Repair Technician and YouTuber Louis Rothman shared a recent video summarizing an ongoing case of a particular flaw in a Gigabyte graphics card. According to user feedback, some of his GeForce RTX 30 series (Ampere) and GeForce RTX 40 series (Ada Lovelace) products from Gigabyte, one of the best graphics cards, had cracks in his PCB. That’s it.
One of Rothman’s viewers, a fellow engineer, contacted Rothman about a problem with cracks in the PCB. This person was reportedly working on a dozen affected graphics cards. The repairman provided us with many vivid pictures showing his cracked PCB. Cracks occur in the area of one end of the PCIe x16 connector, especially near the PCIe locking tab that engages the PCIe slot clip.
The problem is that this issue encroaches on the area through which critical signals pass, rendering the graphics card non-functional. A missing signal interrupts the graphics card’s voltage rails, causing some components to lose power. The degree of cracking is case-by-case. Photos provided show several tracks rendered unusable and numerous tracks damaged.
According to Rossmann’s sources, most of the cracked Gigabyte graphics cards were sold inside off-the-shelf machines. Nevertheless, there have been instances of them breaking on their own. This official claimed that Gigabyte rejected his RMA for the cracked graphics card, emphasizing that PCB damage was the reason for the rejection. The graphics card received by the affected customer had a PCB damage sticker and a scary red arrow sticker pointing to the crack. To make the situation even worse, Gigabyte allegedly charges customers for return shipping without offering a solution.
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Damaged areas suggest that the weight of the graphics card may be related to the crack. Nvidia’s GeForce graphics cards have gotten bigger and heavier over the past two generations. For example, the GeForce RTX 4090 is typically a triple-slot graphics card, but some custom products have bumped the limit up to his 4.5 slots, which is insane. Many of the latest GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards come with anti-slack supports or brackets to reduce weight.
With the necessary expertise and tools, you can fix a damaged graphics card. However, technicians admit that the repair process is difficult and unlikely to be successful.I have Wiki I will explain the details of the whole process. The author believes that Gigabyte may have put too many traces on the edge of the cracked PCB. Vendors may have resorted to buffing the traces with a ground plane to improve signal integrity. However, copper does not have the same level of toughness as fiberglass. Modern graphics cards are heavier and usually have a center of gravity in the rear, so cracks in that area could be the reason.
It’s sad that many of the affected owners have started selling damaged Gigabyte graphics cards for cheap on eBay. Some are selling the GeForce RTX 3090 for the following prices: $450 or for GeForce RTX 3080 Ti $425. Meanwhile, other owners are giving away GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards virtually free. $156 To recover part of the costs.
