So I had to RMA my GTS 250 1gb because of green screen crashes and crashes in general on full load.  EVGA issued the RMA and I sent my card in, I just noticed that replacement GPU is a GTS 450.  I'm a little worried cause from what I could find out via google, the GTS 450 may not be such a good card vs. the GTS 250.  Another concern is that my GTS 250 was a 256bit card vs the GTS 450s 128 bit.  As I understand it, the GTX 460 would have been a better matched replacement for the GTS 250.  Is this true?
 
Should I be concerned or am I just worrying for nothing?  If in fact the GTS 450 is a slight downgrade, what should I do?
 
I sent an e-mail stating my concern to EVGA, but it seems like they shipped the GTS 450 today.
 
Any feedback would be much appreciated. :)
 

gts 250 is ddr3 - gts 450 is ddr5 plus youre getting DX11

The overall performance is equivalent as well as the 450 will do DirectX 11 where the 250 does a max of DirectX 10.  We try to replace with the same part number if possible but if we can't we will replace with an equal or greater performing card.

A review that pits a few cards together, including a 250 and a 450, in a number of games.
 
In short - it's a great upgrade, I'd be plenty pleased with that one, myself!

Thanks for the replies.  I will see how it works out.  Was just a bit worried about it after reading some comparisons and reviews.
 
Looking forward to getting my rig back up and running.
 
Aloha

i just wanted to give my input OP
 
i came from a GTS 250 and went to a GTS 450...well technically it was a 9800GTX+, but thats the same card as the GTS 250.
 
Anyway the GTS 450 is faster overall...not by much, but I did notice some slight gains...for example, when I played BFBC2, I would put all details high and 2x AA and it would lag pretty crazy on the GTS 250....then when I went to the GTS 450, the lag was not as pronounced...not a huge gain overall, but still a welcome sign....IMO, grab another one for SLI and you would have a great bang for the buck setup at 1080p and below....you can find used GTS 450's for like $50-60 on the boards

Ok.... So I got the card today. Was packed well and looked good, except one of the brackets were bent. Straightened it out and installed the card.
 
system boots up & finds the card. Restart & screen flashes and says it recovered from the driver not working. A few minutes later, system crashes. Just a blank blue screen..... Not a bsod... Just a blank screen. Tried to boot and kept getting crashes as soon as windows boots to the desktop :'(
 
Booted in safe mode, removed nvidia drivers, reinstalled drivers..... Crash... Not sure what's going on :(
 
I'm running windows 7 pro 64bit on a i5-750 stock, 8gb g.skill eco 1600 cl7, ozc vertex 120gb. PSU is a Corsair 750TX. All housed in a haf 922. Got enough power & good airflow. 
 
Any suggestions or am I screwed?  Should I start the RMA process again?  Do I have to pay shipping again? Hate to RMA again as I've been down on my main rig for 2.5 weeks already. :'(

Ok.... So I got the card today. Was packed well and looked good, except one of the brackets were bent. Straightened it out and installed the card.
 
system boots up & finds the card. Restart & screen flashes and says it recovered from the driver not working. A few minutes later, system crashes. Just a blank blue screen..... Not a bsod... Just a blank screen. Tried to boot and kept getting crashes as soon as windows boots to the desktop :'(
 
Booted in safe mode, removed nvidia drivers, reinstalled drivers..... Crash... Not sure what's going on :(
 
I'm running windows 7 pro 64bit on a i5-750 stock, 8gb g.skill eco 1600 cl7, ozc vertex 120gb. PSU is a Corsair 750TX. All housed in a haf 922. Got enough power & good airflow. 
 
Any suggestions or am I screwed?  Should I start the RMA process again?  Do I have to pay shipping again? Hate to RMA again as I've been down on my main rig for 2.5 weeks already. :'(

Could be CPU overheating or something like that.  What are your CPU temps?  (A program like Core Temp could tell you)
 
If that looks good - to help eliminate variables (IE., take your existing install out of the picture)...try it on a different OS.  Assuming you don't have a spare Windows license/install laying around, Linux can be used pretty easily for testing this.
 
Got a spare hard drive (even an external USB drive) and a copy of Doom 3?
 
Download Linux-Ubuntu, the nVidia Linux drivers, and then put Doom 3 on the install (note that even a Steam install of Doom3 has the pk4 files necessary for this to work).  Give that a try - if that works, you know it's not your hardware, but something to do with your Windows install.
 
If that fails...yup, you've got a hardware problem.

hpak,
 
if the card is faulty, then EVGA will pay return shipping...theres no way you have to pay shipping twice on a DOA card...you already paid your dues when you shipped the first time

xanderf


Could be CPU overheating or something like that.  What are your CPU temps?  (A program like could tell you)

If that looks good - to help eliminate variables (IE., take your existing install out of the picture)...try it on a different OS.  Assuming you don't have a spare Windows license/install laying around, Linux can be used pretty easily for testing this.

Got a spare hard drive (even an external USB drive) and a copy of Doom 3?

, the , and then (note that even a Steam install of Doom3 has the pk4 files necessary for this to work).  Give that a try - if that works, you know it's not your hardware, but something to do with your Windows install.

If that fails...yup, you've got a hardware problem.

I thought of that. While I was waiting for the card, I did a complete cleaning of the system. The temp on the CPU is 43 degrees... My ambient temp is 28 degrees (I'm in Hawaii ). Took out some ram sticks... Same thing. HDD is okay as well. 
 
