NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 FE Buyer Receives Mislabeled Card, Engraved with "5090"

[T0@st]

As documented on the Linus Tech Tips (LTT) subreddit, a lucky customer presented their freshly-delivered Founders Edition (FE) GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card model. Newly registered member, EssDee3D, had much to celebrate—having acquired launch stock, presumably at a non-scalped price—but they were confused by their package's contents. A question was pushed out to the LTT community: "can someone explain what happened here? Direct from NVIDIA...I ordered an RTX 5080, and I got a graphics card with 5090 engraved on it. The outer box has the 5080 SKU on it. Wondering if anyone else has seen something like this before?" Unique circumstances—possibly caused by a mix-up during the manufacturing process—have produced an oddball hybrid. EssDee3D proceeded to add this curiosity to their PC build—following an absorption of (very mixed) feedback from other LTT members. Basic diagnostics—performed in a Windows OS environment—revealed that the card in question housed a bog-standard GeForce RTX 5080 GB203-based GPU.

NVIDIA's two Founders Edition shroud designs—for its GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 SKUs—look nigh identical. TechPowerUp's resident graphics card reviewer extraordinaire—W1zzard—captured a handful of comparison shots for usage in his evaluation of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition model. The GeForce RTX 5090 FE's cooling solution—utilizing liquid metal, instead of thermal paste—is more robust when compared to the one present on its step-down sibling—rated for a TDP of 575 W (versus 360 W). Evidently, designed to temper any radiance emitted by Team Green's GB202 GPU. EssDee3D's "chimera" card was placed in the correct packaging; a 5080-labelled paper-fiber box—but the shroud's backside advertises itself as a GeForce RTX 5090 FE. PC hardware news outlets and Redditors are wondering whether additional examples—of jumbled up "Blackwell" GPU Founders Edition parts—will appear online over the next month or two, or three...or more.




EssDee3D uploaded a short form follow-up video on YouTube:

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Daven]

Geforce 5000 series...WORTH EVERY PENNY or not

 

[SAINT ENZO]

Geforce 5000 series...WORTH EVERY PENNY or not

either this guy switched the cooler himself or this typo is worth some $$$$ as a collectible lol

 

[Wirko]

It's a 0.2% difference, why do people care?

 

[freeagent]

It's a 0.2% difference, why do people care?

Why do you care what people care about

Guys can go ahead and hate on the new hardware all they want.

Old hardware awaits..

 

[LabRat 891]

This is like getting a penny struck w/ a dime's stamping.
Likely, will end up being worth way more than any 5090.

 

[trsttte]

An interesting question is if only the shroud was mislabeled or the entire cooler was switched. Does this 5080 come with liquid metal like the 5090? Does the cooler still sit right where it's supposed to given the different card layouts?

 

[xorbe]

either this guy switched the cooler himself or this typo is worth some $$$$ as a collectible lol

It's just a plastic insert that can be easily swapped (relatively). It won't be a collectible.

 

[Wirko]

Why do you care what people care about

Guys can go ahead and hate on the new hardware all they want.

Old hardware awaits..

Hey of course I care. That keeps me around here.

 

[kid41212003]

My goodness. Is this article AI-generated? It hurts my head just to read.

 

[alwayssts]

Guys can go ahead and hate on the new hardware all they want.

I do, and I will. Because it's (relatively) awful. Thanks.

Oh, were you being sarcastic? I wasn't.

Can we still be friends?

 

[freeagent]

I do, and I will. Because it's (relatively) awful. Thanks.

Oh, were you being sarcastic? I wasn't.

Can we still be friends?

Of course

 

[Bwaze]

This is like getting a penny struck w/ a dime's stamping.
Likely, will end up being worth way more than any 5090.

Why? Graphics cards are useful items first and foremost. Then they become outdated and their value plummets. Only after a very long time, after most of the cards die in their working life and storage, do they begin to become slightly collectible - but as a memento of past age, so the only value is in equipment in good condition. This card looks like a botched job at home repair - I doubt it will matter the panels were accidentally swapped in production.

 

[Dr. Dro]

TCG collectors pay a fortune for misprint cards, why not GPUs? OP should have it graded and auction it as one of a kind

 

[Bwaze]

TCG collectors pay a fortune for misprint cards, why not GPUs? OP should have it graded and auction it as one of a kind

Sure, with this extreme scarcity we can slowly stop looking at gaming cards as simple tech tools and toys, and start looking at them as individual collectible art pieces?

 

[N/A]

This is rewarding negligence. Let's all start mislabeling and managing things. The world is heading towards chaos. Also, this is a form of scalping and should be despised.

 

[the54thvoid]

The legality of keeping it will vary across the world, but I think in the UK (I'm sure other places, too), technically, it doesn't belong to the 'owner.' The contract (what they entered when ordering) was for a 5080. So they're not legally the owner of the 5090. The company has the right to ask for it back, but would need to pay shipping and arrange everything at the buyers convenience. Mistakes happen, but that's what contracts are for. I know companies will try to screw people over, but it doesn't make it right.

I ordered a camera a couple of years back and got two sent out (shipping error). I wasn't sure then if it was right to keep it, so I contacted them. They arranged pick up, and I think I got a thank you (and maybe a discount for my next purchase.) My mate ordered two chairs (£500 each), but one was the wrong colour. He contacted them to say, and they said 'keep it,' AND sent the right colour. Lucky bastard.


Oops. Misread article

 

[Heiro78]

This is rewarding negligence. Let's all start mislabeling and managing things. The world is heading towards chaos. Also, this is a form of scalping and should be despised.

Please elaborate on how this is a form of scalping

 

[Bwaze]

The legality of keeping it will vary across the world, but I think in the UK (I'm sure other places, too), technically, it doesn't belong to the 'owner.' The contract (what they entered when ordering) was for a 5080. So they're not legally the owner of the 5090. The company has the right to ask for it back, but would need to pay shipping and arrange everything at the buyers convenience. Mistakes happen, but that's what contracts are for. I know companies will try to screw people over, but it doesn't make it right.

He didn't receive an RTX 5090 - it's still RTX 5080, just with the wrong shroud piece with the label.

Not really a news worthy event.

 

[the54thvoid]

My bad.

 

[_roman_]

This is laser engraved right? Someone changed the letters? speculations. ...

 

[Outback Bronze]

He didn't receive an RTX 5090 - it's still RTX 5080, just with the wrong shroud piece with the label.

This is how organized Nvidia seem to be with this release...

 

[Bwaze]

This is laser engraved right? Someone changed the letters? speculations. ...

Apparently coolers for RTX 5080 and 5090 are so similar you can change the various parts between them, this plate fits both.

Good thing that you can't change bioses now, one part change and one bios flash and you'll be wandering why you only get 50% of FPS on your second hand flagship.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

He didn't receive an RTX 5090 - it's still RTX 5080, just with the wrong shroud piece with the label.

Not really a news worthy event.

Well, it could show us that how bad their quality control is.

 

[k_9virus]

based on GN's tear down it looks like it's easy to replace lol... if that was me i wont lol