A PC Gamer recently shared a cock-up on PNY’s part, and its level of quality control (QC). The case was simple: Redditor ExtraCrunchy had purchased an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti from the brand and was getting some PCIe error messages on HWInfo. As they attempted to reseat the GPU, they found the problem: a sticker covering the top parts of the contact points.
“My pc kept freezing and crashing after installing a brand new from the factory 5070ti. Noticed PCIE errors in HW Info and went to re-seat it. Lo and behold I found the issue. Absolutely egregious that this made it through QC.”
The sticker looks very much like the warranty variant, which could be unfortunate, as removing it could automatically void any chances of RMA’ing the card. And yes, in this particular case, we are well and fully aware of the irony.
That said, not all warranties are void if the sticker is removed. In the US, there is an act known as the Magnuson-Moss, where certain “broken seals voids warranty” claims can be illegal, although coverage can be denied if the damaged was caused by repair, modification, or misuse.
In the EU, sellers are required to provide a 2-year warranty, or legal guarantee, which cannot be removed by a manufacturer’s warranty. However, warranty claims can be refused if the seller proves that the consumer is at fault, Here in Malaysia, voided warranty wasn’t the
Anyway, ExtraCrunchy wasn’t the only victim of this misplaced sticker-on-PCIe-connectors issue. In the same post, another Redditor regaled their tale of their RTX 5080 from PNY as well but got lucky by discovering the issue right before they installed the card. All they did was take a picture of the sticker’s position first, and then proceeded to shift its placement.
ExtraCrunchy also gave an update later in the day, stating that the sticker was loose enough that, with a little bit of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water, they were able to move it out of the way, and the RTX 5070 Ti was no longer crashing, but unfortunately, it would not open and run any game, making it DOA.
(Source: Reddit)
