Leaking thermal gel on Gigabyte’s high-end RTX 50 series graphics cards is turning into a saga. The issue was first reported over two weeks ago, showing an RTX 5080 leaking thermal gel while running in a vertical GPU setup. This happened just after “2 hours of use per day” for gaming. Gigabyte swiftly responded by suggesting it was merely a cosmetic issue and nothing to worry about, but the reports didn’t stop coming.

And now, as fresh reports filter through from RTX 5080 owners online, it’s clear that this model is affected most. In its statement, Gigabyte noted that “While the appearance of extra gel might be concerning, this cosmetic variance does not affect the card’s performance, reliability, or lifespan”. This is now disputed by a new report, which shows the issue is causing real problems.

RTX 5080 GPU “confirmed dead” with thermal gel leakage

This news (again) comes from Korean Quasar Zone forums, where user Jang Min-woo reports the familiar thermal gel leaking issue. From the photos posted, we can see that the model in question is the GIGABYTE RTX 5080 AERO, and the leakage is immediately obvious. Min-woo says that they’ve had the card since February 2025, and for the past couple of weeks, they’ve been having issues with their GPU only outputting to half of their monitor.

On the surface, this seems like it could be an issue with the monitor, not the GPU. However, Min-woo notes that the leakage flowed down to the PCIe riser kit (presumably for a vertical mount). After spotting the leakage, they cleaned the thermal gel and set the card up horizontally, citing that there was “no problem” in this setup. This points towards the card being the root issue of the monitor trouble.

However, this didn’t last long. After an hour of gaming and a reboot, the half-screen issue returned – Min-woo notes in their follow-up post that the “5080 is confirmed dead”. So, despite Gigabyte’s reassurance, it seems as if there is a real problem with gel leakage on its RTX 5080 cards. The company has yet to put out another statement; you can keep an eye out for this here.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.