NVIDIA confirms a rare bug on the RTX 5090/5070 Ti causing the GPU to miss a few ROP units

TechPowerUp previously discovered that some custom versions of the GeForce RTX 5090 series had fewer rendering units than specified, which impacted performance. For example, the Zotac GeForce RTX 5090 Solid had 168 ROPs (Render Output Units) instead of the designed 176 ROPs. By February 22, multiple users had shared screenshots showing that not only Zotac but also RTX 5090 models from other manufacturers like Palit, Inno3D, MSI, Gigabyte, and Manli were affected. Today, NVIDIA has officially confirmed this issue.

Using TechPowerUp GPU-Z, users can check the number of ROPs/TMUs on their GPU. The RTX 5090 (GB202-300-A1) is designed to have 176 ROPs, while the RTX 5070 Ti (GB203-300-A1) has 96 ROPs.

In Elden Ring, TechPowerUp has indicated that this reduction in ROP count can lead to a significant performance decline. When compared to Nvidia's RTX 5090 Founders Edition, a performance drop of 5.6% was observed. However, it is important to mention that not all games experience negative effects from this alteration. Not all games are constrained by Nvidia's ROPs.

Speaking to Tom's Hardware, NVIDIA stated that it had identified a rare issue affecting less than 0.5% of RTX 5090, 5090D (a downclocked version for the Chinese market), and RTX 5070 Ti GPUs, causing them to have fewer ROPs than designed. The average graphics performance of affected GPUs is reduced by about 4%, but AI and computational workloads remain unaffected. NVIDIA explained that the problem originated during manufacturing and quality control. Affected users are advised to contact the manufacturer for a replacement.

In the days ahead, we anticipate receiving more updates regarding this matter as it unfolds. Currently, the number of GPUs affected are unknown. If these ROPs were disabled via software, a BIOS or GPU driver update might resolve this problem. If that is not the case, impacted RTX 5090 models might require recalls and replacements to ensure gamers receive the performance they expected.

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