Are RMA units new or refurbished or repaired?

[Bio667]

I'm about to mail in my EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 XC2 card that died out 6 months in and I suddenly hit the realization today that I've never gone through an RMA process yet for any computer hardware/component manufacturer and I began to ask myself what kind of units do they replace your part with? Most of these RMA processes state they reship a part within a few days, which makes me wonder if that's enough time to troubleshoot and repair parts such as with my GPU the issue is that it isn't even detected in the BIOS. So I would imagine fixing this thing would take longer, with processing and various standard bureaucracy, to fix. So that got me wondering do most hardware/component manufacturers ship new or replacement parts? Or do they actually take the time to do things as potentially extensive as for example a board repair that requires precise soldering work. EVGA's RMA website doesn't really spell out what their policy is on the quality of the replacement unit.

[Jurrunio]

EVGA usually replace your card with a repaired unit from sb else. Other brands might repair your card instead which takes a lot longer time.

[SpookyCitrus]

Most RMA replacements are used, tested by the manufacturer and were more than likely RMAs as well. The last two EVGA RMAs I have done however I was sent new products, it all depends on their stock. If your card is messed up and they do replace it and don't have the same unit available they will send an equal or better card/product. Condition is a mixed bag they almost always will send a refurb unit, but if they don't have any stock they will send new units.

[GrockleTD]

8 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

but if they don't have any stock they will send new units.

Yep. This is what happened when my crosshair VIII was borked upon arrival.

[Bio667]

Yeah I was gonna guess that they probably sent back repaired RMA units in their stockpile. But man having to send in a fairly new GPU that hasn't been overclocked or stressed and that I've taken care of, man it hurts having to probably saying good bye and possibly getting someone else's more abused/worn GPU is kind of a bitter moment. But then again my card is absolutely borked so I guess it's more bittersweet.

[ThreePeenSoup]

I literally just got mine back.  I sent in a 1080 FTW 2 and theny sent me back a 1080 FTW 2 with fans from the DT model and a 11ghz memory clock (factory is 10ghz).  The fans are an improvement which I didn't expect, holds a solid ~1900mhz GPU clock with an aggressive fan curve resulting in higher fps obviously.  This could vary well be my old gpu which was artifacting and they fixed it.  The bottom plate is black now like the top with the PCB in the middle and new thermal pads.  They used my old shroud as well because the two little knicks in it are in the same place.  Those are the different things I noticed so I'm pretty sure it's refurbished.

I had the same concerns you do and found out they only send new card replacements if it's within 30 days of purchase unless there's some secret circumstance I'm not aware of.  Honeslty if you still have a few years left on the warranty I wouldn't worry.  You can go through 40 of these things and they'd have to send you a replacement every time until it expired.

[SpookyCitrus]

38 minutes ago, Bio667 said:

Yeah I was gonna guess that they probably sent back repaired RMA units in their stockpile. But man having to send in a fairly new GPU that hasn't been overclocked or stressed and that I've taken care of, man it hurts having to probably saying good bye and possibly getting someone else's more abused/worn GPU is kind of a bitter moment. But then again my card is absolutely borked so I guess it's more bittersweet.

EVGA is really, really good about customer satisfaction and I have never had an issue with their RMAs and neither has anyone I have talked to. They're one of the best manufacturers to RMA through which is why a lot people use that as an incentive to buy an EVGA product. There's no chance they will send you a card back in worse condition then the one you send in. Minor scratches are possible but for the most the refurb units EVGA send out look pretty much new and no matter what it will be equal to or better than the card you sent in. If a customer does get a bad RMA product, all they have to do is contact them and they will do everything possible to make it up to the customer and be sure they are satisfied.

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

EVGA is really, really good about customer satisfaction and I have never had an issue with their RMAs and neither has anyone I have talked. They're one of the best manufacturers to RMA through which is why a lot people use that as an incentive to buy an EVGA product. There's no chance they will send you a card back in worse condition then the one you send in. Minor scratches are possible but for the most the refurb units EVGA send out look pretty much new and no matter what it will be equal to or better than the card you sent in. If a customer does get a bad RMA product, all they have to do is contact them and they will do everything possible to make it up to the customer and be sure they are satisfied.

^ I've never had a bad B-Stock or RMA unit from EVGA. They always looked new, they say the products can have slight scratches but I've never seen them. 

[SpookyCitrus]

10 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

^ I've never had a bad B-Stock or RMA unit from EVGA. They always looked new, they say the products can have slight scratches but I've never seen them. 

That's my exact experience I've RMA'd I think 4 GPUs and a PSU through EVGA over the last several years, and all have come back in like new condition, or brand new.

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

That's my exact experience I've RMA'd I think 4 GPUs and a PSU through EVGA over the last several years, and all have come back in like new condition, or brand new.

Yee, their support people are awesome as well, usually get back to you really fast even through email. If you put down a deposit they'll cross-ship too if you need minimal downtime on your rig. 

[Bio667]

Yeah I figured it will most certainly be fine just the nagging thought of where the card you get in return has been through. I'm just too attached to mine but I'll probably get over it once I get the replacement is in.