I can boot into safe mode fine. I did an uninstall, ran driver cleaner, reinstalled 285 driver.... Crash... Uninstalled, driver cleaner, installed 295 drivers.... Crash :'(
 
I can run fine on generic vga drivers, so I'm not sure what else I can do. 

dukenuke88


hpak,

if the card is faulty, then EVGA will pay return shipping...theres no way you have to pay shipping twice on a DOA card...you already paid your dues when you shipped the first time

That's good to know.  I'm gonna try some older drivers & see if I can get it up and running.. I really don't want to be down another week or two :'(

Tried 296 drivers, no dice :'(
 
Think I'm just gonna have to RMA again.  :'(

Just submitted a support ticket.  Hopefully they'll get back to me soon.
 
Are all RMA replacements refurbished or recertified cards?  If so, I'd be willing to pay for a brand new card to avoid the same situation.
 

hpak53


Just submitted a support ticket.  Hopefully they'll get back to me soon.

Are all RMA replacements refurbished or recertified cards?  If so, I'd be willing to pay for a brand new card to avoid the same situation.

 
they are all refurb cards
 
if you've gone through alot of hassle, you might get lucky and they send you a brand new one...but for the most part, it is always a refurb
 
 

UPDATE:  I spoke with Brandon from support this morning.  He was very helpful.  We did some troubleshooting with no avail.  He was ready to set up another RMA, but I told him I would try a clean install of Windows to see if that would fix the issue.
 
Well, instead of reinstalling the OS, I figured I'd try another card first.  Went out and bought a EVGA GTX 560Ti 2bg Superclocked and installed.
 
Voila... I'm up and running with no issues.  In fact I'm typing this from my main rig right now.  So, I guess I did get a defective card .
 
I have a call in to request another RMA for the replacement RMA... lol.
 
I'm glad it was the card and not something else in my system, but at the same time it's a bummer that I have to wait for another card to be sent over.
 
All in all, I'm happy with EVGA's service and responses.

As a quick question for the 450...  When you install the drivers, are you installing everything or just the necessary stuff like basic driver and physx.
 
Sounds like it's working fine without drivers, but acting up after you install them.  Usually the HDMI audio drivers can cause the crashing problem. 
 
If you still want to test it, that would be my recommendation before sending it back.

fletchj


As a quick question for the 450...  When you install the drivers, are you installing everything or just the necessary stuff like basic driver and physx.

Sounds like it's working fine without drivers, but acting up after you install them.  Usually the HDMI audio drivers can cause the crashing problem. 

If you still want to test it, that would be my recommendation before sending it back.

I tested the 450 with just the graphics drivers and nothing else.
 
Thanks for the suggestion though.  I am loving the support and feedback on the EVGA forums.  You guys all rock!!!
 

Gotcha.  I had a 460 with similar symptoms where it would freeze right after the Windows 7 welcome screen with drivers installed or it would just go black.  Worked great once you uninstalled all drivers.
 
Other option is to test it in another machine and see if the problem follows the card.  Having a different card helps, but always curious to see if the same problems will follow the card into a completely different system... If you have the ability.

fletchj


Gotcha.  I had a 460 with similar symptoms where it would freeze right after the Windows 7 welcome screen with drivers installed or it would just go black.  Worked great once you uninstalled all drivers.

Other option is to test it in another machine and see if the problem follows the card.  Having a different card helps, but always curious to see if the same problems will follow the card into a completely different system... If you have the ability.

I thought of that as well.  I have an AMD A6-3670K rig I built a couple of weeks ago at my other house that I could test on, but decided to just send the card back.
 
I was due for an upgrade anyway, so this gave me an excuse.  Not too much selection here locally in Hawaii, so I just picked up the 560Ti 2GB Superclocked (only eVGA model that was there besides a 550).
 
Anyways, just got off the phone with Jason at eVGA support and he has set everything up for return shipping and a new RMA.
 
I have to say that, even though I have hardly ever had to deal with warranty or RMA issues, eVGA's service is a great experience.  They've made me a fan of eVGA

So I finally got notice that the replacement RMA for the previous RMA has been processed and shipped.
 
They are now sending me a GTX 550Ti Superclocked which is awesome!!!
 
It did take a while, but not eVGA's fault....  UPS was really slow to ship out after I dropped off the return.
 
Anyways, I'll post after I receive the card and hopefully, it'll be fine.
 
Bought an eVGA GTX 560Ti 2gb Superclock already, so this will make for a nice backup GPU if I ever need one.

hpak53

Bought an eVGA GTX 560Ti 2gb Superclock already, so this will make for a nice backup GPU if I ever need one.

 
Or a dedicated PhysX card, if you play any GPU-accelerated PhysX games and have a spare slot.
 
Even on SLI'd 580s, a standalone PhysX card can improve things...so it could help your 560 Ti, too.
 
And, heck, when not running a PhysX title, you can have the card Folding away and earning EVGA bucks for you, with almost no impact to your system performance (and primary card, which you'd be gaming on).

Or a dedicated PhysX card, if you play any GPU-accelerated PhysX games and have a spare slot.

Even on SLI'd 580s, a standalone PhysX card can improve things...so it could help your 560 Ti, too.

And, heck, when not running a PhysX title, you can have the card Folding away and earning EVGA bucks for you, with almost no impact to your system performance (and primary card, which you'd be gaming on).

 
I thought about that and I do have 2 spare slots for the card.  I don't play too much PhysX enabled games, but using as a dedicated folding card does sound interesting.  You think a x4 slot would be alright to put the card in?  From what I read, a x4 should be fine for a secondary PhysX card.  If not, I could always put it in my x8 slot, but would rather not.  Also, what is the folding performance of the 550Ti?