NVIDIA Settles Class-Action Lawsuit Over GTX 970 Memory

[$ReaPeR$]

C'mon dude. You offend many people that buy Nvidia simply because their top end is faster. Why do you equate that with epeen? If I want to buy the fastest gfx card in a generation, I will (if i want to shell out for it). It doesn't make me a fanboy of whatever brand I buy and it doesn't make me a cock waving technotwat. It's attitudes that you display (somehow without even noticing ) that are the epitome of a fanboy. When you simply slag off someone because of what they buy because it's not your choice - THEY are the fanboy? Seriously?
So, I should not buy a GTX 1080 because the Fury X is slower? WTF? (FTR, I'm sticking with my 980ti because I'm still on W7). And I really must not buy a GTX1070 because it's cheaper than Fury X and in most circumstances, faster?

Stop being silly with comments about Nvidia and epeen. I could argue the same about any gamer that has bought a Radeon Pro Duo (or a Titan Z). It is absolute nonsense to tell people to buy a slower card if they want to buy the faster card (or the quieter, etc). Yes, there are fanboys but aim your guns at them directly and don't make stupid and sweeping generalisations about peoples buying choices.

And social circle? Are you completely delusional? Why would my social circle influence my gfx choice? Most of my friends don't even know what the inside of a PC looks like, let alone what brand is inside it.

Yeah, so stop making infantile, fanboy call outs, when they simply shine a giant fanboy light on your own head.

why do you take it personally? i own an nvidia product ffs also i wasnt talking about any of your comments. do you find it rational for someone to defend nvidia in this case? also, i make pc systems for a living, and in my experience most people will buy nvidia just because they think it will be faster or because all their friends have one, 960 vs 380x for example.(you know how marketing works right?) if a company is not punished for its shitty behavior do you think it will stop behaving like this? also why do you think that you or me are the typical users? do you think that a typical user will be posting on tech forums or read every day about tech improvements?i didnt put you in any position, i wasnt even talking to you, so why the hell do you get all defensive? i buy the product that best suits my needs based on the amount that i can spend, i dont buy it because is red, green or blue.
also this conversation is irrelevant to the topic at hand so i will not continue.

 

[rtwjunkie]

You say that but, I had my first 6870 for 6 years and got a second one for CFX when one wasn't enough after 3 years.

You also strike me as a very thrifty individual.

 

[Aquinus]

You also strike me as a very thrifty individual.

I didn't used to be but, at the time my daughter was on the way and the way I used money kind of changed. I almost got a 3960x but, figured that the 3820 was more practical just as getting a second 6870 seemed more practical than buying say, a 7970 (at the time.) The things I didn't cheap out on were things I figured I would have for a while such as the motherboard and PSU but yes, you're right. Since I started a family I've become much more thrifty than I had in the past.

 

[Vayra86]

Well, you don't even seem to understand what a settlement is, so it's pointless to argue further.

Plus, I'm not defending Nvidia, as I have stated, I wouldn't want to see widespread usage of the solution they chose for the GTX 970. At the same time, I'm not arguing in favour of protection against stupidity either: the card has been benchmarked all over the place, no one can claim they thought they were buying something and got something else instead. More to the point, I go to TPU, I can see the MSI 970 does 42.9fps in Alien Isolation at 4k. That's what I get off the shelf, regardless of how those 42.9fps are delivered.



From your own link:

Are you sure about this?

I think you forgot about some very recent issue... Average FPS or minimum FPS, doesn't tell you shit.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7195/amd-frame-pacing-explorer-cat138/2

So it really DOES matter how that 42.9 FPS is delivered, mostly whether it is delivered CONSISTENTLY. Now, what happens with atypical VRAM configs and assymetrical buses? They damage that consistency, as evident by stutter in SLI GTX 970 configs and a small selection of games at higher settings. And not just the GTX 970 either - previous mid rangers (x60's) had similar configs. None of those were a real issue, because the division of bandwidth was a LOT more balanced to how the GPU was cut up. Basically, GTX 970 is Nvidia taking cost cutting measures too far. And they're now paying that premium anyway, which is a great, great thing because it means the business case for assymetrical stuff has shifted by 30 bucks per card, making it far less interesting to do - and if you do it, you better do it right.

There is no black and white, and FPS is nothing more than a rough indication of performance - far from enough to gauge the actual gameplay on a specific GPU.

