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Serious RTX 5090 and RTX 5090D driver issues reportedly turn GPUs into expensive paperweights

The driver issues have surfaced amidst widespread RTX 5090 stock shortages. (Image source: Nvidia, Unsplash, edited)
The driver issues have surfaced amidst widespread RTX 5090 stock shortages. (Image source: Nvidia, Unsplash, edited)
Reports of the RTX 5090 and the China-only RTX 5090D variant facing driver issues have surfaced online. The key issue seems to be faulty drivers that result in a system not recognizing the RTX 5090/5090D.

It seems that the lucky few who managed to buy an RTX 5090 could end up with nearly unusable cards due to faulty drivers. Reports of RTX 5090 and RTX 5090D GPUs suffering from driver issues have come out with one Chinese seller on Goofish going as far as to say that all RTX 5090Ds sold in China are at risk of crashing due to bad drivers.

The seller goes on to claim that a small number of RTX 5090D cards may even suffer burned ICs.

RTX 5090 and RTX 5090D are facing driver issues

Wccftech has compiled a bunch of different testimonials from users on Chinese sites like Chiphell, Baidue, and Weibo. The common concern raised by these user reports is that the launch drivers for AIB RTX 5090D cards from the likes of Colorful, Gigabyte, and Manli are bad and are causing systems to not recognize the RTX 5090D boards.

One user on Baidu shared that an RTX 5090D was bricked when the drivers were updated following which the PC failed to recognize the board. The same sentiment was shared by a user on Chiphell explaining that “the screen goes black, the graphics card cannot be recognized”. The issue seemingly persists even after you change the display output from DP to HDMI.

Interestingly, the bad drivers reportedly aren’t exclusive to the China-only RTX 5090D, as a user on r/ASUS alleged that their RTX 5090 isn’t detected in “Windows in the device manager, nor by the Nvidia drivers, nor in the BIOS”. The user explained that the card seemed to be operating fine with a working GPU LED and fans. This user has since sent their RTX 5090 to Nvidia for further testing.

So, if you have an RTX 5090 and still haven’t installed it inside your system, it is well worth researching the issue in more detail.

RTX 4090 also had its fair share of problems at launch

The RTX 5090 experiencing launch issues is not an extraordinary case as the RTX 4090 also experienced a bunch of issues including those caused by faulty drivers. For instance, users reported issues like game and system crashes. However, the biggest launch issue faced by the RTX 4090 was the melting 12VHPWR power connector.

The RTX 4090 arrived with a new power connector the 12VHPWR, a modern connector that was meant to be a streamlined solution to the older 6-pin and 8-pin power connectors that we see on RDNA 3 GPUs like the Radeon RX 7900 XT/XTX. However, widespread overheating/melting issues have seen Nvidia adopt a new “12V-2x6” power connector in the RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080. Once again, the new connector aims to address the concerns surrounding the 12VHPWR connector.

In the end, please remember that it is not uncommon for newly launched GPUs to face driver issues. Moreover, since there aren’t a lot of RTX 5090 cards out there due to extremely constrained supply, it is hard to judge the scale of the current problem. So, take the reports with caution until Nvidia officially comments on the issues.

RTX 5090 issue reported on Asus subreddit. (Image source: Baidu via Wccftech)
RTX 5090 issue reported on Asus subreddit. (Image source: Baidu via Wccftech)
RTX 5090 driver issues. (Image source: Baidu via Wccftech)
RTX 5090 driver issues. (Image source: Baidu via Wccftech)
(Image source: Baidu via Wccftech)
(Image source: Baidu via Wccftech)

Source(s)

Wccftech, Baidu, Chiphell, Goofish, r/ASUS, Teaser image: Nvidia, Unsplash, edited

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2025 02 > Serious RTX 5090 and RTX 5090D driver issues reportedly turn GPUs into expensive paperweights
Fawad Murtaza, 2025-02- 3 (Update: 2025-02- 4)