German tech retailer Alternate has explained a controversial recent listing on its website for an RTX 5090 with missing ROPs. The online store confirmed that this GPU was part of a customer return and was never intended for sale, attributing the incident to an internal system error.

The first case of an RTX 50 series GPU with missing ROP units dates back to late February. Nvidia later issued a clarification stating that only 0.5% of produced RTX 5090s and RTX 5070 Tis were affected. Testing showed that GPUs with missing ROP clusters suffer up to an 11% performance hit during gaming.

Alternate listed a 'B-stock' RTX 5090 with 168 ROPs for €2,899 ($3,100), which sparked controversy. The retailer now says the GPU was misclassified as B-stock due to a system error, not intended for sale.

The GPU has been removed from the website, and it seems to be a customer return, likely meant for replacement. Despite the Blackwell shortage improving, prices remain high, with the average selling price of an RTX 5090 Founders Edition at eBay stabilizing at $4,000.