Hands-on with Nvidia’s Big, New GPU, the RTX 5090

I don’t find many graphics cards attractive. Without some wild case designs or pre-built desktop PCs designed to deliver looks and power in equal measure, they’re already visible compared to other sleek, low-profile components. Nvidia RTX 5090 Founders Editionon the other hand, it looks downright threatening. It’s a slab of dark gray metal, a demanding, brick-like bug ready to jump into the PSU and completely consume your computer.

Nvidia sent me an RTX 5090 to review, but with the stipulation that I can’t show you in action just yet. I can’t even show it curling up hot in a desktop case. So here are my first impressions with these limitations.

The RTX 5090 Founders Edition is approximately 12 inches by 5.3 inches and 2 inches deep. It is about the same length and width RTX 4090 Founders Edition with the same two fan variations. However, the new card is shorter than the previous one. It’s a dual-slot card, though that doesn’t mean future OEMs will stick to those dimensions.

But for that, this is a heavy card. It had been in a cold FedEx truck for so long it almost hurt to touch the metal. Even at room temperature, the GPU felt thick, with virtually no space wasted on that metal and silicon slab. It’s the kind of card that makes me nervous to put in my case, supported by nothing more than a PCIe slot and two screws.

Compared to the other cards we got, namely the PNY RTX 4080 Super, Asus RTX 4080 Super and MSI RTX 4070 Ti Super – all with three fans – the 5090 seems more independent. It takes up less of a slot in your case, but desperately needs some kind of extra support for any edge that’s outside of your motherboard.

Nvidia swears that the new cooling hardware will be able to keep the card cool under pressure. The card inlet is at the bottom and the exhaust comes out of the vents at the top. This should be fine for most devices where airflow is usually bottom to top.

The weight adds to the overall aesthetic of the Founders Edition. It’s especially scary on gray metals compared to the RTX 4090’s silver sides. You can see it when you turn on enough light to see the heat pipes running over the GPU. Otherwise, the card still includes the bright GeForce RTX logo when powered up.

The Founders Edition card now comes in a corrugated cardboard box that should mimic the 5090’s footprint. Inside is the GPU without any antistatic bag or sleeve. This was not necessary as the packing was tight enough to keep it from moving. Besides the card, the box came with a single, short 4x PCIe 5.0 adapter. Nvidia said you’ll need either an adapter connected to four PCIe 8-pin connectors or a 600W PCIe Gen 5 cable.

It also requires at least 1000W of system power, so if you’re comfortable running an RTX 4080 Super with an 850W PSU, that’s another piece you’ll need to upgrade to support Nvidia’s big new GPU.

The 16-pin power connector now sits at an angle to the card itself. This might be a boon for smaller cases, but I know that in my current setup with the Origin PC, it would mean I’d have to actually bend the power connector to fit the correct slots. The only ports you’ll find behind it are three DisplayPort 2.1 and one HDMI 2.1b.