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[Updated] Gigabyte voided my warranty, did nothing during my RMA. I *almost* got screwed from a Best Buy Open Box

El_Capitan

El_Capitan

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 11, 2012
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I bought an "Excellent Condition" from a Best Buy Open Box for a Gigabyte RTX 5070 Ti. It was defective, so I opened a return request. However, prices went up nearly overnight, so instead of returning it, I sent an RMA to Gigabyte. Gigabyte says it's not repairable, and my return window closed for Best Buy 2 days ago. Ugh.

Well, I did not see this coming.

Best_Buy_Gigabyte_RTX_5070_Ti.jpgGigabyte_RMA_04.jpg

Update 09/01/2026:
I got the graphics card back from Gigabyte's RMA. It doesn't even look like they opened it up or attempted to diagnose it.

My guess is that the previous owner wasn't entirely at fault. The graphics card was bending because of too thick of thermal putty, or whatever Gigabyte is putting in there. None of the screws were overtightened. Maybe Gigabyte put too much thermal putty, expecting it to eventually melt and slip through the different components? Who knows.

I opened it up, and my goodness, what a mess.
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Cleaned it up to inspect it. I put a PCIe adapter, and fits nicely. Nothing looks out of place.
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Straightened it out. Still a slight bend, but that's okay.
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Cleaned it up some more.
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Time to put some TIM and new thermal pads on, and it should be better than new. Fingers crossed.

Now for the agonizing wait for my thermal pads to arrive. I'm plum out except for a lot of sheets of 0.5mm.

Update 09/08/2026:
Finally found my multimeter and the fuse was blown shorted. I ordered some extra fuses, and they should be here next week. Hopefully that's all it was, and it makes sense, since a bad PCIe connection from the bend could cause the fuse to blow. I'll likely test some more when I have time. It's a 125V 10A Fast Blow SMT 1808-0451 SMD Fuse. They're really cheap if you order from China, like $0.37 per fuse, but I also wanted something delivered quicker, so I also bought something in the U.S. for $1.05 per fuse.
Fuse_Circled.png

Also, the HDMI/DP bracket is what's also causing a slight bend and tension. I'll likely end up putting a spacer on the bracket where it kind of free floats to prevent that.

Update 09/13/2026:
She's alive! I'm going to see how she overclocks. Temps are good, though I'll likely take her apart again to put on the cover. It was just the fuse. Gigabyte RMA can eat it.
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She's a good overclocker. Not the best, but definitely above average. MSI Afterburner +460 for the best score in Cyberpunk2077, but +470 had a slightly worse score, and +480 crashed. Gets up to 3300MHz peak Core Clock.
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Geekbench 7 Stock:
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Geekbench 7 +460 OC:
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Not the best job in the world, it's been decades since I've repaired electronics equipment, and now that I'm older, my eyes aren't what they used to be. Everything's a lot smaller now, and I don't have the best equipment. I ended up putting hi-temp masking tape between the new fuse and the graphics card cover just in case. There's only a slight bend now near the Displayport/HDMI connector end, but the PCIe slot is straight.
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Gigabyte said there is physical damage. Voided one way or another.
 
BinarySynapse said:
Second this, but don't just stop with the store. They sometimes can't do much to help you out, so you'll need to go up the chain. And use their social media to your advantage.
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Iching said:
Gigabyte said there is physical damage. Voided one way or another.
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For 50 dollars, it might be a waste of time, but for 500 or more, it might be worth the effort to get best buy more involved, given that open box ended up defective with physical damage, according to gigabyte rma team.
 
Yeah sorry to hear that, OB is always hit or miss, I canceled a OB Zotac 5070 Ti I got from Amazon for just under 800 last week for this very reason. Couple of years ago BB had regular sales on the 4080 Super OB from Gigabyte, first one was totally bent with physical damage, scored another few weeks later and that one was in great shape, think sold it to someone here when I got my 5080 early last year. Of course should have just hoarded all the GPUs lol. GL to you, hope BB comes through.
 
are closed said:
For 50 dollars, it might be a waste of time, but for 500 or more, it might be worth the effort to get best buy more involved, given that open box ended up defective with physical damage, according to gigabyte rma team.
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Nah, I would just buy a new one and return an open box. Gigabyte can beat it then. Those companies can suck it. GL!
 
