BFG Technologies

[Coridan]

I have been a long time Nvidia user. I'm not putting down ATI one bit, I just prefer Nvidia. Anyhow, this past October I decided I needed a new computer. I put together a power point presentation and gathered a lot of data and presented my case to my wife. After she approved it, I decided to start researching just what I would buy.

After a lot of research, BFG Technologies came up over and over again for being one of the best resellers for Nvidia cards. I bought two GTX 285 OC XBE cards in hopes of running them in SLI. Problems started up quickly as games would crash almost immediately. I did a lot of trouble shooting. I disabled SLI and took out one card, same problem persisted. I then switched cards and everything started working perfectly. Diagnosis: I got a lemon. I was confident in the cards because they said they had been thoroughly inspected and tested before being shipped out, but I guess even some bad ones get through. "That's fine" I thought, "All of their cards come with a lifetime warranty anyhow. I'll just RMA it and be on my way." That was in November.

It is currently April 12th, and I still do not have my replacement card. I have called on a number of occasions and keep getting told the same story:

"We're sorry, we have 0 stock of that particular card. I have absolutely no ETA on when the next shipment will arrive. Just watch your RMA status and it will be updated with a tracking code as soon as we have shipped your new card."

I just now got off the phone with the people there and this is what they told me:

"Wow I am so sorry that really stinks. That's just terrible you've been waiting so long. Well let me explain to you how it works here. Every time you call, we escalate your 'ticket' which makes it more likely to come to the attention of our general managers. I see your ticket has been escalated... 27 times so far. You're making good progress on that. Keep calling in and we'll keep escalating it. Hopefully we'll wear down the rock that is the general management and get you some sort of deal. I'll go ahead and escalate this again for you to make 28. You are not the only person having this ongoing issue. There are hundreds of people who bought this (popular) card and have RMAs in. The management just isn't doing anything about it. I'm sorry again."

Really? Could you imagine if this is how the world were run? Keep calling back and the chances of us giving a damn will go up? I don't blame the support people I've been talking to - it's obviously not them, but the management is seriously screwed up if this is how they operate. I just want my damn replacement card before I see it on sale for $50. I paid $400 for the thing, I should be able to use it. Yargh.

[Panthro]

Ouch.

I've got a 285 myself, thankfully with no problems. Sucks when you get bad kit though.

If it really is that popular, and there are so many people waiting, you'd think they would have kept up production...

Hope this gets sorted for you soon!

[ASYLUM101]

Ooof, I've gotten lucky thus far and never had to deal with THAT. But I have dealt with eVGA and their miraculous-self-destructing cards... XFX and PALiT have been my favorites. XFX has a great website, very helpful and organized, if I needed an RMA, I don't know how hard it would be to send it through, but my XFX card lasted 2 years. I just swapped it for an ATI and the XFX is in another PC running just as strong as ever. The PALiT, same story. Great customer service from what I can tell too...

[Coridan]

You know I had an XFX before and I was really happy with that card. I think I'll go that route next time around so I don't have to deal with this kind of service.

[alexei]

Thanks for the story. It's will help other picking their cards better. I know now that BFG and eVGA are not cool anymore. And I heard XFX got double-lifetime-warranty, am I right? First owner can transfer their card to second owner.

Back in 2006/2007, I got a XFX 7300GT. This just use it without much care although at first I think this card is a bit weird. The box tell that this card have SLI and dual-DVI, but I'm getting one without SLI bridge slot (not the bridge) and with DVI+VGA. After about several weeks it's start acting weird. When I play Wow or similar games, poligon start become spiky, and the more I let it like that, more spike will appear until I couldn't recognize anything on the game screen. This just happen in 3d games. After a while it's totally broke and I sent it for RMA. After one month, I got it back. Look similar but with proper SLI bridge slot and dual-DVI.

That really weird for me. Maybe some manufacturing error or I got previous version of that card. Very unstable.

I prefer to have ASUS or GIGABYTE card here. GIGABYTE support are great here. For PSU ODIN GT series, they even transfer 5-year warranty to lifetime warranty.

[andreyy]

Galaxy is the answer ;)

Or maybe not. I never had the chance to call their service, hehe.

[medierra]

Welcome to the age of mega-corporations where no one gives a shit about individual consumers and the customer service people you're talking to don't really have any stake in or care about the company they are representing.

