Long story short, my water pump on my GTX 1080ti FTW3 Hybrid died and could no longer cool the card (I was hitting upwards of 90c temps just upon boot up of a game) so I contacted EVGA and paid to have my card sent in which costed me a pretty penny shipping it by tracking and insurance from Canada.
 
Just about 13 days later, I receive my replacement card, same card but different serial number. The card itself has some scuffs and dents on the radiator which I wasn't too impressed but I knew that going forward with the warranty service that it wasn't going to be new. I hook up my card up to the PC and start up a game, and about 30 seconds into the game I notice artifacts all over the screen and my game shuts off. I uninstall Precision and GeForce Experience and reinstall everything. Start up again, and same scenario. I double check that I'm running all default settings on Precision and I run MSI Kombustor as a stress test. 10 seconds into the test at about 42c the application shows artifacts then crashes. On top of that, the memory fan (which is the only damn fan that's on the GPU) spins up and starts making this annoying clicking noise. I try pushing on it and playing with it and it doesn't go away.
 
I immediately contacted EVGA as I was furious. I waited 2 weeks only for my card to be replaced with an absolute dud. Does no one test these cards when they send out the replacements? Are they even stress tested or is it just someone elses garbage they've returned? I'll admit, the gentlemen on the phone was nice enough to cover my shipping both ways for my card (which saves me about $45.00) but this also means I'll be without a card for another 2 weeks and gambling on another 1080ti hybrid with some dented radiator fins and just hoping it'll actually work for 30 seconds of a damn game... And of course, the cross-shipping option isn't available to those who purchase second hand despite having to deposit full price as collateral for the card.
 
I finally asked, what if there isn't anymore 1080ti Hybrid's as replacements? "Well we'll definitely see what we can do when the time comes, we would get in contact with you first and potentially get you into an aircooled 1080ti if it happens that we have those in stock." Are you kidding me? 
 
All I want is a working card and to not have my computer to be out of commission for a month because some guy decided a replacement 1080ti that they were able to plug in and turn on works fine.
 
Has anyone else had issues with replacement cards being an absolute piece of crap or am I just the lucky one?

bcavnaugh
It Looks fine to use.
 


Use a Wooden or Plastic toothpick if needed.

Thanks for the tip on the toothpick method. I'll definitely try that next time. And yes it's definitely fine to use. I had no issues with the blemishes on the rad itself. My concern was receiving a unit that artifacts and crashes the application that uses the GPU when it brings it anywhere near 40c+. 

EVGATech_MattM
I am sorry to hear this. I see that the RMA is now approved and you will receive a pre-paid shipping label in your e-mail in a business day to get this back to us to get taken care of. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Can you comment on stock and how replacements work if there is a shortage of units? I know a 1080ti aircooled unit performs similar to a hybrid unit... but that's pretty unacceptable if that were the case.

EVGATech_MattM
We try to replace with the same part number if possible and if not an equal or greater performing product. The RMA inventory levels change daily so we would not be able to predict what the replacement will be as it is determined when it is being pulled to send out.

Can I get an update on what's going on? I shipped my video card out. For some odd reason you guys chose the slowest shipping method. I've been without a video card for almost 2 months. I don't even know what card I'm getting, and I sure hope whatever I do get is at least in working order...

SpaceBoot
Stories like yours make me so uncomfortable about the RMA process. I just had to ship my 1080ti for an RMA for the first time. It has just been processed, but no time frame for when and what card they are sending me. I stream on twitch so I’m losing money by the day not to mention the absolute fear of receiving a dud card that has been “tested”. This has been a ridiculous process as is. I feel your pain.

Their return shipping is quick. I just got a shipping notification and it's suppose to arrive to me on Tuesday (to Canada). They paid to ship it to them because it was my second time. I'm really hoping my second replacement has no issues... I'm surprised they have so many 1080ti FTW3 Hybrid's. I figured they would have replaced it with a 2080 XC by now.