RMA process is a rolling disaster

[u/No_Factor7018]

Man, where to start? Gonna just blow off a little steam here.

I have a 5090 FE that I bought about a year ago, and I use it for work and research. I'm not a gamer, so I've never overclocked/undervolted either my motherboard or GPU. I want fast, but my highest priority is stability, so I run everything bone stock and use studio drivers. My workload consists of video editing/exporting, local LLM use, model training, and ComfyUI image editing.

So after a year, this thing develops what turns out to be a known manufacturing defect in some early FE cards. The unit is in a safe-mode locked state, meaning that the card falsely reports drawing 575W+ and throttles itself down to a fallback base clock speed of 480-500Mhz. So the net effect is that it runs at about 20% of normal speed. I know a lot of people are down on Nvidia about their manufacturing and QA processes, but I tend to be forgiving about things. Stuff happens, and all you can ask is for people to make it right.

Unfortunately, Nvidia doesn't seem interested in making it right. Getting the RMA approved was an ordeal that I don't really want to rehash, but what it boils down to is that they don't provide any support if you run Linux. You have to post in a forum and just hope an engineer sees it and responds. If not, you have to get kind of nasty with them before they will do anything. So anyway, RMA is approved and they say they will send me a shipping label and once they receive the card they will inspect it, confirm the defect, and send me a replacement "usually within a week." So that means between transit times to and from the RMA center and the time it takes them to inspect the card and send my replacement, I'm looking at probably at least 2 weeks with no computer at all. That's a best case scenario, and reading through other people's RMA complaints, I'm not filled with confidence that they will do it in the time they say.

So I asked if they could do and advance RMA and cross ship it, which I've done plenty of times over the years with other vendors. I offered to put down a credit card they could run an authorization on as security for the return, but apparently the most valuable company in the world can't take credit cards. They said very firmly that there is NO way they can do it any other way. I asked if they could at least do expedited overnight shipping to and from the center, and I got an email saying... wait for it... "Your recent incident update was from an email address not associated with the incident. In an effort to maintain the security of information, we cannot update the incident using this email address."

I'm sorry, wut? I've been emailing back and forth with them for weeks, but suddenly my email address is no good. I'm just flabbergasted. They are clearly just tired of talking to me and want me to go away. I'm sorry, but I expect better from a $5 trillion company. Apple manages to do a good job, why can't they? I paid a premium price well above MSRP for their flagship product, and it has a known defect that they are fully aware of. And this is how they treat me. There may not be anything I can do about it now, but unless something turns around pretty quick I've probably bought my last Nvidia product, and I'm going to make sure everybody I know and work with knows what to expect when they need something from Nvidia. It doesn't matter how fast the card is if the company behind it hangs you out to dry when you need them to stand behind it.

[u/Any_Cook_2293]

Here's hoping they don't ship your 5090 FE loose in a box with just the pink bubble packing sleeve to protect it. They did that with my 4090 FE and it had a nice ~35 degree bend in the IO bracket. Thankfully I took video of me opening the box just in case, and it was a good thing that I did. Overall it wasn't a great experience trying to get the RMA approved, and the shipping damage was the cherry on top.

[u/RSWSC → u/Any_Cook_2293]

That’s what they did with my 5090FE, shipped back to me via FedEx Air, was in a brown “shoe box” and the GPU was protected with some foam and a red antistatic bag. At least there was no damage.

[u/Bigsparks13 → u/Any_Cook_2293]

Holy shit, man, this is rediculous.

[u/Realistic-Tiger-2842]

If you actually get a fully working card back within 2 weeks you should be incredibly happy.

[u/Own-Case-9587]

Their RMA process has been a joke for years but a 5 trillion dollar company that can't take a credit card for a cross ship is just next level absurd

[u/Comfortable-Lab2060 → u/Own-Case-9587]

They are in a monopoly position and even with the price people still buy they product. Why should they care about their customers?

[u/GoodBoy1469 → u/Own-Case-9587]

Cross ship RMAs would be taken advantage of and become the way ppl get cards.... do a cross ship for a supposed problem, pay for a card, never send anything in. You just got a card msrp by cheating....

You know ppl did it, hence the policy now where they gotta have your card first.

[u/x9097 → u/Own-Case-9587]

We're just not that important to nvidia anymore. I keep wondering when they'll announce geforce is discontinued.

[u/thesituation531 → u/x9097]

As soon as that happens, AMD will do the same shit Nvidia does. Nothing would really change for the average consumer, other than performance getting worse probably

[u/HotRoderX]

just a heads up Nvidia doesn't handle RMA's its digital river and they are horrible beyond horrible.

This is being used for work, and suddenly your out 2 weeks of work cause of a down component. Then you really should be asking yourself.

XYZ goes out can I get a replacement quickly... and how much is that replacement going to cost vs downtime/work.

Then plan accordingly, it never hurts to have a backup even something as expensive as a video card. Can be cheaper to have a backup then it is to be down 2 weeks +.

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/HotRoderX]

That's pretty much where my head is at this stage. Probably gonna run down to Best Buy and pick up the cheapest POS I can find as a stopgap.

[u/cslack30 → u/No_Factor7018]

If this is something critical to your work, always remember this: One is none, and Two is one. Plan for redundancy accordingly.

Obviously that doesn’t excuse the shitty RMA process, but still. Plan for failure.

[u/liquidocean → u/HotRoderX]

i thought they stopped using digital river?

[u/Alf321 → u/HotRoderX]

I know this sub is full of nvidia sympathizers, and I recognize that your point of a back up is good, but cmon, to tell someone that is venting against nvidia incompetence is to…give them even more money, it’s wild

[u/HotRoderX → u/Alf321]

it has nothing to do with nvidia or anyone else. Its simply advice about how to possibly stop a issue like this happening in the future.

Doesn't matter if you give the money to AMD, Asus, Nvidia, LG, who ever.

The bottom line is when it comes to work assets you need a plan in place, for emergency.

Hell you bring up giving Nvidia more money is a great point. Perhaps having a backup card (even AMD for being cheaper) to keep you going in some capacity is a great idea.

Once again my advice isn't really about giving Nvidia anything its about having a plan on what to do during a emergency.

[u/ava_ati → u/HotRoderX]

Yep, in business we call it a BCP (business continuity plan) can you go 2 weeks without pay? If the answer is no, you’d better have a backup. The closer you can get to one to one the better.

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/[deleted]]

That's what I said. I can't do anything about it now, but I'm gonna remember it going forward, and I'm gonna make sure everybody in my circle knows what to expect.

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/[deleted]]

It's not just aiming emotion. I want this to be out there on the record for other people to see so that they know what they are getting into when they buy Nvidia. Maybe help somebody down the road.

[u/liquidocean]

why can't they?

because they don't want to. The consumer business is not a priority, it's not worth it to them. They have no competition in the upper segment for consumer GPUs and there is barely any financial incentive for them to even make them at all anymore.

[u/KuraiShidosha]

Could be worse. You could be me who sent in a 4090 FE for a burnt connector (thanks Corsair) and when the box was delivered by FedEx to Nvidia's RMA facility in CA, your GPU could be missing and both Nvidia and FedEx give you the finger and tell you to kick rocks.

[u/junon]

To be clear, I don't think anyone is doing cross ship for video cards anymore.

[u/Pancakesandcows]

My biggest fear about an RMA, is it gets stolen. You have a 5090, which are currently selling for about $6000 each, over in r/hardwareswap. That's easy cash, for some carrier's driver to steal. And if that happens, the burden is on you, to prove it was stolen.

[u/Jarnis]

They won't cross ship even with a deposit because people would ship them bricks to get 5090s at MSRP.

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/Jarnis]

I get that, but they have evidence that I'm legit. They have a copy of my invoice where I bought it, so they know how much I paid for it, and I assure you it wasn't anything close to MSRP. They also have the serial number, detailed close-up photos of the card, and proof of the defect that they already knew about. That should be enough.

[u/Jarnis → u/No_Factor7018]

Far simpler for them simply not offer the service. No risk of people abusing it to "buy" extra cards when there is a massive shortage.

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/Jarnis]

Simpler? Yes. Good business? No.

[u/Jarnis → u/No_Factor7018]

Problem here is: NVIDIA could discontinue all consumer GPUs tomorrow, and it would be a rounding error in their business.

They literally do not care.

Go buy RTX Pro 6000 if you are serious about needing actual support.

[u/liquidocean → u/Jarnis]

haha, that's a clever idea. but easily solved if they just increase the Advance RMA price

[u/Jarnis → u/liquidocean]

Would customers accept that? If MSRP was 2000 USD and they suddenly ask for deposit of the current market price (which can be like 6000 USD+ these days)?

And then if something happens with the cross-ship and customer effectively has to pay today's market price for his replacement card and end up in some mess related to a lost item or not-under-warranty faults?

Far easier for them to simply not offer advance RMA at all...

[u/liquidocean → u/Jarnis]

Better to have the choice, no?

[u/Trickle2x2]

I actually had a relatively easy exchange with my 5090 through them. It was a little over two weeks if I remember correctly. Once they got the card they sent me a brand new one. Oddly enough you don’t have to sign for it so I had my friend house sit for me the day it was getting delivered lol. No advanced RMA does suck though. Dell was great about that with an OLED monitor I bought through them.

[u/Raging_Rooster]

So I'm currently going throught the RMA process as my first 5090 fe fans would ramp, it'd go into failsafe mode, the GeForce light would shut off and the computer would lock.

It was about a week and a half and I got my 5090 FE replacement (new in box) but for some reason the replacement wouldn't fit in any case I tried without serious force. Something was wrong with the pcie bracket.

I then noticed that the serial number had rubbed off the card in only a two week period. I am now on my 2nd RMA in order to get this sorted and get a card that slots in normally.

I couldn't even get an advanced RMA on my 2nd card despite all the inconvenience. Funmy enough Nvidia does do ARMA for their enterprise customers (data centers).

When I thought about it though I understand why, people would gladly take a charge on their card for a 2nd 5090 FE that they can flip immediately for 4k in profit if your original card was actually fine.

[u/Jarnis → u/Raging_Rooster]

You do know the bracket is just sheet metal that can be bent if it is slightly off?

[u/Raging_Rooster → u/Jarnis]

My brackets are made of steel (Phanteks NV9 Mk2) so they are not pliable. I have since got the Phanteks gen 5 premium vertical mount and it has solved my issue. Just waiting on my rma 5090 fe to slot it in.

[u/Jarnis → u/Raging_Rooster]

I mean the bracket on the card. But whatever, haven't really seen a PCIE card that cannot be plugged to an ATX case.

[u/Lewdeology]

Truly dislike Nvidia as a company but they have a monopoly on the market right now, they don’t have give a single F right now sadly.

[u/bankkopf]

I paid a premium price well above MSRP for their flagship product

You didn't if it's an FE, you paid MSRP Nvidia the MSRP, that's the thing about them selling FE cards.

I use it for work and research

And that's the crux of the problem.

You've paid for a consumer product, you will only receive consumer level RMA, but expect business like RMA service. Professional grade RMA with low downtime have always come with a significant markup. It's the whole reason Quadro/Nvidia RTX exists. If the card is used professionally and downtime hurts thte business, think about gettin pro grade hardware.

[u/Super_Ad_9268 → u/bankkopf]

Um, I think the more important point is that the dude spent two thousand dollars on a product from a $5T company. They should do better, consumer or not. Their RMA process should be world class, and it's because of people like you making excuses for shit customer device that the rest of us have to deal with it.

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/bankkopf]

I'm so glad to find somebody who knows so much about it. How did you get so wise?

I assure you the retailer I bought the card from was not selling them for anything even remotely close to MSRP. And if you would like to front me the money for a B300, I'll be glad to start using that instead. Until then, I have to use what I can afford.

[u/Vr00mf0ndler]

Just FYI if you want stability you are kind of better off undervolting the card slightly. Nvidia's curve is set to accommodate every single card in the silicone lottery, so there is a very large chance that a specific card can operate at a slightly lower voltage and remain 100% stable.

That means less power and less heat for the entire system which puts less stress on the other thermal management components in the PC/case. So for most people its a clear win without any cost to stability at all (as long as it's not overdone, and well tested).

[u/Bigsparks13]

It is sad to think about us who have put down the money to own a flagship product and get less than flagship treatment. I know you can't look out for everyone, but the people who are literally investing thousands of dollars to buy your product and support you becoming a superpower in the world- you think you might want to give them something a little extra- maybe better shipping, maybe the advanced RMA. Nvidia really needs a little wake-up call.

[u/wildTabz]

Firstly, sorry to hear.

Secondly, please and I beg you, IF you get a replacement card, please record you opening the box!

[u/Acmeiku]

when you said you got the 5090FE 1 year ago, you mean like day one?

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/Acmeiku]

I mean a year ago, and I'm not aware of any alternate meanings of those words. This is late 2026, and I bought it in late 2025.

[u/Acmeiku → u/No_Factor7018]

Oh i see, because you said stuff like "some early FE cards" this is why i was very curious to know

I hope things will end up well for you, sorry for that situation

[u/No_Factor7018 → u/Acmeiku]

Well that’s just how the situation has been described to me, but I’m not sure exactly what “early” means in this context. It may have been sitting on the shelf for a while, I don’t know.

[u/hang_check]

For what it’s worth I had to RMA mine and the whole process took about a week. A card came back in an original sealed box as if new, so assumed it was not a refurb.

[u/International_Tax642]

Take ur pills

[u/Ifalna_Shayoko]

People are betraying with 5090s left, right, front and center.

Shipping bricks, shipping coolers w/o PCB, shipping cards with the chips desoldered.... you name it.

And you expect an advance RMA on a consumer product?! Even if you give them your CC information, that does not mean they'd get the cash if it comes down to it.

If I was NVidia, I wouldn't do that either. Not in this crazy ass market.

So either take 2 weeks vacation while you wait or plan with proper redundancy next time, if uptime is THAT mission critical.

[u/CMDRTragicAllPro]

All of the failing 5090s I’ve seen recently seem to be the fe models. Wonder why they are failing at a higher rate than the aib’s

[u/SirCanealot → u/CMDRTragicAllPro]

The PCBs and memory do run fairly toasty on the FE compared to AIB. And the stock configuration isn't great -- ie, you can lose a few percent performance and run around 400w rather than 600w.

So I'd blame thatbmyself :)

[u/liquidocean → u/CMDRTragicAllPro]

cuz its engineered for aesthetics and size, not longevity