Unbelievable

RMA# USN-1750015

I purchased a P35x v6 around January 1st, 2017. By the end of February, it was making noise from the right side fan. By the end of March, that fan had stopped working. I sent it in under warranty--explaining the problem in explicit detail. Shipping--insured--was $100.

Today I received it back from Gigabyte. As far as I can tell, only the boot drive was modified. It appears to still be the same chassis. I was required to do an initial activation of windows--so any info on the boot previously--was wiped. After a 55 minute wait while windows patched itself to the latest version, I finally was able to reach the desktop. I'd noted that I didn't seem to hear the fans on the right side running when I'd booted it. After I reached the desktop, I used the Gigabyte system utility to MANUALLY turn the fans to 100% speed. ZERO airflow out the right side vents.

Gigabyte, this is gross incompetence. The ONE issue I sent this laptop in for--was not addressed in any way, shape or form. I'm willing to grant that manufacturing defects do happen. I'm even willing to pay the cost out of pocket to have my product serviced under warranty. I am NOT willing to pay for said service--and receive utter rubbish as a reward.

The entire point of purchasing this laptop was quality 15" gaming in UHD. As the right side fan is completely inoperative, gaming will overheat the system & compromise the longevity of the internal components. Normally, I would keep issues such as this tight lipped--pending a positive outcome. In this case, I am exceedingly livid at the end result, and I will happily divulge each and every nuance of this ongoing affair for all to view--until my satisfaction has been met.

The ball is in your court.

 

Sent in for a simple fan replacement and they wiped the boot drive? WTH. Wonder if they got service tickets crossed in the warehouse or something.

 

It would have had to be on their end. I shipped it to them with their form attached--which explained the problems it was having.

It should also be said that I had first attempted to source a fan & have the repairs done locally--but Gigabyte was having none of that. Of course, that would have eliminated any crossed wires at the warehouse & saved me on shipping...but I digress.

 

Word back from Gigabyte. Supposedly the new BIOS disables GPU fan manual control, and I have to stress it to make the fan kick on. I'm in the process of re-installing all the basic boot files I need & then installing a game to test it. Results when I have them.

 

Still wouldn't explain why they wiped the drive

 

They do it just to **** with you.

 

Wiping the boot partition was totally unnecessary . My Aero 14's right fan makes an occasional 'tick tick tick' around 2500 rpm. The sound dies when the fans are under full load . Do you think , you faced the same issue ?
Should I replace the fan myself or give it to GB?

 

Tried gaming. I let temps ping 90C with normal fan settings. No airflow from the GPU side (right side). Then I turned on the fans full blast manually. No airflow from the right side. The laptop is physically much warmer on the right side than it is on the left. To me, that's a pretty clear indication.

 

Been playing Star Trek Online for about 15 minutes now. Fans on full blast (no right side airflow). And still seeing temps of 88C+. There is no excuse for this.

p.s.
94 / 97 and i shut it down. going back to my MSI.

I would advise against ANYONE buying a Gigabyte/Aorus laptop at this point. Maybe this will change with better customer service, but this is wholly unacceptable.

 

Update:

Opened the bottom of the laptop. This is what I found.



and this is how it should look--or at least, this is the best i could manage with my fat fingers, no tools, and no experience working on laptop guts.



See the difference? The fan WASN'T EVEN PLUGGED IN! Turned the PC back on and LOW AND BEHOLD....the GPU fan now works with the manual controls, same as the CPU fan did.

Lessons to be gleaned from this:

1. GPU fan went south after barely 2 months. This is highly questionable build quality.

2. Fan appears to have been replaced under warranty (again, I spent about $100 on insured shipping getting it there). However, the boot drive was unnecessarily wiped (at most, they could have just re-installed their system monitor/tools). Additionally, the servicing technician either neglected to check proper fitment of the fan plug, neglected to test it operationally, or--having installed it & tested it--failed to secure the plug in such a way as to survive the simple trip back to me. Needless to say, this latter kind of frailty would be most unwelcome in a real-world travel situation.

3. The servicing agent who I am still in contact with--BALD FACED LIED to me about the service done.

"according to the repair report the GPU fan on the right was replaced and the bios was updated.
With the new bios the GPU fan cannot be adjust manually, it will activate based on temperature.
Did you tried putting a load to the GPU and check if you hear the fan starting up after a few minutes of operations?"

This, after I've specified that there is zero airflow out the GPU fan, and that even with manual settings--this is still the case. After refitting the fan plug, the GPU fan works 100% as it did before--which CAN be controlled manually.

This should be a serious red-flag to anyone even considering this company's laptops. These are three key areas to expect manufacturers to support & stand behind their work--and Gigabyte has failed catastrophically in all 3 (as I see it). While I've used their peripherals (mice) in the past & continue to do so...their laptops simply cannot measure up.

I am fortunate that I still have this laptop under warranty for another 1.5 years. God only knows what could possibly happen in that time.

 

My fan was making more of a grinding/buzzing noise. As if the bearing had gone bad. Spinning it with a finger, it would not operate as smoothly as the CPU fan did. I was able to get it running after blasting it with compressed air, but the bearing problem remained--hence why i sent it in for service.

Again, if I could have replaced the fan assembly myself--I would have attempted it...or at least had a local repair shop attempt it. Gigabyte didn't even give me this option.

 

***Update***

So I'm going to keep this thread alive. GPU fan is now buzzing softly again. About like it did before when I first noticed it...as it got progressively worse to the point where it just died.

Sound is distorted, muddled, and cracks while playing any games. I don't remember if I ever had this fixed before--but that's how I got it back from the factory--and it's just atrocious. Doesn't matter if it's headphones or speakers. Streaming seems fine--gameplay is a no-go.

Wi-Fi is dropping very regularly. It's horribly bad. I had my MSI in this same location for over a month without issue. After cycling the router/modem a few times, rebooting the PC, flipping on/off the wifi antenna...I'm convinced it's the laptop.

I'm convinced I have had a $1800 near-paperweight foisted upon me--and I will warn off everyone I can of how utterly rubbish these are. Not only is the build quality bad; not only does tech support lie to me; not only did the factory repair tech not properly secure the fan so it would actually work; but getting an actual support rep to talk to me directly (i.e. answer their freaking phone)--doesn't happen.

At least with MSI, you knew that their top-end gaming rigs had the best/newest stuff. With gigabyte, I can only assume that what I have is par for the course. And I would be remiss to recommend gigabyte's laptop/notebooks to anyone at this time. They are a LONG, LONG way from quality.

 

If possible get a refund, that is what I did. bought it from amazon. Returned it after 3 months due to bad build quality issues. Never Gigabyte for me again.

 

I never considered it, but I guess that would be an alternative. Unfortunately, it's 6+ months old now...so I doubt that's an option. Going to keep it and pray. But I will never buy Gigabyte laptops again...and I'll be all too happy to steer others well clear of their debacle.