, at the very least

Thanks.
I'm not generally into overclocking my graphics cards, but will have a go with this one and let you know. It'll be a little while until I get round to it though.

 

[basco]

quote: I bought both of them to compare and return one. quote

and the next i buy is your used one.

was not really necessary that i post that. sorry qubit

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Kinda begs the question what "reassuringly expensive" means.

 

[heky]

You thinking that the Zotac has better components underneath is whishfull thinking. Sorry to burst your bubble, but i had just the opposite happen to me, than what happened to you. I had the Zotac Gtx980 AMP Omega( same pcb than the extreme) die on me just like that. Now i went for the Gainward (Palit) GTX 1070 Golden Sample...and its awesome...silent...cool...overclocks great.

 

[dorsetknob]

Kinda begs the question what "reassuringly expensive" means.

Generally means more than your happy to pay for

 

[Kanan]

After quite a while now, I have an update on my GTX 1080 situation.

I didn't buy another GTX 1080 straight away after getting the refund for the faulty one, since the GTX 1080 Ti was just around the corner. I knew it would bring 1080 prices down, which it did and there was the possibility that I might get one, depending on the exact details of price and performance.

Well, I didn't get a 1080 Ti, since it's such a lot of money and my old CPU wouldn't take full advantage over it - I aim for 144Hz solid, vsynced or FastSynced. It's £700-£800 depending on model and Volta probably isn't too far away now, plus my 2700K is old and a bit on the slow side now - I've seen it limit framerates with my Palit 1080 to well below 144fps, so the problem will only be worse with a faster card. Also, I game at 1080p, so the very fastest card isn't a pressing requirement like it is with 4K, but more of a luxury. It does help when using 3D Vision though.

Upgrading to the latest CPU isn't an option for the time being, unfortunately. I could try overclocking it again, which makes a significant difference. Stock speed is 3.5GHz.

So, I looked around and saw that at Amazon, the same Palit model I had before, but now costing just £500 instead of £600 and this bad boy, the Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme for just £549, a card that normally sells for £600. It's gone back up to £600 as I write this. I bought both of them to compare and return one.

So, the Palit, once again, excellent performance and very quiet, especially with that coil whine. Tried the Zotac, a bit faster due to the stock overclock and fans actually very slightly quieter, just like TPU's review, which is great, since quietness is very important to me.

The coil whine performance was interesting, because in some scenarios, it's quite a bit noiser than the Palit and others it's quieter, so there's not much in it to be honest. Just depends what game or benchmark you're running. The main thing, is that the coil whine (typically an irritating buzzing sound) will actually be masked by the game noises anyway since the volume is quite low. Even the slightest amount can get a bit annoying though which is why I scrutinize it so much.

The Palit is quite light and build quality just feels adequate for the job, like many cards out there. However, the Zotac simply looks amazing, it's larger, feels built like a tank, extremely solid and quite heavy, giving me more confidence in its long term reliability, so I chose that card in the end. That price reduction really helped too. I'm sure there are better quality components underneath the bonnet which justify the £100 price premium it normally has over the Palit.

btw, I got the Cooler Master HAF 922 case specifically to accommodate large graphics cards and it's done well, but this large Zotac actually takes up almost the whole length available to it, so it can only just fit comfortably in the case. Wow.

I reckon in a year or so I'll upgrade my CPU, to a faster card and a 4K monitor and by then 4K capable cards will be much cheaper as the technology progresses.

Please do overclock your CPU, it's a Sandy Bridge, it should be no problem - don't be lazy. You will get better performance and - maybe more important - especially better min fps.

 

[qubit]

Please do overclock your CPU, it's a Sandy Bridge, it should be no problem - don't be lazy. You will get better performance and - maybe more important - especially better min fps.

Well yes, quite. Back in the early days, I had it at 4.7GHz. then I realised that the CPU voltage was off and kept meaning to come back to it with the voltage properly set. Then, with the lack of competition from AMDand the tiny incremental improvements from Intel each generation, I realised that I was gonna keep it for years, so didn't overclock it to ensure that it lasted. I wouldn't mind trying again though.

 

[Kanan]

Then, with the lack of competition from AMDand the tiny incremental improvements from Intel each generation, I realised that I was gonna keep it for years, so didn't overclock it to ensure that it lasted. I wouldn't mind trying again though.

Interesting, some overclockers here stated that overclocking doesn't really decrease the CPU's life, at least not if you're not overdoing it. @cdawall is a good example, as he doesn't care much about the CPUs and goes to the absolute maximum on each one. He stated, he never saw a CPU fail on him anyway (or almost none). My own theory and what I read about it generally so far, concludes to, that it decreases its life but it does so at time frames like "20 years minus 5", essentially meaning its decreased life is of no importance because you'll have replaced the CPU by then anyway.

That all said, I'd go for a not too extreme overclock, maybe 4.5 GHz if your voltages at 4.7/4.8GHz are too high - I consider under 1.4 V as absolutely safe btw. Seeing as your CPU is nearing it's "life's end" at your highend PC, overclocking it now is the best timing. Doing it "when it's needed" is the best approach to overclock if you ask me. I wouldn't overclock the GPU though, it's hardly worth it on pre-overclocked custom models.

 

[cdawall]

Interesting, some overclockers here stated that overclocking doesn't really decrease the CPU's life, at least not if you're not overdoing it. @cdawall is a good example, as he doesn't care much about the CPUs and goes to the absolute maximum on each one. He stated, he never saw a CPU fail on him anyway. My own theory and what I read about it generally so far, concludes to, that it decreases it's life but it does so at time frames like "20 years minus 5", essentially meaning its decreased life is of no importance because you'll have replaced the CPU by then anyway.

That all said, I'd go for a not too extreme Overclock, maybe 4.5 GHz if your voltages at 4.7/4.8GHz are too high - I consider under 1.4 V as absolutely safe btw.

I have had one fail horribly, but that was an extreme situation. 4v for vdimm on an Athlon X2 7750 (DDR2 overclocking which fried the memory controller). That is a bit over the top for the situation being talked about and something that was discussed on a couple of other forums because of a heavy differential between the vdimm and vcore (ran the cpu at stock) and apparently that killed it.

I haven't had anything with a heavy overclock on air/water fail in the amount of time I have owned it. Only chip that came close was my phenom II X4 B95 which saw many trips under dry ice and had a TEC cooler on top of it. That one really pushed the envelope and ran at 1.6v for it's poor life. It still took 3 years to see degradation in that chip and it never died just needed some more voltage.

 

[Kanan]

See? Overclocking is very safe.

 

[cdawall]

See? Overclocking is very safe.

My 9370 has run at 4.9-5ghz since release date. Most anything you can pull off on air/water is safe. My 5820K and 6850K are the same way 4.7 on the 5820K and 4.5 on the 6850K no degradation. Heck set my brother up on a used 5930K and pushed it to 4.5 and it has had zero issues. Clock the 2700K already.

 

[alucasa]

Dude, U are buying a yellow GPU?