If you’ve recently shelled out over a thousand dollars for a new RTX 50-series GPU, you might be feeling frustrated if your card isn’t performing as expected. This issue has emerged for many new buyers, especially after reports of missing ROP units on their brand-new graphics cards. According to an official statement, this problem stems from a manufacturing defect, and it’s covered under warranty.
ROPs (Render Output Units) are essential for a GPU’s functionality, with 176 ROPs on the RTX 5090 and 96 on the RTX 5070 Ti. However, many users have reported having 8 fewer ROPs than the expected amount: 168 and 88, respectively. This discrepancy can lead to significant drops in performance, with up to 10% lower FPS in the most extreme cases. While this may seem minor, it’s a notable difference for those who invested a large amount of money in the latest generation of GPUs.
Nvidia has acknowledged the issue, stating that it’s a quality assurance failure. However, they also clarified that this is a rare issue, affecting only 0.5% of cards (roughly 1 in 200). Despite being a small percentage, this still means hundreds or thousands of customers could be affected, especially the early adopters who are noticing the performance gap. Nvidia estimates the average performance loss is 4%, with no impact on AI and Compute workloads. The company claims that this issue has already been addressed on the manufacturing side.
Affected users are advised to contact their card manufacturers (like Nvidia, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, etc.) for an RMA process. While all cards are covered by warranty, the biggest inconvenience will be waiting for the replacement, which could take several weeks.
Additionally, RTX 50-series cards have been reported to have other quality control issues, including melting power cables, a problem that also plagued the previous generation, the RTX 40-series. Still, the likelihood of receiving a defective card remains low overall, so if you manage to get your hands on one, your odds of getting a functional unit are still high.
