Return rate of GeForce GTX 970 after memory scandal is below 5%

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

Although the buzz in various forums and social networks about memory allocation issues of Nvidia Corp.’s GeForce GTX 970 is fairly loud, the amount of customers wishing to return their graphics cards to stores or manufacturers is fairly low. According to various sources polled by KitGuru, the actual return rate of the GeForce GTX is below 5 per cent. The low return rate of the GTX 970 is good for Nvidia, its partners and the market
 

“I have heard as many as 5 per cent of the buyers are demanding a refund from the AIB suppliers,”

said Jon Peddie, the principal analyst at Jon Peddie Research.




While retailers and add-in-card vendors do not want to share a lot of details about the amount of customers wishing to return their graphics cards following the scandal with incorrect specifications and inability to use more than 3.5GB/s of memory, they also confirmed that the amount of returned GeForce GTX 970 is very low. According to some estimates, the return rate of the GTX 970 because of the aforementioned issues is between one and two percent.
 

The returned GeForce GTX 970 will not vanish into thin air and will reappear on the market. Suppliers of graphics cards who voluntarily decided to accept returns will get them back, test them, ensure that they work properly and then will either market them again as new. They could also somehow rebrand the returned GeForce GTX 970 graphics boards. Those graphics cards that will not be accepted by manufacturers will be re-conditioned by retailers and will be sold with a discount. In short, all returned GeForce GTX 970 will shortly be available with 5% – 10% – 20% price reduction.
 

Nobody knows for sure how many GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards have been sold so far, but even at 5 per cent return rate the amount of the boards set to return to the market will barely be significant. Still, it will have certain impact on the market.
 

“Let’s assume Nvidia sold 2.5 million of [GeForce GTX 970 cards], and 5 per cent are returned, that is 125 thousand add-in-boards (AIBs),”

said Mr. Peddie.

“Is that a lot when the total AIB market is going to be about 53 million in 2015? […] I suppose if 125 thousand GTX 970 turn up at half price then that is going to have some impact on AMD and Nvidia’s sales, but only for a short time, one quarter max.”

In reality, it is highly likely that the amount of GeForce GTX 970 set to be returned by the end-users because of the controversy will be a lot less than 100 thousand units. 100 thousand unhappy customers can create a lot of negative noise all over the Internet, but they will hardly have a significant impact on the market.
 

Earlier this week Overclockers UK and Caseking.de – two leading European online stores from the U.K. and Germany – said that they would accept all GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards from all suppliers back if certain customers are unhappy. The window for returning a GeForce GTX 970 is between now and end of February.

Source : http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/return-rate-of-geforce-gtx-970-after-memory-allocation-scandal-is-below-5/

Lets not turn this into a debate, respect each other, have a good day.

[1Scotty1]

I think something very similar to this was posted yesteday, but I could be wrong... OT - not surprised, the 970 is still a great card, I own one myself and plan to get a second one

[Manny Calavera]

This is Nvidia.

[MegaDave91]

I bet most of them are users who participate on forums.

[minibois]

Well, we only saw a few people talk about returning their 970 anyways here..

 

I think 5 to 20 percent off is not enough for basically a second hand GTX 970..

[CatCloud]

I´m not surprised its around 5%, did anyone actually expect anything higher?

 

[XTankSlayerX]

At the end of the day its still a good card.

 

I'd get 3.

[qwertywarrior]

~5% is a LOT

[Octagoncow]

I wonder what the return rate would be if every owner knew of the problem. I still don't think this problem is going to effect most users so I don't see a point in returning them. But, it would still be interesting to know.

[Manny Calavera]

At the end of the day its still a good card.

 

I'd get 3.

Id get 980ti boost instead.

Or whatevr next "titan" class card for 1000$ will be

[Mew]

I guess the placebo effect probably had a play in this. It's like driving a car that's rated at 300hp. After you drive it, the salesperson tells you it's actually 270 horsepower. Some people, in this case the majority, will say that hmmm, it's still a very fast car. Others, the 5% in this case, will be affected by this minor change and throw a tantrum. 

[VincentC]

PCMR kiddos gonna poor atleast AMD got some shots fired and got some increase exposure as people recommended a 1.5 year old card that other poor folks.

