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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition Hands On, Taken Apart

I still don't understand why the default heatsink for most versions of a 575W GPU is an air cooler while closed-loop liquid coolers are super-popular for 125W CPUs. Should definitely be reversed.
Because nobody wants to deal with the warranty headaches for a water cooler, maybe?
 
Because nobody wants to deal with the warranty headaches for a water cooler, maybe?

Warranty headaches because of the sagging / PCB cracking is better ? :laugh:

Chinese publication Benchlife has shared a preview of the Gigabyte B650E Aorus Pro X USB4, which supports AMD's next-generation Ryzen Zen 5 processors. One of the motherboard's key selling points is the primary expansion slot, which can support graphics cards up to 128 pounds.
Despite being among the best graphics cards, the GeForce RTX 4090 has endured much controversy. First, there were reports of the 16-pin power connector suffering meltdowns. Later, accounts surfaced of the PCB cracking near the PCIe locking tab due to how bulky modern graphics cards have become. Gigabyte eventually revised the design of the brand's GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards. For extra measure, Gigabyte has implemented what the brand calls the "PCIe UD Slot X" in some of its high-end Intel and AMD motherboards.
If you're new to Gigabyte motherboards, the PCIe UD Slot X is a reinforced expansion slot. The manufacturer claims the unique design provides 10X more strength to house even the heaviest graphics cards. The slot conforms to a one-piece design that's fixed to the motherboard and screwed into place with a dedicated backplate. The PCIe UD Slot X also has an interior rubber strip to prevent nasty scratches on the graphics card's PCB and features a zinc alloy material that serves as an electromagnetic shield for high-speed signals.

 
Because nobody wants to deal with the warranty headaches for a water cooler, maybe?
Probably this. You can't buy a GPU without a cooler, while you can buy a CPU without a cooler and get a wc for it.

But I agree the GPU needs the wc the most. I have a 7800X3D CPU that seems to have a terrible heat conduction problem (seems like mine even more than those from reviews). I tripled check the thermal paste and cooler attachment so it doesn't come from that. At some point I think I will pop out the IHS and see what I can do with liquid metal because I have a Noctua D15 from my previous PC, and it doesn't ever gets hot, I think I could run it fanless with 0 problem (I recently limited its max fan speed to 60% because more didn't change anything), but in the meantime I am temperature limited in Cinebench, and pretty easily reach 85℃ in demanding apps (in most games around 65-70). The 7800X3D uses only 80W max so there is 0 need for a wc for it, and my D15 is way oversized as well.

A GPU on the other hand has a huge power consumption and a huge dissipation surface and since it's a PCI card there is also little space above it, so it is basically the perfect case of use of a wc.
 
Warranty headaches because of the sagging / PCB cracking is better ? :laugh:
Obviously. With air, you have to worry about failing fans and maybe a sagging PCB (haven't had either in over 20 years).
With water, there are so many more points of potential failure...
 
Hint: where are the display ports?
Gets its own breakout board. Pretty smart design but catastrophic if something happens during cleaning/reassembly.
This is a very cool design but we're gonna learn real fast how many people manage to ruin it during maintenance.
This is where we're at. The co sees a problem and runs it right into the ground.
PCB too heavy? "MaKe A BeTtEr sLoT!!!1"
A 128LB GPU is heavier than my grandmother and it still doesn't do anything about the real problem.
Gigglebyte.
 
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I really don't like the FE this year. It just looks cheap.
There are total of 58 tantalum capacitors on it, definitely -NOT- cheap! Smaller the area, faster communication, low loss, highly professional process at the factory. 2 slot design is a good way of lowering mainboard stress because of heavy weight, prevents GPU's PCB cracking. Excellent job!
 
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There are total of 58 tantalum capacitors on it, definitely -NOT- cheap! Smaller the area, faster communication, low loss, highly professional process at the factory. 2 slot design is a good way of lowering mainboard stress because of heavy weight, prevents GPU's PCB cracking. Excellent job!

What about the 2-slot design temperatures ? I smell hot hot hot, 80-90°C GPUs incoming. Prove me wrong.
New generation Fermi incoming ?
 
What about the 2-slot design temperatures ? I smell hot hot hot, 80-90°C GPUs incoming. Prove me wrong.
New generation Fermi incoming ?
Given the recent FE cards, to be honest I think it's a matter of time until you're proven wrong. Not to mention 80°C is actually not harmful for most electronics.
 
Heat pipes are obviously not enough, why not invent something new ?
Heat pipes are enough. The dissipation area is where the problems lie.
 
What about the 2-slot design temperatures ? I smell hot hot hot, 80-90°C GPUs incoming. Prove me wrong.
New generation Fermi incoming ?
Cooler than AMDead cards, u see it soon u self.
80c is still okay temp for GPUs

And lets hope Amd can release 5090 perf card before 2030
 
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Meh I'm gonna put it under 1080mm worth of rads I don't think there's going to be any throttling. I haven't cared about a GPU stock cooler since R9 290X which incidentally had a terrible stock cooler which worked out great because I could get it for cheap(er). Still runs great to this day

I wish an AIB purposefully made a variant with crap cooling just so I can throw it away and slap on that WB. My 3090 FE's cooler didn't even spin it's fan (in my hands) - I dismantled it before powering it on. Not the best feeliing during bootup though..
 
