How to Check if Your NVIDIA Graphics Card is Missing ROPs Units
The NVIDIA 50 series of graphics cards is getting absolutely smashed! First, it was the insanely bad price to performance data, followed by the AI frames saga, which led to the melting cables and fire situation and now we have the cherry on top! Missing ROPs! This is quite a big issue as some models can lose up to 10% of their advertised performance. Thankfully there is an easy way to check if your NVIDIA Graphics card is missing ROPs and this guide will show you how.
Understand the Role of ROP Units
Before diving into how to check for missing ROPs, it’s important to know what they are. ROPs are responsible for the final stages of rendering, including:
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Blending pixels
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Depth testing
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Writing rendered pixels to the framebuffer
When ROPs are missing or defective, it can result in performance degradation in certain games or workloads, particularly those that rely heavily on rasterization. BUT! They conveniently don't affect any AI-related tasks...... At least that's the news at the time of writing.
How to Check if Your NVIDIA Graphics Card is Missing ROPs Units
Make sure you're working with the correct specifications for your GPU model. Nvidia’s RTX 5000-series cards, like the RTX 5090 and 5070 Ti, were originally designed to have a certain number of ROP units:
GeForce RTX 5090 or RTX 5090D - 176 ROPs
GeForce RTX 5080 - 112 ROPs
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti - 96 ROPs
If your GPU model is part of the RTX 5000-series, there’s a chance it could have missing ROPs due to a manufacturing issue.
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Go to Nvidia’s official specifications page for your model or consult the documentation that came with your GPU.
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If you have the card installed, use GPU monitoring software to see the number of ROP units listed.
Use GPU-Z to Check Your Card’s ROPs
GPU-Z is a free, popular tool that shows detailed specifications about your graphics card, including the number of ROPs.
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Download GPU-Z from TechPowerUp.
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Open GPU-Z and select your GPU model from the drop-down menu.
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Look for the “ROP” field in the Graphics Card tab. This will list the total number of ROP units your GPU has.
Compare this number with the official specs for your card. If the number is lower than expected, your card might be missing ROP units.
For the RTX 5080, the number of ROPs should be 112. If your card shows anything less, it may be a victim of this issue.
Test Performance in Affected Games
Even if your card has the correct number of ROPs, it’s worth testing performance in games or workloads that rely heavily on rasterization to see if there’s an observable impact. Games like Elden Ring, Starfield, and Doom Eternal have shown significant performance hits when ROPs are missing.
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Download or launch a game that stresses your GPU’s rasterization power.
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Use a tool like MSI Afterburner or Fraps to monitor your FPS.
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Compare the performance with reviews of similar GPUs or other users who report their performance metrics.
If you notice up to a 5% drop in FPS or any graphical anomalies, this might be linked to missing ROPs.
Contact Nvidia or Your Vendor
If you notice any problems I would start the RMA process and get are replacement card. Keep in mind that you may also have more of the same issues with whatever new 50 series card you get so you'll have to go through the same process again to see if you have another dud on your hands or a working card.