NVIDIA - GeForce RTX 5090 32GB GDDR7 Graphics Card - Dark Gun Metal

I shouldn't feel this way, but I do feel incredibly lucky to have gotten this 5090 for the REAL MSRP of $2000 on just the 2nd chance these went on sale at BestBuy since their launch about a month ago. Crazy how far we've come that a $2000 price tag is something people feel lucky about. That said, if you want this card you are likely one of the following: 1. Someone who always wants the best PC Gaming gear, even if you don't really need it, but want to push the max settings at high frame rates and resolution (4K+or VR) in all of the latest games. 2. Someone who is technical and uses it for work or hobby, whether that is AI, High-Performance Computing, Rendering, CAD etc. I'm a mix of both and I've always bought the highest end GPUs I can imagine and here we are. One thing I will ask my fellow enthusiasts who were also lucky enough to get one of these GPUs is to PLEASE only buy what you actually need. Do not buy these to sell them, have some empathy and remember how you felt before you scored yours and let others have a chance to get these magnificent beasts at MSRP. As for the card itself, there is some awesome stuff and some so-so stuff about it. - The Nvidia Founder's Edition cooler is both amazing and a step-back in some ways compared to previous 3090/4090 FE. It is only 2 slots now instead of 3.5 slots, but it is nearly the same height and length, it just isn't as thick. It also has a dual pass-through design so you will want to make sure your case has good airflow for both intake and exhaust. While the dBA is maybe slightly louder, the 5090 cooler has a more pleasant tone and there is less "gushing" of air through the back of the card. Temps do get slightly higher under prolonged load but overall this is an amazing feat of engineering from Nvidia given the reduction in size with simultaneous increase in power (450W to 575W max). I still kind of wish they kept it to 3 slots with the dual flow through design however. - The 12v2x6 power connector is still a problem on the 5090 just like the 4090. Recently, it was revealed that the main cause of the adapter potentially melting is that Nvidia reduced the number of power phases on the 3090 from 3x12v to 1x12v. So instead of 600W being distributed across 3 wires, it potentially can all go to a single wire on the connector, leading to catastrophic failure. We'll have to keep an eye on this, if Nvidia needs to issue a revision or recall or not, but I obviously did not let this stop me from buying and using the card, but I am using the ugly Nvidia adapter instead of a 3rd party cable or even a 3rd party cable from the PSU makers. - The uplift in performance is 30% on average with up to 50% in 4K or very demanding games. This is one of the smallest uplifts ever for an Nvidia flagship card, but a lot of that has to do with this being the same process node compared to 4090. Also, 4090 was one of the best generational uplifts ever, so you have a great generation followed by a very average uplift so its a bit jarring in comparison. Still, that doesn't diminish the fact Nvidia was able to improve this card in many ways without the typical process node improvement typically needed. I posted some 3D Mark pictures and you can see, the THREE KINGS from 3090 > 4090 > 5090 is roughly 2x then just 1.3x, but still very impressive at nearly 2.5x from 3090 to 5090. So even in 5 years we've come a long way. - 32GB VRAM and nearly 2TB/s of bandwidth is CRAZY for AI work, rendering, HPC and even VR. You can fit entire AI models here even when 24GB isn't enough and you'll never have to turn down texture quality for as long as you own the card. - There's a few known issues with these cards. Flickering screen and PCIe 5.0 were issues, I never had PCIe 5.0 problems on an AMD X870 and 9800x3D system, but I did have a flickering issue on a 2nd screen. The latest 2/27/2025 drivers have drastically improved the flickering to almost completely stop it. Nvidia also has a ROP issue on some cards but it doesn't seem like the Nvidia FE cards are impacted as badly. Use GPU-Z to make sure you have all 176 ROPs. Hopefully if you are interested in this card, supply improves and more cards start appearing more frequently. Even though this card doesn't perform quite as well (5-10%) of the larger partner cards, it looks the best, is very small, quiet and elegant and just is amazing to behold. It is also the only true MSRP card out there without paying 20-30% premiums or more.....just be patient, more cards will arrive and hopefully by then, Nvidia works out some of the kinks with this 50 series launch.

The stock situation is unacceptable. However, going from a 4090 / i5 13600k build to a 5090 FE / 9800x3d build has led to a notable jump in performance. I feel very fortunate to have been able to snag one of these on launch day (highly recommend the Hotstock mobile app, it's free). There are plenty of benchmark videos on YouTube for you to draw your own conclusions, so there's no sense regurgitating here info you already know. What is special about the founder's edition other than its rarity is the overall design: it's much, much thinner than my Zotac 4090. Gaming at 4k with an aircooled system has been a breeze. I have yet to see GPU temps exceed 68°C in-game. For a frame of reference for anyone else who upgraded from a similar platform, here are my 3D Mark scores (steel nomad bench, no overclocking): 4090 / i5 13600k: 9101 5090 / 9800x3d: 14117 Anyone able to grab this card at $2000 should consider themselves fortunate given the current GPU situation. I've found it to be a worthwhile upgrade, especially given the resale value of the 4090.

I have upgraded from the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition to the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition, and the transition has been seamless. I am particularly pleased with the card's compact form factor. The performance enhancement with DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation in Cyberpunk 2077 is notable. Furthermore, I am relieved that my 5090 arrived free from any Render Output Unit (ROP) defects. Paired with a AMD 9800X3D CPU this card is a beast! Bestbuy did an incredible job with this transaction!