What about the 2-slot design temperatures ? I smell hot hot hot, 80-90°C GPUs incoming. Prove me wrong.
New generation Fermi incoming ?
As if there's a problem with a GPU running at 80-90. Ill clue you in, there is not.

Liquid coolers don't fail. It's a myth.

Heat pipes are obviously not enough, why not invent something new ?
Funniest and most delusional thing I've read so far in 2025. Congrats
 
What about the 2-slot design temperatures ? I smell hot hot hot, 80-90°C GPUs incoming. Prove me wrong.
New generation Fermi incoming ?

No, that won't be the case, nGreedia made a genius move in moving the PCB to the centre and to remove the heat from both sides, I would say it has n nearly twice the cooling potential that previous 2 slot solutions had, easy, easyyyyyy.

Watch and see, I was actually hoping to see one of the AIB's follow suit, by they didn't, but hey, they just slap a triple/quad slot cooler on such a tiny thing and then complain when customers send in cards with cracked PCB's or lifted components.
 
It would just need to be able to mount to 3 different pcb and have a nice way of running the ribbon cables through it. Have channel or something to tuck them into

But i think a lot of end users will be discouraged from taking this thing apart anyhow
I think, in case of melting connector situation, the module can easily be replaced and total of 4 display ports may get damaged when inserting cables with force or may lost it's full contact, bent pins etc. somehow. So again the display module can be easily replaced by the technicians. Who knows, nVidia may get a design award because of this!
 
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This is dead sexy I love it. 4090 I had to buy a new custom connector for to fit ...then turned out those were time bombs and had to get a new case all together. It's honestly just hard for me to believe it can be cooled adequately but if so then I'd get the FE for the first time without being tempted by the partners hands down. I know everyone likes an underdog but I cant help but love and respect NVIDIA.. from my shields to the cards they always impress. I had been! expecting to have to buy yet another case for some crazy massive cinder block of a card... this is amazing in my book
 
4000 Serie generates 1 more frame
5000 Serie generates 3 more frames
6000 Serie may generate 7 more frames
7000 Serie may generate 15 more frames....
 
Its good they slimmed out the card, but its going to be very long and tall now. Should have gone AIO for 80 and 90 cards. This will push the connector right up to edge of case, so right angled cables will be used more I think.

Oh they angled the connector again, this is a step forward then I think, albeit with needing a ton of room in case with the length.

No, that won't be the case, nGreedia made a genius move in moving the PCB to the centre and to remove the heat from both sides, I would say it has n nearly twice the cooling potential that previous 2 slot solutions had, easy, easyyyyyy.

Watch and see, I was actually hoping to see one of the AIB's follow suit, by they didn't, but hey, they just slap a triple/quad slot cooler on such a tiny thing and then complain when customers send in cards with cracked PCB's or lifted components.
I expect some AIB's to copy, either in revised models for the gen or next gen, seems like Nvidia doing more innovation than AIB partners now for cooling.

This is dead sexy I love it. 4090 I had to buy a new custom connector for to fit ...then turned out those were time bombs and had to get a new case all together. It's honestly just hard for me to believe it can be cooled adequately but if so then I'd get the FE for the first time without being tempted by the partners hands down. I know everyone likes an underdog but I cant help but love and respect NVIDIA.. from my shields to the cards they always impress. I had been! expecting to have to buy yet another case for some crazy massive cinder block of a card... this is amazing in my book
I expect it will cool fine being honest the 4080 FE cooler is overbuilt, the 3080 FE cooler did fine for same TDP. This thing with massive extra airflow so I think will be good enough. On legacy designs the air would just hit a PCB and go splat outwards with nowhere to go, vacuum to try and help it, this just goes straight through.
 
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Its good they slimmed out the card, but its going to be very long and tall now. Should have gone AIO for 80 and 90 cards. This will push the connector right up to edge of case, so right angled cables will be used more I think.

Oh they angled the connector again, this is a step forward then I think, albeit with needing a ton of room in case with the length.


I expect some AIB's to copy, either in revised models for the gen or next gen, seems like Nvidia doing more innovation than AIB partners now for cooling.


I expect it will cool fine being honest the 4080 FE cooler is overbuilt, the 3080 FE cooler did fine for same TDP. This thing with massive extra airflow so I think will be good enough. On legacy designs the air would just hit a PCB and go splat outwards with nowhere to go, vacuum to try and help it, this just goes straight through.

The MSi "Special Edition" seems to do this, with a nice thunderbolt through it, probably their "lightning" brand making a comeback under another name, anyways, I am very interested to see what these cards can do.

I am just extremely annoyed to find out that reviews (with the exception of the 5090's) will only be made available on the 30th... the day the cards launch, so I can't make an informative purchase beforehand, I am not a brand fan-boy, I want the best, reliable product for my buck.
 
When looking at reviews make sure to look out for open test bench vs closed case for these throttle monsters via loss in performance in real-world scenarios. I'm am pretty sure a well ventilated case will dissipate 575 watts of power without throttling the system because Nvidia said the 5090 is marketed for a small form factor case ready. :twitch:
 
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