The video game industry is going through one of its best moments thanks to, of course, the recently arrived Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the protagonist of it is NVIDIA, precisely because they have managed to generate the most coveted chips on the market, and their shares do not stop rising. But, while the AI business is unstoppable and keeps accumulating triumphs, their most loyal customers (the lifelong gamers) have been dealing for months with problems in the graphics cards, problems in the drivers, black screens…
Since the launch of the RTX 50 cards, complaints about problems with these graphics cards have grown, affecting the experience of thousands of users, and of course, the situation is starting to make noise. While NVIDIA puts all its attention on the future, it seems that they are leaving aside those who accompanied them all their lives… Is NVIDIA neglecting its players on its way to market dominance?
From video games to artificial intelligence
More than three decades ago, three engineers in Silicon Valley dreamed of revolutionizing graphics on PC. That is how NVIDIA was born, founded by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. At the beginning, they dreamed of reaching high, but over time, the brand became the central pillar of the gaming industry, building a passionate community that waited for each release as if it were Christmas
The gaming community, up in arms
he launch of the RTX 50 series, with models like the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, has generated controversy, and the errors keep piling up. Although some models allow you to install previous versions of the drivers to avoid problems, those who bought the new RTX 50 graphics cards do not have that option, since they are not compatible with the stable drivers from previous generations…
Reddit and YouTube, kings of complaints
In forums like Reddit and in specialized YouTube channels, the testimonies of frustrated users are counted by thousands. Some directly cannot play without their PC crashing. And although NVIDIA has acknowledged some of the errors and promised updates, for many the patience is running out. More worrying is that NVIDIA itself has recognized several of these failures, promising solutions through future software updates.
More problems: melted cables and defective chips
The problems are not only affecting the software… Some users of the RTX 5090 have reported overheating in the power cables that even damaged the power supplies.
As if that were not enough, it was discovered that certain graphics cards of the RTX 50 series came out of the factory with fewer ROP units (the ones in charge of making the images visible and smooth) than specified. The company says that this effect, which only affects 4% of the chips, is minimal, but users are a little upset after having spent their money.
AI as the new priority
It seems as if NVIDIA had decided to leave aside its gaming public to focus on what is booming now, artificial intelligence. However, NVIDIA is also its public image, and now, everything seems to revolve around AI.
The change is clear, and not only have they decided to take a new path, companies like Microsoft have known how to reinvent themselves, going from depending on Windows to diversifying their businesses towards the cloud and services. Now NVIDIA seems to be following that path, betting strongly on sectors of exponential growth.
And what happens with the gamers?
The big unknown is what role the players are going to play in this new NVIDIA. Will they continue to be important or will they be relegated to the background? The feeling of many is that the company no longer listens as it did before. And although GPUs keep arriving to the market, it is increasingly difficult to see NVIDIA as the same unconditional ally from the old times.
The players, who once were the heart of NVIDIA, now feel in many cases forgotten before the avalanche of advances in AI. Maybe that is the future, to be relegated by a machine…