Nvidia Geforce Rtx 5090 Review: A New King Of 4k Is Here

Nvidia’s RTX 4090 was a beast of a graphics card. It was a immense GPU that delivered existent 4K gaming for those who really wanted it and a immense jump successful capacity complete nan previous-generation RTX 3090. Naturally, nan company’s latest top-of-the-line GPU, nan GeForce RTX 5090, now has a batch of expectations riding connected it erstwhile it arrives connected January 30th.

But astatine $1,999, nan RTX 5090 is steep — $400 overmuch than nan RTX 4090 Founders Edition astatine its launch. (It could tally you moreover overmuch successful nan style of a caller powerfulness proviso aliases higher power bills, peculiarly if you want to tally games for illustration Cyberpunk 2077 successful 4K.)

For those different dollars, you’re getting hardware improvements successful nan style of 32GB of VRAM and a redesigned Founders Edition insubstantial that’s shrunk down tin to caller incorrect a mini style facet PC. But nan apical usage mightiness really beryllium successful nan software: nan RTX 5090 is nan first Nvidia GPU pinch entree to nan caller DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation, which promises immense model title increases. We’re talking model rates not conscionable quadrupling but expanding by overmuch than 8x successful immoderate cases.

That different processing powerfulness group translates to amended performance, making nan RTX 5090 nan caller king of 4K gaming. It’s a $1,999 GPU for anyone who wants nan champion 4K gaming experience, developers consenting successful AI performance, and creators who want to accelerate video editing.

But nan RTX 5090 isn’t arsenic ample an betterment complete nan RTX 4090 arsenic that previous-generation insubstantial was complete nan RTX 3090, peculiarly successful games that don’t yet support DLSS 4 Multi Frame Gen. While it’s still a mini excessively early to show really wide developers will adopt Nvidia’s latest DLSS tech, I deliberation it whitethorn move retired to beryllium a batch overmuch important than nan existent hardware itself.

Hardware

When I first unboxed nan RTX 5090, I was amazed astatine really mini nan Founders Edition insubstantial was. Although nan caller GPU is still arsenic agelong and wide arsenic an RTX 4090, it’s obscurity adjacent arsenic thick. Where nan 4090 Founders Edition took up 3 slots and past some, nan two-slot 5090 is truthful slim it will caller incorrect mini style facet PCs, giving group overmuch overmuch elasticity this clip around.

The cardinal to nan two-slot creation is simply a caller cooling system. For nan Founders Edition card, Nvidia moved to double flowthrough fans that suck cooler aerial from beneath and exhaust it supra nan RTX 5090 into nan remainder of nan case, alternatively than retired nan apical and backmost of nan card. The PCB moves to nan halfway of nan card, pinch powerfulness pipes going retired successful immoderate directions that get cool aerial from this caller instrumentality layout.

The RTX 5090’s powerfulness connector is somewhat angled to make it easier to caller into cases wherever nan broadside expanse comes adjacent to rubbing nan GPU powerfulness cable. Nvidia bundles a dongle powerfulness adapter that uses 4 regular PCIe eight-pin powerfulness connectors, overmuch for illustration nan adapter for nan RTX 4090, though nan cables are somewhat overmuch elastic this time. This caller GPU supports an updated 12V-2x6 connector that has shorter sensing pins and somewhat longer conductor terminals, but existing 12VHPWR connectors will activity bully pinch nan RTX 5090, truthful you don’t petition to move point for a caller cable.

Nvidia recommends a 1,000-watt powerfulness proviso because nan RTX 5090 tin necktie a monolithic 575 watts of powerfulness — 125W overmuch than nan RTX 4090. The 12VHPWR cables are rated astatine 600 watts, truthful there’s mini room for overclocking. I was hoping that Nvidia’s RTX 50 bid would attraction overmuch connected ratio alternatively than push nan powerfulness necktie moreover higher, peculiarly arsenic nan RTX 4090 was already a ample jump from nan 350W RTX 3090. It’s disappointing that powerfulness necktie successful flagship GPUs has fundamentally reached nan level of what a azygous cablegram tin deliver, and I judge dream immoderate comes adjacent doesn’t require 2 12VHPWR cables.

4K and DLSS 4

For immoderate my 4K and 1440p testing, I’ve paired Nvidia’s RTX 5090 pinch AMD’s latest Ryzen 9 9800X3D processor and Asus’ 32-inch 4K OLED PG32UCDP monitor. That show is nan cleanable companion for nan RTX 5090: nan 240Hz refresh title is overmuch than tin for nan model rates nan insubstantial tin execute astatine 1440p, and games look awesome connected an OLED expanse pinch HDR enabled.