Iching said:
Nah, I would just buy a new one and return an open box. Gigabyte can beat it then. Those companies can suck it. GL!
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Going to run into SN issues with most retailers, can be defeated but then you're going into serious grey area. May pass at Amazon but they delay refunds for big purchases for months these days some times.
 
undertaker2k8 said:
Going to run into SN issues with most retailers, can be defeated but then you're going into serious grey area. May pass at Amazon but they delay refunds for big purchases for months these days some times.
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He will be fine. You always say buyer's remorse and issue a credit back to a gift card. BB keeps the money so he can buy something else. They do not care. Do you even know how many scratch and dent appliances they dispose of and sell for less than 50%?
 
Iching said:
Yep, it's not kosher but some of those companies suck. They already made their money. All those luxury companies and clothing retailers destroying their goods rather than selling. Middle finger to those companies.
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^ This times 2... F' em

Especially in these "AI inflated" times... companies will stoop to any level to protect those profits... F' em times two.. three.. four ...
 
Iching said:
Nah, I would just buy a new one and return an open box. Gigabyte can beat it then. Those companies can suck it. GL!
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are closed said:
I guess that's one way to one-up the system for screwing you over.
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Iching said:
Yep, it's not kosher but some of those companies suck. They already made their money. All those luxury companies and clothing retailers destroying their goods rather than selling. Middle finger to those companies.
Click to expand...
Hash_Immutable_1337x said:
^ This times 2... F' em

Especially in these "AI inflated" times... companies will stoop to any level to protect those profits... F' em times two.. three.. four ...
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Unfortunately, I'm not the sort of person who will screw the next person buying the graphics card. I'll talk to Best Buy when I receive the graphics card back, or will attempt to fix it myself. If all else fails, I'll either sell it as damaged and defective, or remove the parts and do something with it in the future.
 
El_Capitan said:
Unfortunately, I'm not the sort of person who will screw the next person buying the graphics card. I'll talk to Best Buy when I receive the graphics card back, or will attempt to fix it myself. If all else fails, I'll either sell it as damaged and defective, or remove the parts and do something with it in the future.
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Thank you. Since you actively sell here, it is important and appreciated to see that you stand with good moral compass.

Now, the devil's advocate part:
You tried to fix the hardware by going through manufacturer's channel, which landed you in a situation you are today. I am not saying you did wrong, but rather a very unfortunate one, given the timeline involved with open box return window.

The next person who purchases the graphics card will see that it doesn't work and will simply return it without going through all the hassle of contacting the manufacturer and resorting to fix a broken brand new product.

Personally, if I were to buy a graphics card and it wouldnt work, I would simply take it back to the place of purchase and exchange for another product that work, given it is brand new(or open box being sold with assumption it is brand new, just opened).

In my opium, this is not a washing machine, refrigerator or a water heater that is usually handled with a repair, rather than an exchange, given the logistical hassle of returning a bulky item.

I am not trying to sway you one way or the other(maybe I am?), but rather giving you an outside look at your situation.
 
El_Capitan said:
Unfortunately, I'm not the sort of person who will screw the next person buying the graphics card. I'll talk to Best Buy when I receive the graphics card back, or will attempt to fix it myself. If all else fails, I'll either sell it as damaged and defective, or remove the parts and do something with it in the future.
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All good... I meant mainly other methods except for just screwing over the "next person".. e.g. "cc charge back, etc..."
 
Hash_Immutable_1337x said:
^ This times 2... F' em

Especially in these "AI inflated" times... companies will stoop to any level to protect those profits... F' em times two.. three.. four ...
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Yep, You know, I should not have responded to this thread. This guy is beyond help, too sloppy to notice that card is faulty and has physical damage or maybe damaged himself? and then misses the return window. I apologize, you deserve it since you didn't do your due diligence. Next time try to do better.
 
You'll be lucky to get it back at all, Gigabyte has just been straight up yoinking people's "unrepairable" cards the last few months.
 
