Nvidia’s RTX 5090 has run into trouble with the latest graphics driver There are numerous reports that GPUs are no longer being recognized by PCs after the driver has been installed The problem could be wrapped up in PCIe 5.0 compatibility
Nvidia’s new graphics driver, which brings in support for the RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs, has been causing problems with games crashing – and on top of that, now there are reports from some Blackwell flagship graphics card owners that they’re encountering some serious difficulties.
We should clarify right off the bat that the specter of cable melting that famously hit the RTX 4090 is not a thing with the RTX 5090, despite some rumors that were recently circulating. Those reports totally got the wrong end of the stick (or the power connector, rather).
These fresh bugbears seemingly affecting the RTX 5090 are mostly about the GPU failing to work (not being recognized by the PC), additionally with a claim that two of these Nvidia graphics cards have been bricked (posted on Goofish). Apparently, part of the issue here is a ‘very small probability’ of internal components ‘burning’ although the translation may well be an issue here, I should note. Furthermore, we should be very cautious around those particular anecdotal reports at this stage (I’ll come back to that shortly).
As VideoCardz flagged up, these issues have apparently hit some RTX 5090 buyers, and also those who’ve purchased an RTX 5090 D over in Asia (the variant of the flagship made for that region).
While almost all of these reports have surfaced in Asia – popping up on the likes of Chiphell, Baidu, and Bilibili, as Wccftech noticed – and involve graphics card makers such as Manli or Colorful, there are two reported issues on Reddit from owners of an Asus RTX 5090 (the original poster, and a follow-up claim in that thread).
It’s worth noting that RTX 5080 graphics cards aren’t affected by these apparent issues.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Analysis: PCIe compatibility woes?
What’s going on here? Well, that’s a tricky one to unpick, and for now, we have to give Nvidia the benefit of the doubt, at least regarding the tales of RTX 5090 graphics cards being fried somehow – take that with a whole heap of seasoning.
However, the problems with the new graphics driver causing the RTX 5090 to not be recognized by the system certainly seem very real. Indeed, this problem was observed in some reviews of the flagship, and it’s something that could be wrapped up in PCIe 5.0 compatibility.
The solution for some, as noted in the Reddit thread with the Asus RTX 5090, is to head to the BIOS and drop down to PCIe 4.0 instead. Yes, that’ll mean a slight performance loss, but it’s not that big a drop (and it’ll only be temporary hopefully, as when things are ironed out, you’ll be able to switch back).
This drop to-PCIe-4.0 plan isn’t helping everyone, though, and the trick didn’t work for the RTX 5090 owned by the original poster on Reddit. They’ve had to send their board back to Nvidia, with Team Green now investigating the problem, we’re told.
This remains one to keep a close eye on, then, for the time being. Of course, with there being very few RTX 5090 graphics cards out there – due to seriously limited stock – any issues aren’t likely to be that widely reported, anyway.
We’ve reached out to Nvidia to see if the company can shed some light on this matter, and will update this story with any response.
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