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Need some assistance

NoMorality

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Hello All,

I recently bought a graphics card really cheap from one of my friends. The card is a MSI 580 Lightning.
Now, he warned me the reason for the cheap price was that one of the fans on it makes a really loud noise. I didn't think much of it - thinking that he was just picky, and that it was not going to be much of a problem.

However, once I stuck it in my PC and started playing Max Payne 3 - which is what I needed the card for - I came to understand what he meant. At idle the card is absolutely quiet but once the fan speed gets over 2000 rpm the card starts to make a really loud high pitched noise that is unbelievably irritating, I can even hear it wearing headphones.
I closely examined the card when I bought it and its exterior looked absolutely as new, there are no scratches, dents or otherwise signs of the card being mishandled or insensibly cleaned.

Following my experience I talked to my friend again and learned that he had bought the card in Germany (We both live in Denmark) and that he had previously RMA'ed the card, and paid a hefty shipping fee to have it sent there, only to have it sent back to him with the message that there was nothing wrong with it, and having to pay an additional fee due to falsely RMA'ing it. After this he gave up and shelved the card, only to sell it to me a few months later.
Although of poor comfort to me, he also told me that the warranty on the card was still valid, but that he wouldn't advise throwing more money away trying to RMA it again.

Now, I know the following is not morally decent, but I really don't want to just throw away this card after paying a still substantial amount of money for it. I also think its really bad costumer service of the German store not to let the card qualify as a RMA.

Therefore, I got the idea that maybe if I intentionally break the card even more, I would then be able to have the card meet RMA qualification and thus get a replacement card, or have a refund.
However, I have very little experience with computer hardware, all I know is how to put the parts together and connect power to them. Because of that, I fear that anything I would do to the card would be a sure way to void the warranty. So I would really appreciate it if someone could give me some pointers on how to accomplish my devious and deceitful plan.

PLEASE NOTE (As I wrote earlier I know this is immoral, but so is the German shop! Therefore I would like to urge people who are not going to assist me to not reply, comment or speak their minds about how wrong this is - I know)

Please don’t hate,
NoMorality
 
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Or you can buy 2 92mm or 120mm fans and do some little mods here and there and not ruin the card.
 

Norton

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Or you can buy 2 92mm or 120mm fans and do some little mods here and there and not ruin the card.

+1
You can probably replace the fans for cheaper than the shipping charges involved with RMA'ing the card.

P.S> MSI Lightning/Hawk/Twin Frozer III fans are irritatingly loud at full speed (I have a 6870 Hawk so I know)
 

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If you got the card at an amazingly cheap price, just go grab one of the aftermarket coolers made to silence them;)
 
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Really? just buy a cooler
 
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I've properly busted a faulty graphics card that I knew the shop would make an excuse on and refuse RMA. I had no issue with that, morally or otherwise. Asshat customer services meets devious customer! :p However, if you do, it must be invisible damage - if they can see physical damage then they'll deny you and you'll be stuffed.

Alternatively, just chuck this down to experience and get one of those aftermarket coolers that the other members have recommended and is what I recommend too.

The big takeaway lesson for used purchases here is to ALWAYS check out what you're buying first, especially if the seller says there's a fault on it.
 
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+1
You can probably replace the fans for cheaper than the shipping charges involved with RMA'ing the card.

P.S> MSI Lightning/Hawk/Twin Frozer III fans are irritatingly loud at full speed (I have a 6870 Hawk so I know)

I have a 6870 hawk too!LOVE the card, been no trouble at all.But interestingly mine is extremely quiet! =) WIN!:toast:
 
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Personally I'd rec contacting MSI to see if they can replace the fan or entire cooler, even if at your expense. I'm not sure if their 3 yr warranty covers a 2nd owner, but if they say no, tell them EVGA's does on equivalent (aftermarket/OCed) models.

If that is not possible or cost effective and you're sure it's one of the fans, you may be able to correct it just by taking the cooler off, taking the fan out, and putting one drop of lube in the right spot near the fan's motor shaft on the backside after removing the label. I have a window fan that's lasted for over 20 yrs using this trick every several years.

From what I've read that cooler uses 90mm fans, but they look to have 3 vs 4 mounting spokes, so it could be a bit tricky attaching one. If the fan absolutely needs replacing, you can look at the label on the back of the fan after taking off the cooler and possibly find out exactly what brand and model of fan it is. That way you might be able to at least find it's RPM and amp spec. You WOULD need a PWM type fan though, which would narrow your choices.

Before doing that though, you'd want to make SURE it is one of the fans vs a coil whine or something on the VGA itself. You could do that by un-mounting the suspect fan and plugging it straight into the MB by itself.

The results with aftermarket coolers were good on the 400 series cards, but on the 500 series you'll see a range of reports, some not so good. Check TechGage's review on the VF3000F on a 580 for instance.
 
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Norton

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I have a 6870 hawk too!LOVE the card, been no trouble at all.But interestingly mine is extremely quiet! =) WIN!:toast:

In auto it's quiet but anything over 70% speed in manual starts to get pretty loud... still a great card though! :toast:
 
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Well I have two of these.
and yes they are LOUD!
just limit the max rpm of fans to 60%.
 
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