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Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition Review: The desktop GPU performance beast that eclipses everything!

AI is the key to success.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 marks the next step in the world of high-end graphics cards. With the latest Blackwell architecture, increased performance and innovative technologies, Nvidia has set new standards for gaming, content creation, and AI applications. In our review, we put the RTX 5090 through its paces. How does it perform in benchmarks, under gaming conditions, and contend with demanding workloads? We reveal whether the RTX 5090 lives up to the hype.
Sebastian Bade, 👁 Sebastian Bade, Vaidyanathan Subramaniam (translated by Andrew Dickson) Published 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...
GPU Desktop Nvidia Blackwell RTX 5000 Gaming Business

Verdict: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 — The most powerful GPU of all time breaks new boundaries!

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition is undoubtedly one of the most impressive graphics cards ever developed. However, it's not the raw performance that makes this graphics card special, but its new cooling system.

We're still amazed how Nvidia managed to build a graphics card with these enormous energy requirements that occupies just 2 slots. Yes, the power consumption is high and tops everything we've seen in recent years, however, in return, you get more performance and access to the new features, thanks to Blackwell.

Gaming performance is outstanding. Current AAA titles run at 4K on maximum settings and active ray tracing. This is combined with multi-frame generation at well over 100 fps, with DLSS 4.0 providing additional image quality optimization. On top of gaming performance, the RTX 5090 also impresses when handling creative workloads, which means that the new flagship will also appeal to content creators.

Note: This article went live yesterday, January 22 for a short time by mistake. Apologies for that.

Nvidia's flagship Blackwell GPU also conveys a tactile premium feel, all of which go hand in hand with the excellent choice of materials. Our criticisms are primarily aimed at the enormous power consumption, which should indeed not be ignored.

In terms of price, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition is hitting new heights and anyone wishing to secure this high-end model will have to dig deep. The RRP is $1,999, and this is likely to rise further in the coming days if you look back at the initial days following the release of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090.

Without any competitive pressure, Nvidia can charge these prices without running the risk of the graphics card sitting on the shelves. Unfortunately, this situation is unlikely to change any time soon, so you'll have to weigh up whether it's worth spending this amount of money on a graphics card.

One thing seems certain, however: anyone who takes the plunge now won't feel the urge to upgrade any time soon...

Pros

+ very high 3D performance
+ 4 nm architecture
+ 32 GB of GDDR7 VRAM
+ DLSS 4.0
+ multi-frame generation
+ fan stop-mode
+ extremely premium design
+ powerful and sophisticated cooling
+ compact design (2-slot design)
+ 3x DisplayPort 2.1

Cons

- huge power consumption under full load
- extremely expensive

Price and availability

Nvidia's current RRP asking price for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition is $1,999. At the time of review, the graphics card is listed but unavailable on Amazon and Best Buy.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 marks yet another major milestone in the development of modern high-end graphics cards. The innovations in the area of AI optimization take centerstage this time because, in terms of manufacturing technology, Blackwell and Ada Lovelace are still sticking with a 4 nm width structure.

This also makes it obvious that the significant efficiency improvements seen with the introduction of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 are not to be expected. Even a mega-corporation such as Nvidia cannot circumvent physical limits, and this is why it is seeking alternative ways of further improving the performance of its pixel accelerators. With the introduction of DLSS in the RTX 2000 series, the first foundation stone for further technological advances was already laid. These enjoyed further improvements in the following generations and expanded with frame generation (FG). Now, Nvidia is going one step further.

With the Blackwell architecture, Nvidia is introducing DLSS 4 and multi-frame generation (MFG), which generates up to three frames and thereby massively increases the frame rate. DLSS 4 relies on the so-called transformer model, which also benefits the previous generations, up to the RTX 2000 series. Slight performance gains and better image quality are to be expected. However, the combination of DLSS and MFG is reserved for the RTX 5000 GPUs.

With today's release of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition, the manufacturer has set the benchmark even higher and, combined with its new features, it manages to outshine the previous top dog from Nvidia itself. Even without the AI ​​helpers, you can expect a realistic performance gain of around 25 to 30 percent.

