Nvidia RTX 5090 and Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards have missing components
Nvidia RTX 5080 may also be affected
🫥 Nvidia confirmed some RTX 5090 and 5070 Ti graphics cards are missing ROP units.
📉 The missing components lower gaming performance
🎮 Founders Cards and third-party cards from MSI, Zotac, Inno3D, and Gigabyte are affected
🔍 You can check if your GPU is affected with GPU-Z or HWinfo
📤 Contact Nvidia for an RMA and replacement ASAP
Nvidia has officially confirmed its latest RTX 5090, RTX 5090D, and RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards are missing ROP units that harm performance.
We have identified a rare issue affecting less than 0.5% (half a percent) of GeForce RTX 5090 / 5090D and 5070 Ti GPUs, which have one fewer ROP than specified. The average graphical performance impact is 4%, with no impact on AI and Compute workloads. Affected consumers can contact the board manufacturer for a replacement. The production anomaly has been corrected.
– Nvidia
TechPowerUp originally reported the missing Raster Operations Pipeline components, and Nvidia confirmed the issue with the statement above to The Verge. These components are responsible for traditional graphics rendering with rasterization – in other words, they are the literal backbone of what GPUs are supposed to do.
Unfortunately this issue is due to a production issue. The graphics cards were literally manufactured without all their components and, therefore, can’t be fixed with any drivers or software updates. These affected GPUs will need to be returned and replaced.
This issue supposedly affects only a tiny percentage of Nvidia’s new Blackwell graphics cards. You can check if your hardware is affected with GPU-Z or HWinfo to see if the number of ROPs matches the following figures. If it doesn’t, contact Nvidia’s technical support with an RMA immediately to start the replacement process for your graphics card.
RTX 5090: 176 ROPs
RTX 5080: 112 ROPs
RTX 5070 Ti: 96 ROPs
The Nvidia RTX 5080 seemed unaffected by Nvidia’s production issues, but over the weekend, one Reddit user posted a screenshot showing the same issue with their card. So far, this seems to be the only report, but check your Nvidia RTX 5080 specs just in case.
In my Nvidia RTX 5090 review and Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti review, I’ve found Blackwell to be an impressive step forward for graphics. Unfortunately, the 50-series launch has been marred with a growing list of issues, including limited availability, melting power connectors, black screen issues, and faulty drivers.
Nvidia will soon launch the RTX 5070, arguably the highest-profile GPU in the family that promises RTX 4090 levels of power for $549. Hopefully, pushing back the RTX 5070 to March will give us a seamless release for Nvidia’s next GPU.
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.
