NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 “GB202” Chip Found Defective in Certain Units; Potential Impact on All Variants

It looks like NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs are embroiled in yet another round of controversy. The onboard “Blackwell” GB202 chip seems to be causing headaches for many users due to its defects.

NVIDIA’s top-tier RTX Blackwell GPU is currently facing a slew of issues, with some units showing fewer ROPs on tests like GPU-Z, which can be traced back to the GB202 chip. These missing ROPs aren’t just numbers on a test; they translate to noticeable performance drops. At first, there were rumors about inventory challenges, with NVIDIA’s flagship model trickling into the market in limited quantities. But now, reports are surfacing that some of NVIDIA’s silicon may be flawed, leading to significant performance dips. We recently saw this issue crop up in a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090, and, according to @MEGAsizeGPU, it’s pointed out that the real culprit might be the Blackwell GB202 chip itself, which warrants a deeper dive.

To further elaborate, NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 has been popping up online with fewer ROPs reported in GPU-Z. For those impacted, this means they’ve ended up with units that don’t perform as expected. Initially, this was chalked up to a glitch with GPU-Z, but it’s now becoming clearer that these deficiencies are tied to the faulty GB202 chip, which is certainly disheartening news.

To bolster the argument that GPU-Z isn’t at fault here, an RTX 5090 model showing the issue was put through the wringer at HWINFO. The reduced number of ROPs was corroborated, suggesting a more serious underlying problem. Although we’re early in uncovering this mess, and only certain batches are affected for now, the rumor mill suggests the issue could span all variants, possibly even the Founders Edition (FE) models.

So, what’s the path forward? We’ve reached out to NVIDIA for updates. With the problem seemingly rooted in the GB202 chip, it’s expected that NVIDIA will offer replacements through their RMA process. They’d better hope the issue doesn’t widen, especially since there’s already talk of production delays affecting their mid-range GPUs due to performance hurdles.

In the meantime, we urge our readers to check their models’ ROP counts. If you spot anything short of 176, do let us know. The situation is still unfolding, and it’s unclear if other models, like the GeForce RTX 5080, are also compromised. We’re keeping our ears to the ground on this one.