Juggernaut RTX 5090-based system crushes GPU Compute benchmark even before support patch is released

Over 100 samples of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card have now passed through PassMark’s test site, and the GPU Compute scores are looking much healthier. Previously, the new Blackwell card had struggled on the site and had been relegated behind the RTX 4090 in overall testing while being stuck at almost RTX 4080 levels for GPU Compute. It seemed RTX 50-series cards were being hindered by their own advanced technology: PassMark was using a 32-bit framework for testing while in the meantime Nvidia had removed support for OpenCL 32-bit for its latest graphics cards.

PassMark has now released a patch for the site with the GPU Compute test utilizing 64-bit components, which means cards like the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 should be able to reach their true performance potential. While the official high-end video card chart on the site has yet to be updated, the page for the RTX 5090 is already showing a huge improvement in GPU Compute. The last time we reported about the GeForce RTX 5090 in this particular benchmark, the average result was a comparatively poor 23,050 operations per second (Ops/Sec) vs. 28,240 Ops/Sec for the RTX 4090. Considering how well the RTX 5090 had done in our testing, it was a surprise to see it flounder on PassMark. But now, the score for the Blackwell card has gone up to a more respectable 30,178 Ops/Sec.

This is also helped by the fact that a couple of RTX 5090-based systems that have visited the site recently have been absolute juggernauts in their composition. For instance, before the patch was even released, one run involving a PC that also featured an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 48 GB of RAM on an Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Apex motherboard threw up a gigantic score of 225,048 Ops/Sec in GPU Compute. This is almost 10x the previous average score for the RTX 5090, and it is nearly 7.5x faster than the latest average result. Of course, it is the average result that matters for getting a broad view of the performance of something like the GeForce RTX 5090, but this astonishing score at least shows that with the right support, gamers and PC builders should at least enjoy most of the benefits of their $2,000+ hardware purchase.