The company allegedly refuses RMA on cracked GPUs.
Gigabyte just can’t catch a break huh (or I guess their customers can’t)
I learned my lesson with a RTX3080 from Gigabyte. The PCI-E power connector broke right away because they chose to put the connectors on this cheap little extension instead of putting them straight on the PCB properly. The pins inside the connector were pushed out and made no contact. Took them 7 weeks to fix the card. No Gigabyte for me ever again.
The article indicates the cracks are forming at the PCIe connector and suggests it’s due to GPU sag. The issue was predominantly seen in pre-built PC’s, but was also happening to separately bought cards. It’s unclear if the pre-built desktops were from Gigabyte or some other vendor. Regardless, not only did Gigabyte refuse to RMA them, they charged the customer return shipping and stuck a sticker with an arrow pointing to the crack on the GPU.
Absolutely infuriating. Depending on the scope, I see either a class-action lawsuit or Gigabyte changing their stance and start to cover these under RMA. Gigabyte would also likely be violating European and Australian consumer protection laws here.
In the US, they’re also likely violating some laws but the laws in the US rarely have teeth. In the USA, Gigabyte might as well mail the broken GPU back to the user along with a dildo and a note that says, “Go fuck yourself. You have zero recourse.”
Regardless of Gigabyte being total douche bags about this, a take-away here (aside from not buying Gigabyte stuff anymore) is this:
If you’re not supporting your GPU then you’re wrong. Either your PCIe connector will eventually rip off your mobo, or the GPU’s connector will crack, or both.
