NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition will be replaced
NorthridgeFix has an update on the Founders Edition RTX 5090 card that entered their service recently. As we reported , the card had a broken connector for the PCIe board (the card is split into three PCBs). It was damaged when the customer was installing a custom waterblock. It was clearly his mistake, and by doing so he damaged the card and voided the warranty. According to the new video, NVIDIA agreed to replace the card.
The reason why this is important is that it sets a precedent where NVIDIA, instead of just selling the broken part for the user to fix through a service center, would rather replace the entire card “free of charge”. It matters because the user who replaced the cooler with a waterblock knew that by doing so he voided the warranty, so NVIDIA had no obligation to replace the card.
RTX 5090 Foudders Edition 3-part PCB design, Source: Der8auer
Still, the problem remains. Such cases are handled on a per-card basis. It is not a general rule, and according to the customer it took a few days and escalation to higher support levels before NVIDIA agreed to such a replacement. The user clearly did not expect a new card, but rather the ability to buy parts. The problem is that there are still no parts available, so such service centers will not be able to help in this process.
However, if users who chose Founders Edition cards for watercooling damage the card, keep this story in your bookmarks and use it in a chat with NVIDIA if necessary. If they did agree in this case, they should agree in the future.
Perhaps this is a good time to remind everyone that RTX 50 cards have tens of custom variants . Custom waterblocks are not only expensive for RTX 5080/5090 series, they also void the warranty. If your card is using a standard design (unlike the 3-PCB Founders Edition), then such mods are probably safer to do. Please consider these custom variants first, which ensures you still have warranty coverage.
Source:
