Graphics card

[Les.]

Just over a year ago I had an intermittent graphics problem. I eventually decided it must be the graphics card, so I bought one from Ebay, new in sealed box. A Gigabyte G710. Not the problem, so I tried a spare small monitor and the fault never recurred. A new monitor from CPC fixed things, so all went well. Until just before Christmas, when once more I had intermittent graphics. Of course this time it WAS the nice new graphics card, so back in went the old one (GT620 or something like that). I contacted the Ebay seller who initially seemed helpful, asking for full details of sale, the card, fault description, saying he would deal with it after Christmas. I later realised I had heard nothing, so tried to contact him again, but simply no response. Being a Gigabyte, it seems to have a 3 year warranty, but I could find no way of getting to them, it seems it needs to be through the reseller.

Can anybody advise on a solution.

Les.

[johnbarry]

How did you pay, if paypal the normal route is to file a dispute (though it’s been a few months) I would say you gave him time. Have you checked feeback he might no longer be registered (you’ve had it) if still registered but you didn’t pay with paypal, try ebay

Cheers
John

[Ed P]

Tbh as your problems recur with different cards they do not sound like they are connected to a specific graphics card but are more likely environmental ones with overheating being a likely candidate, and driver corruption perhaps less likely.

Give the insides of your case a good blast of compressed air. If you keep pets, check that their hairs are not fouling up any case filters.

Although you do not have the AMD/nVidia driver clash, sometimes old drivers can cause issues. nVidia are really bad at housekeeping old drivers and at least you may be able to save a LOT of disk space by following this Reddit tip. I would be tempted to go further and completely remove your drivers and note their tip “Driver files should always be uninstalled before updating to newer drivers or when removing an older NVIDIA card and replacing it with a newer card.“ link

Driver corruption can also be caused by disk faults and crashes. You do not say if you have other PC problems but if you have crashes, or abrupt shutdowns (pulling the plug) you might like to take a look at these issues as well.

This link covers similar points and gives a longer checklist of items that cause such problems.

 

 

[Dave Rice]

This is Les so it’s Linux. However IIRC he does have a small older Shuttle barebones so overheating could be an issue.

I don’t have a Linux PC any more so can’t test any of this, but this thread has some techniques for getting the temps out of an NVidia card http://tinyurl.com/y9x4xsh9

[Ed P]

Sorry Les, I forgot that you used Linux, but Linux and noveau graphics drivers do have a very bad history. Are you using the default Ubuntu/Mint drivers or the much better non-free ones from nVidia?

You may find the fix rather difficult so it maybe better to concentrate on temps first.

[The Duke]

You could try memtest on your ram, just to rule that out.

Maybe not could also be a psu issue. These intermittent issues are always a pain to diagnose.

[johnbarry]

Sorry if I am thick, I am just curious as to what this advice offered has to do with ebay/seller contact.

Cheers
John

[Les.]

I think some misunderstanding. When I bought the card, it was because I thought the old one was faulty, but it turned out to be my monitor. I got a new monitor but left the new card in there. However it was just before Christmas that the NEW card failed. I refitted my old card, which as expected was perfectly OK and remains so.

Now a year after purchase, any attempt to get redress thro Ebay would certainly be pointless.

However, it was a new Gigabyte card with purportedly a 3 year guarantee. What I need is suggestions on how to get Gigabyte to replace it, or is that pointless as well?

Cheers, Les, sitting here nursing a migraine.

[johnbarry]

Gigabyte support

Cheers
John

[Dave Rice]

From https://www.gigabyte.com/uk/Support/Warranty/Graphics-Card

Graphics cards: GIGABYTE provides 3 years warranty from the production date. The warranty applies exclusively to distributors and dealers. End users have to claim the RMA service through dealers where the product was purchased.

If the dealer won’t play ball raise it with E-Bay.

However it goes on to say

1st year please contact place of purchase. Years 2-3 contact returns@gbt-tech.co.uk directly. Repair or replace for same or better performance.

[Les.]

Dave, thanks for that. That last line looks like mu saviour. I will get onto it pronto.

Cheers, Les.

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