Retailer sells broken RTX 5090 $1,760

A graphics card is supposed to be the expensive part of a gaming PC, not the broken part you buy on purpose. But that is basically what happened in France this week. Retailer LDLC listed damaged GeForce RTX 5090 cards as dead hardware for repair or recycling, with no returns and no promise they can ever work again. The weird part is the price — these were still listed from €1,499.95 to €1,699.95, which is the kind of money that usually buys a working high-end GPU. ### What is LDLC actually selling? Not refurbished cards. Not open-box stock. LDLC put these units in its “hors service” bucket — basically out-of-service hardware. The listings described them as non-functional cards with physical damage, sold only to people who can repair the board or salvage components from it. The store also made the risk crystal clear: no returns, no refunds. RTX 5090 at €1,499.95, with brand and exact model depending on available stock. The other was a named MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Ventus 3X OC at €1,699.95. Other coverage also noted an Asus TUF-branded defective card at the lower price, which suggests the exact lineup may have shifted as inventory changed. LDLC said the cards had been working before they were damaged during transport to a previous customer. The defects may include PCB breakage, impact damage, or deformation. That matters because a broken board is not the same as a dead GPU die. In the best-case scenario, the expensive silicon and memory are still fine and the board is the thing that failed. Even an RTX 5090 is still absurdly valuable. If the GPU package and memory chips are intact, a repair shop might be able to transplant parts, rebuild traces, or use the card as a donor for another repair. Think of it less like buying a used car and more like buying a wrecked supercar for the engine. Most regular buyers should run away. But for a specialist with the right tools, a broken flagship can still be inventory. Why is the price still so high? Because the working version is even more expensive. Coverage around these listings pegged new RTX 5090 pricing in Europe at roughly €3,249 to €3,500, and sometimes above €3,300. So LDLC is charging around half-price for hardware that may be fixable, harvestable, or both. That sounds ridiculous until you remember the replacement cost of a functioning card. Then it starts to look like a very risky wholesale deal. Is the GPU market still broken? Pretty much. Even with some signs of easing in parts of Europe, the top end of the GPU market is still distorted enough that dead cards can be monetized instead of written off. That tells you two things at once — RTX 5090 demand is still strong, and the parts inside these boards are valuable enough that someone might pay four figures just for a repair shot. This is for board-level technicians. Not gamers hunting a bargain. The catch is simple: unless you already know how to diagnose PCB damage, source replacement parts, and eat a total loss if the silicon is dead, this is not a discounted RTX 5090. It is expensive e-waste with upside. The bottom line about the RTX 5090 market in May 2026 — even broken flagships are still premium goods.