If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
BEWARE of Asylum-BFG Technology GeForce FX 5200 Video Adapters
Subject: The pathetic, Asylum - BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video
adapter Model #ASLM 52128 I am writing this article to warn prospective video adapter buyers about the terrible experience I have had with the Asylum, by BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter I purchased in 2003, marketed through Wal-Mart stores. This card retails for $98 in my locale. The board worked marvelously for the first few months after I purchased it brand new in retail packaging. One day the board strarted dropping the video signal intermittently. This went on for one week in a workstation with an MSI MoBo before I pulled the Asylum card out and tried it in another workstation. The Asylum card acted the same way on the other workstation with an ASUS MoBo. During this service incident I used an old VisionTek GeForce 2 MX400 board to keep the workstation up and running. I contacted BFG Technology and they graciously agreed to ship me a replacement board, which I received 6 days latter. The replacement board I received did have a different serial number than the one I sent them. As part of a previously planned series of system upgrades, the motherboard and power supplies in both of the same workstations were changed out with shiney new MSI MoBos and 400W power supplies. The replacement Asylum card was installed in one of the upgraded workstations and exhibited the exact same intermittent video signal drop out as the original card had exhibited. I have reason to believe that I am not the only Asylum-BFG Technology customer that has had this video signal drop out problem with this video adapter. And as has become the custom of manufacturers which sell their wares to a trusting American public, I believe BFG Technology is shipping out the defective boards that they have had their customers ship back to them for warranty replacement service, in such a way that customers do not receive the exact same board that they sent in, just the same model of video adapter. GONE are the days when companys honored their "lifetime" warranties and shipped back to the customer a brand, spanking, new product which has had all the bugs hammered out of it. I have been doing this kind of IT support function since 1984 and never before purchased a video adapter which caused me problems, until I chose to purchase a video adapter manufactured ny BFG Technologies. This is a pathetic example of a video adapter with a "lifetime" warranty. I have had better results with generic no name boards which came with no warramty whatsoever. I have taken a solemn vow to never again trust BFG Technolgies. I would love to hear comments from other members of the group concerning experiences with Asylum-BFG Technologies. Please post your responses here for the benefit of the group. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
BFG are an excellent manufacturer of cards from all accounts i hear of - and
to be fair - they did ship you a replacement card pdq, if the card is faulty - send it back again. no point in complaining about how **** a manufacturer is after one bad experience. It could be that the cards are part of a bad batch - and as BFG only make the boards not the GPU's and ram - its not really their fault if something like that happens. Its usually down to faulty components - not the pcb, the box, the brand name etc. Kai "ML" wrote in message ... Subject: The pathetic, Asylum - BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter Model #ASLM 52128 I am writing this article to warn prospective video adapter buyers about the terrible experience I have had with the Asylum, by BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter I purchased in 2003, marketed through Wal-Mart stores. This card retails for $98 in my locale. The board worked marvelously for the first few months after I purchased it brand new in retail packaging. One day the board strarted dropping the video signal intermittently. This went on for one week in a workstation with an MSI MoBo before I pulled the Asylum card out and tried it in another workstation. The Asylum card acted the same way on the other workstation with an ASUS MoBo. During this service incident I used an old VisionTek GeForce 2 MX400 board to keep the workstation up and running. I contacted BFG Technology and they graciously agreed to ship me a replacement board, which I received 6 days latter. The replacement board I received did have a different serial number than the one I sent them. As part of a previously planned series of system upgrades, the motherboard and power supplies in both of the same workstations were changed out with shiney new MSI MoBos and 400W power supplies. The replacement Asylum card was installed in one of the upgraded workstations and exhibited the exact same intermittent video signal drop out as the original card had exhibited. I have reason to believe that I am not the only Asylum-BFG Technology customer that has had this