'Unlimited GPU upgrade glitch unlocked': Redditor gifted a dead Nvidia RTX 5070 reportedly has it replaced by an RTX 5070 Ti | Tech Radar
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'Unlimited GPU upgrade glitch unlocked': Redditor gifted a dead Nvidia RTX 5070 reportedly has it replaced by an RTX 5070 Ti
Props to PNY for its customer service here, as gamer gets a grand's worth of GPU for free (more or less)
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A Redditor reports that their RTX 5070 (which they were gifted) died
PNY replaced the faulty graphics card with an RTX 5070 Ti
These kinds of upgrades can happen with returns if you get very lucky, and others on Reddit have similar tales to share
If your graphics card goes kaput, that's obviously regarded as bad news — as even if it's still within warranty coverage, you must go through the hassle of returning it for a replacement — but such a failure could turn out to be a good thing.
The recent experience of a Redditor (as highlighted by Video Cardz) who had a PNY GPU go wrong makes this clear. They reportedly received an unexpected upgrade after their RTX 5070 went to silicon heaven.
The Reddit post states: "5070 died completely, PNY sent me a 5070 Ti to replace it. RMA process was fast, too. Basically, a free $400 upgrade."
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The Redditor further explains: "To make things even better, it wasn't even my GPU originally. It was in my brother's work computer. But since he had already replaced it, he gave it to me and said if I wanted to deal with the potential hassle of the RMA [return merchandise authorization], I could keep it. So he basically gifted me a
As another poster succinctly puts it: "Unlimited GPU upgrade glitch unlocked."
Obviously, we must add some seasoning, but as other posters indicate, this can happen, and there are other reported incidents of replacement GPUs happily turning into upgrades.
Such as Gigabyte replacing an RTX 4070 Ti with a 4070 Ti Super, or Sapphire switching out a dead RX 6650 XT for an RX 6700 (albeit that took a month and a half, according to the poster).
It's a breath of fresh air to hear a positive tale around PC components these days, as with the price of RAM, storage, GPUs (and now CPUs) all increasing — by wild amounts in some cases — we're hearing a lot more about sometimes sophisticated scams trying to con people out of the large sums of money asking prices have now turned into.
Don't believe that a graphics card manufacturer would replace a broken GPU with a higher-tier model? Well, I get where your skepticism is coming from, but this can happen, and the mentioned Sapphire example above is a clue to why — mainly because the return took so long to action. In these cases, the problem is likely finding stock of the GPU in question.
It might be the case that PNY didn't have RTX 5070 inventory in the warehouse at the time, and wanted to get the return completed in good time (there was a quick turnaround on this RMA, as the Redditor noted) — so the firm sent an RTX 5070 Ti instead. Obviously, this is a good way to keep the customer happy, and it serves as a positive piece of word-of-mouth when aired on social media, as is the case here.
Rumor: Nvidia has 'essentially killed off' RTX 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16GB GPU
I upgraded from an RTX 3090 to an RTX 5070 – here's why you should make the jump too
No, the Nvidia RTX 5090 Ti GPU isn't coming out this year — here's why
So, if you have to return a GPU in the future, you might just get lucky yourself. However, note that these instances of apparent on-the-spot upgrades as part of a return aren't the rule, but very much the exception. They certainly happen, though.
The one potential wrinkle in this scenario — as one poster pointed out — is that if you're already at the limit of the wattage that your power supply is capable of coping with in your current PC, a more power-hungry GPU won't work in your system. Although you could, of course, just upgrade the PSU in this case (or just sell the GPU, and buy the lesser model again, pocketing the profit).
➡️ Read our full guide to the best graphics card
- Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
- Best budget: Intel Arc B580
- Best Nvidia: Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti
- Best AMD: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for Tech Radar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).
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'Unlimited GPU upgrade glitch unlocked': Redditor gifted a dead Nvidia RTX 5070 reportedly has it replaced by an RTX 5070 Ti
