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[Naked Snake]

Ok, nm...maybe they will be announcing some official return program.

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1041390151&postcount=287

That's a good response, and I sense a bit of reverse psychology tactics in it too ("it's still the best card for your money, you sure you want to return it?? OK we'll take it, your loss"). If anything I'm glad to see Nvidia are going with the "We fucked up and we're sorry" route, and seem to be genuinely trying to help dissatisfied customers. We'll see how it develops.

 

[Vio-Lence]

Amazon will give you a full refund. I opened a return ticket stating that the product was not as advertised. Purchased the card on December 8 2014.

I may just upgrade to the 980, not sure.

 

[potam]

Amazon will give you a full refund. I opened a return ticket stating that the product was not as advertised. Purchased the card on December 8 2014.

I may just upgrade to the 980, not sure.

If I do end up getting a refund, I'm probably gonna hold off to see what the 390x looks like. AMD needs to announce something to capitalize on this anti-Nvidia train.

 

[nowarning]

I'm going to hang on to mine unless there is some GTX 980 upgrade discount, I will be upgrading for rift this year anyway, for the time being I am still over the moon with my 970.

 

[Bananajama]

Wonder if I can get a cheap 970 from this

 

[Hip Hop]

Wonder if I can get a cheap 970 from this

I would like that

 

[Human_me]

Ok, nm...maybe they will be announcing some official return program.

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1041390151&postcount=287



edit: He's posted on reddit as well: http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/co..._benchmarked_gtx_970s_in_sli_at_1440p/co3790k

I'd like some official step up program, Like EVGA's.

I would happily return my 970 and pay the difference for a 980 if given the opportunity.

 

[knerl]

If I do end up getting a refund, I'm probably gonna hold off to see what the 390x looks like. AMD needs to announce something to capitalize on this anti-Nvidia train.

Their 380X is supposed to be 40% better than a 980.

 

[Hip Hop]

Their 380X is supposed to be 40% better than a 980.

I bet the price would be around the 980's price too, no?

I would like to hold off on a GTX 970 purchase, but the price has to be right.

EDIT:

How fast does Nvidia usually react when AMD drops new graphics cards? do they drop the prices quick?

 

[HT UK]

I bought 2 of these in October. Will keep an eye on any full/partial refunds, or even exchanges.

 

[daninthemix]

My issue is that even if some exchange / tradeup program is offered, I can't easily use it as then I'd be without a graphics card in the interim.

 

[Lagamorph]

I'd possibly go with a cheap upgrade to a 980, but unless that comes along I'll probably end up sticking with the 970 given the lack of a comparable alternative.

 

[cyberheater]

I know of one prominent etailor that's been trying to ring/message nVidia all morning about this issue and they are not getting back to them. Pretty poor stuff.

 

[SpotAnime]

I'd like some official step up program, Like EVGA's.

I would happily return my 970 and pay the difference for a 980 if given the opportunity.

Yeah, Im waiting for some official program. Saying people can just return it is bullshit. What about people like myself who sold their older cards? Now we don't have a replacement card to swap it with. They know people will give up if given this choice.

I'm already out of pocket $400 Nvidia, putting me out more is not a solution. I want a step-up (or step down while I wait for a better hardware revision) replacement program.

 

[Marlenus]

I know of one prominent etailor that's been on trying to ring/message nVidia all morning about this issue and they are not getting back to them. Pretty poor stuff.

If you mean OCUK they are not accepting refunds for this issue, this IMO is a breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 so is really poor form and if I owned a card and my retailer was not accepting a refund I would be on the phone to trading standards.

The simple fact is the card is not as it was advertised. It was advertised as a 4GB 256 bit card. This is only partially true though as while the memory - memory controller bus is 256 bit wide the memory controller - crossbar bus is 224 bits wide. Generally when a company gives you the bus width of the card you assume that applies to all aspects of the VRAM - GPU interface, not just the first half of it.

As I said in the other thread though if NV had just come out and said this at the launch of the card it would have made practically no difference to the reception the card got because it is still a very good card, you just need to be aware of a few extra limitations when choosing it but that does not change the value proposition all that much.

 

[cyberheater]

nVidia are working on a new driver for GTX 970.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...tx-970-3-5gb-vram-issue/post/4438090/#4438090

Hey,

First, I want you to know that I'm not just a mod, I work for NVIDIA in Santa Clara.