video signal drop out problem with this video adapter. And as has become the custom of manufacturers which sell their wares to a trusting American public, I believe BFG Technology is shipping out the defective boards that they have had their customers ship back to them for warranty replacement service, in such a way that customers do not receive the exact same board that they sent in, just the same model of video adapter. GONE are the days when companys honored their "lifetime" warranties and shipped back to the customer a brand, spanking, new product which has had all the bugs hammered out of it. I have been doing this kind of IT support function since 1984 and never before purchased a video adapter which caused me problems, until I chose to purchase a video adapter manufactured ny BFG Technologies. This is a pathetic example of a video adapter with a "lifetime" warranty. I have had better results with generic no name boards which came with no warramty whatsoever. I have taken a solemn vow to never again trust BFG Technolgies. I would love to hear comments from other members of the group concerning experiences with Asylum-BFG Technologies. Please post your responses here for the benefit of the group. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
There's no way BFG is sending out refurbished video cards. It's not worth
the effort to diagnose and repair something like that. Those cards are bulk manufactured in Taiwan or China using specialized equipment. BFG just packages them in boxes and distributes them to resellers. I'm certain the replacement card you received was new. Your old one most likely went in the trash. "ML" wrote in message ... Subject: The pathetic, Asylum - BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter Model #ASLM 52128 I am writing this article to warn prospective video adapter buyers about the terrible experience I have had with the Asylum, by BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter I purchased in 2003, marketed through Wal-Mart stores. This card retails for $98 in my locale. The board worked marvelously for the first few months after I purchased it brand new in retail packaging. One day the board strarted dropping the video signal intermittently. This went on for one week in a workstation with an MSI MoBo before I pulled the Asylum card out and tried it in another workstation. The Asylum card acted the same way on the other workstation with an ASUS MoBo. During this service incident I used an old VisionTek GeForce 2 MX400 board to keep the workstation up and running. I contacted BFG Technology and they graciously agreed to ship me a replacement board, which I received 6 days latter. The replacement board I received did have a different serial number than the one I sent them. As part of a previously planned series of system upgrades, the motherboard and power supplies in both of the same workstations were changed out with shiney new MSI MoBos and 400W power supplies. The replacement Asylum card was installed in one of the upgraded workstations and exhibited the exact same intermittent video signal drop out as the original card had exhibited. I have reason to believe that I am not the only Asylum-BFG Technology customer that has had this video signal drop out problem with this video adapter. And as has become the custom of manufacturers which sell their wares to a trusting American public, I believe BFG Technology is shipping out the defective boards that they have had their customers ship back to them for warranty replacement service, in such a way that customers do not receive the exact same board that they sent in, just the same model of video adapter. GONE are the days when companys honored their "lifetime" warranties and shipped back to the customer a brand, spanking, new product which has had all the bugs hammered out of it. I have been doing this kind of IT support function since 1984 and never before purchased a video adapter which caused me problems, until I chose to purchase a video adapter manufactured ny BFG Technologies. This is a pathetic example of a video adapter with a "lifetime" warranty. I have had better results with generic no name boards which came with no warramty whatsoever. I have taken a solemn vow to never again trust BFG Technolgies. I would love to hear comments from other members of the group concerning experiences with Asylum-BFG Technologies. Please post your responses here for the benefit of the group. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
i have had nothing but good dealings with BFG. i was having a bad driver
