NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 “GB202” Chip Shows Defects in Certain Market Units; Potential Implications for All Variants

NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards have hit another stumbling block, as reports reveal that the "Blackwell" GB202 chip in many units might be faulty.

NVIDIA’s Top-Tier RTX Blackwell GPU Shows ROP Discrepancies in GPU-Z and Other Tests

It seems gamers just can’t catch a break when it comes to GPU releases. Initially, there were complaints about scarce availability of NVIDIA’s premiere RTX Blackwell model. Now, whispers in the tech community suggest that some of these models are underperforming significantly due to defects in the silicon. Recently, we covered a story about a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 running into these issues. Now, as per information from @MEGAsizeGPU, it appears the GB202 chip is the real culprit, and we’re here to dig deeper into this unfolding situation.

"The root cause is the chip. A small batch of GB202 is defective, and the BIOS cannot rectify this issue."
— MEGAsizeGPU (@Zed__Wang) February 21, 2025

If you’re hearing about this for the first time, here’s what’s happening: NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 has been seen online with missing ROPs in GPU-Z. This essentially means that some users have ended up with a version of the card that falls short in terms of performance compared to standard units. Initially, some speculated that this was an error with GPU-Z readings, but new findings indicate that the real problem is tied to faulty GB202 chips, a serious concern indeed.

To confirm that this issue isn’t isolated to GPU-Z, an affected RTX 5090 unit was also tested using HWINFO, which similarly showed a reduction in ROPs. This suggests the problem may be more widespread than initially thought. For now, the issue seems to be affecting a limited run of SKUs, but troublingly, it could span across multiple variants, including the Founder’s Edition models.

Image by @BuildLabEx

So, what’s the next step? We have reached out to NVIDIA for clarifications and updates. Given the problem stems from the GB202 chip, it’s possible that NVIDIA may offer replacements under RMA. Hopefully, the scope of the issue won’t escalate, as this would be another setback for NVIDIA, especially since their "mid-range" GPUs are rumored to face production delays due to performance matters.

We’re advising our readers to check the ROP count on their RTX 5090 models. If you notice it’s below 176, please inform us. At the moment, it’s uncertain if other models like the GeForce RTX 5080 are affected, as the situation is still evolving.