GamerSX
restocking fee in a warranty case? how? anyways i am in the EU so we do not have the concept of a restocking fee here even during the first 14 or 30 days return period, all they did was give me about 80% of what i originally paid because i have used the product for one year, so they deducted that, still a pretty good deal for having the freedom of buying any other product i wanted instead of being stuck with a problematic SKU ...
No a restocking fee from the retailer. It's virtually common practice in North America. Alot of smaller businesses will also tack on a %, if your in store buying with a credit card.
It's great that you could return it (the 780). Over here, you can usually do it, but alot of places will fight you for it, unless you spend more for a higher end product.
Good Explanation on the heatsinks Scarlet-Tech.
libneon
Ya, I think Furmark results can to some degree be disregarded but the Metro Last Light loop was still hitting 97.7 C which still seems way too high for that part of the card. That was right in the area where my card died as well. It seemed fine for the couple of months I had it before that.
Unfortunately, you have to be cautious with alot of software nowadays.
OCCT was another with functions that can hammer the GPU. Probably a few others.
There was malware a couple of years ago that would take over your card to mine bitcoin, if i recall correctly.
The original Stalker had a bug where you could set vsync on, and it worked in game, but at the menu it would draw a fast as the card could push. Dunno if that was fixed..
I used a Usenet client coded in Java from Giganews a few years back, and somehow it interacted and pushed the desktop (2D) at full-speed, for no reason i could see.
Use a Frame-limiter when needed, set a Custom Fan Curve in Precision/Afterburner and keep your case clean and the fans going.
Greene