Powercolor doesn't have warranty outside the USA & Canada, also card doesn't work in x16 slots.

[TRWOV]

EDIT: "Fixed" by putting tape over the PCIe connector contacts to force the card to work at 8x.

To be fair, they do state that the warranty is only valid in the USA & Canada on their web page, it just sucks to think that they'd leave the rest of their customers out in the cold.
http://www.powercolor.com/us/support_warranty.asp
(if you're wondering, Powercolor's LA page links to the same US Warranty page)


Anyway, since this door has closed, here's my situation:

Last year I had been running this card on the secondary slot of an GA-H61M-D2P-B3 for about six months along with a Sapphire 7770 crunching. While it crunched it did so without issues.

I had kept this card as a backup in its box and earlier this week I wanted to use it for an FX6300 build BUT I came across a problem... the GPU wouldn't give a display.

I tested in several other boards:
- Asus C60M1-I, bios 0502 (latest): works (x16 physical, x4 electrical)
- Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7, bios F10 (latest) displays in slots PCIEx4_1, PCIEx8_1,PCIEx4_2. Doesn''t display on any PCIex16 slot. PCIEx8_2 wasn''t tested because there wasn''t enough clearance. }
- Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3, bios FE (latest): doesn''t work on PCIEx16 slot, works in PCIEx1 slot (with x1 to x16 riser)
- Asrock 880GM-LE FX, bios 1.50 (latest): doesn''t work on PCIEx16 slot, works in PCIEx1 slot (with x1 to x16 riser)
- Gigabyte GA-B75-D3V, bios F7 (original): works in PCIEx1 slots (with x1 to x16 riser), works in PCIEx4 slot. Doesn''t work in PCIEx16 slot.

At the end of all my testing I was able to determine that the common denominator was the x16 slot. I tested on several boards with different kind of bioses from different vendors (AMI on the Asus and Asrock boards, Phoenix on the Gigabyte boards) and different CPUs (FX6300, FX8350, Core i5 2320, Phenom II X6 1065t, AMD C60) and the only thing in common was the x16 slot not working.

Summary: the card doesn''t give a display if installed on a x16 slot. It will work fine on any x8, x4 or x1 slot but not on any x16 slot. Sadly I wasn''t aware of this problem since I happened to put the card into an x4 slot from the beginning and the warranty from the store expired last year


For the record, I also tried different bioses from the GPU Database. I tested every bios that had the stock speeds and support for Elpida RAM. At this point I did this:

- Install card in the x8_1 slot of an 990FXA-UD7 board.
- Flash new bios.
- Test in x8_1 slot. Boot to Windows and run GPU-Z's render test.
- Test in x16_1 slot. doesn't display.
- Repeat.

While the card is in an x16 slot it's effectively dead. atiflash -i will say "adapter not found".

Tried looking for a jumper of some sort to see if it was misconfigured but I didn't find any.

 

[OneMoar]

dead lane on the card check the connector and resistors above for damage

 

[TRWOV]

hadn't thought of that, will do

 

[64K]

Are there no consumer protection laws in Mexico? It's pretty shitty for a company to sell a product and there is no guarantee that it works and no RMA.

 

[OneMoar]

if you do find a dead resistor you can very carefully shade over it with a number 2 pencil and see if that brings the lane back

 

[TRWOV]

I looked at the components over the PCIe connector but they're capacitors. My multimeter doesn't have a capacitor tester, I'll have to get one.



On other news, Powercolor says they can process the RMA IF I pay shipping both ways. I guess getting an used 7770 would costs less. It wouldn't be a Powercolor of course.


Another thing I hadn't think about: testing with an x8 to x16 riser on the x16 slot. It would be limited to x8 (not a big deal for a 7770 IMO) and the "fix" would cost $5 if it works. Just ordered one on eBay. In the mean time I'll get a capacitor tester (if cheap enough).

 

[sneekypeet]

Excuse my geography as it has been years since I sat in a classroom, but IIRC Mexico is part of North America, not Central or South! I would return the mail and ask that they look at a map or globe before cutting off your RMA!

