Asus reportedly halts ROG Matrix RTX 5090 shipments — $4,000 halo card could be dead in its tracks for now due to quality control issue (Updated)

Asus' ROG Matrix RTX 5090 card has been in the news quite often recently, almost universally due to its gigantic size, specs, and corresponding price tag at a clean $4,000. It's not a good day for Asus' halo graphics card, though, as a report has come in that the company is temporarily halting all sales of the Matrix 5090 due to a manufacturing quality issue.

The information comes from Swedish e-tailer Inet.se, who sent out an email to customers who preordered the card. The information provided by Asus offers no details on what the issue is, but it's worth keeping in mind that it might be serious enough to block the sale of a $4,000 card. Additionally, Asus is apparently outright replacing the cards, so it's unlikely that the problem is something cosmetic like mistakenly-stamped PCBs.

There's also no estimated date for delivery of the fixed cards, at least as far as Inet.se knows, though all of them remain sold out. It's not likely that buyers will have to wait a long time, considering how much of an egg-in-face moment this is for Asus. Nevertheless, standing by one's product is a good thing, and a buyer shelling out $4,000 for one of these will rightfully demand absolute perfection. The statement provided by Inet.se to its customers reads as follows:

"I am contacting you regarding your order for the ASUS GeForce RTX 5090 32GB ROG Matrix Platinum 30th Anniversary Edition. Unfortunately, we have been informed by ASUS that they have identified a quality issue with this particular model. Due to this, we are unable to deliver the card as planned. ASUS is currently working on a replacement version without these issues, but at this time there is no estimated date for when a new copy will be available. We fully understand that this is an unfortunate situation, but unfortunately it is completely beyond our control." — Inet.se via Videocardz

It's hard to imagine what the actual problem might be. German overclocker der8auer remarked during his teardown that the liquid TIM application was sub-par for such an expensive card, as Asus didn't place an actual solid barrier holding the liquid metal in place, and instead opted for a ring made of thermal paste. Having said that, he tested the card without issues, and there have not been any reports of problems from other reviewers.

If the Matrix's design is based off the ROG Astral 5090 cards, however, then some distant hypothesis comes up. Back in February, a user had a blown capacitor on his Astral 5090 take out both the card and his motherboard. A little while later, another person reported fan vibration interfering with the anti-sag sensor on the card. And as recently as a few days ago, a third user claims to have pinned down a power delivery issue via the card's BTF connector, a feature that the Matrix 5090 also shares and is required to hit its full potential.

Regardless of what the problem might be, Asus is bound to follow up quickly, as to not let all the brand awareness garnered by this card go to waste.

We've reached out to Asus for comment.

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