I’ve put nan RTX 5090 head-to-head pinch nan RTX 4090 and AMD’s closest competitor, nan RX 7900 XTX, to spot really Nvidia’s latest Blackwell architecture — which is simply a cognition of hardware and package support improvements — performs crossed a assortment of games. I’ve tested nan latest titles for illustration Black Myth: Wukong, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and immoderate of nan accustomed choices for illustration Cyberpunk 2077, Metro Exodus Enhanced, and moreover Shadow of nan Tomb Raider.

These games were each tested astatine very precocious aliases ultra settings connected nan RTX 5090, pinch a assortment of ray tracing and upscaling options successful games that support them, arsenic bully arsenic games without DLSS aliases ray-tracing support.

The prima of nan 4K show coming is DLSS 4 and Nvidia’s caller Multi Frame Generation method that tin dress up to 3 further frames per each traditionally rendered frame. It uses nan latest AI graphics models, powered by an updated transformer architecture that’s akin to what’s recovered successful ChatGPT to multiply model rates beyond what a GPU is usually tin of. Essentially, nan Tensor cores successful nan GPU return nan rendered frame, fig retired what nan adjacent 1 to 3 frames should look like, make them, and insert them earlier nan adjacent rendered frame. It’s really Nvidia tin committedness ample model title increases successful games for illustration Cyberpunk 2077 astatine 4K pinch afloat ray tracing enabled.

Nvidia is really trading nan RTX 50-series connected this caller Multi Frame Gen exertion arsenic a result, and immoderate of its trading has already reignited nan long-running “fake frames” statement astir DLSS Frame Generation. Some PC gamers personification based connected that this technique, which Nvidia introduced primitively pinch DLSS 3, is not reflective of nan existent capacity of GPUs.

I deliberation this connection will tally for nan entirety of this procreation of GPUs, but pinch much than 80 percent of RTX owners enabling DLSS successful games already, they’re apt to move to Frame Generation if they upgrade to nan latest Nvidia cards.

Most of nan existent issues pinch DLSS Frame Generation recreation down to nan effect of latency and image quality. Instead of nan Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) exemplary utilized successful erstwhile versions of DLSS, Nvidia has switched to a caller transformer exemplary for DLSS 4. This intends model procreation models are faster and usage small VRAM. The move too fixes immoderate of nan image ghosting and weird artifacts we’ve seen successful Cyberpunk 2077, and it does each of this while massively improving model rates pinch Multi Frame Gen and only adding a minuscule 6ms overmuch latency. 

That feels for illustration a bully tradeoff to me, but Multi Frame Generation useful champion erstwhile nan model title aft Super Resolution upscaling is already decent. Super Resolution is different DLSS characteristic that helps amended model rates and trim input latency by rendering astatine a small solution and utilizing AI to upscale to nan output resolution. For example, a crippled that would render astatine 27fps successful 4K pinch DLSS turned disconnected mightiness play astatine 60fps pinch Super Resolution. Multi Frame Generation tin bump that to 200fps and greatly amended nan mobility clarity, but it will still consciousness for illustration 60fps because it’s not nan aforesaid arsenic nan reduced input latency benefits that 200fps rendered traditionally would deliver. 

Nvidia supplied early DLSS 4-compatible builds of Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 for testing, and I focused astir of my Multi Frame Gen testing connected Cyberpunk 2077. While nan crippled is complete 4 years old, developer CD Projekt Red still manages to adhd nan latest upscaling and ray-tracing techniques into Cyberpunk 2077 connected a regular basis, pushing modern GPUs to nan max to get measurement tracing running. That makes it a celebrated premier for benchmarking and image analysis.

At 4K resolution, pinch afloat measurement tracing, ultra settings, and nary DLSS upscaling aliases model generation, Cyberpunk 2077 ran astatine conscionable 34fps. That’s astir 42 percent faster than an RTX 4090, but you really petition Super Resolution and Multi Frame Generation coming to thief nan crippled get measurement supra 60fps pinch everything cranked up. That shows you really important package improvements personification spell successful modern GPUs, and while DLSS 4 won’t settee nan connection astir “fake frames,” nan betterment it brings is undeniable.

You tin too return from 2x Multi Frame Gen (DLSS 3 Frame Generation) each nan measurement up to 4x Multi Frame Gen. I took nan 34fps afloat measurement traced type of Cyberpunk 2077 to a monolithic 371fps pinch DLSS ultra performance, 4x Multi Frame Gen, and nan CNN model. If you opt for nan Transformer model, you tin debar nan image ghosting issues of CNN and still get 211fps astatine DLSS worth mode and 4x Multi Frame Gen, without needing to driblet down to nan DLSS capacity modes that relationship small image quality. That’s overmuch than six times nan guidelines 34fps. I deliberation it’s worthy nan very mini capacity tradeoff to instrumentality to Transformer successful Cyberpunk 2077. 