I totally get why so many people are upset. We messed up some of the stats on the reviewer kit and we didn't properly explain the memory architecture. I realize a lot of you guys rely on product reviews to make purchase decisions and we let you down.

It sucks because we're really proud of this thing. The GTX970 is an amazing card and I genuinely believe it's the best card for the money that you can buy. We're working on a driver update that will tune what's allocated where in memory to further improve performance.

Having said that, I understand that this whole experience might have turned you off to the card. If you don't want the card anymore you should return it and get a refund or exchange. If you have any problems getting that done, let me know and I'll do my best to help.

--Peter

Actually I’m not sure as that’s not a simple issue with just one cause. Card memory is not just used for the frame buffer, plenty of driver stuff gets loaded into it as well. We’re looking at sticking as much of that stuff as possible into the 0.5GB space to leave the rest available.

Read more: http://wccftech.com/nvidia-working-...n-problems-improve-performance/#ixzz3Q7UmcsGl

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-working-...mory-allocation-problems-improve-performance/

If you mean OCUK they are not accepting refunds for this issue, this IMO is a breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 so is really poor form and if I owned a card and my retailer was not accepting a refund I would be on the phone to trading standards.

Yes. It was OCUK.

 

[Bananajama]

I've always had trouble with OCUK

Prefer Scan everyday of the week now.

 

[Mengy]

I'm not sure. On one hand I'd like to return my 970 due to it not being what I thought I was buying. On the other hand, the card has worked great for me and I'm super happy with it's performance. It's been such a huge upgrade from my old 560Ti. If I returned the 970, there really aren't any better options for the same price right now, and I really don't want to spend the $500+ on a 980.


I think I'm just going to keep mine. I learned a hard lesson, but in the end the 970 has been great for me. Plus I was lucky and got one with practically zero coil whine (you have to have the cover off and your ear up against it to hear the whine). If I run into problems with games down the road then I'll look at new card options at that time. By that point there will probably be better and cheaper options anyway.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

This makes me fucking furious! I purchased a GTX 780 last year and planned to keep it for 2, maybe 3 years. almost spent $600 on it and was perfectly content but when I saw that a 970, even thought it would give me the same performance, would give me an extra GB of RAM without having to spend extra money I went through the trouble of selling my 780 on Ebay and had to wait weeks to get me 970 and now I hear this shit. I'm returning it just on principle. Has anyone been able to successfully return it? I need some advice on the best way to go about this.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Ocuk up to their old tricks.

 

[knerl]

I bet the price would be around the 980's price too, no?

I would like to hold off on a GTX 970 purchase, but the price has to be right.

EDIT:

How fast does Nvidia usually react when AMD drops new graphics cards? do they drop the prices quick?

No idea. One can hope not.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

The only viable alternative to the 970 is the 980, which is £180 more expensive for the same model and I just can't afford that. It feels like I'm kinda stuck with the 970 even though it's definitely not as advertised.

 

[LilJoka]

I've always had trouble with OCUK

Prefer Scan everyday of the week now.

Yeh ocuk will mess you about.
Scan less so, but anyone enquired there?

Make sure you state the sales of good act.

We're working on a driver update that will tune what's allocated where in memory to further improve performance.

See this scares me. It's not good since in a year they will give up, just look how the 780Ti is now falling behind the GTX 970 in recent benches.

 

[bj00rn_]

I'm going to hang on to mine unless there is some GTX 980 upgrade discount, I will be upgrading for rift this year anyway, for the time being I am still over the moon with my 970.

Yeah, me too, I don't have any attachement to my 970, have always planned to upgrade my 970 for a next gen GPU when the CV1 arrives, and I can't see the point in going for the 980, the 970 is exactly as fast as it was when I bought it and looked at benchmarks. I would even bought the 970 over the 980 if Nvidia had told us the truth from the beginning.

 

[nibblemonkey]

Yeh ocuk will mess you about.
Scan less so, but anyone enquired there?

Make sure you state the sales of good act.



See this scares me. It's not good since in a year they will give up, just look how the 780Ti is now falling behind the GTX 970 in recent benches.

Mine came from Scan.co.uk, do you thinks it worth finding out if they're going to do anything?

 

[LilJoka]

I'm considering going without a GPU till AMD announce their GPUs then making a decision.
Thing is I'm new to nvidia and I do like their features like physx/DSR.

Mine came from Scan.co.uk, do you thinks it worth finding out if they're going to do anything?

Why not, no harm in phoning them.
But have your defence setup, know the ROP and L2 cache numbers as well as segmented VRAM scenario/bandwidth. And have sales of good act ready.

