Prebuilt RTX 5090 PC Melted, Warranty Claims Denied
A college graduate's $5,245 prebuilt gaming PC suffered severe melting damage to its power connectors and cables, leaving the customer caught in a dispute between the system builder and the hardware manufacturer.
Radwan AbdulhadiEditor and technology writer
An Expensive Prebuilt PC Melts After Long-Term Storage
Buying a prebuilt desktop is typically meant to simplify the PC ownership experience, but it can occasionally lead to complicated warranty disputes when hardware fails. According to a report by [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/gaming-pcs/usd5-245-prebuilt-rtx-5090-pcs-connectors-melt-after-sitting-boxed-for-a-year-digital-storm-and-pny-deny-warranty-claims-over-expired-coverage-and-third-party-cables), a customer named Anthony DeMarco encountered this exact issue after his father purchased a Digital Storm Corsa system for him prior to starting his first post-college job. Delivered in May 2025 for $5,245 before tax, the high-end configuration included an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, 2TB Crucial T700 Pro SSD, 64GB of Kingston Fury RGB RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card manufactured by PNY.
DeMarco tested the system upon delivery before packing it away until August 2026, when he officially started his job and received the computer from his father. However, the machine ran into severe hardware trouble just two weeks later. DeMarco noticed a strange burning smell near the desktop, followed by screen flickering on his monitor. Upon investigating the internal components with the help of an AI tool, he discovered that the wires connected to the graphics card were heavily melted and burned. Further details are available from Terms & Conditions in the original source material.
Severe Damage Across the GPU and Power Supply
The heat damage extended well beyond the graphics card's 12VHPWR or 12V-2x6 power connector. The most severe destruction occurred at the power supply, a 1,000-watt semi-modular Digital Storm unit featuring an 80-Plus Gold rating and custom blue-sleeved cables. The cable leading into the power supply melted completely, fusing the cable head into the unit with bare wires exposed at both ends.
DeMarco stated that he verified the cabling was properly seated after receiving the computer from his father. Because the power cable was fused into the GPU connector, separating the components proved difficult, leaving parts of the connectors permanently stuck together.
Digital Storm and PNY Deny Warranty Support
Faced with extensive hardware damage, DeMarco sought assistance from both Digital Storm as the system builder and PNY as the graphics card manufacturer. Digital Storm offers a one-year warranty on parts alongside three years of labor coverage. Because the system was purchased in May 2025 and reviewed via a support ticket on August 26, 2026, the one-year window for parts had expired.
Digital Storm closed the support ticket after a phone call, advising DeMarco to attempt a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) directly with PNY. When DeMarco contacted PNY on September 8 and provided proof of purchase along with photographs of the damage, PNY rejected the RMA request due to the use of system builder cables.
The Policy Dispute Over Third-Party Cables
In its correspondence with the customer, PNY clarified its policy regarding power connections. The company stated that PNY-approved power cables or adapters included inside the retail box of its 16-pin GPUs are the only configurations covered under its warranty. If a third-party power cable, adapter, or custom PSU cable causes melting, burning, or deformation, PNY shifts the responsibility to the manufacturer of that cable or power supply.
While PNY noted that machines from authorized system builders are generally covered, it maintained that the specific cabling used by system integrators does not automatically fall under the GPU manufacturer's direct warranty protections. Following the denial, DeMarco filed a report on the Consumer Product Safety Commission SaferProducts.gov database on September 16, while PNY stated it was reviewing the case directly with the customer.
Sources
- Tom's Hardware$5,245 prebuilt RTX 5090 PC's connectors melt after sitting boxed for a year
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