Asus quotes ridiculous $2,750 fee to replace chipped GPU power connector— docs back up claims of egregious repair pricing for $2,000 RTX 4090 GPU

Asus RTX 4090 White OC with a damaged notch
(Image credit: Mulgoki via Reddit)

A Canadian ASUS customer has shared his recent experience with Asus service, claiming the firm quoted an egregious amount — about $2,748.49 (CAD 3,758) — to repair an RTX 4090 GPU that needed its 16-pin power connector replaced. The price is exceptionally high, especially given that the graphics card, purchased two weeks prior, retails for $2,050 (CAD 2,799). Naturally, this raises doubts about the company's repair policies, particularly in light of other claimed abuses we'll cover below.

Reddit user 'Mulgoki' clarified that the issue was confined to a plastic clip that secures the connector — even though the card worked fine, the clip was chipped. Even when functioning properly, Nvidia's 16-pin power connections have had an ongoing melting issue that's spurred a seemingly unending wave of card failures, so Mulgoki followed the advice of both the retailer and Asus support and sent it off for repair.

The Redditor shared screenshots of the back-and-forth communication with ASUS. Nobody would expect a repair quote of $2,750 for replacing a power connector, AND ASUS made a peculiar offer of a 30% discount after the user requested a re-checked price quote. After further escalating the issue, Asus informed him the graphics card was not functional because of the damage and was not covered under warranty. The only solution Asus' service personnel offered was a replacement at a higher cost than its original retail price.

Based on the email responses, this Asus representative did not address the connector while forwarding a quote. Instead, the quotation support mentions, "However, please note that the damage ultimately affects the unit's functionality and is not covered under our standard warranty." The first email does not mention the irrepairability of the customer's graphic card. Had the graphic card been genuinely non-functional, that would have been naturally mentioned in the first email.

The user was assigned to another supervisor who offered a buyback only after further escalating the issue. While this would be seen as one of the preferable outcomes, not everyone seems to have this type of experience with ASUS support. 

Not an isolated case with Asus

Unfortunately, it appears this sort of issue isn't isolated or limited to a particular region. A recent Gamers Nexus video also highlights a similar situation with a customer's ROG Ally, which had a drift issue with its thumbstick, a shortened battery lifespan within one year of use, and a malfunctioning MicroSD slot (a common problem with the ROG Ally Z1 that wasn't fixed with any of its updates).

Asus didn't address the drift stick issue, let alone any of the other issues. Instead, it mentions an alleged gap issue and some surface scratches on the Ally Z1's casing while attaching an image of the unit already opened by the technician, quoting almost $200 for a repair. 

The video also highlights two other cases- one involving the 2022 Zephrus G15 notebook, which was initially sent for a display issue but seemingly received with a cracked chassis, and another involving a TUF series RTX 4090 with an instability issue, which was allegedly replaced with a refurbished GPU with a bent PCIe bracket and damage on the PCIe x16 interface.

We've contacted the company for comment on the wave of reports of repair malpractice. We'll update you if we get a response. 

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh
Contributing Writer

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh has been in the Indian PC hardware community since the early 2000s and has been building PCs, contributing to many Indian tech forums, & blogs. He operated Hardware BBQ for 11 years and wrote news for eTeknix & TweakTown before joining Tom's Hardware team. Besides tech, he is interested in fighting games, movies, anime, and mechanical watches.

  • Notton
    This is the tip of the iceberg.

    The four (Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and AsRock) all have their fair share of RMA hell stories.

    I can kind of understand them doing this, and why EVGA left. GPU margins are paper thin, like less than 3%, and every RMA they have to honor is a huge dent in profits.
    Reply
  • kamehaiku
    Notton said:
    This is the tip of the iceberg.

    The four (Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and AsRock) all have their fair share of RMA hell stories.

    I can kind of understand them doing this, and why EVGA left. GPU margins are paper thin, like less than 3%, and every RMA they have to honor is a huge dent in profits.
    That makes alot of sense. I sense this will happen everywhere with everything, given time.
    Reply
  • thisisaname
    Like they do not want to repair it and no shop wants to trade it in either.
    Reply
  • NinjaChemist
    I've had a similar experience repairing my Asus ROG Phone 5. No repair shop would touch it. My only option was to ship to Asus for repair and paid nearly half the original price of the phone for a screen replacement.
    Reply
  • ohio_buckeye
    With these 4090s for the prices nvidia should have addressed issues. Why not just stick to the standard 8 pin connectors to begin with?
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    ohio_buckeye said:
    With these 4090s for the prices nvidia should have addressed issues. Why not just stick to the standard 8 pin connectors to begin with?
    ....that is unrelated to topic.

    doesnt matter what connector was used they can both chip (as they are merely plastic)
    NinjaChemist said:
    and paid nearly half the original price of the phone for a screen replacement.
    i mean 1st party phone screen are always costly as they have the part cost (usually 1/4 or 1/3rd cost of new phone) and then labor costs.
    <Mod Edit> Bad but standard.
    Reply
  • Aeacus
    NinjaChemist said:
    I've had a similar experience repairing my Asus ROG Phone 5. No repair shop would touch it. My only option was to ship to Asus for repair and paid nearly half the original price of the phone for a screen replacement.
    You got lucky. My old Samsung phone, S5230 Star (1st touchscreen phone i had) screen replacement would've cost me more than entire S5230 Star itself. So, i ditched the screen replacement and went with new, different brand phone instead.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    I had this kind of problem with ASUS way back with my Crosshair III Formula motherboard, it wouldn't work unless your physically bent the board. Two RMAs, including an elevated RMA, and they said it was fine.

    MSI may be missing some intelligence but ASUS is missing more.
    Reply
  • endocine
    Assus, "In search of incredible"? More like In Search of Incredibly High Prices and Bad Support, amiright?
    Reply
  • GenericUser
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    I had this kind of problem with ASUS way back with my Crosshair III Formula motherboard, it wouldn't work unless your physically bent the board.

    Did you stumble into discovering that on accident? How much and where did it need to bend? I'd be too paranoid to ever consider trying something like that out of fear of causing (more) damage.
    Reply