 

[knerl]

The only viable alternative to the 970 is the 980, which is £180 more expensive for the same model and I just can't afford that. It feels like I'm kinda stuck with the 970 even though it's definitely not as advertised.

I feel cheated absolutely, but it's still an amazing card though.
Time to start an exchange program for us with a 970 where we can trade in our 970s for a 980 for a lower price Nvidia.

 

[CyanideFuse]

Mine came from Scan.co.uk, do you thinks it worth finding out if they're going to do anything?

I read a post from someone on the nVidia forum saying they contacted Scan.co.uk and didn't get too far. It is worth a try though.

I got my card from them too so I would be interested in their response.

I really am undecided at the moment. The card works fine for me but I haven't played a whole lot of games that are supposed to be causing stuttering problems such as FC4. Mordor has been fine as has Lords of the Fallen. Those are the newest games I have that would test the card.

 

[kharma45]

I'm considering going without a GPU till AMD announce their GPUs then making a decision.
Thing is I'm new to nvidia and I do like their features like physx/DSR.



Why not, no harm in phoning them.
But have your defence setup, know the ROP and L2 cache numbers as well as segmented VRAM scenario/bandwidth. And have sales of good act ready.

Misrepresentation Act 1967 also may be of use.

 

[Dambrosi]

I got my custom prebuilt PC with a 970 inside it delivered just a few minutes ago. Beat that.

I haven't even plugged it in yet. I think I need to buy new monitor leads. God damn it.

I can't say I'm too disappointed yet, though - at least the case looks real nice.

 

[LilJoka]

Scan have "pros" that will try to shift/negate blame. When my water pump died they tried to blame me and I had questions asked from A-Z by their resident "Watercooling expert".

So you must know your stuff before calling them.

The 970 is still a fantastic card running 1080p60 today.

 

[Marlenus]

Scan have "pros" that will try to shift/negate blame. When my water pump died they tried to blame me and I had questions asked from A-Z by their resident "Watercooling expert".

So you must know your stuff before calling them.

The 970 is still a fantastic card running 1080p60 today.

With any retailer in the UK you should be able to return the 970 should you wish under the sale of goods act. If they refuse then you can go to your credit card or bank and get them to do a chargeback. Just tell them the goods were misrepresented at time of sale but it has only just come to light. Then contact the retailer with details of when you are available for them to have a courier come pick up the product, at their expense ofc.

The retailers should then get on the phone to their suppliers and kick up a storm so they get their money refunded and so on until you hit the manufacturers and NV themselves.

The UK already has the system in place to deal with this but I can somewhat understand how much of a pita this will be for the retailers simply due to the volume that they need to deal with, however, just because it is a pita does not give them an excuse to not comply with the law.

The card itself is still a very good card though and if you are still interested in it then great, at-least you know exactly what you are getting and what its potential short comings are so you can make a truly informed decision. This was denied to the people who purchased the card prior to this coming to light and is why anybody who wants a refund for it should get one.

 

[fluffydelusions]

Can't say I ever had any issues with my 970 and if I were to return I'd have nothing else to use. Not paying for a 980.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

so has anyone returned, or is anyone planning to return their 970 in light of this information?

 

[derek212]

I got my custom prebuilt PC with a 970 inside it delivered just a few minutes ago. Beat that.

I haven't even plugged it in yet. I think I need to buy new monitor leads. God damn it.

I can't say I'm too disappointed yet, though - at least the case looks real nice.

Which one ? If don't mind me asking

 

[0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55]

I'll probably just sell mine off in 6 months once AMD drops their next GPU and Nvidia releases their prime Maxwell. Dealing with upgrades/refunds/paperwork... is just not worth it. Especially considering these are the best GPU's I've ever owned (quite/cool, powerful, cost effective). I can manage to restrict VRAM usage below 3.5 gigs for the time being... eyes still bleed at the graphic fidelity.

Gotta make sure my computer can stress test at ultra settings for 16 hours of Witcher 3 sex.

 

[Lagamorph]

Looking on Amazon where I got my MSI 970 from. The 970 page is still normal, the page for the MSI 980 has this,

This product is not currently offered by Amazon.co.uk because a customer recently told us that the item he or she received was not as described.

We are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. In the meantime, you may still find this product available from other sellers on this page.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NOP53AA/

 

[pestul]

Can't say I ever had any issues with my 970 and if I were to return I'd have nothing else to use. Not paying for a 980.

