As documented on the Linus Tech Tips (LTT) subreddit, a lucky customer presented their freshly-delivered Founders Edition (FE) GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card model. Newly registered member, EssDee3D, had much to celebrate—having acquired launch stock, presumably at a non-scalped price—but they were confused by their package's contents. A question was pushed out to the LTT community: "can someone explain what happened here? Direct from NVIDIA...I ordered an RTX 5080, and I got a graphics card with 5090 engraved on it. The outer box has the 5080 SKU on it. Wondering if anyone else has seen something like this before?" Unique circumstances—possibly caused by a mix-up during the manufacturing process—have produced an oddball hybrid. EssDee3D proceeded to add this curiosity to their PC build—following an absorption of (very mixed) feedback from other LTT members. Basic diagnostics—performed in a Windows OS environment—revealed that the card in question housed a bog-standard GeForce RTX 5080 GB203-based GPU.

NVIDIA's two Founders Edition shroud designs—for its GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 SKUs—look nigh identical. TechPowerUp's resident graphics card reviewer extraordinaire—W1zzard—captured a handful of comparison shots for usage in his evaluation of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition model. The GeForce RTX 5090 FE's cooling solution—utilizing liquid metal, instead of thermal paste—is more robust when compared to the one present on its step-down sibling—rated for a TDP of 575 W (versus 360 W). Evidently, designed to temper any radiance emitted by Team Green's GB202 GPU. EssDee3D's "chimera" card was placed in the correct packaging; a 5080-labelled paper-fiber box—but the shroud's backside advertises itself as a GeForce RTX 5090 FE. PC hardware news outlets and Redditors are wondering whether additional examples—of jumbled up "Blackwell" GPU Founders Edition parts—will appear online over the next month or two, or three...or more.EssDee3D uploaded a short form follow-up video on YouTube: