Prolific repair professional and YouTuber NorthridgeFix received 19 GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards from a single customer. In the ensuing video, he outlines that most of the graphics cards have cracked PCBs near the PCIe card's retention finger. Although the source of the damage with these specific cards isn't readily apparent, the issue with PCB cracking on new, heavy GPUs has become more widespread.
This multitude of cracked graphics card PCBs is puzzling. NorthridgeFix has seen this kind of issue in this area before, but getting so many in a batch raised questions. Who was to blame? NorthridgeFix said it could be the user, manufacturer, designer, or materials. He also pondered whether this batch of faulty Asus and Gigabyte cards (cracks present on Asus boards only) could be from a system maker who didn't include a GPU support. Another possibility was that PC systems shipped with installed RTX 4090 graphics cards and were treated roughly in transit.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is a beefy and complicated graphics card. Typically, its PCB is made with 12-15 layers, each hosting a complex array of electrical traces. As Alex went through the 19 boxes one by one, as soon as he spotted a crack in the PCB, he referred to it as a "no fix" and put it to one side. Cracked PCBs with so many layers are possible to repair, but doing so isn't practical in terms of cost. Customers submitting these cards will be charged a bench fee (for handling) plus postage and packing.
Naturally, Alex wondered about the source of these 19 GPUs and how a single customer had acquired them. NorthridgeFix assumed the buyer may have bought them on eBay, hoping for an easy repair, and then to sell on at profit.
To the credit of the owner of the 19 broken GPUs, none had other visible damage or burn marks, which can be a regular issue with RTX 4090's 12VHPWR connectors across brands.
There isn't anything wrong with selling graphics cards that have damaged PCBs, like those tossed into the 'no fix' pile by NorthridgeFix, as long as the description of the problem is clear to the potential buyer. These 'dead cards' can still be used as donor boards for various parts: shrouds, fans, VRAM, GPUs, and more. It is good to recycle where possible.
Can These PCB Cracks Be Fixed?
The time and effort (and thus expense) needed to repair the cracked traces in multiple PCB layers is not worthwhile. However, in another NorthridgeFix video from earlier this year, you see the arduous task of fixing an Asus GeForce graphics card that had broken near the retention finger.
Fiberglass is typically used as a filling and tends to be stronger than copper. However, any subsequent use, installation, and removal of this repaired card will need to be done with extreme care.
Has this problem been going on for long?
We have reported on this type of GPU PCB cracking, usually affecting big and heavy graphics cards, previously. Professional repair technicians like Louis Rossman, NorthridgeFix, and others have featured these faults and repairs for months. Another example in the news this year seemed to center on PCB design issues with Gigabyte cards.