ASUS Replaces Melted RX 6950 XT With New RX 9070 XT

A warranty replacement for a failed graphics card has introduced a new model name into the market, raising questions about product continuity and hardware safety. Buyers relying on high-end AMD GPUs should note that power connector failures can trigger significant hardware upgrades rather than simple repairs. This incident highlights the risks of third-party cabling and the varying responses from manufacturers when critical components fail.

ASUS replaces melted RX 6950 XT with upgraded RX 9070 XT

The original hardware was an XFX Speedster MERC 319 featuring the Radeon RX 6950 XT GPU. The card suffered physical melting of its standard 8-pin PCIe power connector. This damage resulted from loose contact caused by the use of third-party custom cables. The failure rendered the original card unusable and required a full warranty claim.

ASUS replaced the defective unit with an ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC model. This replacement card features three independent 8-pin power connectors instead of the standard single interface. The manufacturer provided this upgrade without requiring any additional payment from the user. The new design aims to prevent similar power interface failures by distributing the load across multiple connections.

Performance claims for the replacement card indicate a substantial leap over the original RX 6950 XT. The source states that ray tracing performance increased by over 100% in supported games. In Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing enabled, frame rates reportedly doubled compared to the older model. Pure rasterization frame rates also saw a steady increase of approximately 25%.

The replacement card carries a value of 800 USD (around $800). This pricing reflects the higher tier of the new model compared to the original flagship. The incident serves as a reminder to users to verify cable quality and connector integrity. We've been tracking Radeon RX 9070 XT closely — see our earlier coverage on Sapphire Rejects Warranty Claim for RX.

The manufacturer directly issued the RX 9070 XT OC as a warranty replacement for the melted RX 6950 XT. This action confirms that the new model exists within this specific support context. Users should monitor their power connectors for signs of heat or looseness to avoid similar damage.