Defective GeForce RTX 5080s that went on sale were up to 11% slower than normal ones

Gaming tests by YouTube channel Gamers Nexus have shown that a GeForce RTX 5080 with a defective GPU that is missing eight rasterization units (ROPs) loses up to 11% performance in games with raster graphics.

Image source: YouTube / Gamers Nexus

Nvidia initially acknowledged that a number of GeForce RTX 5090(D) and RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards had been shipped with defective GPUs that had 8 ROPs less than the specification allowed. The GeForce RTX 5090(D) had 168 instead of the required 176, while the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti had 88 instead of the required 96. Nvidia claimed that only 0.5% of the GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards that hit the market had defective GPUs. However, after the first reports from RTX 5080 owners that their cards were also missing blocks (104 ROPs instead of the required 112), Nvidia acknowledged the defective issues with this model as well. Thus, Nvidia’s previous official statement about 0.5% of defective cards may be inaccurate.

Loss of performance in games at 1440p resolution

Tests have shown that the GeForce RTX 5090(D)’s ROP deficit results in a 5-8% performance drop, while the RTX 5070 Ti’s performance drops by up to 11% in synthetic tests (no gaming tests have been conducted yet). The Gamers Nexus YouTube channel tested a defective RTX 5080 and found that the card’s performance in games drops by 0.1 to 11% due to the lack of ROPs. The biggest performance drop was observed in Total War: Warhammer 3. In Dying Light 2, the performance drop was up to 8.7%, and in Dragon’s Dogma 2 — up to 4.9%.

Loss of performance in games at 4K resolution

Notably, Nvidia made no attempt to disclose that some GeForce 50-series cards might be shipped with defective GPUs (they work, but provide lower performance). The company only mentioned the manufacturing defect in comments to the media after the problem was identified, and did not provide any information on how to replace such a video card. It seems that the company has decided to shift the task of identifying and exchanging defective video cards onto the shoulders of their owners.

Gamers Nexus recommended that those who purchased a GeForce RTX 50-series graphics card check it for the correct number of ROPs. Unfortunately, this cannot be done before purchase. Nvidia did not provide batch numbers, serial numbers, or production dates for the defective cards. Therefore, the fastest and easiest way is to install the graphics card in a PC, install the driver, and check using the GPU-Z utility.