Most of my 4K testing was performed without DLSS 4 Multi Frame Gen, simply because astir developers haven’t updated their games yet. While nan institution is promising overmuch than 75 games and apps will upgrade to DLSS 4 Multi Frame Gen erstwhile nan RTX 5090 launches connected January 30th, some, for illustration Black Myth: Wukong, won’t beryllium upgraded until later this year. If you really can’t clasp for developers to update their games, location will beryllium an action to portion DLSS Multi Frame Gen incorrect games done nan Nvidia app.

Still, not everything coming is astir package improvements. Without DLSS aliases Frame Gen involved, nan RTX 5090 was, connected average, 28 percent faster than nan RTX 4090 astatine 4K. That’s still obscurity adjacent arsenic ample of a jump arsenic I saw betwixt nan past 2 RTX generations, but it’s amended than nan RTX 5090 is tin of astatine 1440p.

The RTX 5090 managed overmuch than 60fps astatine 4K successful each crippled I tested, pinch Black Myth: Wukong being nan astir demanding astatine 62fps connected nan RTX 5090 compared to 47fps connected nan RTX 4090. DLSS managed to bump this up to 95fps without Frame Gen involved.

I saw nan biggest capacity improvements successful Cyberpunk 2077 astatine 4K, pinch nan RTX 5090 delivering 43 percent higher model rates complete nan RTX 4090 astatine ultra settings without DLSS aliases ray tracing involved. If you comparison nan RTX 5090 to AMD’s $999 Radeon RX 7900 XTX, past nan capacity dispersed is simply a monolithic 70 percent but astatine double nan price.

Forza Motorsport besides ran 35 percent amended connected nan RTX 5090 than nan RTX 4090 utilizing temporal anti-aliasing (TAA), and I moreover managed to deed 238fps connected mean successful Shadow of nan Tomb Raider astatine 4K connected nan RTX 5090.

I too ran immoderate AI and video workloads connected nan RTX 5090 conscionable to get a sensation for what it’s tin of complete nan RTX 4090. The RTX 5090 was astir 12 percent faster than nan RTX 4090 successful PugetBench’s DaVinci Resolve test, and successful Procyon’s AI XL (FP16) test, it was 40 percent faster. 

1440p benchmarks

At 1440p resolution, nan RTX doesn’t coming arsenic overmuch of a capacity usage arsenic astatine 4K. Black Myth: Wukong is 1 of nan overmuch demanding PC games correct now, and it’s nan only 1 wherever nan RTX 5090 grounded to coming overmuch than 100fps astatine 1440p without nan thief of FSR aliases DLSS. Enabling DLSS astatine 75 percent successful Black Myth: Wukong bumped nan RTX 5090 capacity to astir 120fps — closer to making usage of a 144Hz show — but it’s only 17 percent overmuch than nan RTX 4090.

Horizon Zero Dawn averaged 200fps connected nan RTX 5090 pinch very precocious settings and conscionable TAA enabled. That’s only 13 percent overmuch than nan RTX 4090 managed pinch nan aforesaid settings. Returnal too ran 19 percent faster without DLSS connected nan RTX 5090 than nan RTX 4090, and it’s a akin communicative successful Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, wherever nan RTX 5090 reached astir 200fps without DLSS, astir 15 percent overmuch than nan RTX 4090 delivered. 

The astir disappointing consequence was Assassin’s Creed Mirage, wherever nan RTX 5090 only managed 8 percent amended capacity than nan RTX 4090. 

Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Motorsport are uncommon examples of nan RTX 5090 delivering overmuch than a 30 percent capacity summation complete nan RTX 4090 astatine 1440p. Without DLSS enabled, nan RTX 5090’s lead complete nan 4090 astatine 1440p is astir 18 percent connected mean — a small jump wide than nan past generation, which saw nan RTX 4090 beating nan RTX 3090 by complete 40 percent successful aggregate titles.

DLSS 4’s Multi Frame Gen characteristic will evidently thief retired astatine 1440p, too, but retired of my proceedings suite of games, only Cyberpunk 2077 had support for it up of launch, truthful I focused my Multi Frame Gen testing astatine 4K.

At $1,999, I don’t deliberation galore group will beryllium picking up an RTX 5090 conscionable for 1440p, but if you’re considering it, past it mightiness beryllium worthy seeing really nan upcoming RTX 5080 performs astatine this resolution.

Power draw, fans, and heat

While DLSS Multi Frame Gen is showing promising early results, I’ve been acold small impressed pinch nan RTX 5090’s powerfulness draw. I managed to get it to highest astatine 578 watts during a 3D Mark Time Spy Extreme 4K benchmark. Even successful Cyberpunk 2077 pinch afloat ray tracing and nary DLSS, it peaked astatine 569 watts and hovered regularly supra 500 watts. The aforesaid proceedings connected nan RTX 4090 peaked astatine 427 watts. The different powerfulness necktie is really disappointing from this procreation — I was hoping for a batch overmuch ratio from Nvidia’s latest chips.

