Summary
- Nvidia RTX 5090 was plagued with build issues, including missing ROPs, melting power cables, and exploding capacitors.
- User reports GPU capacitor explosion after only a month of use; card still functions with coil whine.
- OP submitted the GPU for RMA; if issues continue, customers may opt for AMD products in the future.
You know, if someone is going to pay thousands of dollars for a graphics card, I would expect that the utmost care was put into ensuring that they, you know, are built properly. Alas, the Nvidia RTX 5090 has been hit by problem after problem, including missing ROPs on the board, melting third-party power cables (which prompted people to recommend using the stock power cable), and then melting stock power cables. Now, after a month of use, someone has reported that one of the capacitors has exploded, alongside the dreaded coil whine.
Related
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The Nvidia RTX 5090’s build issues claim another GPU
In a post on the Nvidia subreddit, user MutedMobile3977 reported that one of their GPU core’s capacitors popped. They claim that they’ve only used the card for a month, which is pretty bad going for a card that costs four figures.
Weirdly enough, the card still works, so they continued using it for a little. However, it seems the defect also brought along some coil whine into the mix:
Yes, the back of all gpu cards of the 5090 have it, but in reference photo i dont see the black caps either online. GPU works just has coil whine while watching netflix and thats were i inspected my pc and noticed my gpu producing coilwhine and saw this cap exposed. 4-5am at night believe me or not
Fortunately, the original poster did the right thing and submitted it for an RMA, so hopefully the new card they receive will be more durable. However, given all the other hardware issues the RTX 5090 has suffered over the past weeks, it’s certainly setting a worrying precedent for how Nvidia builds its ultra-expensive cards. If the issues persist, customers would likely move to AMD to avoid buying a dud card they’d have to replace weeks later.
