The GeForce RTX 4090, an already substantial graphics card requiring specialized brackets to prevent it from falling and causing damage to a computer, is set to be outdone by Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 5090. Leaked specifications suggest that the new RTX 5090, expected to be a formidable upgrade, will feature more than 5,000 additional CUDA cores compared to the Ada Lovelace GPUs and a default Total Graphics Power (TGP) that may be demanding on electrical systems.
According to information from VideoCardz, the upcoming Blackwell GPUs from Nvidia are anticipated to offer significant improvements. These GPUs, rumored to have a power draw of 600W, will necessitate a substantial power supply unit (PSU). For comparison, the RTX 4090 has a base power draw of 450W.
Within the 50-series GPUs, the RTX 5080 is expected to have 10,752 CUDA cores and 16 GB of GDDR7 VRAM, while the RTX 5090 is anticipated to have an impressive 21,760 FP32 CUDA cores and 32 GB of VRAM on a 512-bit bus. The RTX 5080 presents a notable upgrade from the 4080, with 1,024 more CUDA cores and a 176 GB/s increase in memory bandwidth, along with a power draw of 400W compared to the 320W of its predecessor.
The leaked specifications were provided by the well-known Nvidia leaker Kopite7kimi on Twitter, who has been a reliable source for past leaks, such as those regarding the RTX 4090. However, it remains unclear whether the stated power draw refers to the Total Board Power (TBP) or TGP.
The RTX 5090’s other core values, clock speeds, and cooling mechanisms are still unknown. Previous claims by Kopite7kimi suggested that the RTX 5090 Founders Edition might feature a 2-slot cooler instead of a 4-slot design, potentially indicating the use of a non-standard cooling solution. However, without further details, such speculation remains uncertain.
Both the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 will require a PCIe 5.0 slot, which means users will need to upgrade their motherboards if they are currently using PCIe 4.0-based graphics cards.
These upcoming GPUs are expected to offer significant performance improvements for high-resolution gaming. The RTX 5090, in particular, appears to double the performance of the RTX 5080, raising questions about its potential cost. Additionally, users must consider the limitations imposed by their CPU computing power on the actual performance gains. While the RTX 5090 seems poised for enterprise-level tasks, current games may not necessitate such an upgrade, allowing many gamers to remain satisfied with the existing generation of GPUs.