[Renevent]

Ugh...my company was just bought out recently by one of the largest corporations on the planet. There was a all employee meeting and the new CEO gave one of those "don't worry we love our employees and take care of them!" spiels...meanwhile I have been speaking with our CTO and he let me in on some of the changes coming down the pipe...utterly disgusting. Let's just say cutting positions and outsourcing is the word of the day :furious:

They put up banners all over the company with fake "values" they supposedly live by...and of course expect us to adhere to as well...it really infuriates me.

[OneEyeRed]

I was actually a BFG user when I used Nvidia tech. I was a long time ATI user up until last year but its a long story I'll spare the details. Anyhow, the last BFG card I had caused me to go to customer support and it really sucked. In my opinion they made the best cards around but something happened in the last two years and they have really nose dived.

EVGA has been the cream of the crop for customer support hands down for me.

[Malpheas]

Yeah, I like EVGA, but for some reason, NVidia can't get their shit together with the GPU fans on cards... they sound like a poorly maintained Volkswagon.

[Starkrun]

That very reason right there is why i switched to ATI... I grabbed a 5770 and I've yet to need anything more, when I upgrade to an i7 and a 64bit OS I'll slap in another 5770 and call it done till 2012-14 depending on technological growth.

Nvidia has burned me so much... they run to hot and need to much power, ATI can run every single legacy game I own going back to Hexen and all my glide titles. I will never switch to Nvidia again... the money I've saved purely in power consumption with my green computer and that built in smartgart on board my GPU is just to much to give up.

[ASYLUM101]

You know, it's funny you mention the fan quality, because just the other day after cleaning out my case(full of dustbunnies :P) I noticed with my ATI card, the machine is SILENT. I swear, it's so weird having the computer on without the fans constantly purring. Note: I have FIVE fans in the case, and I can't hear a single one, and no I'm not deaf lol. So, yeah ATI DOES have better fan tech, not that that should be a selling point, haha. It's just funny, cause I noticed this the other day, then remember an NVidia video where they compared their cards to Harleys. Who would want to drive a silent Harley?

[Malpheas]

I wouldn't. But I also wouldn't want to drive a Harley. No, I want to drive that geo-stabilized motor unicycle that some kid invented in Montreal, PQ.

In topic related news - it's not ALL Nvidia cards that I've had that have been bad. Only my Nvidia Geforce 2, my 5700 and ... that was about it. I've also never owned any board base to Nvidia other than EVGA.

[andreyy]

I've also never owned any board base to Nvidia other than EVGA.

What the hell? Expand that. You couldn't have meant what I think you did Oo

[Coridan]

The comments about the Nvidia fans are all true. My computer sounds like it's about to take off every time I use it. It's as cool as can be, but still, the noise pollution gets to be a bit much. I'm still not going to go to ATI, though. Call me afraid of change, but I know Nvidia so well. The only other brand I have ever used is Voodoo. I remember when the Voodoo 5 came out... oh precious memories.

[Starkrun]

The only other brand I have ever used is Voodoo. I remember when the Voodoo 5 came out... oh precious memories.

Same here, i went from VooDoo 5 to Nvidia... now I'm ATI form here out just for compatibility sake.

I remember getting 2 VooDoo BlackMagics and running them SLI, I was such a geek.

[Rhis]

The comments about the Nvidia fans are all true. My computer sounds like it's about to take off every time I use it. It's as cool as can be, but still, the noise pollution gets to be a bit much. I'm still not going to go to ATI, though. Call me afraid of change, but I know Nvidia so well. The only other brand I have ever used is Voodoo. I remember when the Voodoo 5 came out... oh precious memories.

I remember when the original 3dfx voodoo came out. It was so awesome for Quake 2.

[heron]

I remember when the original 3dfx voodoo came out. It was so awesome for Quake 2.

Around that time, I had a creative 3d blaster (32mb) banshee and Voodoo cards ran for something like 500 bucks.. sheeeesh

[eisprinzessin]

"Wow I am so sorry that really stinks. That's just terrible you've been waiting so long. Well let me explain to you how it works here. Every time you call, we escalate your 'ticket' which makes it more likely to come to the attention of our general managers. I see your ticket has been escalated... 27 times so far. You're making good progress on that. Keep calling in and we'll keep escalating it. Hopefully we'll wear down the rock that is the general management and get you some sort of deal. I'll go ahead and escalate this again for you to make 28. You are not the only person having this ongoing issue. There are hundreds of people who bought this (popular) card and have RMAs in. The management just isn't doing anything about it. I'm sorry again."

