The high-pitched noise from my 1080 Ti Seahawk was too severe, so I sent it in for A/S at MSI’s infamous CS Innovation A/S center. Despite the many negative reviews and community comments about their services, I was quite anxious.
To my surprise, the phone consultation was handled very kindly and professionally. The representative addressed my issue with a calm and helpful attitude. When I mentioned the high-pitched noise, they promptly processed a replacement without much questioning.
I used the replacement 1080 Ti for about two months, but it also emitted a high-pitched noise. I tried to tolerate it but found it too annoying, so I sent it in for A/S again. This time too, the response was exceptionally friendly and understanding.
Upon contacting me, they explained, “There can be many causes for high-pitched noises; it might not necessarily be the graphics card.” They further added, “During testing, we didn’t hear any noise from the graphics card. It could be another component in your system.” Nonetheless, they agreed to proceed with another replacement.
Receiving such kind and attentive service, especially given the infamous negative reviews, made me even more appreciative of their assistance.
Due to the lack of stock for the 1080 Ti Seahawk, they offered to replace it with a 2080 Seahawk. Although the 1080 Ti has more VRAM and a higher initial price, the 2080 provides better performance in recent games and has a higher current market value. Plus, it supports the NVENC new encoder, so it wasn’t entirely a bad trade-off.
(I was hoping for a 2080 Super Seahawk, but oh well.)
Finally, the replacement 2080 has arrived.
It came wrapped in an overwhelming amount of bubble wrap, more than I could handle. 😲
After removing the bubble wrap…
Huh? A 1080ti????
No, they had sent the 2080 replacement packed inside the box I used to send my 1080 ti for servicing.
A neatly repackaged 2080 replacement, complete with protective film.
While the GPU was away, the 9700k worked diligently on its own. Sometimes, budget gaming PCs come with low-end graphics cards even for games like League of Legends, but the UHD630 integrated graphics on the 9700k handles League of Legends very smoothly.
If you’re only playing League of Legends, it might be better to invest in a modern Intel CPU with good integrated graphics rather than spending money on a low-end dedicated GPU. This way, you avoid the hassle of having to upgrade your graphics card later if you decide to play more demanding games like PUBG.
In the case of the 1080 Ti, the fan was connected to the motherboard, but for the 2080, the fan connects directly to the graphics card.
Here’s a photo of the installation.
By the way, I really don’t like those tubes. They should have just stuck with fabric ones…
I connected the power.
I checked to ensure it was recognized correctly.
I also completed the driver installation.
The Time Spy results in non-overclocked state:
The 3DMark Fire Strike score in a non-overclocked state.
If you look at the Fire Strike scores, the 2080 lags behind the 1080ti system, while it excels in Time Spy. The RTX series is definitely superior in DirectX 12. Most of the latest games support DirectX 12.
Here are the Time Spy scores after overclocking the core by +100 and the memory by +500:
Here is the Fire Strike score.
Here are the Fire Strike scores:
As expected, the 1080 Ti performs better in Fire Strike, but when overclocked, the 2080 significantly outperforms in Time Spy. The 2080 consistently maintains 144 frames per second while playing PUBG. Unlike the 1080 Ti, which often experienced frame drops, the 2080 shows none of these issues. With all settings maxed out, it even manages 200-240Hz.
Switching to the 2080 was definitely a good decision. Despite MSI’s notorious reputation for poor after-sales service, my experience has been quite positive. I’ve only dealt with them twice, but both times I’ve received excellent service. Their event staff have always been friendly, which naturally influences my positive view of MSI.
Understanding that after-sales service involves human interaction, I believe that negative experiences often arise from individual instances rather than the company as a whole. It’s likely that a few instances of unhelpful staff or off-days have contributed to the negative reputation, given the high volume of customers.
As a consumer, it’s natural to expect good service consistently. MSI seems to be striving for improvement, which is why I received such good service. I hope MSI continues to enhance their employee satisfaction, as happy employees contribute to better customer service, ultimately making MSI an even better brand.
And just to clarify, I’m not getting paid for this review.
I wish I were getting paid for this review, though! 😆