issue and they help me through it perfectly and quickly. their tech support rock plus it was 24/7. i bet the problem is something conflicting with drivers and such and not directly related to the videocard itself. the nvidia drivers can be ...ahem..."fickle" sometimes "Joe Hayes" wrote in news:UQTWb.513$Mf.400@okepread04: There's no way BFG is sending out refurbished video cards. It's not worth the effort to diagnose and repair something like that. Those cards are bulk manufactured in Taiwan or China using specialized equipment. BFG just packages them in boxes and distributes them to resellers. I'm certain the replacement card you received was new. Your old one most likely went in the trash. "ML" wrote in message ... Subject: The pathetic, Asylum - BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter Model #ASLM 52128 I am writing this article to warn prospective video adapter buyers about the terrible experience I have had with the Asylum, by BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter I purchased in 2003, marketed through Wal-Mart stores. This card retails for $98 in my locale. The board worked marvelously for the first few months after I purchased it brand new in retail packaging. One day the board strarted dropping the video signal intermittently. This went on for one week in a workstation with an MSI MoBo before I pulled the Asylum card out and tried it in another workstation. The Asylum card acted the same way on the other workstation with an ASUS MoBo. During this service incident I used an old VisionTek GeForce 2 MX400 board to keep the workstation up and running. I contacted BFG Technology and they graciously agreed to ship me a replacement board, which I received 6 days latter. The replacement board I received did have a different serial number than the one I sent them. As part of a previously planned series of system upgrades, the motherboard and power supplies in both of the same workstations were changed out with shiney new MSI MoBos and 400W power supplies. The replacement Asylum card was installed in one of the upgraded workstations and exhibited the exact same intermittent video signal drop out as the original card had exhibited. I have reason to believe that I am not the only Asylum-BFG Technology customer that has had this video signal drop out problem with this video adapter. And as has become the custom of manufacturers which sell their wares to a trusting American public, I believe BFG Technology is shipping out the defective boards that they have had their customers ship back to them for warranty replacement service, in such a way that customers do not receive the exact same board that adapter. GONE are the days when companys honored their "lifetime" warranties and shipped back to the customer a brand, spanking, new product which has had all the bugs hammered out of it. I have been doing this kind of IT support function since 1984 and never before purchased a video adapter which caused me problems, until I chose to purchase a video adapter manufactured ny BFG Technologies. This is a pathetic example of a video adapter with a "lifetime" warranty. I have had better results with generic no name boards which came with no warramty whatsoever. I have taken a solemn vow to never again trust BFG Technolgies. I would love to hear comments from other members of the group concerning experiences with Asylum-BFG Technologies. Please post your responses here for the benefit of the group. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 03:07:59 GMT, steve2112 wrote:
i have had nothing but good dealings with BFG. i was having a bad driver issue and they help me through it perfectly and quickly. their tech support rock plus it was 24/7. i bet the problem is something conflicting with drivers and such and not directly related to the videocard itself. the nvidia drivers can be ...ahem..."fickle" sometimes Here is useful RMA tip:- Put a secret mark on any item that you RMA. ( Serial numbers are frequently on easy-to-remove stickers. ) That way you can be CERTAIN that you did not receive the same material back. That is not to say that BFG did anything wrong with the OPs RMA. However, this thread prompted me to remember the above tip. I suggest that the OP stop fretting and RMA the board again (with a secret mark). However................ The OP did not describe the nature of the "video drop". Presumably the output went blank (or to a text-color other than white) on the BIOS boot-up screen. If not, I suspect that the problem has nothing to do with the video hardware. Also OP, when you got the video drop, did you apply a little Freezit or a hair-dryer to the board to detect any hardware cause for the intermittency ? Maybe the OP would like to be more specific about the "video drop" ??? John Lewis |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:18:37 -0500, "Joe Hayes"
wrote: There's no way BFG is sending out refurbished video cards. It's not worth the effort to diagnose and repair something like that. Those cards are bulk manufactured in Taiwan or China using specialized equipment. BFG just packages them in boxes and distributes them to resellers. I'm certain the replacement card you received was new. Your old one most likely went in the trash. Actually, they do refubish the cards. Someone somewhere can make money off of them... unless they are completely shot. -- Remember when real men used Real computers!? When 512K of video RAM was a lot! Death to Palladium & WPA!! |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 17:14:53 -0500, "ML" wrote:
