Warning: MSI gtx 570 Scam Edition

[ekg84]

So about couple of weeks ago i have started hunting for a reference gtx 570, yea yea i've heard about VRM issues but i was not going to overvolt, well maybe just a little, anyways i came across this very nice deal @ us.ncix.com. Picture shows fully reference msi gtx 570, and part number matches msi website which guess what, also shows fully reference model. Here are both links:

http://www.msi.com/product/vga/N570GTX-M2D12D5.html

http://us.ncix.com/products/index.php?usaffiliateid=1000031501&sku=57383&promoid=1339

So i got the card, all excited like a baby, I open the shiny package and see a gtx 470 with a gtx 570 sticker on it. Well yea, I popped the card in and indeed the card is a "GTX 570 chip on the GTX 470 pcb with a gtx 470 cooling solution on it, Obviously with no fancy vapor chamber heatsink on. Bummer. I've had a gtx 470 before and while that card was pretty fast - it was a freaking blow drier. No a BIG FREAKING BLOWDRIER, and guess what, this card sounds the same, although runs cooler. I have started googling the issue and apparently im not alone . MSI have been selling these Frankensteins here, in the US and overseas, they even were making GTX 570 OC with GTX 480 pcb/cooler, and therefore without proper vapor chamber cooling.

by the way here is how the card i got compares to the real gtx 570:

From the little research i've completed i learned that cards that contain v222 among first 6 digits of s/n are the gtx 470/570 hybrids like the one i got. Serial numbers of fully reference models on the other hand contain v801.

Now how the hell am i suppose to know what i am buying before i bought it?? especially since both reseller website and manufacturer website show "proper" GTX 570"

did guys from msi decide that its better for me to purchase a blowdrier instead of proper 570 without actually letting me know what i am buying???

I think this is something called MISADVERTISING
What do u guys think i should do about it?

I dont want to pay another 20 bucks to RMA and ship the Frankenstein back and to wait wait wait for a refund..

Im officially turned OFF to buy anything from msi again

Boooo MSI !!!

 

[FunSurfer]

@ ekg84 - under the picture of the first link you posted it states "The product picture may differ from the actual product. Only for your reference." So you cannot know what you are buying and the seller is legally protected.
There is also something interesting in the first link: GTX570 with 512 CUDA cores. Is it true? Is that the card you got?

 

[ekg84]

I have never seen a msi 570 with a 480 cooler...
Even if it did it would be better for cooling...so lucky guy[:tapko:3]

actually my card came with gtx 470 pcb/cooler not gtx 480 one, and although gtx 480 cooler would not be as bad as gtx 470 one which i got it is still worse than reference gtx 570 vapor chamber cooler. It much much noisier. Reference gtx 570 cooler is identical to gtx 580 one therefore designed to dissipate heat more efficiently. It runs quieter. It has no heatpipes like gtx 470/480 cooling solution instead it has advanced vapor chamber heatsink.

@ ekg84 - under the picture of the first link you posted it states "The product picture may differ from the actual product. Only for your reference." So you cannot know what you are buying and the seller is legally protected.
There is also something interesting in the first link: GTX570 with 512 CUDA cores. Is it true? Is that the card you got?

truth, they have that statement, but its not an excuse. Does msi have no cameras to take pictures of different revisions they make? So if i receive a gtx 570 that looks like lets say a teddy bear or a vacuum cleaner its ok for them to sell them like that?? i dont think so.

There is also something interesting in the first link: GTX570 with 512 CUDA cores. Is it true? Is that the card you got?

lol i didnt even notice that, i wish it had 512 cuda cores, but no - specs wise its a regular GTX 570 but very very noisy one

 

[Warmacblu]

I think you should RMA it and get a GTX 570 with a Twin Frozr III cooler. There's no mistaking a TF III and the reference cooler.

