ZOTAC Denies Warranty for RTX 5070 Ti
A ZOTAC customer’s attempt to repair a new graphics card under warranty has escalated into a notable dispute after the company denied the claim for reasons the user finds questionable. The case involves a three-month-old ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti that developed an intermittent mechanical fan noise.
According to the customer, who shared correspondence on Reddit, the card was fully functional but produced a noise suggesting a failing fan bearing or an obstruction. After receiving an RMA approval and paying to ship the card to ZOTAC’s service center, the claim was rejected.
The denial email from ZOTAC cited two primary reasons. First, the company stated it was “unable to do repairs due to the limited tools we have.” Second, it pointed to what it called damage on the card’s printed circuit board (PCB), deeming it “irreversible” and a violation of the warranty policy.
The customer contends the marks on the PCB are minor handling scratches that could have occurred during normal installation or removal and are unrelated to the fan issue. They also note the GPU operated correctly aside from the cooling problem.
In a follow-up, ZOTAC reportedly offered to either dispose of the customer’s graphics card or return it unrepaired. The user has since contacted the well-known hardware investigation outlet Gamers Nexus, suggesting confidence that the core issue is isolated to the cooler assembly.
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This incident follows other recent reports where minor physical marks near the PCIe connector have become focal points in warranty disputes, highlighting a growing concern among PC builders about what constitutes acceptable wear versus voiding damage.