Slightly upset @ Alienware

Looking for a place to vent a little.

A couple weeks ago my daughter 8800m gtx started to overheat, reaching up to 100 degrees celcius when gaming. Naturally I contacted AW and sent it in for what I assumed would be a swap.

Today I get the card and noticed that it seemed slightly damaged.
Then I look and notice that they sent me a 9800m GT..... /sigh. I had clearly stated that I needed a daughter 8800m gtx.

Now does anyone know how to tell a daughter 9800m GT from the parent?
I would love to be able to find out if they had sent me a primary card.

I have normally had good service with AW, this time they dropped the ball. I hope they decide to pick it up.

 

a 9800m gt is a 8800m gtx ... EXACT same card

 

They don't SLI together.

Edit: and no offense, but i'm not an idiot. I know that the 9800 is a rebadged 8800. But the fact is they will not SLI together, which is what i need, a daughter 8800. For SLI.

 

technically you could flash your 8800m GTX to a 9800m gt Primary

or

flash the 9800m gt AW sent you to primary or daughter 8800m GTX ( what ever floats your boat)

i didn't mean any offense

I was just saying for ^^ this reason.... but AW should have sent the correct card ... im just trying to help you make the best of it

 

The Moo you should not tell him to flash it. That could void his warranty

 

His call, I'm sure he knows though ....not much of a reason to post here because his only two options are what i suggested and to call AW

 

Call AW, they will make it right...these things happen with ANY company...

 

I would try to get Alienware to send you a 2nd 9800gt. Might as well have the newer cards. They probably sent you the 9800gt due to no more stock of "older" 8800m GTX. I would only resort to flashing BIOS's around as a LAST resort.

You can check what card is what by opening GPU-Z and savinga copy of the BIOS then opening and see what it is labeled. Usually the bios is labeled as primary or daughter. Unfortunately this is MUCH easier with ATI cards and Radeon BIOS Editor. Never tried, but you could try opening a Nvidia BIOS .bin in RBE. May still work.

 

I did post to vent, but I did have a question kinda hidden in there .

Thanks Scook9, I was wondering if there was a difference in the S/N or something to that effect, I'll check if the bios labels it.

I wanted to know if I had a parent or daughter 9800m GT because if it's easier for them to send me a second 9800, I'd rather do it that way. But it would be good to find out which one I need before calling and asking.

Thanks!

 

The only difference a parent or slave card would have is the bios. It's still the exact same card. I would load up GPU-Z and find out what the bios number is then compare it to other owners of your particular system. I hope you can find the help you need.

 

OK, the Daughter card usually has a label on it with a "D". This daughter card is actually the primary video card. The Parent card has a "P" label and is the card closest to the sub-woofer. The daughter is the primary card and the parent is the slave or secondary card. It seems backwards but I assure you this is correct.

 

Nvidia and there nameing schemes

 

I'd get them to send you TWO since yours is damaged.

Sure it's not a huge deal, but still. I wonder if they'd even warranty that card if it was sent in.