A glance at the benchmark results makes it clear that you can no longer do without artificial support in many scenarios. With today's launch of the flagship, 75 games support the new technologies, some of which have been implemented natively in the games or can be activated via the Nvidia app. According to Nvidia, there should be no differences in performance between the native integration and the settings via the Nvidia app.

DLSS 4 features (source: Nvidia)
DLSS 4 features (source: Nvidia)

Nvidia has completely overhauled the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Edition's design and is using a multi-PCB design for the first time — certainly a result of the new cooling design. The graphics card only takes up two slots in the system, which means it will be possible to build even smaller form factor (SFF) systems possessing enormous 3D performance.

However, optimum ventilation is crucial since the resulting heat from the 575 W GPU should not be neglected.

Specifications

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Processor
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8 x 4.7 - 5.2 GHz, 162 W PL2 / Short Burst, 120 W PL1 / Sustained, Granite Ridge (Zen5)
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 - 32 GB VRAM, Core: 2407 MHz, RAM: 2209 MHz, 575 W TDP, Nvidia 571.86 (PR)
Memory
32 GB 
, DDR5-6000 MT/s
Mainboard
AMD X870E
Storage
Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G, 2048 GB 
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 40 x 306 x 132 ( = 1.57 x 12.05 x 5.2 in)
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Weight
1.832 kg ( = 64.62 oz / 4.04 pounds), Power Supply: 0 g ( = 0 oz / 0 pounds)
Price
2329 EUR
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition's power adapter
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition with Palit GeForce RTX 4090 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition with Palit GeForce RTX 4090 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition

First impressions and build quality

As soon as you unbox it, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 makes a positive impression with its striking design and extremely high-quality workmanship. The GPU's housing is mainly made of metal, and the extremely well-thought-out design ensures significantly improved heat dissipation. The clean lines, the modern dual-fan design, and the subtle Nvidia logo provide distinct accents that underline the graphics card's premium credentials.

With a length of around 30.4 cm and a weight of 1.8 kg, the RTX 5090 is an impressive graphics card. Compared to its immediate predecessors, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has a much slimmer design.

The first impression is rounded off by well-thought-out details, such as the improved heat sink layout and the optimized airflow channels, both of which are intended to ensure efficient cooling. The RTX 5090 not only looks like a technical powerhouse, but it also has the feel and build quality of a premium product.

Technical details compared

Features RTX 5090 (FE) RTX 4090 (FE) RTX 3090 Ti RTX 3090 (FE)
Chip GB202 AD102 GA102 GA102
FinFET process 4 nm 4 nm 8 nm 8 nm
CUDA cores 21,760 16,384 10,752 10,496
Texture units 680 512 336 328
Tensor cores 680 5th gen. 512 4th gen. 336 3rd gen. 328 3rd gen.
RT cores 170 128 84 82
GPU base clock 2,010 MHz 2,235 MHz 1,560 MHz 1,395 MHz
GPU boost clock 2,407 MHz 2,520 MHz 1,860 MHz 1,695 MHz
Memory bus 512 bit 384 bit 384 bit 384 bit
Memory bandwidth 1,792 GB/s 1,008 GB/s 1,008 GB/s 936 GB/s
Video memory 32 GB GDDR7 24 GB GDDR6X 24 GB GDDR6X 24 GB GDDR6X
TGP (total graphics power) 575 W 450 W 450 W 350 W

Performance: For the first time, 32 GB of VRAM and PCIe 5.0

With the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, the GPU world has reached a new milestone. For the first time, a consumer desktop graphics card is offering 32 GB of GDDR7 VRAM, which operates at a bandwidth of up to 1.79 TB/s. This massive memory ensures smooth operation in memory-intensive applications such as 8K video editing, AI development and complex 3D rendering. Gamers benefit from this performance, especially in the area of high-resolution textures and extremely demanding open-world titles.

Another technical leap is the support of PCIe 5.0. This interface offers twice the bandwidth compared to PCIe 4.0, which not only optimizes data transfer between the GPU and the CPU but also ensures compatibility with future hardware innovations.

