It looks like some online retailers are offering up either partial refunds or full refunds (with return) for those users that complain about the implications of the GeForce GTX 970 memory issue. On January 25th NVIDIA came clean about the true memory architecture of the GTX 970 which included changes to specifications around L2 cache and ROP count in addition to the division of the 4GB of memory into two distinct memory pools. Some users have complained about performance issues in heavy memory-depedent gaming scenarios even though my own testing has been less than conclusive.
Initially there was a demand for a recall or some kind of compensation from NVIDIA regarding the issue but that has fallen flat. What appears to be working (for some people) is going to the retailer directly. A thread on reddit.com's Hardware sub-reddit shows quite a few users were able to convince Amazon to issue 20-30% price refunds for their trouble. Even Newegg has been spotted offering either a full refund with return after the typical return window or a 20% credit through gift cards.
To be fair, some users are seeing their requests denied:
"After going back and forth for the past hour I manage to escalated my partial refund to a supervisor who promptly declined it."
"Are you serious? NewEgg told me to go complain to the vendor."
So, while we can debate the necessity or vadidity of these types of full or partial refunds from a moral ground, the truth is that this is happening. I'm very curious to hear what NVIDIA's internal thinking is on this matter and if it will impact relationships between NVIDIA, it's add-in card partners and the online retailers themselves. Who ends up paying the final costs is still up in the air I would bet.
Our discussion on the original GTX 970 Issue – Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more!
What do you think? Is this just some buyers taking advantage of the situation for their own gain? Warranted requests from gamers that were taken advantage of? Leave me your thoughts in the comments!
Further reading on this issue:
Conversation went like
Conversation went like this
“hello, I heard that amazon and newegg are offering customers a discount of 20% for members that purchased a gtx 970 due to false advertisement of 4GB when only 3.5 GB of ram is usable. This has unfortunately affected me, and I would too like to receive a partial refund”
Amazon rep- Hello, my name is Deepak. I’ll be happy to help you today.
Would you mind waiting a moment while I look into this for you?
Me- Sure Deepak
deepak- would you please just confirm that you were affected, and were only able to use 3.5 gb of used ram?
Me- Yes
Deepak- Okay, I Have processed a refund of 20% back to your account
…… Yeah it’s just that easy. Amazon is the shit. Fuck NVIDIA, idgaf I just bought two golden editions this week, and now I only paid $320 each. SUCK IT! 620 for my sli which will smash anything for the same amount of money hahahaha. BOO YAAAA
after the refund do you get
after the refund do you get to keep the card?
so i bought a nvidia geforce
so i bought a nvidia geforce gtx 970 2 months ago from best buy any one know if they will give a partial or full refund?
Bestbuy? Probably not. That’s
Bestbuy? Probably not. That’s where I also purchased my 970s. Unless you are hellbent on 4K gaming, you won’t have any issues with your 970s. A lot of people are making far more of an issue over this than should be. No one was bitching about its performance before the news. Only upgrade choice people have is the GTX 980.And we all know its nearly $250-300 more for very little performance gain.
It was only $160 more for
It was only $160 more for me….
I like how no one bitched
I like how no one bitched about the GTX 970 until this news came out. I have two of the Nvidia branded 970s and I’ve had no issues that some people are complaining about. Since I careless about 4K resolution in gaming, the GPUs do exactly what I paid for them to do. I would buy another GTX 970 before I ever bought anything AMD.Enthusiasts seem to be about the only ones complaining about this problem. And I feel that many people are just jumping on a bandwagon wanting something back for free. Again, no one was complaining before this fact surfaced. Now everyone wants to jump on the “get compensation bandwagon” The GTX 970 is still the best deal out here for performance for the price in comparison to the high dollar GTX 980.And the 970 is still better than anything AMD has. I’ll just hold on to my pair of 970s, I don’t want any compensation from Nvidia or anyone else.I just want Nvidia to learn from this mistake in the future.
I got a rma from newegg for
I got a rma from newegg for store credit on my 970… good ‘cept I have to send in the card, then they issue a credit, and only then do I get to order another card. I think I’ll keep the card and go do business with Amazon. You would think newegg had gamers employed there at one time, long ago I guess.
Chatting with Newegg right
Chatting with Newegg right now. Newegg rep is only offering me 10% refund. See if I can get at least 20%.
One question I have is when
One question I have is when design programs, such as Autocad, require or recommend 4GB of dedicated video memory, how will that affect the performance of those design programs and/or will those programs throw up a message saying that it cannot detect 4GB of memory?
If anyone has/uses Autocad 2013 or 2014 with a GTX 970, please reply on your findings!
Much appreciated!
been deving in UDK as well as
been deving in UDK as well as 3ds max in 1080p.
ive yet to get ANY issues at all… or even hit the ceiling with this thing..
im running an MSi 970 with a 4790k 8gigs Ram.
i dev in OC mode.
