When it comes to video cards, most people will spend a good bit of time researching which specific card to get. The last stage of this decision-making process is to decide which of the many companies to actually purchase the card from. After all, aside from varied cooling solutions, it’s basically the same hardware. However, the biggest deciding factor can be the warranty service. For years XFX has been one of the video card kings, thanks to their Double Lifetime Warranty.
Unfortunately it looks as though those days are behind us. After reading through their revised warranty service, it seems that they are no longer interested in staying on top of the game. Rather, they are happy to be “on par or better” by simply offering a Two-Year Limited Warranty. Here’s the full text:
Regarding our revised warranty policy:
1) XFX will transition to a Two-Year Limited Warranty for all new XFX Radeon HD 7000 series models. The standard two-year limited warranty is on par or better than warranties offered by other brands in the industry. While we have had an increasingly small percentage of warranty related occurrences after the two-year mark, we have eliminated the extension and transferable options for these models. Simplifying the operational requirements will allow XFX to commit our resources on developing and manufacturing the highest caliber and best selection of graphics cards available.
2) For the new XFX Radeon HD 7000 series Double D models, we will continue to provide an option to extend as these products are geared for our top-tiered enthusiasts and XFX will continue to offer this benefit on our top products.
3) Most importantly, all XFX Radeon HD 6000, 5000, and 4000 series models also offer the two-year limited warranty as standard, and will continue to be supported by the optional Double Lifetime Limited Warranty (with registration within 30 days of purchase). Restrictions and limitations may apply and specific details are available on our website.
It seems that they will be offering some sort of extended warranty to Double D models, but they haven’t really made that clear. It’s sad to see that one of the warranty champs in the industry has decided to step down like this. Knowing you had the peace of mind of not only great warranty service, but that you could transfer it to someone when you sell the card later was a great feeling.