MSI refused to cover return shipping for defective RTX 5090 - paid $110 out of pocket

I purchased an MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Gaming Trio for $2,000. After 10 months, the card failed with hardware-level crashes (VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE, bugcheck 0x116).

Tested multiple driver versions (595.71, 572.16) - crashes persisted. Minidump analysis confirmed hardware fault in nvlddmkm.sys. MSI approved the RMA.

MSI refused to cover return shipping. I paid $110 out of pocket to ship their defective product back for warranty service.

For context: ASUS, Gigabyte, and EVGA (when they made cards) cover return shipping for warranty defects. MSI does not.

If you're buying MSI, know that when their product fails, you pay to fix their mistake.

Serial: 602-V530-37ST2504000898