Price, availability, and specsDesignPerformance benchmarksGaming benchmarksCompetitionShould you buy?
Everything was hand-built and benchmarked in a standard home environment, not a lab.
The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.
The RTX 5090 Founders Edition’s ‘top side’ features only heatsink fins with a sleek design.
NVIDIA’s new flagship RTX 5090 launches on January 30, 2025.
In the US, I’ve spotted Founders Edition cards atNVIDIAandBest Buy.
As for reference cards from other brands, listings are already showing up atNeweggandB&H.
Here’s a look at the raw specs of the RTX 5090 and its predecessors.
RTX 4090 vs. RTX 5090 specs
Who is the target audience?
Is it worth the enormous price tag?
Compared to the RTX 4090 FE’s width, NVIDIA has slimmed down the RTX 5090 FE to 50%.
Probably not for most PC users, even if you’re a gamer or a creator.
So, who exactly is NVIDIA targeting with its new flagship GPU?
I love building gaming PCs, and writing for Windows Central gives me access to the latest hardware.
NVIDIA’s 600W 12V2x6 adapter splits into four 8-pin PCIe connectors.
With decades of experience, I can confidently explain the specifics of GPUs.
In that sense, it’s worth the money.
NVIDIA’s 50-series GPUs come with another significant perk:DLSS 4Multi Frame Generation (MFG).
Using NVIDIA’s PCIe power adapter means routing four 8-pin cables to the RTX 5090.
NVIDIA recommends a 1,000W PSU for the RTX 5090, whereas the RTX 4090 was comfortable with 850W.
All those extra cores don’t come without a cost other than money.
Admittedly, the downsizing only happened in its width, but it wasn’t by a negligible amount.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 FE vs. RTX 4090 FE performance in 3DMark.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
Naturally, that comes with a weight reduction, too.
I’d still recommendusing a GPU sag mountto prevent any damage to your PCIe 5.0 socket to be safe.
The four-way adapter looks ugly if your PC case doesn’t feature plentiful cable channels.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 FE vs. RTX 4090 FE performance in Blender 4.3.0.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
It’s a dramatic increase and more evidence of the consequences of shrinking the RTX 50 Series GPU chassis.
2experiments with AI frames but no upscaling.
Compared to synthetic benchmarking, PC games generally run at the same frequency but with a higher power draw.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 FE vs. RTX 4090 FE performance in Geekbench 6.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t exhibit any noticeable input delay with NVIDIA Reflex enabled.
So, what about during gameplay?
It’s impressive tech and makes for a viable 4K120Hz experience at maximum configs.
3DMark Speed Way running in ‘stress test’ mode with the RTX 5090 FE to compare metrics against an RTX 4090 FE.
It’s more of a viable pick for enthusiast gamers, and the price difference is staggering.
RTX 5090: Should you buy it?
The cost increase matches the performance bump if you find it for a fair price.
RTX 4090 FE (left) hotspot at 54.7°C compared to RTX 5090 FE (right) hotspot at 66.4°C.
Something else even the RTX 5080 at $999 will be a much better fit for most enthusiast-level gamers.
See at NeweggSee at B&HSee at AmazonSee at Best Buy
RTX 4090 FE (left) fan noise reaching 44.7 dBA compared to RTX 5090 FE (right) at 50.5 dBA.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 FE vs. RTX 4090 FE performance in a selection of games.
Silent Hill 2 (2024) performance testing with RTX 5090 and RTX 4090.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 performance testing with RTX 5090 and RTX 4090.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
Baldur’s Gate 3 performance with RTX 5090 FE compared to RTX 4090 FE.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
Cyberpunk 2077 with Multi-Frame Gen set to 4x and no DLSS scaling.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
Cyberpunk 2077 with Multi-Frame Gen off and no DLSS scaling.(Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)
Cyberpunk 2077 with live benchmark charts monitoring DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Gen at 4x (left) and MFG off (right.)
NVIDIA is king of the hill with the RTX 5090, threatened only by its siblings.
The new fans are pretty, but they don’t offset an average temperate increase.
