RTX 5090 GPUs Are Failing After Latest Driver Update – What’s Going On?

NVIDIA’s latest RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 graphics cards have had a rough launch, and now, new reports suggest that some RTX 5090 units may be failing after updating to the latest NVIDIA drivers. Users across Chinese forums, including Baidu and Chiphell, as well as Reddit, have reported issues where their GPUs are no longer detected by Windows after installing the latest driver update, which includes support for DLSS 4.

Specifically, owners of the RTX 5090D, a variant for the Chinese market, appear to be struggling the most, with reports of affected units from brands like Colorful, Gigabyte, and Manli. However, the problem may not be exclusive to this model, as at least one RTX 5090 Founders Edition user has reported similar issues on the r/ASUS subreddit.

One possible cause could be PCIe 5.0 compatibility. Hardware reviewer der8auer noted that his RTX 5080 Founders Edition experienced frequent crashes and black screens when using PCIe 5.0, an issue that disappeared when switching to PCIe 4.0 in the motherboard’s BIOS. While Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson tested the RTX 5090 successfully on PCIe 5.0 using pre-release drivers, the issue may be affecting only certain hardware configurations.

The timing couldn’t be worse for early adopters, who are already facing stock shortages and steep scalper prices. With standalone RTX 5090 and 5080 cards almost impossible to find, encountering critical issues right after spending $2,000 or more on a GPU is the last thing buyers expected.

For now, NVIDIA has yet to acknowledge the issue, and there is no official fix. If you own an RTX 5090 or 5090D and are experiencing problems, rolling back to an earlier driver version or switching to PCIe 4.0 in your BIOS settings might be temporary workarounds. With the RTX 5070 Ti and 5070 launching next month, and AMD’s next-gen RDNA GPUs coming in March, those still waiting to upgrade might have dodged an expensive headache.