Alex from NorthridgeFix was in despair after a customer sent him an “insane RTX 3090” for repair. The graphics card was sent over to NorthridgeFix as it wasn’t detected when plugging into a PC system. An accompanying note explained that the card was “not used for mining,” had been in storage for several years, and that the fans and RGB LEDs sometimes worked. However, Alex quickly discovered that this graphics card was beyond repair: with a missing GPU, devoid of VRAM chips, and “knocked off components like you’ve never seen before.” The PCB looks a real mess.
NorthridgeFix has seen its fair share of hopeless cases sent in for repair, but this RTX 3090 (review link) seems rather puzzling to Alex. Firstly, the owner writes as if this has been his gaming card and simply neglected in a stored PC for the last three years. The owner goes on to reassure the graphic card fixing service that the RTX 3090 won’t have been damaged from cryptocurrency mining. However, this poor graphics card has far more damage than running in a GPU mining rig could have ever inflicted. “Is that customer in touch with reality?” mused Alex, rhetorically.
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There must be a simpler explanation for the missing GPU and RAM chips, and the chaotic damage to other supporting components we see. The answer, reckons Alex, is that his customer bought this GPU from a scammer who offered reassurances that this particular GPU had been in a gaming PC in storage for several years, and never used for GPU mining. These reassurances were then passed on in the repair quote message from the customer, who perhaps hoped a simple fix was possible. This definitely wasn’t an “easy issue” a repairer could resolve.
The best lesson we can take away from this video is that buyers need to be more careful when purchasing used computers and components. Alex from NorthridgeFix winds up his video by repeatedly stressing that it is important to choose an online platform that is trusted and “have a very good return policy” when distance buying. If you can buy and test in person, with a local deal, that might be different as you could insist on running some games and benchmarks to test the hardware – as well as speak to the previous owner in person.
At this time, with people selling-on old GPUs to raise the cash for next-gen components, the above lesson of the hopelessly broken RTX 3090 might serve as an important reminder. Cards like this are still potent, sitting high in the Tom’s Hardware GPU hierarchy, and VRAM-wise (24GB) it comfortably beats the shiny new RTX 5080 (16GB). Just please be careful out there in second-hand land, folks.
#Nvidia #RTX #repairer #missing #GPU #memory #chips