Subject: The pathetic, Asylum - BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter Model #ASLM 52128 I am writing this article to warn prospective video adapter buyers about the terrible experience I have had with the Asylum, by BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter I purchased in 2003, marketed through Wal-Mart stores. I have taken a solemn vow to never again trust BFG Technolgies. You're over reacting. BFG did well to send you out a replacement card. Its a refurb unit most likely and its not uncommon to end up with another BAD product... it happens, it sucks. Hey, give LINKSYS a call... their support sucks ass... long HOLD times and no RMA dept... but they have a "5 yr warranty" - but can't get a replacement for a 1 month old product. I have a Samsung 19" monitor, I called in on its warranty (3 years) on the LAST month. I was never on hold for more than 3-4 mins (avg was under a minute), no recipt (SER #)... but they had ended up sending me 3 (yes 3) BAD monitors... Replacement #3 was SOOO bad, I exchanged it for #2 at the UPS Store. They next-day shipped me #4, an upgraded model too boot. That was a YEAR ago.... using it today. When I called for the BAD #3, I was on hold for 5 mins, their system xfered me to another dept. A HUMAN said he wasnt RMA - but took my info. (4pm) - Next day (11am) Samsung CALLS ME... professional and not happy about shipping out these monitors (Each monitor costs about $40 each way - they PAY for it, and thats 3day) THAT IS SUPPORT! BFG... doesnt sound bad to me... BTW: 5200 is a low end card, could be an issue with lots of 5200s... Or something else is causing it... -- Remember when real men used Real computers!? When 512K of video RAM was a lot! Death to Palladium & WPA!! |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
I got one from my local Wal-Mart last friday (02-13-04), installed it that
night, PC wouldn't boot. Put my old card back in, PC booted. New card, no boot, old card boot. Did this about 3 times, called the tech support and they said send it in, we'll send you a new one. As soon as I told the guy "Wal-Mart", he said, "ooops, bad board, send it in...". I'm upgrading from an ATI Rage Fury that's about 6 years old, and about the most demanding game I play these days is Tribes 2 or Half-Life TFC. Hey I'm 46 with a 6 year old, a five month old, and a 3 year old divorce on my hands. I can't afford to sink $500 into a video card. I do want to try out Halo for the PC, City of Heroes when it finally gets up and running, and maybe Planetside, none of which would run on the ATI. I figure just about ANYTHING I got was an upgrade from the Rage Fury w/ 32 megs and getting an FX5200 for $58 isn't too shabby of a deal. Probably get the board back next week sometime, can't wait to try it... "Darthy" wrote in message ... On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 17:14:53 -0500, "ML" wrote: Subject: The pathetic, Asylum - BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter Model #ASLM 52128 I am writing this article to warn prospective video adapter buyers about the terrible experience I have had with the Asylum, by BFG Technologies, GeForce FX 5200 video adapter I purchased in 2003, marketed through Wal-Mart stores. I have taken a solemn vow to never again trust BFG Technolgies. You're over reacting. BFG did well to send you out a replacement card. Its a refurb unit most likely and its not uncommon to end up with another BAD product... it happens, it sucks. Hey, give LINKSYS a call... their support sucks ass... long HOLD times and no RMA dept... but they have a "5 yr warranty" - but can't get a replacement for a 1 month old product. I have a Samsung 19" monitor, I called in on its warranty (3 years) on the LAST month. I was never on hold for more than 3-4 mins (avg was under a minute), no recipt (SER #)... but they had ended up sending me 3 (yes 3) BAD monitors... Replacement #3 was SOOO bad, I exchanged it for #2 at the UPS Store. They next-day shipped me #4, an upgraded model too boot. That was a YEAR ago.... using it today. When I called for the BAD #3, I was on hold for 5 mins, their system xfered me to another dept. A HUMAN said he wasnt RMA - but took my info. (4pm) - Next day (11am) Samsung CALLS ME... professional and not happy about shipping out these monitors (Each monitor costs about $40 each way - they PAY for it, and thats 3day) THAT IS SUPPORT! BFG... doesnt sound bad to me... BTW: 5200 is a low end card, could be an issue with lots of 5200s... Or something else is causing it... -- Remember when real men used Real computers!? When 512K of video RAM was a lot! Death to Palladium & WPA!! |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 05:32:19 GMT, "James R. Lunsford"
