'Unlimited GPU upgrade glitch unlocked': Redditor gifted a dead Nvidia RTX 5070 reportedly has it replaced by an RTX 5070 Ti

Date:
Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Description:
It's not all doom and gloom in the GPU world: Nvidia RTX 5070 dies and PNY replaces it with an RTX 5070 Ti.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter 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 VideoCardz ) 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." Article continues below You may like Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti graphics card with a hole in it breaks world record Gamer reportedly buys Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti GPU for $80 from Walmart Rumor: Nvidia has 'essentially killed off' RTX 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16GB GPU

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 $500 GPU, which turned into a $1000 GPU, all for an hour's work and $30 shipping."

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). Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Analysis: winning the RMA lottery (Image credit: Lulnerdge
on Reddit) 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. What to read next Walmart shopper reportedly buys Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU at almost half-price No, the Nvidia RTX 5090 Ti GPU isn't coming out this year here's why Nvidia RTX 5090 buyer is scammed as GPU is replaced by laundry detergent

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). The best graphics cards for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best graphics card 1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 2. Best budget: Intel Arc B580 3. Best Nvidia: Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti 4. Best AMD: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/gpu/unlimited-gpu-upgrade-glitch-unlocked- redditor-gifted-a-dead-nvidia-rtx-5070-reportedly-has-it-replaced-by-an-rtx-50 70-ti


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