Even without ray tracing successful Cyberpunk 2077, nan RTX 5090 averages 477 watts of powerfulness draw. Power depletion will alteration by game, but successful titles wherever you’re really pushing it, it’s going to want 500 watts aliases more. I was hoping for overmuch ratio coming and for nan RTX 5090 to necktie small powerfulness than nan erstwhile procreation successful games for illustration Cyberpunk 2077. In point for illustration Valorant, it’s evidently going to necktie small than 200 watts, but astir non-pros aren’t spending $1,999 connected a GPU conscionable to play esports titles.

You’ll want to put successful astatine slightest a 1,000-watt powerfulness proviso for nan RTX 5090 aliases moreover beyond that to springiness you room for early upgrades. This different powerfulness necktie will too personification an effect connected your power bills, peculiarly if you’re successful a authorities for illustration nan UK wherever inferior prices personification skyrocketed successful caller years.

While nan powerfulness necktie is disappointing, astatine slightest I didn’t announcement immoderate contiguous powerfulness issues during my testing of nan RTX 5090. It deed a maximum of 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit) successful an unfastened proceedings bench, pinch nan fans reaching 1,500rpm during nan Cyberpunk 2077 testing. The RTX 4090 deed 64C successful nan aforesaid test. The RTX 5090 is simply a comparatively quiet card, and it still has a zero-rpm mode for illustration nan erstwhile RTX 4090, wherever nan fans extremity spinning erstwhile you’re idle aliases not rubbing nan GPU much. It tin get arsenic precocious arsenic 50C (122F) while idle successful this zero-rpm mode, though, and past nan fans footwear successful again to cool nan insubstantial down to a overmuch reasonable 30C (86F) idle temperature. I don’t personification a mini style facet suit to proceedings nan RTX 5090, but I’d ideate you’ll personification to deliberation cautiously astir cooling successful a overmuch enclosed case.

I haven’t tally into galore issues pinch nan RTX 5090, but I did announcement a less games crashing randomly connected nan pre-release drivers. Valorant often fails to motorboat aliases conscionable crashes earlier a crippled begins. The Finals refuses to load, pinch an correction that appears to beryllium anti-cheat related. I don’t callback akin issues pinch erstwhile generations of Nvidia GPUs, but location could beryllium different games that too clang aliases garbage to tally pinch nan RTX 5090 until developers and Nvidia spread nan early issues.

The RTX 5090 is undoubtedly a 4K king, but Nvidia hasn’t delivered nan axenic capacity gains coming for illustration it did pinch nan RTX 4090. While DLSS 4 is simply a boost to immoderate image worth and Frame Generation capacity that can’t beryllium ignored, I haven’t seen tin of Multi Frame Gen crossed a assortment of games to cognize really bully it useful successful each situation. The early look astatine Cyberpunk 2077 is promising for nan RTX 50 series, arsenic agelong arsenic different developers tin coming akin capacity gains without further latency aliases issues connected nan way. 

Of course, you should ne'er bargain point hoping that package improves it complete time, but Nvidia has proven pinch DLSS successful nan past that its GPUs surely do get amended pinch age. I’m consenting to liking that DLSS 4 Multi Frame Gen will amended a batch overmuch games moving connected nan RTX 50 bid for illustration it did pinch these early examples. DLSS 4 and its caller transformer exemplary are too arriving connected existing RTX cards to amended image quality, and Nvidia has hinted we mightiness moreover spot Multi Frame Gen yet look connected older generations.

$1,999 is still a batch to net for a GPU, moreover if it’s nary overmuch than nan RTX 4090 ended up trading for successful reality. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look for illustration AMD will moreover fuss competing pinch nan RTX 5090, and it’s still not clear really its caller AI-powered FSR 4 upscaling will comparison to DLSS 4. Nvidia stands unsocial astatine nan precocious extremity of nan GPU marketplace correct now, and $1,999 is nan worth to unlock nan champion that PC gaming has to offer.

If this worth aliases nan powerfulness necktie puts you disconnected of nan RTX 5090, Nvidia still has nan $999 RTX 5080 connected nan measurement — and nan $749 RTX 5070 Ti and $549 RTX 5070 successful February. On a axenic capacity basis, nan RTX 5090 isn’t a game-changer successful nan measurement nan RTX 4090 was. But if tin developers adopt DLSS 4, past this sleek GPU mightiness bully usher america into an era wherever package improvements matter overmuch than hardware alone.