Defect Discovered in NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 “GB202” Chips: Potentially Affects All Variants in Select Units

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs have hit yet another snag. Reports are surfacing that the onboard “Blackwell” GB202 chip might be faulty in several units.

## Issues with NVIDIA’s Flagship RTX Blackwell GPU Revealed; Suspected Problems Lie with the GB202 Chip

When will gamers catch a break in the GPU market? First, we grappled with scarce inventory of NVIDIA’s RTX Blackwell flagship model, and now, there’s talk that some units are suffering from significant performance issues due to defective silicon. Just recently, a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 showed up with this problem. According to gaming insider @MEGAsizeGPU, the culprit seems to be the GB202 chip in the Blackwell series, and that’s something we’re digging into right now.

It’s been said that the glitch stems from the chip itself. A certain batch of GB202 is faulty, and unfortunately, no amount of BIOS tweaking can fix it.

For those not in the loop, NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090s are appearing online with fewer Rendering Output Units (ROPs) in GPU-Z readouts. Essentially, those affected have GPUs delivering less performance than expected. Initially, some speculated that the issue was with GPU-Z misreading certain models. However, it now seems like the GB202 chip is the real problem, which isn’t news anyone wants to hear.

To support the fact that this isn’t just a software misread, an RTX 5090 variant was put to the test using HWINFO, and it showed the same ROP reduction. This suggests a much deeper problem. While only a limited number of models seem to be affected so far, it isn’t just isolated to one aftermarket brand. There’s talk that even Founders Edition models might not be immune.

So, where does this leave us? We’ve reached out to NVIDIA for clarification, and since the GB202 chip appears to be the root of the issue, we anticipate NVIDIA will initiate an RMA process for replacements. The last thing NVIDIA needs is for this problem to escalate, especially with reports that their mid-range GPUs are also facing delays due to other performance hiccups.

We advise you to check your model’s ROP count. If it’s under 176, feel free to get in touch with us. We’re keeping an eye on whether similar issues might crop up in other models like the GeForce RTX 5080, but for now, the situation remains fluid.