I was just told Amazon has
I was just told Amazon has received a “company wise” memo not to issue partial refunds on this item.
I just got this same
I just got this same response, was told I need to contact the vendor before a partial refund is given.
I know I’m REALLY late on
I know I’m REALLY late on this, but I bought a 970 before the problem was discovered and got the same response from Amazon and that I should take it up with Asus. I then replied to them stating that I heard of others getting 30% refunds on their cards and that the refund can only be issued by the sellers. I also provided two links with articles talking about the VRAM issue. Also stated that I was disappointed by their response to my intial claim.
In 2 hours time, I received an email saying that they were sorry and as a Prime member I should receive quality service. They then said they would be willing to do a partial refund (of 30%) or a full refund.
Which goes to show if you persist they will eventually cave in.
TLDR;Was told they can’t do partial refunds, responded with a lengthy email stating that I’m disappointed. Ended up getting 30% back on my purchase.
Nice #LootCrate T-Shirt
Nice #LootCrate T-Shirt
http://www.tomshardware.com/r
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-8.html
You got what you paid for noobs. I couldn’t even call you “nerds” as it would be an insult to nerds everywhere who actually do their research before buying product. Price per performance this is still an amazing card. Anyone asking for partial credit is obviously just trying to take advantage of a situation.
I bought one knowing everything about this card and am still perfectly happy with what I paid for it. Also, I am running a Philips 28in UHD monitor with display port connection and everything is crystal.
I gladly “took advantage of
I gladly “took advantage of the situation” and got a partial refund because Nvidia lied about their product and likely would’ve ignored the issue altogether if it hadn’t been exposed as it has. Plain and simple.
I don’t understand corporate apologists in cases like these. Nvidia lied. They deserve whatever harm may befall them as a company because they willfully engaged in misinformation. I do not believe for a second that this whole snafu and “information mix up” between their engineering and marketing departments was all one big oopsie. When corporations engage in such activity, they should be brought to taks and held responsible for their actions and suffer the consequences. Otherwise, they will likely continue to engage in such activity in order to test the bounds of what they can get away with.
I bought a GTX 970 because it is indeed a great card for the price but it being a great card for the price is immaterial to the fact that Nvidia misled reviewers and customers about the card’s capabilities.
I to bought one knowing the
I to bought one knowing the issue. Love the card and have 0 issues with it.
are you fucking retarded? it
are you fucking retarded? it was advertised as a full 4gb vram card they have previous gen cards that run better at 4k because they actually have a full 4gb of vram running at the same speed. your comment gave me cancer thank you. taking advantage of a situation? lmao they fucking lied to the public blatantly go kill yourself please.
I’m astonished by the
I’m astonished by the hypocrisy and negativity towards the US in these comments. The US without a doubt has its short comings, but at the end of the when every other nation suffers a financial breakdown, natural disaster or government step down etc etc….. Guess what country is always asked for help and is always willing and first to help!? AMERICA! So when a country looses its commercial plane in the ocean who was their with their Navy and high techery and money spent to assist this country in finding this plane? AMERICA! When Ebola and other major diseases break out in Africa guess whos there’s to help? AMERICA! Even after america suffered its own financing crash guess who was there to bail out the banks of the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Germany (and the list is bigger) I just can’t remember, out of billions? AMERICA! So when it comes down to it america may seem like it has a chip on its shoulder and we just might, but that does not mean we are better than anyone else and it certainly doesn’t constitute the sheer amount of daily hate we get from others. When it comes down to it Americans would be the first to give our shirts off our backs for everyone else! And when it comes to middle east as far as I’m concerned I don’t care what the middle east thinks we have done what they are doing there and across Europe is sickening. I would celebrate the day we were able to seperape the extremists and the moderates and nuke them to high hell!( sick, demented, barbaric bastards they are!)
Is this for alll 970s? Or is
Is this for alll 970s? Or is it just for the base ones? Bc i have the 970 ftw
Newegg refused to do a
Newegg refused to do a partial refund for me. They instead offered a free return shipping label for a full refund even though the product was purchased more than 30 days ago. Meh I might just spend a bit more on a 980
I just contacted newegg
I just contacted newegg customer service. They wouldn’t give me a partial refund but they gave me an RMA to return it for full refund. I purchased it 09/20/2014.
I wish I was able to just get the partial refund instead of all of this hassle, but at least I have the option to return it now and I’ll think about whether it’s worth the bother over the next few days.
just got 25% tried for 30 but
just got 25% tried for 30 but I accepted 25 as it wasn’t their fault…. o well I tried and I feel much better about this thing and now it makes me want to buy another and sli these beasts and get another partial refund before this issue is corrected…
just got 25% tried for 30 but
just got 25% tried for 30 but I accepted 25 as it wasn’t their fault…. o well I tried and I feel much better about this thing and now it makes me want to buy another and sli these beasts and get another partial refund before this issue is corrected…