GTX 970 Class Action Lawsuit

Misled Gamers Form Class Action Against Nvidia

According to TechReport, a recent development has been made in the settlement pursuant to a lawsuit filed by gamers against computer hardware company Nvidia. This class action suit was filed, well over a year ago, due to the company's alleged misrepresentation of memory specs on their GTX 970 graphics card.

These allegations of false advertising are due to a memory configuration that causes a slowdown when the card is used at full capacity. The card is advertised as having 4GB of high speed DDR5 memory, but tests show that the 970 splits its RAM into two segments, with a high-priority, high speed 3.5 GB, with the remaining half gig operating at 80% that speed.

While the plaintiffs in the suit are feeling shortchanged by the card's less than advertised specs, the company argues that real-world impact is minimal. When comparing it to the 980 model, with its full 4GB of high speed DDR5 RAM, the company reports that gamers will only see a 1%–3% reduction in performance. And only then when the card is pushed to its very limits.

Nvidia further argues that, under average usage, customers won't see a performance drop at all. They claim that most gamers will only need the 3.5 GB of high speed memory allotted by the configuration, and won't see any effect until they push their systems beyond the limits of standard use.

The company hasn't disputed, however, that there is a discrepancy between the advertised specs and what the card's ultimate capabilities. So after a year in the quagmire of pre-trial litigation, the plaintiffs and Nvidia have come to a settlement.

Without admitting culpability, the company is offering $30 to every customer who purchased the card between September 1, 2014 and August 24, 2016. Customers from that period need only file a claims form, and then they can expect to collect the reimbursement. Any customers meeting the above criteria have until November 30th to file their claim.

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