Repair expert and YouTuber NorthridgeFix recently received 19 GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards from a single customer, highlighting a problem with the size, and more importantly the weight, of these massive GPUs.
19 is the number of graphics cards that repairer NorthridgeFix received from a single customer. The majority of these graphics cards had Cracked printed circuit boards (PCBs) near the PCIe card retention fingerwhich raises questions about the causes and potential consequences of this problem.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is known for its robust and complex design, with circuit boards of 12 to 15 layers, each housing a complex set of electrical traces. However, it seems that some models are much too heavy, and that the PCIe port is not capable of supporting such weight.
Also read – RTX 4090: some gamers will pay more for their graphics card, that’s why
Graphics cards are getting heavier and heavier
NorthridgeFix explored several possibilities, including user mishandling, manufacturing defects, design flaws, or issues with the materials used.
A theory proposed by the repair professional suggests that cracked Asus and Gigabyte cards (cracks only present on Asus cards) could come from‘a system manufacturer that allegedly failed to include adequate GPU support. With such graphics cards, it is often not recommended to simply plug it into your PC. Several manufacturers also sell brackets to attach to the PC case to support the card. Another possibility is the rough treatment these cards may have suffered during transport if they were pre-installed in PCs.
Repairing multi-layer PCBs, especially those of the complexity of the RTX 4090, is considered impractical due to the associated costs. Customers who want to repair cracked circuit boards need to pay additional fees, including handling fees, postage and packaging fees, which makes certain repairs unthinkable.
What is certain is that the prevalence of this problem on high-end graphics cards highlights the need to improve the structural design of the cards, and especially the support mechanisms. With what we already know about the RTX 5090, we can only fear that it will be even more imposing than the current 4090, which will obviously not please gamers.