NVIDIA
GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
AUTHOR:Onie T.
TESTED BY:James L., Arthur B., and Nikolas H.
Published:

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is launched as the flagship GPU in the new 50-series lineup. Unveiled during CES 2025, this card introduces a host of new NVIDIA innovations, including the Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation.

This graphics card delivers good performance, though its performance comes with high power consumption and even higher price. NVIDIA specifies that it requires 1000W of system power for all 575W of the intended maximum power.

The Founder's Edition is starting at $1999 USD MSRP. Models from partner manufacturers such as ASUS, Colorful, Gainward, GALAX, GIGABYTE, INNO3D, KFA2, MSI, Palit, PNY, and ZOTAC will include both stock-clocked and factory-overclocked options.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

THE GOOD

  • Performance

    The RTX 5090 delivered good performance across all benchmarks.

  • Technologies

    The RTX 5090's advancements introduces a suite of cutting-edge AI-driven features that helps improve efficiency, rendering quality, and gaming realism.

THE BAD

  • Price

    At $1999 USD MSRP, the RTX 5090 is an expensive investment. Partner cards cost even more, placing this GPU firmly in the premium category and likely out of reach for many users.

THE REST

  • Overall

    The RTX 5090's high price may be justified for those who truly need its level of performance, but for many, waiting for more reasonably priced alternatives could be a smarter choice.

Hardware
HardwareNotes

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on NVIDIA's Blackwell architecture. At its core, the GB202 graphics processor contains 92 billion transistors, 192 Render Output Units (ROPs), 680 texture mapping units, 21,760 shading units, and 170 ray tracing acceleration cores.

With an intended maximum power of 575W, the card uses a dual-slot, dual flow-through fan design, ensuring compatibility with most computer cases. Connectivity includes 3 x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs, and 1 x HDMI 2.1b port, supporting up to 4K at 480Hz or 8K at 165Hz with DSC. These upgrades provide versatility for gamers and professionals alike.

In the Box

1 of 4

Front of the box.

Graphics Processor

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Architecture
Processor Release Date
GPU Chip
Technology
Transistors
Die Size
Interface
L1 Cache
L2 Cache
L3 Cache
Board Design

1 of 5

Front of the card.

Length
Width
Height
Weight
Slot Width
TDP
Fan Size
Number of Fans
HDMI
Display Port
USB-C
Cores & Clocks
Rasterization Cores
Ray Tracing Cores
AI Acceleration Cores
Base Clock
Game Clock
Boost Clock
Memory Type
Memory Size
Memory Data Rate
Memory Bandwidth
Memory Bus
Features & Software
Features & SoftwareNotes

The GeForce RTX 5090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and NVIDIA G-SYNC, enabling smooth and responsive gaming experiences. It also integrates NVIDIA's DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation. DLSS 4 features like Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction improve image quality and scaling, however older GPUs may see performance drops. Multi Frame Gen is exclusive to the RTX 50 series, generating up to 3 frames every rendered frame with low latency impact, as long as your base frame rate is enough.

Encoding and decoding capabilities are robust, with the 9th Generation Encode and 6th Generation Decoder supporting H.264, H.265/HEVC, and AV1 formats. Additionally, the Blackwell architecture introduces support for 4:2:2 chroma-sampled video encoding and decoding in H.264 and H.265 formats, a feature highly beneficial for professional workflows.

Supported Features
Adaptive Sync
DirectX
OpenGL
Vulkan
Ray Tracing
DirectML
OpenCL
CUDA
ReBar
Encode / Decode
H.264
H.265 (HEVC)
AV1
VP9
OEM Technologies
Performance
PerformanceNotes

While NVIDIA promotes DLSS as a key feature for enhancing the gaming experience, the RTX 5090 demonstrates strong performance in pure rasterization. It is the first GPU capable of running Cyberpunk 2077 at native 4K resolution with Ray Tracing Ultra enabled and no supersampling.

However, this performance comes at a cost, the GPU does pull its full rated 575W intended maximum power.

Gaming Performance
Ray Tracing Performance
Productivity & Efficiency
Productivity
Test Configuration
Test ConfigurationNotes

We will periodically retest graphics cards with updated drivers. We continuously monitor and update our results for accuracy. Stay tuned for the latest test results and insights on this product and others as we aim to provide up-to-date information on a consistent basis. 

We actively address test bench variance in our evaluation process. Our methodology involves validation and calibration procedures to ensure consistency and reliability across all tests. The verified testbed variance for benchmarks in this product page is +/- 0.25%.

By monitoring and controlling variables such as hardware configurations, ambient temperatures, and system settings, we minimize potential sources of variance that could affect our results. This detailed approach enables us to deliver the most objective and accurate assessments.

Tested Settings
Drivers

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