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Mining with a PNY graphics card will automatically void its warranty

Mining with a PNY graphics card will automatically void its warranty (Source: PNY)
Mining with a PNY graphics card will automatically void its warranty (Source: PNY)
Cryptocurrency miners may be ruining the warranties for gamers who are actually using the graphics cards for their original intended purposes.

With cryptocurrency on the rise this year, there will likely be an influx on new miners wanting to take advantage of the skyrocketing digital asset via personal graphics cards. While GPUs are not the most efficient for the task, some manufacturers are already beginning to take notice and have revised their respective warranty policies to reflect the trend.

PNY has joined Inno3D in explicitly excluding "miners, data mining, and mining farms" from the 36-month limited manufacturer warranty. The change was discreetly made in June of this year across all its GeForce 10 series of graphics cards. More recently, however, users have noticed an addendum added late last month that suggests an even tighter crackdown on cryptocurrency miners.

If taken at face value, the below statement could imply that PNY can deny warranty from any or all of its GeForce 10 customers simply due to the manufacturer's fear of cryptocurrency miners. The legal implications of such a drastic change, however, is certainly questionable.

For now, there is no guaranteed method for manufacturers to flag or even reliably recognize owners who have been using their GPUs for mining purposes. We suggest that readers should avoid mentioning mining if submitting warranty claims to PNY or any other GPU manufacturer or reseller for that matter.

Snapshot of PNY warranty targeting cryptocurrency miners (Source: http://www.pny.eu/legal/warranty)
Snapshot of PNY warranty targeting cryptocurrency miners (Source: http://www.pny.eu/legal/warranty)

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2017 12 > Mining with a PNY graphics card will automatically void its warranty
Allen Ngo, 2017-12-26 (Update: 2018-05-15)