Best graphic card manufacturer for customer support and warranty in Australia?

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danielllld

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May 26, 2014
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Hey everyone,

Recently my Gigabyte 980Ti G1 Gaming edition died for the second time might I add with it first happening 6 months after I purchased it in 2015 and it has happened again this week. The first time it was replaced straight away by the place I brought it from which was at a local pc store, but now they can't do that anymore since they don't stock the card. The issue is I now have to go through Gigabyte for warranty and I'm looking at anywhere between 2-4 weeks for it to get sorted they haven't even replied to my email yet from the start of this week. Since I run a video production business I really can't go even a week without a card since I have video edits I need finished with deadlines whilst taking on filming new jobs so I am forced to buy a new card as I need my pc up and running and I'm definitely not going a Gigabyte card again. Ideally I want a company that is fast and reliable with their warranty claims and have quality products. Ideally one that actually has a contact phone number within Australia or Perth, Western Australia where I live to sort things out as quick a possible. Gigabyte only seem to have a contact form where you fill out a ticket in Australia no email, no phone number or not even a warranty section for Australian consumers only the US and Canada.

In terms of replacement I'm looking specifically at the 1080ti I need a Nvidia card for the benefits in Adobe Premiere and After Effects, so which version and brand/manufacturer would everyone recommend based on the criteria above? I know there's a few forum posts about this but I'm after people's experience within Australia for warranty not overseas.

Thank you in advance!
 
No GPU manufacturer will be faster than at least one or two weeks. Warranties from component manufacturers are next to worthless for businesses. Your best option in the future. Is to plan to go out and buy a new GPU when the old one fails. Even a day or two of downtime can be more costly than buying replacement hardware.

Then you can wait on the manufacturer to replace the GPU at their slow rate. When the replacement arrives. Sell it off on eBay or somewhere else. Recouping the most cost you can.

If you want a fast turn around on repairs. You will have to pay an arm and a leg buying OEM systems directly from manufacturers like Dell. With all upgrades purchased from the manufacturer. From their exorbitantly high priced business section. Then buy their express on site warranty service. Which in the long term will be much more expensive than the DIY approach. It will still most likely result in more downtime.

The other option would be local business resellers that offer express warranty service. Whose warranties will guarantee immediate replacement with next generation components should it fail and they no longer carry the old model in stock. Still this will cost much more in the long run. Nor can it be as fast as running to the store, buying the latest part and repairing it yourself.
 

randomizer

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Depending on how long it's been since you bought the card you might still be able to claim a refund from the retailer under Australian Consumer Law instead of fussing with the manufacturer. ACL is very fuzzy about statutory warranty periods, but this is not a cheap card so you might have a case.
 

danielllld

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May 26, 2014
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Yeah 100% man which is why i'm just going to go out and buy a new card probably by tomorrow and sell the old one when it gets repaired or replaced. I just want to get a gauge on a few things before I choose a new card mainly on who's customer support is the best along with the best quality cards that will be less likely to breakdown after a year or so use I haven't had much luck with Gigabyte so far, so I am looking at alternatives such as MSI, EVGA and Asus.
 

danielllld

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May 26, 2014
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It was purchased in 2015 when the revised versions first came out so it's probably past the refund point and it's already been replaced once before by PLE the company I brought it from.
 

randomizer

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Perhaps, but I see no harm in trying. It's usually better to pass off the hassle of dealing with manufacturers to the retailer :)

The expectations of reasonable people is one of the primary determining factors for a consumer guarantee period. We're all reasonable people here and we probably all expect a > $1000 graphics card to last more than 2 years. I believe consumer guarantees also apply to replacement goods.
 

danielllld

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May 26, 2014
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Exactly right the main thing that pissed me off is that it's died twice now and again you'd think such an expensive graphic card would last a decent amount of time, and i've never overclocked it or anything either its just been used in under normal conditions with sufficient cooling inside computer and in the office with air conditioning etc. The guys I brought it from advised me that it would be quicker to do it myself instead of through them since I wanted a fast turn around but now I am just going to buy a card so i'm going to palm it off to them.

In terms of a new card these seem to be my options for the revised version of the 1080ti which one do you guys recommend? I've noticed that some have three fans and others have two, my gigabyte one had three but again i'm avoiding them for future purchases.

MSI: https://www.ple.com.au/Products/627541/MSI-GeForce-GTX1080Ti-Gaming-X-11GB-GDDR5X-DVI-2xHDMI-2xDisplayport

Asus: https://www.ple.com.au/Products/627434/ASUS-GeForce-GTX1080Ti-STRIX-OC-11GB-GDDR5X

EVGA: https://www.ple.com.au/Products/627392/eVGA-GeForce-GTX1080Ti-FTW3-Gaming-iCX-11GB-GDDR5X

 


Anecdotal data is not reliable. I had a Powercolor ATI Radeon fail once within the first year. That is meaningless data. If you had the data from 10,000 purchasers and 500 failed. That would be meaningful. Sometimes manufacturers have a bad model. While in general they do quite well.

Puget systems has a list. But that is limited to their RMA experience. If you look at the brands they sell. There is not much diversity. Nor do you know their sales volume or sample size. I’d say there is a heavy bias to EVGA.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Most-Reliable-PC-Hardware-of-2016-872/#VideoCard

LDLC a major distributer in France has published RMA numbers. We don’t know if the data is skewed by RMA rules of the manufacturer. Some require you RMA through the reseller. Others allow consumer direct RMA.
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/954-5/cartes-graphiques.html
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/944-5/cartes-graphiques.html
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/927-5/cartes-graphiques.html


In other arenas. ASUS is top tier in Motherboards. Year over year they generally stay within the top three for laptops (except 2015).
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/944-2/cartes-meres.html
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/954-2/cartes-meres.html
http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings

I’d love it if Newegg released their RMA data. Given their huge sales volume. Amazon is too haphazard to gather reliable data.

Given all the data I can find about GPUs and overall component reliability in other categories. Historically, ASUS would be the best choice. As an overall most reliable manufacturer.

Looking at just at GPUs. From 2014 to 2016. Gainward is the most reliable overall. They just seem to nudge between first and second. While the other brands jump around more.
 

danielllld

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May 26, 2014
16
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Thanks for the info! One last thing that has popped up off the top of my head would I need to buy a bigger power supply to suite a 1080ti based on my current pc specs below?

Intel® Core™ i7-4820K Processor
32gb of DDR3 Ram
Asus Sabertooth x79 motherboard
Samsung 850 Pro 256gb SSD (OS Drive)
Samsung 850 Evo 1TB SSD (Working files Drive)
Samsung 850 Evo 128gb SSD (Exports Drive)
Seagate Barracuda 3TB Drive HDD (Temporary Storage)
Samsung 850 Evo 500gb SSD (Game Drive)
Corsair RM750 PSU
 


No, that PSU is more than enough.
 

thuglife1

Prominent
Jul 25, 2017
2
0
510
Hallo
I have some questions and i hope u can help me.

I am interesting about graphics cards. do u know if somewhere in Ireland is some manufactures where i can buy graphics cards?
I want to buy to much graphics card and i think it will be cheaply for me to buy in manufactures
I hope u will answer to me and give me some advice
Thank you
 

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator


Start your own thread do not hijack other peoples.
 
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