So my 980Ti has started to show signs of failure and forced me into the rat race. I jumped on the chance to buy a 2070 Super KO from EVGA as soon as I got the stock notification with the intent of stepping up to a 3080 like everyone else, figuring it was more than enough to tide me over until then. I knew it was a little less powerful than the other 2070 supers in EVGA's stable, but I didn't see all the criticism of the build quality, PCB, and VRMs until after it had shipped. It makes me a little concerned, especially after being told by EVGA on the phone today that they cannot confirm I will be able to get back into the step-up queue if I need to RMA more than 90 days after my purchase date. At this point it's safe to say I will definitely not be getting the chance to step up in the next 90 days, and might be lucky to get the chance in the next 180. 
 
I've got 14 days to return it if I decide to go that route, but I'll lose out on the extended warranty I already bought and I'll be back to competing with resellers to try to get one of the better EVGA 2070 or 2080 Supers from an authorized dealer. I know EVGA will honor the warranty if something goes wrong so I'm not worried about that aspect, my concern is losing my chance at a 3080 step-up and the potential for damage to other components in my new system if the speculation about VRM problems with these cards eventually proves true. Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

Sorry, I'm in the queue at the moment. What I meant was that - per my conversation with EVGA - having to RMA entails canceling your step-up. It can be transferred to the new serial number after you receive your replacement GPU as long as you're still within 90 days of your original purchase date. If you are past that 90 day purchase date, the step-up window is closed and it is unlikely you will be able to get back into the queue at all even if you had been waiting from day one prior to needing to RMA.
 
While the thought of waiting that long in the queue to get a step-up fulfilled was probably deemed unlikely prior to the last couple generations, I think it's almost a certainty now that people trying to step-up to 3000 series cards are going to be waiting longer than 90 days to do it unless there's a sudden and dramatic breakthrough in Ampere supply. It's barely budged in the last 5-6 weeks and as far as I know there are people on the forum here who applied for step-up the day the 3080 released and they're still in the queue. Maybe I'm wrong and it will be all sorted quickly, I'd be really happy with that outcome obviously, I'm just a little leery about using the GPU after the 90 day window has closed when people on this very forum are saying the VRMs and voltage regulation on it are questionable.
 
I'm probably overthinking things, but this build will be my last hurrah for a while with the state of the world right now and I want to future proof as much as I can for the next console generation at least, not hamstring myself right out of the gate. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid and an RMA will never be necessary in the first place.