The combination of 32 GB of VRAM and PCIe 5.0 makes the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 a superior tool for creative professionals and ambitious gamers alike. Nvidia is setting new standards when it comes to performance and future viability.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (image source: Nvidia)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (image source: Nvidia)

Test conditions

Our test system for this review was the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D based on an Asrock X870E Taichi motherboard.

Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to use our previous GPU test system based on the Intel Core i9-14900K on the Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero mainboard. This system simply refused to play ball with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090.

To complete our test, we were forced to switch to the new system. The AMD system will accompany us on most of our future GPU tests.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090's new features

From a technical point of view, Nvidia has changed a lot when it comes to the Blackwell architecture. This new architecture brings the most significant improvements in the area of AI. This was already apparent, with the TOPS of the GeForce RTX 5090 (3,352 TOPS) having increased significantly compared to a GeForce RTX 4090 (1,321 TOPS). In addition, Nvidia has now subjected the tensor cores to further optimizations in its 5th generation and this results in significantly greater performance.

Among other things, Blackwell RTX offers neural shaders that act as programmable shaders. The RTX Neural Shaders SDK enables developers to train their game data and shader code on an RTX AI PC and accelerate their neural representations and model weights for their duration with NVIDIA Tensor Cores. During training, neural game data is compared with conventional data and improved in several cycles. The neural shaders will also find their way into DirectX and will, therefore, not be an RTX 5000 feature.

The neural shaders will make it possible to display even more realistic skin, hair, and faces. In future, we will probably see and hear the terms RTX Hair or RTX Skin more frequently and they are intended to further improve the gaming experience.

By constantly training the AI ​​with raw data, the results are getting better and more realistic. Another benefit is the low VRAM requirement for these features.

Synthetic benchmarks

Before we focus on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 FE's gaming performance, let's take a look at the performance achieved in the synthetic tests. It's no secret that the new flagship achieves top scores, but users are more interested in how much additional performance they can expect.

In the first comparison, we observed a performance increase of 27 percentage points compared to a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. In individual tests, we can see increases of more than 50%, although older benchmarks are unable to take advantage of the Blackwell GPU's base performance.

However, one trend is clear: the higher the resolution, the greater the lead the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 enjoys over an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. AMD has already surrendered the crown for the previous generation's fastest desktop GPU performance.

AMD's current top model, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, doesn't come close to the performance found in an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. With the now even more powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, the gap is even bigger.

Performance Rating - Percent
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
95.8 pt
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
75.2 pt
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
58.8 pt
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
43.4 pt
3DMark
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
48663 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
37130 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
32717 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
19265 Points
Fire Strike Extreme Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
61842 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
45849 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
40729 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
23768 Points
Steel Nomad Score
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
14376 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
14142 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
9243 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
7309 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
6891 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
5209 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
4941 Points
2560x1440 Port Royal Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
37335 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
26159 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
17183 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
12947 Points
2560x1440 Speed Way Score
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
14516 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
10187 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
6554 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
5299 Points
Unigine Superposition
7680x4320 8k Optimized
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
18686 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
12738 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
8937 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
6961 Points
3840x2160 4k Optimized
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
44524 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
33512 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
23961 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
16027 Points
1920x1080 1080p Extreme
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
28585 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
21845 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
18045 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
11964 Points
Unigine Heaven 4.0
Extreme Preset DX11
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
544.9 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
489.5 fps
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
384.1 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
309.1 fps
Extreme Preset OpenGL
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
550.7 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
476.1 fps
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
420.3 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
281.9 fps
Unigine Valley 1.0
1920x1080 Extreme HD DirectX AA:x8
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
308.8 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
295.3 fps
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
281.4 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
241.3 fps
1920x1080 Extreme HD Preset OpenGL AA:x8
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
317.9 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
308.6 fps
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
298.7 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
221.3 fps
Affinity Photo 2 - Combined (Single / Multi GPU)
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
11701 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
10031 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
9674 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
9343 Points
ComputeMark v2.1
1024x600 Normal, Score
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
120417 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
91531 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
64580 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
47608 Points
1024x600 Normal, Fluid 3DTex
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
18605 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
10592 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
8966 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
5460 Points
1024x600 Normal, Fluid 2DTexArr
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
8647 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
7970 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
6917 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
4435 Points
1024x600 Normal, Mandel Vector
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
24689 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
17280 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
12783 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
9578 Points
1024x600 Normal, Mandel Scalar
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
28468 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
22799 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
15533 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
10899 Points
1024x600 Normal, QJuliaRayTrace
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
40008 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
33943 Points
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
19328 Points
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
17235 Points
V-Ray Benchmark Next 4.10 - GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
2392 mpaths
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
1927 mpaths
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
883 mpaths
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
135 mpaths

