ASUS Extreme - Idiocy or Service - Now - Dante's Journey

Post by **skipclarke** » 28 Oct 2005, 14:26

My other ASUS EAX800XT had a bad DVI out - I got a replacement & the same side DVI out (closest to the motherboard) is causing when used flashing.

Here is ASUS' response ....

" Please fallow these steps.

Clean the PCI express port on your motherboard. Make sure that the card is seated all the way in the slot. Test the card in another motherboard.

If the card works like it is supose to in an other motherboard then you need to trouble shoot the motherboard. In that case your problem seems to be caused by an electrical stoppage of some kind. Check that your MB is not picking up EMI (Electromagnetic Interference), or improperly grounding against the case. Please remove the MB from the case and set it up DIRECTLY on the cardboard box it came in or some other non-static, non-conductive surface, like a telephone book. Install the power supply, processor (with heat sink and fan), memory and video card. If the motherboard has the vocal POST feature activated, plug speakers into the onboard audio jacks. If the board doesn't have this feature, or if it's deactivated, make sure to install a case speaker on the board.

If this eliminates the problem, then your problem has been caused by grounding. You will need to electrically isolate the MB from the case in order to correct it. To do this, you will need to use electrical tape to cover the brass stand-offs that support the MB, and insert paper washers between the MB and the heads of the mounting screws. The red paper washers should be included with your case hardware, or they can be purchased at Radio Shack or a computer store.
Make sure that no stand-offs are placed in a spot where the motherboard isn't designed to be grounded, as some cases will have different standoff locations to accommodate different styles of motherboards. Also check that there are no other metal objects that could contact the motherboard or any other electrical device attached to the system, such as a metal burr, loose screw, metal rod, or any other object that could cause a short.

Please do not respond to this email. If you need further assistance please have your case number ready, then contact Technical Support at 502-995-0883 (M-F 8:30 AM - 8:00 PM EST)."

MY QUESTIONS:

So who/where will I get another identical $300 MB to test it on?

Who will pay for the 3 to 6 hrs Tech time (@ $60/hr) to strip apart my PC & reassmble?
- remember I have VGA & CPU cooling blocks.

Also I do have an EMI proof" case ThermalTake Shark SVA7000.

No wonder he doesn't want a response from me!!!

I can't beleive ASUS doesn't have a repair facility in Canada. Only in Tennesse USA.

Post by **skipclarke** » 28 Oct 2005, 14:45

UPDATE

Well --- another great support kudo for ASUS ---

I called the Tech support line & spoke to Dave - my original Tech for these issues on the other card.

BS - he says to the PITA email to me. He said they will do another Advance RMA & ship me another card free. !!!

As I posted before I got bad lick. - Seems I got 2 bad cards.

There are no known issues like this with these cards.

So another $25 to ship this card back & another $40 to remount the card & waterblock on it.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 28 Oct 2005, 17:23

Sorry to hear about your woes... :(

Maybe the next card you should test for a few days before watercooling?

Post by **skipclarke** » 30 Oct 2005, 15:57

RMA UPDATE:

Welll.... Since this is my 3rd RMA as ASUS wants to define it :roll: (actually the 1st with this card) _ I can't just get another one shipped until a 3rd level engineer makes the call.... SIGH :evil:

P...S...

RE waiting to watercool - this VID card makes such a turbo (banshee) howl :shock: during extensive gaming - I will not put up with that!!! So it's water block or nada.

I have to turn up the volume so loud I'm afraid the subwoofer SLF may killl one of my bouviuers or other pets!!! :lol:

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 31 Oct 2005, 16:07

I didn't mean leave it on - just until you know the card isn't DOA too... ;)

CSB · Post by **CSB** » 01 Nov 2005, 08:00

spending so much cash on installing video cards/water cooling

whatever happened to DIY? :(

Post by **skipclarke** » 01 Nov 2005, 14:55

RE: "whatever happened to DIY?"

With soooooo many cables & small wires to hook up with my lack of fine motor skills (dexterity) in my very large fingers precludes me from doing most of that. :(

Also it feels warm & fuzzy to know if they screw it up - it's covered !! :D

Post by **skipclarke** » 03 Nov 2005, 02:00

UPDATE (I think)

So ASUS just called - they will get a card like mine - get a motherboard like mine then...

Test another new card & if both DVI outs work - they will Advance RAM ship that one to me & when I get it I will ship the 2nd defective one back.

BTW the value of a new boxed card is only $170 US :shock:

That's all of what I have to cover until they get my "old" card back, then they refund my $.

Post by **skipclarke** » 19 Nov 2005, 22:09

UPDATE:

Well ASUS tech never called me back & I got an email yesterday requesting I ship them the card back to test, vis a normal RMA.

I emailed back saying it was unacceptable, as we had agreed on an Advanced RMA & as a normal repair RMA took 6 weeks to do last spring, so I want another Advanced RMA.