wrote: I got one from my local Wal-Mart last friday (02-13-04), installed it that night, PC wouldn't boot. Put my old card back in, PC booted. New card, no boot, old card boot. Did this about 3 times, called the tech support and they said send it in, we'll send you a new one. As soon as I told the guy "Wal-Mart", he said, "ooops, bad board, send it in...". I'm upgrading from That sucks... But I am confused as to why you are sending it in, Wall mart has like a 30day return policy on electronics I believe, or at least 2 weeks. an ATI Rage Fury that's about 6 years old, and about the most demanding game I play these days is Tribes 2 or Half-Life TFC. Hey I'm 46 with a 6 year old, a five month old, and a 3 year old divorce on my hands. I can't afford to sink $500 into a video card. I do want to try out Halo for the PC, City I understand... Im not rich either... A $100 is a lot to me at the moment. But you don't need to blow $500 on a video card. A $70 Ti4200 would give you a lot more OMPH of power. I cant play Half Life (too horrible) I didnt like Tribes - it wasn't bad... it just didnt float my boat of Heroes when it finally gets up and running, and maybe Planetside, none of which would run on the ATI. I figure just about ANYTHING I got was an upgrade from the Rage Fury w/ 32 megs and getting an FX5200 for $58 isn't too shabby of a deal. Probably get the board back next week sometime, can't wait to try it... To play HALO and other such games, the 5200 is gonna be kinda sucky... you'd have to use the LOWEST settings... On my #2 pC - I got UT2004 running by itself for run... its going 15~25fps on a Ti4200 card (but I have 16bots going nuts and max details). good luck... and yes, yer old games will run a lot better with the new card... as long as its a 128bit version... which I doubt... ;( That is my concern... $20 could have equaled a vide card that is about 4 times faster IF you have the 64bit memory version. -- Remember when real men used Real computers!? When 512K of video RAM was a lot! Death to Palladium & WPA!! |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
"Wal-Mart", he said, "ooops, bad board, send it in...". I'm upgrading
from That sucks... But I am confused as to why you are sending it in, Wall mart has like a 30day return policy on electronics I believe, or at least 2 weeks. By the time I got around to installing it it was 10pm or so, it didn't work and there was the tech support number so I called it. I had browsed online and saw tha the card sells for $149 at Best Buy and the original price at Wal-Mart wasw $128 so I figured that if I could send it in and get a new, working card, I'd have gotten a $149 card for $60 to sink $500 into a video card. I do want to try out Halo for the PC, City I understand... Im not rich either... A $100 is a lot to me at the moment. But you don't need to blow $500 on a video card. A $70 Ti4200 would give you a lot more OMPH of power. I read a lot of review and the 5200 tested pretty well according to a lot of the testers. and I figured that just about *any* modern card would give me a lot more OMPH than the one I was using. I see your point, that I could have gotten more bang for my buck, but I made my decision based on the info that I had and the opportunity. I cant play Half Life (too horrible) I didnt like Tribes - it wasn't bad... it just didnt float my boat Love them both... Probably get the board back next week sometime, can't wait to try it... To play HALO and other such games, the 5200 is gonna be kinda sucky... you'd have to use the LOWEST settings... On my #2 pC - I got UT2004 running by itself for run... its going 15~25fps on a Ti4200 card (but I have 16bots going nuts and max details). I'm used to that. I usually had to run at the lowest settings to improve performance. I like to see the players, and I like to see as far as I can to get the "zoom-in" shots, but if I can play the games at all, I'll be grateful. good luck... and yes, yer old games will run a lot better with the new card... as long as its a 128bit version... which I doubt... ;( Windows properties says that it has 256 MB of RAM, which according to what I've read is a bit of a sham because it only uses 128 of it, something about a pipeline or something. I tried Tribes for a bit last night, reinstalled it under the new video card and upped all of the settings to the max, didn't seem to be that much different from my old card. Of course I *was* running it with the settings (texture quality, dynamic lighting, hi-res everything) maxed out, whereas before I had minimal settings, maybe that had something to do with it. Any tips or tricks for tweaking the 5200 settings to maximize the speed/visual quality? Thanks for the message, I appreciate the feedback. Next time I upgrade I'm going to hit the message boards and ask for advice in my price range. Thanks again. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Question - Microsoft Approved OEM Manufacturers | [email protected] | General | 1 | January 9th 05 08:04 PM |
my new mobo o/c's great | rockerrock | Overclocking AMD Processors | 9 | June 30th 04 08:17 PM |
GeForce 3 Ti200 vs GeForce FX 5200 | Bradley | Nvidia Videocards | 11 | December 24th 03 11:41 AM |
P4S333 doesn't work with Geforce 5200 or any AGP x8 cards! | Oded S. | Asus Motherboards | 3 | December 8th 03 09:42 AM |
HELP!!! GEFORCE FX 5200 | rob | Nvidia Videocards | 1 | July 18th 03 02:32 PM |