Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card is coming later this month, and we managed to unbox one and compare its design to the RTX 4090. Like our first look at the RTX 5090, this isn't a review. Performance figures, benchmarks, and impressions beyond the hardware will come later.
The first thing that stands out about the RTX 5090 is that the packaging design has completely changed since the Founders Edition RTX 40 series. Nvidia has moved to house the RTX 5090 inside a smaller bone-shaped gray cardboard casing than It is located inside a much larger brown cardboard box.
The outside box, which reads “Inspired by gamers. Enhanced by ai. Built by Nvidia: Contains a new power adapter cable for the RTX 5090 that includes an updated version of the regular 12 VHPWR connector. You will need to use four regular eight-pin PCIe power connectors with this adapter or a new 12V-2×6 cable. The 12V-2×6 is almost identical to the existing 12VHPWR, as the new connector has shorter sense pins and slightly longer conductor terminals. The slight variation means that existing 12VHPWR cables will work fine with the RTX 5090.
The RTX 5090 itself is the same width and length as an RTX 4090, but it's now much thinner because it's just a two-slot card. Compared to the three-slot RTX 4090, it's impressive to see that Nvidia has managed to shrink its latest flagship GPU to this smaller form factor.
These changes to the exterior design also mean that Nvidia has overhauled its cooling for the RTX 5090. It has switched to using dual-flow fans that draw in cooler air from below and expel it over the top of the RTX 5090 and into the rest of the case. There's no rear exhaust on the RTX 5090 like there is on the RTX 40 series Founders Edition cards, but there are two small slots on either side to create a sort of airflow boundary so that hot air coming out the back top not recirculate below.
The RTX 5090's PCB is now located in the middle of the GPU, surrounded by large heat pipes that draw cool air from the dual fans. This allows Nvidia to certify the RTX 5090 Founders Edition small form factor, so it can fit into a variety of small cases. Nvidia has also relocated the power connector to be angled to the side, so it should be easier to position in cases where the side panel is almost touching the power cable.
On the back there are three DisplayPort 2.1b ports and a single HDMI 2.1b port. Interestingly, Nvidia has turned the ports upside down, so if you're used to connecting cables in a particular way or have tight cable management on the back of your PC, you'll need to flip the cables accordingly.
Like previous Founders Edition cards, the RTX 5090 also has LEDs that illuminate the top and side of the blank card. Nvidia has also chosen a slightly darker gray for the metal case of the RTX 5090. It's not as light as the regular Founders Edition cards in the RTX 40 series, but it's also not as black as the Super variants of the RTX 40 series. It's a refined color between the two.
We're not yet allowed to show the RTX 5090 inside a PC or powered on with its LED lights on, but Jayztwocents got “Special permission” to create a small form factor build if you're interested in seeing how it fits into a small case. We'll be back soon with a full review of the RTX 5090 to see exactly how it compares to the RTX 4090.
