NVIDIA's Modular GPU Design No Help to Lack of Replacement Parts
One of the problems that springs up with the newly released flagship NVIDIA graphics cards, such as the RTX 5090 Founders Edition and the $10,000 workstation GPU called RTX Pro 6000, despite a modular design that should have made some repairs easy, is the lack of replacement parts, keeping expensive hardware inoperative over some damage that would otherwise be fixed.
Ten-Thousand Dollar Paperweight: An Incident of the RTX Pro 6000
Computer technician NorthridgeFix raised a recent case about an RTX Pro 6000 from a customer. The owner was said to be a tech YouTuber boasting many viewers but who failed to unmount the heavy GPU from his PC prior to shipping it. In transport, the weight of the card caused its PCIe connector board to snap cleanly.
While the actual GPU, VRAM, and core components remained unscathed, the broken PCIe board turned the whole card into a paperweight. A simple replacement solution would have been on hand, but NorthridgeFix confirmed that NVIDIA does not see it fit to make such parts available either for sale or for repair.
A Paradox in Design Philosophy
NVIDIA's Founders Edition designs for both the RTX 5090 and RTX Pro 6000 have been modularized. All are attached to a secondary PCB that supports only the PCIe interface; the main board houses the GPU and VRAM. Replacing a damaged PCIe connector is theoretically as simple as swapping a module.
Unfortunately, this render repair-friendly design a nullity because there are no available parts. On a traditional monolithic card, when the PCIe connector breaks, one has to involve complicated board-level repair. With these new NVIDIA cards, repair should be easy, but parts aren't available.
A Recurring Occurrence but With a Glimmer of Hope
This is not a standalone event. NorthridgeFix earlier reported a similar case where a customer broke the PCIe board on an RTX 5090 Founders Edition while adding a waterblock. Initially, that card was also considered to have been completely gutted because of part unavailability.
In this case, NVIDIA supposedly heard about the technician's YouTube video differentiating the two parties and, later, awarded the consumer with a new GPU free of charge, despite the damage being user-induced. The same fate remains to be seen for the owner of the mangled and $10,000-worth RTX Pro 6000.
Bottom Line for Owners
Until NVIDIA takes cognizance of this situation and inculcates change in the policy by issuing replacement parts for its modular components, owners of these top-of-the-range GPUs should take utmost care. The design suggests easier repairs, but as things stand, minor fixable damage to the PCIe board can render the entirety of a huge chunk of hardware unusable, leaving users at the mercy of NVIDIA's customer support for a chance at possible replacement.
Currently, however, custom versions of the RTX 5090 from AIBs (Add-in Board partners) might be a superior choice for consumers who have misgivings regarding this issue since they usually utilize a conventional, non-modular design. This doesn't hold for the RTX Pro 6000, whereby none of these versions are available to users.