 

[FYFI13]

Is there a single person who bought GTX 970 only after reading specs? No, you bought it after reading few reviews? Ok, how much of performance your GTX 970 lost after you found out about 512MB of "slow" VRAM? Then where's the problem?
US won a fight, not a war. Next gen cards (let's call it GTX 1170) MSRP will be 500$ and Nvidia will get back every cent they paid for cry-babies and people will buy it anyways. Why? Because AMD next year will be trying to reach performance levels of GTX 1070

 

[the54thvoid]

why do you take it personally? i own an nvidia product ffs also i wasnt talking about any of your comments. do you find it rational for someone to defend nvidia in this case? also, i make pc systems for a living, and in my experience most people will buy nvidia just because they think it will be faster or because all their friends have one, 960 vs 380x for example.(you know how marketing works right?) if a company is not punished for its shitty behavior do you think it will stop behaving like this? also why do you think that you or me are the typical users? do you think that a typical user will be posting on tech forums or read every day about tech improvements?i didnt put you in any position, i wasnt even talking to you, so why the hell do you get all defensive? i buy the product that best suits my needs based on the amount that i can spend, i dont buy it because is red, green or blue.
also this conversation is irrelevant to the topic at hand so i will not continue.

Let me quote the relevant part of your initial post and see if you can understand why you were being 'general' and therefore insulting many people (who pay for Nvidia products).

because they dont care, they care more for how they will be perceived by their social circle, and there nvidia=bigger epenis.

Perhaps you should type more slowly or read your posts before posting. You are certainly implying all people that buy Nvidia cards do so because of peer pressure and they have some form of phallus envy. Don't hide fro your own post and throw your hands in the air. Face your anger, face your demons and simply say, "sorry mate, I didn't mean to sound so petty."

 

[buggalugs]

well this settlement is not as serious as the faulty solder issue on Nvidia cards a few years ago. Maybe they have a lawsuit tax built into the price of their cards...

 

[rtwjunkie]

well this settlement is not as serious as the faulty solder issue on Nvidia cards a few years ago. Maybe they have a lawsuit tax built into the price of their cards...

I think they do already!

On a serious note, most companies totally do. Things like that come from a fund, which is built up by having consumers pay a little extra. It varies from product to product or service, but it's almost always there in the form of a few cents.

 

[Deleted member 50521]

I feel so happy i was not nagged into buying a 970 last year. Forum members here at TPU were telling me 970 was THE best option for my X99 build. Soo glad i never went down that route.

 

[Assimilator]

That issue has been addressed though AND the green team (of which I'm now part of) had a so I large issue with the last generation cards spiking above stated power draw figures. Everyone's at it, don't worry!

Bro, do you even English?

I didn't used to be but, at the time my daughter was on the way and the way I used money kind of changed. I almost got a 3960x but, figured that the 3820 was more practical just as getting a second 6870 seemed more practical than buying say, a 7970 (at the time.) The things I didn't cheap out on were things I figured I would have for a while such as the motherboard and PSU but yes, you're right. Since I started a family I've become much more thrifty than I had in the past.

> thrifty
> 3820

Does not compute

I feel so happy i was not nagged into buying a 970 last year. Forum members here at TPU were telling me 970 was THE best option for my X99 build. Soo glad i never went down that route.

Nothing can change the fact that the GTX 970 was the price/performance king of the last generation of cards.

 

[ironwolf]

lulz All those saying they bypassed the GTX 970 and that it was a good thing make it sound like they dodged a bullet or something. I have zero regrets buying my Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970 card. Got it w/MIR at a great price and some decent free games back in 2015. Enjoying it quite nicely.

It's nice to be getting some $$$ back, makes the card even sweeter after all this time.

 

[mcraygsx]

Doesn't matter NVidia will milk that much back with current and upcoming consumer cards.

Remember what he said.

"We won't let this happen again. We'll do a better job next time.

Jen-Hsun"

 

[the54thvoid]

I feel so happy i was not nagged into buying a 970 last year. Forum members here at TPU were telling me 970 was THE best option for my X99 build. Soo glad i never went down that route.

Me too - the 970 was so bad I bought it's big brother.

 

[ssdpro]

This is purely a reputation play, as nvidia has no legal obligation to the accuracy of any title, information, or specification. The legal terms of the product agreement and their website read (as of 9/15/2014 and still today):

"THE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL NVIDIA OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE MATERIALS, EVEN IF NVIDIA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS PROHIBIT THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NVIDIA does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. NVIDIA may make changes to these materials, or to the products described therein, at any time without notice, but makes no commitment to update the Materials."

And that is why it settles out for 30 bucks/card in one country instead of prorated refunds + attorney fees. Still was a sketchy move my nvidia in the first place.

 

[EpicGrog]

My GTX 1080 is actually 8192MB not 8GB Im suing!!

 

[the54thvoid]

My GTX 1080 is actually 8192MB not 8GB Im suing!!

My Kingpin isn't a crime lord....

 

[Static~Charge]

btarunr: Thank you for the attribution - NOT! You posted this on Friday, July 29th 2016 at 05:53. However, I posted it here:

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...x-970-memory-issue.210100/page-3#post-3496792

on Thursday, July 28, 2016 at 7:40 PM, with 5 comments posted afterward. Not one peep about that to be found....

 

[TheLegend]

My GTX 1080 is actually 8192MB not 8GB Im suing!!

My AMD RX 480 can be unlocked to 8gb instead of the advertised 4! Curse you evil AMD...

 

[Alduin]

Is there a single person who bought GTX 970 only after reading specs? No, you bought it after reading few reviews? Ok, how much of performance your GTX 970 lost after you found out about 512MB of "slow" VRAM? Then where's the problem?
US won a fight, not a war. Next gen cards (let's call it GTX 1170) MSRP will be 500$ and Nvidia will get back every cent they paid for cry-babies and people will buy it anyways. Why? Because AMD next year will be trying to reach performance levels of GTX 1070

When time of directx 12 comes you will see how fury x beat lovely gtx 1070
No need for Vega

 

[EarthDog]

And when that time comes (talking DX12 market saturation or at least closing in on it), we will be two generations ahead where we are now and nobody would give a hoot about those cards.

Good call man.

 

[Fluffmeister]

Nothing can change the fact that the GTX 970 was the price/performance king of the last generation of cards.

And ironically... in the states at least, it just became even better value for money!

 

[Legacy-ZA]

NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang apologized to buyers about the issue and promised that it would never happen again.



Source: TopClassActions

The only thing you are sorry about Jen-Hsun Huang; is that you were caught. I am pretty sure you aren't done on devising plans on how to screw us over in the future. Oh wait, thats right you already did with the 1000 series. I wonder what the the rest of your series cards will hold for us down the line.

 

[nem..]

off topic
Maxwell already in Legacy Mode, and less than one year to paxwell also to be part of legacy drivers. roflmao

 

[Captain_Tom]

If NVIDIA is smart, it will compensate US buyers $30 USD, and to people outside the US, it will voluntarily give away a Steam game key to a AAA game as compensation. If it doesn't do that, people outside the US will start class-actions of their own, and maybe the courts will set a higher compensation than $30/buyer. I bet EU regulators will order NVIDIA to give everyone $329.

Agreed. Frankly I think the $30 to each buyer is satisfactory, but Nvidia should have had to pay a much bigger fine than 1.3 million.

 

[bug]

Are you sure about this?

I think you forgot about some very recent issue... Average FPS or minimum FPS, doesn't tell you shit.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7195/amd-frame-pacing-explorer-cat138/2

So it really DOES matter how that 42.9 FPS is delivered, mostly whether it is delivered CONSISTENTLY. Now, what happens with atypical VRAM configs and assymetrical buses? They damage that consistency, as evident by stutter in SLI GTX 970 configs and a small selection of games at higher settings. And not just the GTX 970 either - previous mid rangers (x60's) had similar configs. None of those were a real issue, because the division of bandwidth was a LOT more balanced to how the GPU was cut up. Basically, GTX 970 is Nvidia taking cost cutting measures too far. And they're now paying that premium anyway, which is a great, great thing because it means the business case for assymetrical stuff has shifted by 30 bucks per card, making it far less interesting to do - and if you do it, you better do it right.

There is no black and white, and FPS is nothing more than a rough indication of performance - far from enough to gauge the actual gameplay on a specific GPU.

Bottom line, you buy the card based on some high-level specifications. It's absurd to expect the manufacturer to justify every transistor included and every design decision taken.
Again, this does not mean I'd like to see another 970 anytime soon. It's been tried, customers were pretty disappointed. The card sold because it was solid, but it still wasn't that sat well with customers.