Another worrying story has emerged around the GeForce RTX 5090. A Reddit user says their Zotac RTX 5090 failed shortly after launching Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. About five minutes into the tutorial, they heard a loud pop and crackling, followed by smoke from the PC case.
This time, the issue does not appear to involve the 16-pin power connector that has already caused controversy around the RTX 5090. Previous reports described melted connectors on NVIDIA’s flagship card, which can draw up to 575 W, including cases linked to overheating or a cable that was not fully seated. According to the owner, the connector was undamaged in this incident.
The damage was found elsewhere: on the gold-plated PCB contacts that connect the graphics card to the motherboard’s PCIe slot. A visible burn mark remained on the edge connector. The exact cause is still unknown, but commenters suggested that a crack in the circuit board may have caused a short circuit. Another theory points to GPU sag and the resulting mechanical stress.
If board deformation is confirmed, the potential risk would not be limited to the RTX 5090. Modern flagship graphics cards are becoming larger and heavier, while compact cases do not always leave enough room for proper support. With the RTX 5090, the possible consequences stand out because of the card’s high power draw and price.
For now, this appears to be an isolated case, so there is no basis for calling it a widespread RTX 5090 defect without an official diagnosis. Owners of heavy, power-hungry graphics cards should still install them carefully, fully seat power cables, use a reliable support bracket and check that the PCB is not under excessive strain.