Professional applications

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 impresses in SPECviewperf 2020 with significantly higher performance than an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. Thanks to the new Blackwell architecture, an increased number of CUDA cores and massively higher memory throughput, it delivers 24 to 52% better performance than the former flagship in subtests such as 3dsmax-07 and energy-03.

This discipline has always been one of AMD's strengths, and that can also be seen here. However, the driver-side graphics card optimization that is normally only reserved for workstation graphics cards is not available for consumer models.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
R7 9800X3D
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
R7 9800X3D
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
R7 9800X3D
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
R7 9800X3D
SPECviewperf 2020
-20%
-49%
26%
3840x2160 Medical (medical-03)
51.2
43.3
-15%
21.1
-59%
107
109%
3840x2160 Maya (maya-06)
697
601
-14%
363
-48%
565
-19%
3840x2160 Energy (energy-03)
196
95
-52%
56.4
-71%
194
-1%
3840x2160 Creo (creo-03)
136
134
-1%
114
-16%
223
64%
3840x2160 CATIA (catia-06)
109
92.1
-16%
59.3
-46%
149
37%
3840x2160 3ds Max (3dsmax-07)
297
227
-24%
139
-53%
187
-37%

Gaming performance

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition's native gaming performance sets new standards. However, the increase in performance compared to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is significantly smaller than that seen from an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. Using the same manufacturing process means Nvidia didn't manage to further shrink the size of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090.

At 4K resolution, the GeForce RTX 5090 delivers constant frame rates of over 100 fps in current AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 2.1: Phantom Liberty or Indiana Jones and The Great Circle.

But the truth is that there are games even the new flagship struggles with. In Black Myth: Wukong and Star Wars Outlaws, we didn't even hit 60 fps, and that is in the absence of ray tracing. The comparison models perform even worse in this area and show how demanding some games can be.

Performance Rating - Percent
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
100 pt
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
78.7 pt
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
60.7 pt
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
45.5 pt
The Witcher 3 - 3840x2160 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
235 (74.7min, 174.5P0.1, 205P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
176.5 (97.6min, 151.8P0.1, 159.7P1) fps -25%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
140.7 (41.4min, 120.3P0.1, 130.4P1) fps -40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
97.8 (36.5min, 87.2P0.1, 90.2P1) fps -58%
Hogwarts Legacy - 3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:High T
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
100.6 (19.4min, 33.6P0.1, 65.7P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
85.7 (32.9min, 52.2P0.1, 76.1P1) fps -15%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
67.2 (25min, 56.1P0.1, 61.2P1) fps -33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
50.8 (26min, 29.7P0.1, 37.8P1) fps -50%
Baldur's Gate 3 - 3840x2160 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
172 (96.1min, 153.6P0.1, 157.7P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
134.1 (117.4min, 120P0.1, 121.8P1) fps -22%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
102.6 (91.3min, 91.7P0.1, 92.3P1) fps -40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
70.4 (60.7min, 61.7P0.1, 62.5P1) fps -59%
Cyberpunk 2077 2.1 Phantom Liberty - 3840x2160 Ultra Preset (FSR off)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
108.6 (85.8min) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
76.2 (60.4min) fps -30%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
68.2 (57.5min) fps -37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
43.7 (36.7min) fps -60%
Alan Wake 2 - 3840x2160 High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
92 (32.8min, 43.8P0.1, 58.4P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
74.7 (28.4min, 46.7P0.1, 60.4P1) fps -19%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
66.6 (39min, 40.8P0.1, 58.2P1) fps -28%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
40.9 (31min, 32P0.1, 34.7P1) fps -56%
F1 24 - 3840x2160 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
123.2 (96min, 88P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
80 (65min, 63P1) fps -35%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
51.9 (40min, 40P1) fps -58%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
44.4 (38min, 35P1) fps -64%
Black Myth: Wukong - 3840x2160 cinematic TSR 100
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
57 (46min) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
49 fps -14%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
40 (32min) fps -30%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
32 (26min) fps -44%
Star Wars Outlaws - 3840x2160 cinem. ultra
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
44.5 (35.2min, 35.9P0.1, 37.9P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
33.7 (29.3min, 29.5P0.1, 30.3P1) fps -24%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
21.8 (18.8min, 18.8P0.1, 19.2P1) fps -51%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
17.8 (15.2min, 15.3P0.1, 15.9P1) fps -60%
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 - 3840x2160 Extreme Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
145 fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
120 fps -17%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
113 fps -22%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
63 fps -57%
Stalker 2 - 3840x2160 Epic Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
79.5 (37.2min, 49.9P0.1, 56.9P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
65.6 (20.2min, 38.5P0.1, 50.3P1) fps -17%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
48.5 (39.3min, 42.2P0.1, 43.2P1) fps -39%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
36.6 (19min, 21.7P0.1, 30.5P1) fps -54%
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - 3840x2160 Very Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
128 (108.8min, 112.4P0.1, 116.9P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
108.2 (95.8min, 99P0.1, 101.2P1) fps -15%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D
76.8 (68.2min, 70.2P0.1, 71.3P1) fps -40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
60.7 (55.1min, 56P0.1, 56.5P1) fps -53%

DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation (MFG)

The DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation features provide a massive performance boost. With DLSS 4, the image quality doesn't suffer in any manner, and this is something we can confirm based on the games we tested.

In a direct duel with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, we initially saw a similar performance gain to the one observed in native game tests. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 only managed to reach its full performance potential when using MGF 4x, with the frame rate being almost doubled. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is miles ahead, unrivalled and unchallenged.

But do average frame rates always guarantee a smooth gaming experience? We say no because the P1 values ​​are also important to enable smooth gameplay.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 values aren't always perfect. When testing Alan Wake 2, we saw a relatively large difference between the average frame rate and the P1 values. Ultimately, the high values ​​still provide a subjectively very smooth gaming experience. Future driver optimizations could improve this situation.

We recorded significantly better values ​​for Star Wars Outlaws, which once again shows that you have to look at each individual game in detail to be able to make an authoritative statement.

However, one thing is certain. In the future, you won't be able to look past the AI ​​upscalers if you wish to enjoy games in full-detail splendor with ray tracing enabled.

Cyberpunk 2077 2.1 Phantom Liberty
3840x2160 Ray Tracing Overdrive Preset + DLSS 4 Transformer Quality (no FG)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
62.6 (56.2min) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
49.9 (45.5min) fps -20%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
19.5 (17.9min) fps -69%
3840x2160 Ray Tracing Overdrive Preset + DLSS 4 Transformer Quality + Frame Generation (M)FG 2x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
114.4 (104.7min) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
89.5 (82.1min) fps -22%
3840x2160 Ray Tracing Overdrive Preset + DLSS 4 Transformer Quality + Frame Generation MFG 4x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
209 (192.8min) fps
Star Wars Outlaws
3840x2160 cinem. ultra, RT ultra, DLSS, FG RR
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
94.6 (57.2min, 72.3P0.1, 79.6P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
80.9 (29.2min, 32.1P0.1, 34.8P1) fps -14%
3840x2160 cinem. ultra, RT ultra, DLSS, FG 4x, RR
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
164.2 (82min, 110.6P0.1, 126.5P1) fps
Alan Wake 2
3840x2160 High Preset + Ultra Ray Tracing + Quality DLSS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
75.2 (37.2min, 41.7P0.1, 50.7P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
58.8 (33.5min, 35P0.1, 38.1P1) fps -22%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D
25.4 (18.7min, 19.6P0.1, 20.9P1) fps -66%
3840x2160 High Preset + Ultra Ray Tracing + Quality DLSS + FG 2x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
132.3 (29.3min, 48.2P0.1, 82.4P1) fps
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D
103.7 (32.7min, 36.5P0.1, 40.3P1) fps -22%
3840x2160 High Preset + Ultra Ray Tracing + Quality DLSS + FG 4x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D
244 (49.5min, 86.2P0.1, 142.4P1) fps

