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I'm going to keep this somewhat censored to protect the accused -- innocent until proven guilty and all that. So please, bear with me.

So I bought a new graphics card from newegg the other day in the $200 range. On newegg's site, the card in question has 4 heat pipes in the images. I know how sometimes these things change so I look on the manufacturer's web site. The card, the exact model I'm looking at, is advertised as having "quad heatpipes" on the manufacturer's page. It's not some hard to find line in the specifications page either, I mean it's a full blown image advertising it as such.

I get the card and it only has 2 heatpipes and, what looks like, a smaller heatsink from the images on both the manufacturer's site and newegg.

I install it and of course cooling isn't great. It's not terrible, though. I also have another weird issue with a strange sound when the fans are between 52-57% RPM (unfortunately, that's usually where it stays when I'm gaming).

Ignoring the weird sound issue I feel I am entitled to a replacement card as what was advertised was not what I received. Am I blowing this out of proportion or should I follow my gut and contact the manufacturer for a replacement?

TL;DR - $200 graphics card was advertised as having 4 heatpipes. I bought it, it only has 2. RMA?

*EDIT*

Thanks for the feedback. I was pretty sure I was in the right but before I went off spouting bad info I wanted to check my logic first.

To start off: newegg was not at fault in this.
Currently awaiting response from XFX. - See posts below for response

Details:
The card: XFX 7870 FX-787A-CDFC
Part number on the box I got: FX-787A-CDFC
XFX Product page: http://products.xfxforce.com/en-us/Grap ... -787A-CDFC

Newegg screenshot:


XFX Screenshot:

Rma that likely isn't the same card at all.

I would definitely contact the manufacturer.

On the other end of that, though, if anyone else has bought a card in the $200 range recently, it would be nice of them to PM you and compare the actual cards. You might also try some Google-fu to get a customer picture.

Is it at least the right base model from AMD/Nvidia? Was it supposed to be factory overclocked and it isn't, along with the downgraded cooler? The best thing you could figure out is which model you actually received.

Assuming the packaging matches what you received instead of what you expected, my guess is that Newegg shipped the wrong item, so I assume you should deal with that through Newegg. If the packaging doesn't match the item, I'm not sure who it would be best to talk to, but I would start with Newegg still.

Ryhadar wrote:

TL;DR - $200 graphics card was advertised as having 4 heatpipes. I bought it, it only has 2. RMA?

Can you tell us the brand and model number? Sometimes newegg uses generic images, sometimes manufacturers update their products. Also, some cooler heatpipes may be hidden and not readily visible from the outside.

Worth checking into before RMA.

GPU-z iT and see of the specs match up. as for the card not having 4 pipes, i'd suspect this is a off brand card and call and yell at them before 30 days or up...

I'm confused why you feel the need to "protect" the manufacturer in this case. You're not accusing them of anything, just laying out your experience. Anyway... at the very least ask for a replacement from Newegg and make it a point to highlight what is advertised on their website and what you received. Personally I would demand a refund and look for a different card (probably from a different retailer).

they definitely sent you the wrong card. tell newegg to give you a straight refund and have them to pay for the return shipping. the best way is to either call them or do the online chat.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I didn't want to originally lambast a company if I was somehow in the wrong. I updated the original post with the card I bought.

I'll update whether or not XFX comes through. I hope they do. I've bought at least 5 cards from them.

Just as an update to this:

Truth be told, I sent a message to XFX on the 20th complaining about the advertising confusion -- I didn't ask for a new card though. I then sent an additional message on the 24th asking them to send me a card with 4 heatpipes. I haven't heard a word back from them.

I got fed up with waiting and I went onto newegg's live chat line to voice my complaint. They gave me a full refund along with paid return shipping without even asking for latter. I've been doing business with newegg for close to 10 years now but I'm still incredibly gracious of the respect they give me. They even said they'd forward my complaint to the department who handles misinformation like this so hopefully XFX gets its act together.

I'm kind of sad I can't count on XFX anymore. I have never had a single hardware problem with any of the 5 cards (all Radeons, no less) that I've purchased from them. I guess it's time to look elsewhere.

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Thanks for the warning. Even though these things are so anecdotal, it still helps. I prefer to avoid hassle, and although I really liked XFX in the past, maybe I should add them to the blacklist.

Seriously, if only I could find a set of suppliers that I could trust blindly and be sure that I'll never get screwed over, I'd be willing to pay a premium on everything. I just haven't found any... and no, Apple is not it.