[VincentC]

I guess the placebo effect probably had a play in this. It's like driving a car that's rated at 300hp. After you drive it, the salesperson tells you it's actually 270 horsepower. Some people, in this case the majority, will say that hmmm, it's still a very fast car. Others, the 5% in this case, will be affected by this minor change and throw a tantrum. 

That's advertisement 300 crank vs 270 wheel

[Mew]

That's advertisement 300 crank vs 270 wheel

 

Hmm, that's true. I guess the better example is that after you bought the car, the dealer or whatever notified you of the spec change. The car still drives the same cause it still has the same amount of torque, the maximum speed is still the same. Nothing really changed. 

[MRL]

could the number is also contributed by retailers/OEMs that don't accept returns????

 

Not saying I want to return it but can't, it's still a significant upgrade compared to my old trustworthy GTX680 but I do saw people can't return it...

[Guest]

Eh most users probably don't even know about it.

[ACatWithThumbs]

~5% is a LOT

Yep, 5% is a huge amount especially with the 980 and 970 having combined sales over 1million which I'm sure the 970 makes at least 70% of those sales.

If they sold 700.000 GTX970s 5% would be already 35,000 returned cards.

[SeanBond]

I am almost suprised, 5% is massive for an issue that probably only effects .001 of 970 owners. That means the rest of the people who did the returns of complete morons.

[SeanBond]

Yep, 5% is a huge amount especially with the 980 and 970 having combined sales over 1million which I'm sure the 970 makes at least 70% of those sales.

If they sold 700.000 GTX970s 5% would be already 35,000 returned cards.

35,000 is a lot of idiots.

[EChondo]

Honestly I got a 970 for Christmas, I've been tempted to return it, not based on the memory "issues", but the false advertisement.

 

I'm still on the fence of returning it, but that's because AMD's 300 series isn't out yet. So I'll probably hold onto my 970 for a bit, and then get a 380x/390x when it comes out and give my 970 to my brother or sell it.

 

Also I'm not very keen on buying from Nvidia for a while. This is really disheartening to be lied to my face about a product.

35,000 is a lot of idiots.

What a great viewpoint to have about this issue.

[ACatWithThumbs]

35,000 is a lot of idiots.

Not really.

I would have also return it if I'd bought it.

The memory bottleneck on my GTX670 is already annoying enough I would not want to deal with another memory bottleneck especially if I was expecting there to be non.

I would have returned it saved up some more money to buy a 980 instead.

[Didyman]

I think part of the reason for this is that for many 970 owners there isnt really an alternative than to keep the card, esspecially given that the 980 is still a lot more expensive. Of course there is the 290x but it lacks some of the features that make the 970 great (ie really low power consumption). With new amd cards just round the corner (and possible new titans or a 980ti) it also looks like it may not be the best time to get a 290x. I'm sure some would disagree but I dont think its by coincidence that you can only return the card until the end of Feb.

 

Of course the 970 also performs really well regardless of the vram issue and the vram issue is also less likely to occur to gamers running at 1080p so most people with 970's probably havnt even noticed the issue. For me at 2560x1080 its only in Shadow of Mordor and Far Cry 4 that I notice the ram problem. My main issue is I was hoping to upgrade to 970 sli and get a 3440x1440 monitor but this doesnt look like a good option now.

[Guest]

I would have returned it too maybe..... If I could live without a gpu for a while.

Makes me a honest consumer, not an idiot.

Anyway, luckily I don't have this problem.

[Apple_II]

I returned it for several reasons. I got it around christmas time. The VRAM issue wasn't my big issue as opposed to I have decided I want to save the money and get a flagship card. I have never had one and I would love to have one!  I was wish the 980 reference cooler performed better since its so sexy. I don't think I am an idiot for returning it  :unsure:

[Guest]

I returned it for several reasons. I got it around christmas time. The VRAM issue wasn't my big issue as opposed to I have decided I want to save the money and get a flagship card. I have never had one and I would love to have one!  I was wish the 980 reference cooler performed better since its so sexy. I don't think I am an idiot for returning it  :unsure:

You aren't, some people would approve murder if it was done by Nvidia