An overview of the games tested with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 FE

lowmed.highultraQHD DLSSQHD4K DLSS4K
F1 24 (2024) 286 215 187.2 123.2
Black Myth: Wukong (2024) 102 107 85 85 57
Star Wars Outlaws (2024) 113.6 120.2 80.8 75.4 44.5
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 (2024) 218 204 196 148 145
Stalker 2 (2024) 127.9 214 112.7 158.8 79.5
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024) 211 178.6 128
show all (5 hidden)

Emissions: 575 W dissipation

Noise emissions

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090's noise emissions are surprisingly in check despite its enormous power consumption of up to 575 W. Thanks to an improved cooling system and the multi-PCB design, Nvidia uses the front and rear areas of the reference design to force air directly through the fins.

In this open design, we measured a sound pressure level of up to 45 dB(A), which is really low in relation to the power consumption. With intensive loads, such as 4K gaming or professional workloads, the fan noise increased to around 45 dB(A). In 2D mode without stress, the graphics card operated silently thanks to the fan stop mode.

Noise Level

Idle
27.1 / 27.1 / 27.1 dB(A)
Load
39.5 / 45 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance)   environment noise: 24.8 dB(A)
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2039.637.3353633.834.739.62541.932.732.933.931.132.241.93139.431.834.332.132.63239.44027.827.522.723.423.92427.85029.828.832.932.933.535.529.86330.426.117.417.318.418.830.48031.628.218.518.919.611.831.610032.531.32323.223.12132.512536.335.815.315.815.310.936.31603933.814.215.214.98.73920040.432.315.217.315.412.540.425035.530.114.716.214.39.435.531536.431.813.313.914.19.336.440039.131.79.89.910.18.339.150037.1309.79.19.58.237.163032.1249.99.810.39.132.180032.924.910.61010.29.432.9100030.220.810.410.410.510.130.2125032.121.911.211.211.31132.1160033.324.21211.812.711.333.3200035.827.513.613.113.211.835.8250032.125.914.414.514.512.332.131503129.215.215.715.413.331400029.828.416.516.417.41429.850002828.21717.117.214.128630028.128.617.117.117.114.628.1800033.427.4171716.814.833.41000032.426.118.518.31814.732.41250028.324.318.418.317.814.428.31600028.124.821.521.921.813.928.1SPL44.939.527.127.127.224.844.9N5.63.50.80.80.80.65.6median 32.5median 28.2median 14.7median 15.7median 14.9median 11.8median 32.5Delta3.3333.22.42.63.3hearing rangehide median Fan NoiseNvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition

Temperature

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition's cooling design has been extensively revised and does justice to the card's high performance. The cooling concept is therefore the real highlight of the new Blackwell graphics card.

Although the power consumption has increased to 575 W, Nvidia has made the graphics card smaller relying on a 2-slot design. A large vapor chamber conducts the heat from the centrally placed circuit board to the sides.

When installed horizontally, the graphics chip in our closed system heats up to just over 80 °C, although the VRAM reads 92 °C. We were not able to read the hot spot temperature directly. For the best possible heat transfer from the chip to the vapor chamber, as before, Nvidia uses liquid metal instead of thermal paste.

Despite the enormous power consumption, which can be kept stable under sustained load, the temperatures remain within a reasonable range. The enormous waste heat, which is also due to the new cooler design of the Founders Edition, heats the entire PC, and this should be taken into account when planning your system.

If, as in our case, the AiO is installed in the upper area, this leads to significantly increased CPU temperatures.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 during the stress test
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 during the stress test
The top of our PC case during the stress test
The top of our PC case during the stress test
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 during the stress test
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 during the stress test
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 during the stress test
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 during the stress test

Energy management: Record power consumption levels

As we have often previously mentioned, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 sets new records in terms of performance. But we also saw new records set regarding the power consumption — an extremely high figure of 575 W. Our synthetic performance tests showed a performance increase of 27%. This is also the exact value we recorded in the stress test using FurMark, and our test system drew a whopping 725 watts from the wall.

