Did the same with a 280x .. No fuss, just rocked up and got a replacement. I'll definitely but more msi stuff.
Just to ad to the list. I had an MSI GPU that died 2 weeks before th warranty expired. There was no issue with the return and repair process. It took about 3 weeks and I was quite happy with the outcome. Much better than the monitor experience I had with Dell.
Just thought I'd add to this list. I've had to RMA my R9-290 twice. First time I received a new R9-290 within a week. I believe I sent it away on Tuesday, on Friday I got my new card. The second time around took a little longer. I was told my MSI Australia they had none in stock and they had to send it back to Asia. It took a little over 3 weeks, but I just received my card via Startrack then, and it is a R9-390 8GB. So they replaced it with an equivalent card. Can't speak highly enough of MSI. Awesome customer service.
Thought this was the best place to post this, I had my GTX 980Ti die in a cloud of smoke but didn't have the receipt for it. I thought I'd email MSI anyway and see what they say and a helpful bloke called Wayne gave me a RMA number! So I've sent it off this morning and will see what happens. Very impressed with MSI so far and if they do send me a replacement I will be sure to buy their cards in the future.
Got a working card back, MSI had my dead one for 1 day before sending a replacement back via Star Track. Very impressed with the level of service.
Bit of a thread bump but just thought I'd pass on some information. Plenty of sites saying MSI will still accept warranty returns if you remove the cooler but apparently that only applies for the USA. I confirmed with MSI Australia that their warranty will be null and void if the cooler is removed so looks like EVGA is still the only option.