I have only dealt with two video card manufacturers and experienced no issues. One is no longer around sadly, 3DFX produced a great product for the time and stood behind it. Then there is EVGA, they have gone out of their way to fix problems and even wanted to send me a new card because some had issues and they wanted to replace mine to be sure they had all the bad units rounded up and accounted for. Actually that was the only issue I have ever had with a EVGA card and it wasn't really an issue for me because they came to me to fix a possible problem.

I have tried cards from other manufacturers and found them wanting in one area or another. It all comes down to your personal experience. This is like the debate over who makes the best HDD. One guy will swear by Seagate and the other will champion Western Digital. Each will have valid experiences for their position on the issue.

Its always disappointing when a company you trusted lets you down, unfortunately with changes in management and investors wanting to increase profits it happens more and more these days. All you can do is move on and find some one better to spend your money with.

Did you try phone support, or only email?

I only used their ticketing system. The only phone number XFX lists on their website is a UK line.

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Help/ContactUs.aspx

Just a quick update.

XFX finally got back to me late last night (5/2/2013). My ticket included two comments. One I made on 4/20/2013 and the other on 4/24/2013.

The representative said that the new cooler with 2 heatpipes was a redesign that is supposedly more efficient. The representative did say that XFX could send me the 4 heatpipe cooler and I could swap it out myself which I thought was kind of cool. I'm assuming this wouldn't void the warranty since it was suggested by an XFX rep (even though the stickers on the back say otherwise) but I didn't confirm. He also said that the 4 heatpipe cooler is "inferior" (so why they advertise 4 heatpipes is beyond me).

So, take from that what you will. I politely told them that I had already sent the card back after getting impatient waiting for them to respond to my ticket. I also suggested that it would be a good idea to remove the references of "QuadHeatpipe" from their 7870 page if this is no longer true.

Yep, it's a redesign. According to this report from a customer http://www.overclock.net/t/1358714/xfx-7870-couple-things-im-not-real-happy-about it looks like the redesign is a bit faster and cooler when working right.

That guy is complaining about his card with the 2 heatpipes and lauding his newer, 4 heatpipe cooler though.

Unless that's what you were trying to say and I read your post incorrectly?

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Not the first time I've heard of XFX going above and beyond. Good on them for offering to replace the cooler.

You guys are hilarious... XFX barely took the required actions and were extremely slow in doing so. There's no way that's satisfactory service...

Based on what the OP has said, I think XFX's response was fine. The OP apparently stated that the card was working, was labeled and boxed as the card he ordered, appeared in system to be that card, but differed from the picture and advertising taglines. They bounced his email around twice and they responded with a reasonable answer.

I would much rather a company prioritize their customer service resources on issues of functionality.

ericfulmer wrote:

Based on what the OP has said, I think XFX's response was fine. The OP apparently stated that the card was working, was labeled and boxed as the card he ordered, appeared in system to be that card, but differed from the picture and advertising taglines. They bounced his email around twice and they responded with a reasonable answer.

I would much rather a company prioritize their customer service resources on issues of functionality.

Two weeks to respond is ridiculous. Dismissing it as "well the card wasn't dead" must be joke. Compare Newegg's response to the OP versus XFX. XFX is doing something wrong if their customer support requires two weeks to respond to any query.

I've personally experienced XFX slow response times. I had an HD6870 that was experiencing occasional screen black outs. Was a common issue with that series of card. It rendered the card unplayable about 50% of the time. In my case it wasn't two weeks but it was one week... just to get a response that was the generic procedure (reinstall drivers, something I had already stated as being done in my ticket). I had already done similar to the OP by that time. Opened an RMA with Newegg and had my card shipped out the same day I had opened my RMA request. I had my replacement card from Newegg before I got my second response from XFX.

XFX is extremely overrated. They may have had good service and warranties when they were Nvidia only but it has gone down hill since and I haven't seen evidence to the otherwise.

To be fair, it took 9 business days (I don't expect them to work on weekends) but yeah I thought it was excessive. I didn't even make it that long before I returned the card -- I waited 5 before I talked to newegg. Even just a "Hey, got your ticket it. We're looking into it." from a real person would've been enough for me.

I'm happy with XFX's response (except for the "inferior" bit about the 4 heatpipe cooler -- it just didn't sound right to me) but ultimately the customer service wait time, the false advertising, and minor build quality issues lead me to returning the card.

I don't think I'll write them off completely, but I'm not sure I'll keep them as my go-to Radeon maker either.

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