This Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 gaming GPU repair video is incredibly satisfying

Sometimes, it’s better to leave things to the professionals. That’s the reasonable conclusion you might come to watching this new video that showcases a repair shop’s attempt to salvage a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 that has been severely damaged by its previous owner’s modding endeavors. While seemingly attempting to apply a voltage mod to the $1,500+ graphics card to boost its performance, the owner rendered the card nearly inoperable, leading to quite the rescue mission from NorthWestRepair.

Trying out mods to change the voltage levels on an already high-powered Nvidia graphics card like the RTX 4090 isn’t a smart move if you’re untrained. As our Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 review shows, it’s the best graphics card you can buy right now, but not only does it deal with some serious voltages and current levels – famously leading to some cards setting themselves alight – but its electronics are still incredibly sensitive so the slightest slip up can be catastrophic.

The attempted repair process for this graphics card has been documented in a YouTube video by NorthWestRepair, and brought to our attention in a report by Tom’s Hardware. The video makes for a disturbing watch for those sensitive to circuitry abuse. The card had every red warning sign you could imagine, from missing screws and warranty seals to visible damage to the printed circuit board, along with an unusual level of thermal paste over several of the board’s chips.

The damage to this RTX 4090 didn’t stop there, however. While the main chips were thankfully undamaged, including the GPU chip itself, several smaller components were burnt out.

Thankfully, despite the board damage, and some bad soldering to undo, the YouTuber was able to get this card back in working condition after several hours of toil and trouble.

Considering the damage, it’s incredible to see an RTX 4090 saved from the junk pile thanks to such a skilled repair. As NorthWestRepair points out in his video, the original owner’s attempt “to gain 5fps at best” doesn’t seem particularly worthwhile. An out-of-warranty repair job on a broken component is one thing, but trying out your basic soldering skills on an otherwise working and highly expensive graphics card is another.

Thankfully, for those seeking a safer way to get an even faster card than an RTX 4090, they won’t have long to wait. That’s because next-gen RTX 5000 series graphics cards are expected to launch next month at the CES 2025 trade show, with the RTX 5090 expected to be a significant step up in performance from the 4090. Not that we expect the card to be cheap, with the latest RTX 5090 price rumors suggesting it will make even the RTX 4090 seem affordable.