Recently it became known that MSI has reduced the warranty period for some models of video cards from three years to six months. At that time, the manufacturer did not explain the reasons for these changes, but today MSI made an official statement. It follows from it that the conditions have not changed everywhere – it seems that a significant deterioration in warranty service affects only Russian users.

Following the news that the warranty period for some graphics cards was cut by six times, MSI released the following statement:

“As one of the global leaders in the gaming industry, MSI is committed to protecting the interests of the gaming community. In this regard, and also due to a sharp increase in demand for video cards for mining cryptocurrencies, it was decided to release a special batch of video cards with a six-month warranty period. This batch includes video cards of the “MINER” series, as well as a number of devices, in the name of which the particle “RU” appears. The rest of the graphics cards, including the iconic GAMING series, will continue to ship with a 36-month warranty.

MSI RUSSIA is closely monitoring the situation in the cryptocurrency market and plans to update the terms of warranty service for video cards as soon as the market situation stabilizes. “

List of video cards from the Russian MSI site with a limited warranty of up to 6 months

In this statement, attention is drawn to the explicit mention of models with the “RU” particle in the name, which means that this model is intended exclusively for the Russian market. Indeed, the reduced warranty for some models of gaming video cards of the Gaming and Ventus series is mentioned exclusively on the Russian MSI website, while in other regions no such restrictions have been introduced.

Even on the Ukrainian MSI website, you can find completely different wording: all the manufacturer’s video cards continue to be supplied with a 36-month warranty, and the reduction in the duration of proprietary support to six months occurs only if the video card is used for mining. It is curious that MSI is going to establish the fact of using each specific video card for mining cryptocurrencies on its own according to unnamed indirect signs.

In turn, the MSI website for the USA or for Western European countries says that all video cards, regardless of anything, receive a three-year warranty. A shorter period of warranty service – 6 months – is possible only for factory-rebuilt models (Refurbished). At the same time, mining is not mentioned at all on MSI sites for the US and EU countries.

All of this indicates that MSI Russia has introduced its own warranty policy. Obviously, the initial idea was to offer Russian users some special models of video cards, for which the company, for some reason (for example, because in fact, we are not talking about new, but about restored video cards) cannot give a full guarantee … But the implementation of this venture can lead to a deterioration in the situation of all categories of domestic buyers, who, due to a shortage, do not have the opportunity to choose between video cards with a cut or normal warranty and will ultimately have to put up with the deterioration of the consumer qualities of MSI products presented on the shelves.