NZXT issues statement on AIO leaking onto RTX 5090 case, says it offered full compensation

Yesterday, we posted a story where a Reddit user claimed that their NZXT Kraken AIO cooler leaked onto and damaged their flagship ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090. The post noted that NZXT confirmed the issue was due to a manufacturing fault; however, disputes over inadequate compensation led to several months of back-and-forth, with the user then stating that after seven months of getting nowhere, they were in the process of suing NZXT.

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Today, Ivan Barajas, the Senior Marketing Manager at NZXT, reached out to us with a statement clarifying the issue and confirming the age old saying that there are always two sides to a story. First off, there's no dispute regarding the cause of the damage: the AIO leaked, damaging the customer's motherboard and ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090.

With one of the sticking points in the original story being that NZXT offered the customer $2,855.99 for the GPU, which now costs well over $4,000, NZXT says this isn't true. "The $2,855.99 figure is not what NZXT offered," the statement reads. "That was the original invoiced purchase price, and that number appeared in an early email that was corrected the same day to $4,161.90, reflecting current market value."

Apparently, NZXT has its own receipts for all communication and the case, and has supporting documentation to back up its side of the story. According to NZXT, it made five compensation offers, including a "brand-new ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090 sourced at retail and a cash settlement at current market value." NZXT also notes that it accepted the customer's counteroffer of $4,378, but the customer then apparently added new conditions and "did not sign" the agreement.

Another sticking point in the original Reddit post was that the customer wanted their faulty ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 returned, which they claim NZXT said they would do before stating that it wasn't their policy. Well, that's true, the policy part at least. "When NZXT pays a full loss settlement, we retain the damaged hardware," Ivan Barajas tells us. "Liquid-damaged components are an electrical risk; this prevents them from re-entering service or the secondary market. This is standard practice."

NZXT also confirms that the whole back-and-forth lasted several months, but one of the reasons for the delay was the "customer's failure to provide a valid proof of purchase," which took two months, followed by an additional month just to submit photos of the damaged components. In addition, NZXT issued an RMA for the motherboard back in December, but the customer declined to send it in.

With all that, it sounds like the customer wanted to be compensated without sending in the damaged hardware or proof. And to cap it all off, at least from NZXT's side, is the following.

The customer received his GPU back on March 6 after formally rejecting all settlement options. On March 10 - four days later - he attempted to reopen the claim at $4,807.90. This matter has been referred to our legal team.