NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 “GB202” Chip Found Defective in Certain Units; All Models Might Be Impacted

It seems NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs are hitting a rough patch, with reports surfacing about defects in some units due to the “Blackwell” GB202 chip causing disruptions.

## NVIDIA’s Top-of-the-Line RTX Blackwell GPU Facing ROP Issues; GB202 Chip Might Be the Culprit ##

Will gamers ever catch a break in the GPU market? First, there were the well-known inventory woes, with NVIDIA’s flagship RTX Blackwell barely gracing the shelves, and now, some of these coveted GPUs have defects adversely affecting performance. Not long ago, we noted a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 suffering from such woes. Fresh insights from @MEGAsizeGPU point fingers at the core issue being the Blackwell’s GB202 chip itself, a topic we’ll delve into now.

Here’s a tweet from @MEGAsizeGPU shedding light on the problem:

“Turns out the problem lies with the chip. A small batch of GB202 is faulty, and unfortunately, the BIOS can’t rectify this issue.”

For those who haven’t been following, some NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 users have noticed their devices showing fewer ROPs in GPU-Z readings. This implies these users have gotten GPUs with subpar performance. At first, GPU-Z was thought to be misreporting on some variants. However, it’s now believed the real issue is the faulty GB202 chip, which isn’t exactly the news anyone wants to hear.

To substantiate these findings, HWINFO also tested an affected RTX 5090 variant and confirmed the ROPs reduction, hinting at a more systemic issue. While the problem appears to be at an early stage with only a limited number of SKUs affected so far, rumors suggest that it could eventually impact all models, including the Founders Edition, beyond just a single AIB issue.

What comes next? We’ve reached out to NVIDIA for updates. Given that the problem is traceable to the GB202 chip, NVIDIA will likely offer RMA replacements. Hopefully, they can contain the issue swiftly, especially since their mid-range GPUs reportedly face delays due to similar performance problems.

If you’re using one of these GPUs, double-check your model’s ROP count. If it falls below 176, drop us a line. As for whether this affects other models, like the GeForce RTX 5080, that remains to be seen as the situation evolves.