THE CRUNCH
Owners of GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition cards report Nvidia is denying warranty claims because the serial number has faded, despite the card being within its three-year warranty period. One user, Willing-Avocado-4830, sent their card to Nvidia for repair after experiencing black screens under high load and was told the unit was being returned because the physical serial number was illegible. The user claims the R
The card was reportedly with Nvidia for more than 30 days before the rejection was communicated. Another Reddit user, Character-Tax-1897, shared a photo of their own RTX 5090 FE showing a serial number that has drastically faded, suggesting the issue may be widespread rather than isolated to a single unit. Club386 also notes that its own RTX 5080 Founders Edition shows possible signs of fading, and another user, HWDesignCo, claims a similar RMA issue with an RTX 5080 took a month and a half due to a faded serial number.
The rejection comes despite Nvidia’s support chatbot apparently telling the affected user that proof of purchase and original packaging would help verify the card's identity. The evidence suggests a potential design flaw in the Founders Edition card's serial number placement or durability, rather than a failure of the card itself. Club386 has contacted Nvidia for comment and is awaiting a response.