Did he really phrase it like this? That's sarcasm ... and disloyal. It's alarming as he is obviously frustrated by his ignorant management.

[Coridan]

Did he really phrase it like this? That's sarcasm ... and disloyal. It's alarming as he is obviously frustrated by his ignorant management.

Yeah she really did say it that way. She actually was quite good at sounding sincere, but when you look at the words, you're right, it does seem a bit sarcastic.

I just got off the phone with them again. Asked them for the 40th time to escalate the ticket. The phone tech said he sent it to both the 2nd and 3rd in command last week and he'll do the same this week. It won't be long before I hit the BBB. Seriously guys, never buy from this company. There are much better ways to spend $400.

[ASYLUM101]

There are much better ways to spend $400.

I'll say! 400$ can burn really well!

[alexei]

I read today that BFG gonna give up on GPU market. Citing that it is not much profitable.
http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=8784

[Coridan]

I'm not really surprised. With the number of RMA's they have due to a high percentage of lemons, it must be near impossible to make money.

In case any of you were wondering, I'm still waiting for my replacement card.

[sevrun]

Coridan... just WOW. I'd call and ask to speak to this management. Tell em to give you your damn card or your F***in money back and if they have a problem with that arrangement that they can talk to your _LAWYER_ about considerably more. I used to deal with companies trying to screw us over all the time while I was out in Iraq. I was a computer tech while I was in and honestly... getting parts over there was a bitch because no one wanted to ship to a combat zone. One guy accused me of being an INSURGENT! Yeah, blew my stack at that point... might have threatened to hunt down his call center, rip his dog's head off and shove it someplace if he didn't put someone on the line with enough sense to recognize the marine who'd called them 4 times that week already. After that I always got sent over to their 'Problem Caller' center and things went very VERY smoothly.

Moral of the story is this: Coridan, stop being nice and put your boot on their throat. What they're doing is just this side of illegal and you have the right to ask for your money back if they can't be bothered to actually replace your card.

[The Old Farmer]

Noticed some bad news on slashdot and thought of you.
Here is the link http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/05/22/0335245/BFG-Exiting-Graphics-Card-Market
Hope you get help soon.

[alexei]

And another one, BFG might going down once and for all. Not just the graphic card market.
http://www.hardocp.com/news/2010/07/06/bfg_tech_down_for_count/

So if you need any RMA, do yourself a favor, do it ASAP.

[Void(null)]

My good friend recently RMA'ed his BFG card and had to wait 2 month to get any response from them, it was only after he filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau that they got off their arses and sent his replacement.

EVGA has amazing support. Reliability on some of their cards is a bit poor but they make up for it with a lifetime warranty, fast customer service and the will RMA and send you a brand new card at the drop of a hat.

I have had to RMA my 280 twice and each time they were amazing about it.

If only XFX were still making high end nVidia GPU's... XFX cost a little more but there cards were indestructibly and if they ever did break, they were one of the only companies that would mail you out a new GPU next day delivery before they had received your old GPU and they would even send you a pre-paid box to mail your card back to them.

That's fucking customer service.

I would almost consider buying ATI just to go back to XFX. But as a Gamer I just cant bring myself to run another ATI Card. Yes they are amazing from a tech perspective, yes they give you more bang for your buck but the industry is nVidia focused and as a result, ATI runs into far too many compatibility issues from half assed QA by Games Developers.

Thats not the fault of ATI but it is a major consideration for me as a gamer. Especially when you see games like Saboteur that just flat out say "Does not work on ATI."

[ASYLUM101]

Er... I use an ATI card and I have not seen any game that will not run on it. What game doesn't work with ATI cards? Saboteur? That's just pure laziness and apathy towards their buyers.

[Void(null)]

Er... I use an ATI card and I have not seen any game that will not run on it. What game doesn't work with ATI cards? Saboteur? That's just pure laziness and apathy towards their buyers.

Laziness and Apathy being that Pandemic Studios was shut down by EA near the end of the games development cycle, and because the game had been built on nVidia hardware it was never tested or optimized for ATI... because Pandemic Studios no longer existed to do the needed testing and optimization. So EA shoveled the game out the door "as is" to reclaim their investment?

[Coridan]

I just filed a complaint with the BBB because I am STILL waiting on my card. I mean holy crap, I RMA'd the darn thing and they've had it since November. I'm definitely going with EVGA next time around.

I hope I just get a full refund for the amount I paid last year. Crazy I tell you, crazy.