Yes—the missing-ROP reports were a genuine, rare hardware-production defect, not simply a GPU-Z display bug. An affected desktop GeForce RTX 5090 or RTX 5090D reports 168 ROPs instead of the specified 176. NVIDIA said fewer than 0.5% of RTX 5090/5090D and RTX 5070 Ti GPUs were affected, with average graphical performance about 4% lower and no impact on AI or compute workloads. The production anomaly was corrected, and NVIDIA’s remedy is replacement through the card manufacturer.
What happened to some RTX 5090 cards?
The issue surfaced in February 2025 when a Zotac RTX 5090 Solid showed only 168 ROPs in GPU-Z and performed below comparable RTX 5090 cards. TechPowerUp reproduced the finding, and reports later involved products from MSI, Manli, Gigabyte, Palit, Inno3D and other board partners. A normal sample from the same Zotac product family showed 176 ROPs, so the problem was never universal to one model or brand.
NVIDIA confirmed the anomaly on February 22, 2025, saying fewer than 0.5% of RTX 5090, RTX 5090D and RTX 5070 Ti GPUs had one fewer ROP unit than specified. In NVIDIA’s terminology, that missing partition appears in monitoring software as eight fewer displayed ROPs. On February 25, NVIDIA also acknowledged affected early-production RTX 5080 GPUs. NVIDIA said production had been corrected. The initial suggestion that all RTX 5090 cards might be affected was unconfirmed speculation, not the final scope.
The RTX 5090 launched on January 30, 2025, with an NVIDIA Founders Edition starting price of $1,999; that launch price is not a current 2026 retail-price claim. NVIDIA’s launch announcement provides the original date and MSRP.
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What ROPs do
ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines, also called Render Output Units) handle late-stage pixel work, including blending, antialiasing, render-to-texture operations and writing finished pixels to the framebuffer. They are separate from CUDA cores, Tensor Cores and RT cores. Losing one ROP partition does not remove the GPU’s shader, ray-tracing, memory or AI hardware.
That is why the card is not simply “8/176 slower” in every task. The practical effect depends on whether a workload is limited by pixel output, shaders, ray tracing, memory bandwidth or the CPU. TechPowerUp’s technical explanation is available in its investigation and NVIDIA statement.
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Expected ROP counts by GPU
| Desktop GPU | Expected ROP count | Known affected-style reading |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 5090 / 5090D | 176 | 168 |
| RTX 5080 | 112 | Verify against NVIDIA’s listed count; early-production units were acknowledged as affected |
| RTX 5070 Ti | 96 | 88 |
These are desktop figures from NVIDIA’s support instructions. Do not apply them to notebooks: NVIDIA lists 112 ROPs for the laptop RTX 5090, reflecting a different GPU configuration.
How much performance can an affected card lose?
NVIDIA’s official characterization was an average graphical-performance impact of approximately 4%. Independent results show why that number should not be treated as a fixed gaming penalty.
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| Source and test | Reported result | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA’s characterization | About 4% average graphical impact | An attributed average, not a guarantee for every game |
| TechPowerUp, Elden Ring | Affected Zotac RTX 5090 Solid was 5.6% slower than an RTX 5090 Founders Edition | One game comparison under that test setup |
| TechPowerUp, 3DMark Time Spy Extreme | 22,621 graphics points versus 25,439 for the Founders Edition | A synthetic result showing a larger gap |
| Tom’s Hardware testing | Up to 11% lower in Time Spy Extreme and up to 8.5% lower in Elden Ring | Upper results from specific tests, not a universal loss |
TechPowerUp found a much smaller difference in Starfield and near-expected performance in DOOM Eternal with ray tracing. Pixel-output-heavy workloads can expose the missing capacity more strongly, while shader-, ray-tracing-, CPU- or bandwidth-limited workloads may show little difference. NVIDIA said AI and compute workloads were unaffected because the defect concerns raster-output hardware rather than CUDA or Tensor hardware.
How to check an RTX 5090 for missing ROPs
NVIDIA’s public procedure uses GPU-Z or a similar third-party hardware-monitoring utility. The NVIDIA driver must be installed first: without it, GPU-Z may display a hardcoded database value rather than the live hardware-reported count.
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- Install the current NVIDIA graphics driver.
- Download the latest GPU-Z from TechPowerUp’s official GPU-Z page. Puget Systems’ guidance used GPU-Z 2.63.0 or later in 2025, but NVIDIA’s current instruction is to use the latest linked version.
- Run GPU-Z and open the main graphics-card information tab.
- Locate the ROPs/TMUs field.
- For a desktop RTX 5090 or RTX 5090D, confirm that the live reading is 176 ROPs. A reading of 168 is the warning sign for the known one-partition defect.
- Save a screenshot that includes the model, BIOS, driver state and ROP count.
Do not rely on a pre-driver reading, a model name, advertised boost clock or a normal-looking game benchmark as proof that all ROPs are present. Laptop RTX 5090s require their separate NVIDIA-listed count.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to do if GPU-Z shows 168 ROPs
- Keep the card installed and preserve the GPU-Z screenshot before changing BIOS settings, uninstalling drivers or opening the hardware.
- Collect the invoice, serial number and exact board-partner model.
- Contact the retailer or the board manufacturer—such as ASUS, Gigabyte, Inno3D, Manli, MSI, Palit, PNY, Zotac or another vendor—and state that the card reports the defective ROP configuration.
- Request an RMA or replacement. NVIDIA’s stated remedy is service through the board manufacturer. Founders Edition owners should check the applicable regional process on NVIDIA’s graphics-card warranty page.
- Wait for return authorization and shipping instructions before sending the card.
A replacement may be refurbished or an equivalent unit rather than a brand-new retail card, depending on the manufacturer’s policy and region. Do not remove the cooler or modify the PCB, as that can complicate warranty service.
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Can a driver or BIOS restore the missing ROPs?
There is no supported unlock procedure. Early coverage considered driver or VBIOS explanations, but NVIDIA later described a production anomaly involving defective silicon and directed owners to replacement. Reinstalling drivers or flashing an unofficial BIOS should not be expected to restore a physically disabled partition and can jeopardize the warranty.
Buying and used-card advice in 2026
As of August 18, 2026, the available NVIDIA statement says the production anomaly was corrected. That is not evidence that every newly sold RTX 5090 is defective, but checking remains quick insurance—especially for old inventory, open-box cards and used hardware.
- Choose a seller with a clear return window and identifiable warranty process.
- Run the GPU-Z check immediately after installation, before the return period expires.
- For a used card, request a recent GPU-Z screenshot taken with the NVIDIA driver installed and verify that the model and serial information match the actual card.
- Do not infer safety from a brand or SKU alone; affected and unaffected units existed within the same product families.
- Linux buyers should note that NVIDIA’s public end-user procedure is Windows/GPU-Z-centric. The NVIDIA Developer Forum discussion does not establish a universally reliable Linux equivalent.
Bottom line for RTX 5090 owners
An RTX 5090 reporting 168 rather than 176 live ROPs is consistent with the confirmed production defect. The issue was rare, performance loss varied by workload, and NVIDIA said AI and compute work was unaffected. Capture the reading and pursue an RMA or replacement through the seller or board partner; a driver tweak is not the practical remedy.
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