Gigabyte has revised the design of its high-end GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPUs following incidents of PCB cracking reported online. Users of Gigabyte GeForce RTX 40 and RTX 30 GPUs experienced PCB cracks due to a design malfunction, damaging PCIe lanes and rendering the GPUs useless. Despite rejected RMA requests, Gigabyte appears to have addressed the issue with a design update in the new “batch” of GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPUs labeled as “v1.1” in the original packaging.
The information is sourced from Redditor u/MisinformationALWAYS, who conducted a comparison between the older and newer versions of Gigabyte’s GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPUs. Notably, the latest design features a more robust 70a VRM setup, significantly enhancing overall stability by improving weight distribution. While this change may address the issue of PCB cracking in upcoming units, it poses a challenge for consumers already affected, as Gigabyte reportedly did not entertain any RMA requests. Gigabyte has not officially acknowledged the problem, and the specific SKUs that received the new design changes are not confirmed.
The design update does indicate Gigabyte’s acknowledgment of the flaw in their GPU units, raising the possibility that the company may adjust its warranty service to accommodate units with cracked PCBs. Nevertheless, consumers are advised to take precautionary measures when installing Ada Lovelace or older GPUs, such as using support brackets or an anti-sag mechanism.
News Source: Reddit
Images: Louis Rossmann