This is getting frustrating & bothersome.... :(

I have also not had any confirmation they credited back my $170 US deposit from the Advanced RMA shipping I had to do last month.

Post by **Gilly** » 20 Nov 2005, 00:23

looking grim methinks :)

Post by **skipclarke** » 25 Nov 2005, 14:19

UPDATE:

Dillard called yesterday & apologized for the mox up.

He is building a test machine with my hardware & will test another card & then Advance RMA it to me - as originally discussed.

The (now) saga continues....

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 25 Nov 2005, 20:45

Man, I have never had that much trouble with an RMA...

(thinks for a second)

...I take that back. I've got a cheapo case lying around doing nothing because it was complete crap (didn't hold the motherboard properly, so it was loose, didn't hold optical drives or hard drives correctly, so they slid around and had lots of nasty sharp edges that could have taken a finger off...) but the company in question kept messing me around until I couldn't return it without a massive restocking fee.

Needless to say, I've stopped using that company. :evil:

I'll probably hack the case to bits using a dremmel and see what sort of modding I can do to it at some point... 8)

Hope you get something sorted with this tale, Doug. :)

Post by **skipclarke** » 25 Nov 2005, 23:31

Yeah - I hope so too

- It's not like I spent a $1000.00 Cdn on this card or anything like that :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Post by **Gilly** » 26 Nov 2005, 00:28

if it gets sorted out i would stil be a bit peeved off :) after what seemed a good initial RMA it has become a saga as you say, and its kinda put me off them again :>)

Post by **skipclarke** » 27 Nov 2005, 17:34

WELLLLL.....

This is getting increasingly complex :? :cry:

I originaly ordered -about 1 yr ago - from store X & paid $1000+ CDN for a

Extreme AX800XT PE/2DHTV PCI-E
16 Full Precision Pipelines
Graphics Engine ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition
Video Memory 256 MB DDR3
Engine Clock 520MHZ
Memory Clock 1.12GHZ (560MHZ DDR)

When it arrived it was actually the

Extreme AX800XT/2DT (my original) PCI-E
16 Full Precision Pipelines
Graphics Engine ATI Radeon X800 XT
Video Memory 256 MB DDR
Engine Clock 500MHZ
Memory Clock 1GHZ (500MHZ DDR)

Notice the clock differences ?? :shock:
I remember speaking to the sales rep about the model # etc etc & he indicated it was confusing for sure but that it was the PE model. I never thought any further. But see now I got the shaft. :(

Now it gets even worse!!!

I was researching for a post here at WSGF this AM & just discovered that when (in Oct) I shipped back my card

Extreme AX800XT/2DT (my original) Ser# 54CG093958
16 Full Precision Pipelines
Graphics Engine ATI Radeon X800 XT
Video Memory 256 MB DDR
Engine Clock 500MHZ
Memory Clock 1GHZ (500MHZ DDR)

They had given me a

Extreme AX800XT/2DHTV (RMA Replacement 2005)

12 Full Precision Pipelines :shock: :shock:
Graphics Engine ATI Radeon X800 XT
Video Memory 256 MB DDR3
Engine Clock 500MHZ
Memory Clock 1GHZ (500MHZ DDR)

Now I don't profess to know a lot about Pipelines - but I know enough that this card does not run as well as the other - as a result of 4 Pipelines less !!! :evil: Comments on Pipelines ??

This saga gets worse all the time.... :evil:

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 27 Nov 2005, 18:17

What on earth are Asus doing? :?

Post by **skipclarke** » 27 Nov 2005, 18:22

Driving me to nVidea BFG SLI ?? :lol:

Post by **skipclarke** » 23 Dec 2005, 16:02

UPDATE

Got a call from the 3rd Level ASUS tech.

He had to try 3 different ASUS P5AD2 Premium MB's to get the replacement EAX800XT card to work. :shock: ????

ASUS is now paying for all the shipping to & from the US.

He is cross shipping the new card & then I will ship the old one back.

If I still have problems they will ship me another MB. :roll:
I wanted to do that now - but they wouldn't go for it. :evil:

Question:
How much should I charge ASUS for doing their benchtesting & troubleshooting? :P :roll:

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 24 Dec 2005, 14:02

Question:
How much should I charge ASUS for doing their benchtesting & troubleshooting? :P :roll:

I'm afraid that it's almost standard practice now to use 'early adopters' as free beta test platforms.

Games devs do it, hardware manufacturers do it...

It's particularly bad, though, when a server/workstation manufacturer does it! (*cough*Tyan*cough*)...

Good to hear that there has been some more progress, mate; although at this point, I reckon you just want it sorted, yes? :)

Post by **skipclarke** » 24 Dec 2005, 15:43

At this point - I have started putting out feelers & doing research on a replacement card & MB. :wink:

However, the Vapourware syndrome is delaying my actions. :roll:

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