Iching said:
Yep, You know, I should not have responded to this thread. This guy is beyond help, too sloppy to notice that card is faulty and has physical damage or maybe damaged himself? and then misses the return window. I apologize, you deserve it since you didn't do your due diligence. Next time try to do better.
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He stated why he missed the return window. RMA response times and mailing of the equipment takes time. Also, physical damage does not have to be blatant scratch across the circuit board. If there is a missing part that fell off, you would never know. OP did not post photo of what kind of physical damage was on the card that gigabyte allegedly found.(bent pcb can be easily missed with a naked eye)
 
Iching said:
Yep, You know, I should not have responded to this thread. This guy is beyond help, too sloppy to notice that card is faulty and has physical damage or maybe damaged himself? and then misses the return window. I apologize, you deserve it since you didn't do your due diligence. Next time try to do better.
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Next time try to read better.

LigTasm said:
You'll be lucky to get it back at all, Gigabyte has just been straight up yoinking people's "unrepairable" cards the last few months.
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Ugh, I hope not. If so, I'll never buy high-end items from Gigabyte again.

are closed said:
He stated why he missed the return window. RMA response times and mailing of the equipment takes time. Also, physical damage does not have to be blatant scratch across the circuit board. If there is a missing part that fell off, you would never know. OP did not post photo of what kind of physical damage was on the card that gigabyte allegedly found.(bent pcb can be easily missed with a naked eye)
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Lol, I think he's just trolling. I've gone through hundreds of PC components the last 2-3 years alone. Maybe thousands going way back to the 90's. If I caused damage to anything myself, I'd quit this hobby.
 
I have bought several open-box GPUs from Best Buy. And eventually, I settled into doing in-store pickup, and just opening it in-store at a register. And handing it back over to them, if there are physical issues I don't want to deal with.

They also strictly will not downgrade the condition rating of a GPU which obviously should be downgraded.

Overall, they used to have pretty darn good pricing on their open-box GPUs. But, probably about 1.5 years ago; they started pricing them barely below "new". And now its pretty common to see them price above "new" prices, from competitors.
 
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El_Capitan said:
I bought an "Excellent Condition" from a Best Buy Open Box for a Gigabyte RTX 5070 Ti. It was defective, so I opened a return request. However, prices went up nearly overnight, so instead of returning it, I sent an RMA to Gigabyte. Gigabyte says it's not repairable, and my return window closed for Best Buy 2 days ago. Ugh.

Well, I did not see this coming.

View attachment 821916View attachment 821917
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For educational purposes: what price did you pay?
 
thats a pretty good bend, looks like the heatsink bent too or its a funny angle.

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Generally speaking nowadays: Physical damage should be handled by the retailer as a replacement or a refund. As well as pre-mature failures and/or DOA.

"Warranty" support, is nowadays mostly meant for long term issues.
 
El_Capitan said:
It's their photo they sent. It didn't look that bad. I took photos and videos (I always do), but I can't seem to find them.
View attachment 822097
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I wonder if the screws didnt line up for that backplate to the mounting backet and when it was all tightened down at the factory, the whole body deformed?

If you look closely, pcb has convex bend, while backplate has sort of "s" shape bend. Almost like that backplate is a little too long so it deformed the circuit board.
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At least they're sending it back. I think I'm just going to take it apart and do my own diagnostics and potential repair on it.
 
Why not have them try repairing it? Maybe 100 bucks later, it'll work like new? Did they even try to figure out what burned out? Least they could do is remove that backplate, maybe it is shorting out something?
 
Looks like someone took a hacksaw to the heatsink.

are closed said:
I wonder if the screws didnt line up for that backplate to the mounting backet and when it was all tightened down at the factory, the whole body deformed?

If you look closely, pcb has convex bend, while backplate has sort of "s" shape bend. Almost like that backplate is a little too long so it deformed the circuit board.
View attachment 822105
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I think that's a cutout in the backplate, exposing some features on the back of the board. Unless it's definitely covering the whole board?

Edit: it is a little bent out near the rear io though.
 
are closed said:
Why not have them try repairing it? Maybe 100 bucks later, it'll work like new? Did they even try to figure out what burned out? Least they could do is remove that backplate, maybe it is shorting out something?
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they dont do that.
the cards probably fucked, likely has broken internal traces and shit.
 
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