Returning defective 3870 X2's for 5770's?

[ToIsIcH]

A few years ago I bought 2 3870x2's. They were top of the line at the time, arguably the best card out there.

Well, now one of them has gone defective. Some kind of hardware issue. The guys at Memory Express (where I bought it) have said that they will take the defective one, and the one that's still good (since I bought them as a pair to run in Crossfire) and give me two 5770's.

I'm here to ask if they're giving me the proper deal here.

I'm reasonably sure that the two 5770's will outperform my 3870x2's, but I have some questions.

First, how important is memory bandwidth? Looking at the stats, the 5770's outperform the 3870x2's in almost all departments, except for memory bandwidth. 1 3870x2 had somewhere around 130 gb/s memory bandwidth, while the 5770 had only somewhere around 70 gb/s.

Also, what are they using as their measure for replacing my card? Are they trying to find a card that is of comparable performance, or are they replacing it based on ATI's heirarchy of cards? I mean, I don't mean to sound greedy, but if it's based on the heirarchy, the 3870x2 was the best card out there when I bought it (like 500 bucks per card if I remember correctly), so shouldn't I be replaced with a card of similar value? The 5770's I believe are considered more of a value card. Just doesn't seem right to replace a card that cost me 500 bucks per with a card that's worth like 150 per. I mean, both ATI and nVidia always come out with different cards of their respective series. They have heavy duty top of the line gaming cards (what my 3870x2's were at the time), their mid range cards, and then their lowbie cards. Since my 3870x2 was their big hitter, am I right to expect them to replace it with their new big hitter, or am I just being greedy?

Also, the 3870x2's are dual GPU cards, and they're planning on replacing it with a single GPU card.

Are they giving me a good deal, or should I try to see if I can get more from them? See if I can get them to give me a 5850 or 5870? Or maybe even 5000 series x2 card?

Some thoughts on this matter would be appreciated. This is the first time I've ever had to take a card back and have it replaced with a different type of card, so I'm not sure if it's even negotiable what card I get or not.

 

[red1776]

in short, yes, you are getting a good deal. you can have all the memory bandwidth in the world, however if the the architecture cannot push the data through...it doesn't matter. you can try to squeeze them for for more, but yes you are making out like a bandit.

 

[dividebyzero]

I'd tear their fingers off trying to get the 5770's out of their hands.

 

[ToIsIcH]

lol... okay.

One more quesiton though, does anyone know how big name companies actually handle returns like this?

I might be being greedy here, in fact I kind of know I am, but if there was any way I could convince them to upgrade it to a 5850 or 5870, I'd be happier.

 

[dividebyzero]

I'd say you are extremely lucky to get the 5770 deal. Usually for an RMA they would ship back an OEM version of the faulty card. The fact that these guys are going the extra mile to exchange a healthy card as well speaks volumes for their customer service. If you were dealing directly with the cards manufacturer then you'd be getting one new (or possibly refurbished) 3870X2 to go with your good (but old) working card.
They most likely can't source a replacement so rather than leaving you with two mismatched cards have given you a free upgrade. Crossfire 5770's will beat a 5850 hand's down and if you wanted a 5850 you could always sell both of the 5770's and buy one. Getting a 5870 is a big price differential. They may do the deal but I'm guessing you'd have to part with some cash.
I'd say take the 5770's. There'a an old saying that goes "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth".

 

[red1776]

I'd say you are extremely lucky to get the 5770 deal. Usually for an RMA they would ship back an OEM version of the faulty card. The fact that these guys are going the extra mile to exchange a healthy card as well speaks volumes for their customer service. If you were dealing directly with the cards manufacturer then you'd be getting one new (or possibly refurbished) 3870X2 to go with your good (but old) working card.
They most likely can't source a replacement so rather than leaving you with two mismatched cards have given you a free upgrade. Crossfire 5770's will beat a 5850 hand's down and if you wanted a 5850 you could always sell both of the 5770's and buy one. Getting a 5870 is a big price differential. They may do the deal but I'm guessing you'd have to part with some cash.
I'd say take the 5770's. There'a an old saying that goes "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth".

and don't forget you are getting fresh cards you can wreck with wreck-less overclocking , and!.. you are set for the next gen of DX11 games.
...and the horse in the mouth thing.

 

[ToIsIcH]

Thanks for the replies. I won't push it, I'll just take the 5770's and walk out with a smile.

Yeah, not bad customer service. When I brought the cards in, they tested them one at a time. The first one they tested they said there was obviously a problem, cause they couldn't even get it to power on. So I was actually hopeful that the second card would be fried too, but they said that one was ok.

My heart kind of sunk at that moment, but then he said he would replace both of them since I bought em as a pair with the purpose of running crossfire.

So anyways, thanks again.

EDIT: By the way, thank god for extended warranties. I usually don't get them but this time I did. The extremely ironic thing is, my extended warranty was set to expire in like 3 days. So the timing could not have been better. I was sweating bullets when i phoned to find out if I was still under warranty, and when i found out I was good by just 3 days, I was lol'ing all the way to the store.