 

[Tallencor]

Shitty deal. What ever happened to NAFTA? I have thought of using these cards very seriously in the recent past because my local parts shop started carrying them and they are attractive in their price points. I am also a firm believer that Mexico is a full fledged part of North America. If their policy is this lapse for a cross border rma it makes me wonder if they come up with excuses for the U.S and Canada as well. Booo to Powercolor.

 

[newtekie1]

Just put some tape over the end of the PCI-E connector on the card to force it to run in x8 mode no matter what. It is only a 7770, so running it at x8 won't bottleneck it at all.

Like this:

Excuse my geography as it has been years since I sat in a classroom, but IIRC Mexico is part of North America, not Central or South! I would return the mail and ask that they look at a map or globe before cutting off your RMA!

Their warranty policy states US&Canada only, so that would just be wasted breath.

 

[OneMoar]

Just put some tape over the end of the PCI-E connector on the card to force it to run in x8 mode no matter what. It is only a 7770, so running it at x8 won't bottleneck it at all.

Like this:

this I was just gonna post this!
edit: heres a reference for the pins you need to tape over

 

[TRWOV]

doh! yeah, you're right. Testing...


edit:
works!

Just another question, it's working in x4 mode as reported by GPU-Z, how many "contacts" do I have to cover? I counted 38 contacts from the front edge on the x8 to x16 riser:

but I suppose it really is an x4 to x16 riser.




edit2: yes, I ran the render test:

 

[sneekypeet]

Their warranty policy states US&Canada only, so that would just be wasted breath.

I would be looking around locally for that "(unless stated otherwise)" for their warranty in the local market! Seems illogical that parts can be sold anywhere without warranty coverage. Not like he came to the US or Canada and bought the card!

 

[OneMoar]

consult the image I posted for the right amounts of pins to shield
only the last large block at the bottom should be taped that should get you 8x mode
make sure your tape job doesn't overlap onto pin-pair's numbered 49

 

[newtekie1]

I count 33 pins that have to be taped off to get x8, if you tape off even 1 too many it will drop the card down to x4.

 

[Assimilator]

Anandtech did a review of the 7970 and concluded that 2.0 x8 is the sweet spot for that card. Given that the 7770 is much less powerful, I'm sure you won't see any performance degradation running it at 2.0 x4.

What would be the proof or disproof of my theory, of course, is if you could post some benchmarks with the card running at 2.0 x4, and then if you can get it to run at 2.0 x8, rerun the same benchmarks and compare.

 

[Sasqui]

Send it to Rick Perry and see if he deports a new card to you

 

[TRWOV]

apparently it was a driver thing, I installed the latest Catalyst and got the x8 alright. I was using the Windows driver in the tests, odd that it would limit the link to x4

While I was fumbling with the bioses, I noticed that the 7770 PCS and my DH had the same SSID, the only changes were the clock speeds and product number (I suppose that Powercolor uses the same PCB for both). I flashed my 7770 with the PCS bios and... voila! higher Overdrive limits

 

[thebluebumblebee]

So does that mean that it's working at X8 or X16?

 

[TRWOV]

x8, I taped over the PCIe contacts as suggested

 

[Tallencor]

Not to sound stupid or that it really matters but will it work at 16x now that the drivers have been installed with the tape off? I am curious.

 

[TRWOV]

no, it doesn't give a display if plugged in x16 slots, not even at boot (post, bios, etc) so it's not driver related

 

[eidairaman1]

Have you tried the cards and mobos out of the case

 

[TRWOV]

the Asus C60M1-I and GA-880GM-USB3 were tested out of a case, the rest inside a case.

^GA-880GM-USB3

 

[Keullo-e]

X8 is enough for a card like 7770. My second HD5870 runs at X4 2.0 (crossfire) and it's not that bad bottleneck.

 

[TRWOV]

I flashed back the DH's bios. The PCS bios increased voltage to 1.25v (stock 1.175v) and the card went to >80C

Turned overdrive to the max and got 4352 on 3dm11 so it seems that the x8 link is alright.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8598765


Thanks for all the replies.