 

[ekg84]

I think you should RMA it and get a GTX 570 with a Twin Frozr III cooler. There's no mistaking a TF III and the reference cooler.

the problem is i need an external exhaust cooler. I just dont want to pay extra shipping for the misadvertised product. The reason why i bought this card is that this was cheapest reference (supposedly) gtx 570 otherwise i'd just get an evga superclocked version. I will not buy anything from msi again. I feel bad that companies get away with tricks like this.

however i will try to rma the card if NCIX agrees to pay shipping.

 

[Warmacblu]

I usually buy from eVGA as well because of their superior customer service, however, I will be purchasing my first MSI card in a few weeks because of their superior cooling solutions.

Have you tried calling MSI support to see if they can do anything?

 

[Warmacblu]

Check out this unique review:

http://www.behardware.com/articles/840-14/roundup-a-review-of-the-super-geforce-gtx-580s-from-asus-evga-gainward-gigabyte-msi-and-zotac.html

I know it's not off the GTX 570 but you can see that the GTX 580 Lightning which uses a similar cooler to the GTX 570 TF III does a great job while no spilling much heat into the rest of the system, compared to other cards.

 

[Gothams Finest]

Damn thats cheeky as f*ck in my opinion, though they did say "Actual product may not be exactly as shown" which would of put me off buying it in the first place but still damn cheeky, I'd be returning it.

 

[ekg84]

Check out this unique review:

http://www.behardware.com/articles/840-14/roundup-a-review-of-the-super-geforce-gtx-580s-from-asus-evga-gainward-gigabyte-msi-and-zotac.html

I know it's not off the GTX 570 but you can see that the GTX 580 Lightning which uses a similar cooler to the GTX 570 TF III does a great job while no spilling much heat into the rest of the system, compared to other cards.

thats very interesting results there but the thing is they used cooler master 690II advanced in that test which has noticeably better airflow than my little case. I got Fractal Core 1000 and it has 1 rear 92mm exhaust fan and 1 front 120mm intake fan, so for better results i want to stick to external exhaust cooling.

Thanx for that article though, interesting info.


Ok, so i just spoke to NCIX customer service representative and they refuse to pay for the shipping and on top of that they want to charge me 15% restocking fee if return the card. I cant really blame them cause they just used whatever info MSI provided them with but still if it was newegg they would take care of the issue.

I will try to contact msi customer service and see what they say.

 

[ekg84]

So after posting @ several different foums NCIX rep spotted my story and contacted me, offering apologies and free shipping without restocking fees to return the Frankenstein for a refund/ exchange

 

[Gothams Finest]

I'm not surprised, probably to shut you up haha, but unfortunately thats the only way you can get decent customer service from some companies, if they had offerd you a refund with free shipping and without restocking fees in the first place then they wouldn't of had their companys named tarnished on the interent. At least you got it sorted in the end.

 

[psyxix]

So after posting @ several different foums NCIX rep spotted my story and contacted me, offering apologies and free shipping without restocking fees to return the Frankenstein for a refund/ exchange

Not to sound like a smart ass but you do know that Frankenstein was the doctor and not the monster... Now that this is out of my system .

It's sad to see such a scam made by MSI, it's unthinkable for an international company to do this kind on trickery. I was thinking about buying a gtx 570 Frozr III from them... but this might make me reconsider my purchase, EVGA will probably be my new choice , and with the step up program, i'll be able to upgrade to the new kepler .

 

[ekg84]

Not to sound like a smart ass but you do know that Frankenstein was the doctor and not the monster... Now that this is out of my system .

It's sad to see such a scam made by MSI, it's unthinkable for an international company to do this kind on trickery. I was thinking about buying a gtx 570 Frozr III from them... but this might make me reconsider my purchase, EVGA will probably be my new choice , and with the step up program, i'll be able to upgrade to the new kepler .

yes i do know that but u know what i meant. MSI GTX 570 Frankenstein Edition would be correct i guess.
I will probably get EVGA superclocked version as well. need to shop around again now. No more msi for me.

 

[Warmacblu]

The step-up program is only for 90 days. Kepler will probably be out after 90 days.