Nvidia RTX 5090 owner practices soldering skills on a $5,000 GPU and the result is predictably disastrous

Date:
Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:55:53 +0000

Description:
Want to practice your soldering skills? Don't do it on a $5,000 graphics card (in case you were tempted).

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Someone bought an MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z, which is a $5,000 GPU They then practiced their soldering skills on the board, and broke the graphics card Why? It's surely because they wanted to implement a hardware mod that allows for an extreme BIOS to be run on the GPU MSI 's RTX 5090 Lightning Z is a
rare limited-edition graphics card that costs $5,000 (or thereabouts) in the US, so what better way to practice your soldering than to test out your
skills with the iron on said board?

Reckless? Well, that doesn't even begin to cover it really, but VideoCardz spotted this improbable-sounding tale of GPU foolishness, which was posted on YouTube by NorthridgeFix, a California-based hardware repair shop. The broken card was sent into the repair outlet with an issue description which revealed the owner wanted to "learn how to solder tiny 0402 resistors" and that they were "practicing" on their pricey GPU. Article continues below You may like MSI RTX 5090 Lightning costs up to $15K on eBay so here's an alternative Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti graphics card with a hole in it breaks world record Nvidia RTX 5090 buyer is scammed as GPU is replaced by laundry detergent

"He tried to 'learn soldering' on an extremely rare MSI 5090 Lightning Z GPU of which only 1,300 units were ever made worldwide," NorthridgeFix observes
in its YouTube blurb, adding: "I'm speechless."

Me too.

Predictably enough, the soldering lesson went badly wrong and ended up
ripping one of the resistor pads, rendering the RTX 5090 non-functional, and requiring a delicate repair.

The repair isn't actually fully completed in the video clip, as it still needed further testing, but it seems like NorthridgeFix was successful in rescuing the expensive graphics card. Get daily insight, inspiration and
deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Rare $5,000 GPU Destroyed Only 1,300 Exist - YouTube Watch On Analysis: solder to cry on Why was the RTX 5090 owner even thinking about playing around with soldering resistors in this way with such
a pricey piece of hardware? It's presumably because they were trying to get the MSI XOC ('extreme performance') BIOS to work so they could engage in some extreme overclocking.

That BIOS was seemingly limited in distribution and only given to pro overclockers, and MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z graphics cards bought at retail can't be flashed with it. However, the BIOS was leaked, and what's happened
is that some folks have found a way around this restriction, with adding an extra resistor seemingly allowing the XOC BIOS to be used. And apparently
this is what the owner of the GPU was trying to do.

There is a reason, of course, why MSI hasn't freely released the XOC BIOS: namely, because if it did, there'd likely be a fair few destroyed RTX 5090 GPUs (and warranty claims). Remember, this extreme take on the BIOS is designed to allow for 2500W of power, a truly ridiculous amount (intended for the likes of liquid nitrogen-driven world record overclocking attempts ).

At any rate, extreme BIOS aside, and to state the obvious: if you're a newcomer to soldering, don't start your journey on any functional graphics card, let alone a cutting-edge flagship model and a limited-edition effort
at that. The mind boggles with this case, frankly. The best graphics cards
for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best graphics card 1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 2. Best budget: Intel Arc B580 3. Best Nvidia: Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti 4. Best AMD: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/gpu/nvidia-rtx-5090-owner-practices-solder ing-skills-on-a-usd5-000-gpu-and-the-result-is-predictably-disastrous


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