Since Nvidia has not introduced a new manufacturing process with the Blackwell architecture, we have not observed any noticeable progress in terms of increased efficiency in native performance. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 would only cut a better figure when combined with the new features such as multi-frame generation.

Anyone wishing to install an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition in their PC system should follow Nvidia's power supply recommendation and use, at minimum a 1,000 W power supply.

If possible, a 12V 2x6 power cable should be used directly to avoid tangled cables with the provided adapter. This is also an area Nvidia has taken to completely redesign the cables. They are now much more flexible and a little longer, which should make the installation more straightforward.

Power Consumption / FurMark 1.19 GPU Stress Test (external Monitor)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
725 (721min, 721P1 - 758max) Watt *
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
573 (565min, 566P1 - 585max) Watt * +21%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
546 (533min, 542P1 - 557max) Watt * +25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
478 (475min, 476P1 - 488max) Watt * +34%
Power Consumption / The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
631 (586min, 590P1 - 669max) Watt *
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
558 (551min, 553P1 - 572max) Watt * +12%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
493 (487min, 487P1 - 512max) Watt * +22%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
489 (481min, 482P1 - 505max) Watt * +23%
Power Consumption / Cyberpunk 2077 FHD ultra no FSR (external Monitor)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
636 (616min, 619P1 - 647max) Watt *
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
593 (588min, 588P1 - 601max) Watt * +7%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
549 (540min, 542P1 - 554max) Watt * +14%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
514 (508min, 510P1 - 523max) Watt * +19%
Power Consumption / Witcher 3 ultra Efficiency (external Monitor)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
0.617 fps per Watt +9%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
0.567 fps per Watt
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
0.552 fps per Watt -3%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
0.3904 fps per Watt -31%

* ... smaller is better

Power consumption with an external monitor

04080120160200240280320360400440480520560600640680720Tooltip
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1280x720 FurMark 1.19 GPU Stress Test (external Monitor): Ø725 (721-758)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1280x720 FurMark 1.19 GPU Stress Test (external Monitor): Ø478 (475-488)
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1280x720 FurMark 1.19 GPU Stress Test (external Monitor): Ø546 (533-557)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1280x720 FurMark 1.19 GPU Stress Test (external Monitor): Ø573 (565-585)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor): Ø631 (586-669)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor): Ø489 (481-505)
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor): Ø558 (551-572)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; 1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor): Ø493 (487-512)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D GeForce RTX 5090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; Idle 1min (external Monitor): Ø118 (114.2-127.8)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; Idle 1min (external Monitor): Ø100.2 (97.9-108.9)
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D Radeon RX 7900 XTX, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; Idle 1min (external Monitor): Ø102.6 (99.1-112.6)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, R7 9800X3D, Kingston KC3000 2048G SKC3000D2048G; Idle 1min (external Monitor): Ø108.1 (102.7-112.5)

Notebookcheck's overall impressions of the RTX 5090 FE

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition sets new standards in the high-end GPU sector. With enormous power based on the new Blackwell architecture, more CUDA cores, DLSS 4.0 and multi-frame generation, it's ideal for 4K and 8K gaming as well as professional workloads.

The completely redesigned cooling design ensures efficient heat dissipation that comes with acceptable noise levels without the graphics card's performance having to be throttled under sustained load. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition has a fit and finish that matches its premium product status.

Transparency

The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was given to the author by the manufacturer free of charge for the purposes of review. There was no third-party influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.

This is how Notebookcheck is testing

Every year, Notebookcheck independently reviews hundreds of laptops and smartphones using standardized procedures to ensure that all results are comparable. We have continuously developed our test methods for around 20 years and set industry standards in the process. In our test labs, high-quality measuring equipment is utilized by experienced technicians and editors. These tests involve a multi-stage validation process. Our complex rating system is based on hundreds of well-founded measurements and benchmarks, which maintains objectivity. Further information on our test methods can be found here.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition Review: The desktop GPU performance beast that eclipses everything!
Sebastian Bade, 2025-01-23 (Update: 2025-01-24)