I've decided to keep my 970. The only way I'd consider a 980 is if the there was a discounted upgrade program, say $100cdn or less. I really don't see that happening.

On another front, I was playing around with MFAA last night and I have to say that I'm really blown away by it. Crysis 3 really runs and looks beautiful @1440p when using it. I'll have to try a few other games now and test the penalty. Right now it seems almost too good to be true (4xMSAA for the price of 2xMSAA no blurring).

 

[gooface]

This makes me feel even better skipping this gen and sticking with my 780 a little longer. I feel bad for all the people that own these cards though.

 

[GroinShooter]

Decided to test a little with Space Engine. Started up 8 instances of the game at 4K and began to render a planet in each one with full LoD. I ran out of pagefile memory and crashed before I could see my VRAM get wrecked. Maybe I should increase my pagefile lol

Gold man... Gold

 

[CyanideFuse]

Someone from customer care posted in the nVidia thread regarding this problem (PeterS@NVIDIA). They are offering to assist with returns to the place you bought the card. You have to private message him.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/803518/geforce-900-series/gtx-970-3-5gb-vram-issue/160/

Edit:

I just saw this link posted on the nVidia thread too: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor-geforce-gtx-970-vram-stress-test.html

Some stress tests I believe; I am about to read it now.

 

[jfoul]

so has anyone returned, or is anyone planning to return their 970 in light of this information?

While the whole situation makes me a little upset, I'm still happy with my EVGA 970 FTW+. I'll use the EVGA step-up program if the 980 is offered at a discount, or if the 980 gets a price drop in the next 90 days. I will also consider selling my 970 if the next AMD card is really nice.

 

[LilJoka]

Someone from customer care posted in the nVidia thread regarding this problem (PeterS@NVIDIA). They are offering to assist with returns to the place you bought the card. You have to private message him.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/803518/geforce-900-series/gtx-970-3-5gb-vram-issue/160/

Edit:

I just saw this link posted on the nVidia thread too: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor-geforce-gtx-970-vram-stress-test.html

Some stress tests I believe; I am about to read it now.

So 4 stutters in 28secs where fps actually double (double avg frame time) and they say that this is not perceivable? Hmmm
Compare that to the 3Gb chart (V High settings), were any spikes are very close to the avg frame times.

 

[jfoul]

HardForum:

"Yup. Sucks to feel like you have no options. I can help.

If a return/exchange is the route you need to take then contact the retailer first, card maker second. I know I'm asking you to do some legwork but asking is the first step and we'll get you taken care of at the end. If they will not exchange/return then hit me up in a PM with the following:

Site purchased from
Order #
Products
First and Last Name
email address

Some users are already getting positive responses for returns long past the retailer window (though yours might be the furthest back I've encountered so far)."

 

[djplaeskool]

I agree. Only way I'd move up to 980 is with a discounted step up.
I've been plenty happy with my 970, but to see the problems with the card spelled out in very plain to decipher examples is really disheartening.

 

[Mad Season]

That's a good response, and I sense a bit of reverse psychology tactics in it too ("it's still the best card for your money, you sure you want to return it?? OK we'll take it, your loss"). If anything I'm glad to see Nvidia are going with the "We fucked up and we're sorry" route, and seem to be genuinely trying to help dissatisfied customers. We'll see how it develops.

but returning it to whom? NVIDIA?

 

[pestul]

I've already replaced the TIM with Tuniq-TX2 on my Zotac 970.. so I doubt I'd even qualify anyway. Funny thing though, I don't remember seeing any stickers or seals that I would have torn to suggest a voided warranty though.

Again, I'm quite happy with the card so I'll stick with it. I'm still very disappointed with Nvidia over this. I hope AMDs next series demolishes the Maxwell line so we can see some excellent competition again.

 

[Dictator93]

I will tell my brother, whose computer is mode inordinately affected by this issue due ot his resolution and desired game settings, to return his cards most likely.

He is looking for high res and high textures and a consistent framerate. This issue directly impacts his computer build's aim (which is unfortunate because the build was damn awesomely expensive).

 

[toastyToast]

I kind of want to return mine and get my money back. Don't really have any games that need much horsepower and I still have my 670. I'll probably get another card for The Witcher 3.

 

[pestul]

I hope Nvidia does a good job at disclosing the creative driver modifications they have to make to help out. They owe us that now at least. I won't tolerate artificially dropping certain settings to fit in the 3.5GB window as a solution. :/