It's not every day that we witness a famous NSA whistleblower voice their disappointment over modern gaming hardware. Edward Snowden, who likely needs no introduction, did not bother to hold back his disapproval of NVIDIA's recently launched RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 gaming GPUs. The reviews for the RTX 5090 have been mostly positive, although the same cannot be said for its affordable sibling, the RTX 5080. Snowden, voicing his thoughts on Twitter, claimed that NVIDIA is selling "F-tier value for S-tier prices".

Needless to say, there is no doubt that the RTX 5090's pricing is quite exorbitant, regardless of how anyone puts it. Snowden was particularly displeased with the amount of VRAM on offer, which is also hard to argue against. The RTX 5080 ships with "only" 16 GB of VRAM, whereas Snowden believes that it should have shipped with at least 24, or even 32 GB. He further adds that the RTX 5090, which ships with a whopping 32 GB of VRAM, should have been available with a 48 GB variant. As for the RTX 5070, the security consultant expressed desire for at least 16 GB of VRAM (instead of 12 GB).

We build our TUF Gaming components for users who want an emphasis on substance, meaning you're paying for pure performance when you go TUF. That focus on function is where the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 and TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5080 graphics cards excel, providing you with next-gen graphics capabilities as well as high-performance thermal solutions that'll hold up under 4K AAA gaming pressure. If you've been waiting to upgrade your rig and want to treat yourself to a premium power bump, now's the time to pull the trigger. You're in for a truly substantial generational leap with these high-end components featuring the power of NVIDIA's latest GPU architecture alongside the sophistication of our latest graphics card designs.

Next-gen tech for tomorrow's heavyweight games
The GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 comprise the top of the power stack for NVIDIA's 50 Series GPUs, so when you invest in either a TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 or 5080 graphics card, you're setting yourself up for years to come. The 50 Series is powered by NVIDIA's Blackwell architecture, meaning these GPUs feature 4th generation RT cores to give gamers the best ray tracing performance yet. They also pack neural shaders, which compress textures to cut down on memory usage and produce incredible real-time visuals. And NVIDIA has ensured its 50 Series is equipped for neural processing via a built-in AI management processor, so you'll get an optimal experience when harnessing the power of NVIDIA DLSS 4. Powered by 5th generation Tensor Cores, DLSS 4 uses a Multi Frame Generation solution to boost your framerate to new heights.

Newegg Commerce, Inc., a global leader in e-commerce for technology products, experienced an overwhelming response to the highly anticipated launch of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs, with inventory selling out within minutes. Gaming enthusiasts, content creators, system integrators, and PC builders rushed to secure the first batch of the latest AI-powered graphics technology, driving demand to unprecedented levels and cementing the RTX 50 Series as one of the most sought-after GPU launches in history.

"The response to the NVIDIA RTX 50 Series has been extraordinary," said Jim Tseng, VP of Product Management at Newegg. "The overwhelming demand reaffirms the gaming and PC community's enthusiasm for the very best technology. For our customers who have not yet been able to secure a GPU, we're committed to working with NVIDIA and our AIB (Add-In Board) partners to ensure future restocks and continued availability." Tseng continued, "Getting the latest cards into our customers is our passion, and we're proud to also offer a GPU trade-in program that makes it more affordable for customers to upgrade to the latest generation of video cards."

Thermal Grizzly, a high-performance cooling solutions provider, introduces new size of KryoSheet for the specific adaptation of GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards to a water cooling solution. KryoSheet graphene thermal pads are an excellent alternative for thermal pastes and have a conformable surface with very high thermal conductivity. The KryoSheet in the size of 44 × 37 mm comes with a Kapton Insulation Sheet.

The new size makes it suitable as a replacement for thermal paste on air-cooled RTX 5090 graphics cards, as the size of the GPU chip can lead to an acceleration of the pump-out effect. The KryoSheet, with dimensions of 44 × 37 mm, fully covers the GB202-300-A1 GPU of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and slightly extends beyond the chip's edges. This makes it necessary to electrically insulate the surrounding electronic components. For this purpose, the new size comes with the TG Kapton Insulation Sheet.

MAINGEAR, the leader in premium-quality, high-performance gaming PCs, today unveiled a variety of custom-configurable "50 Series" gaming desktops, featuring NVIDIA's newly revealed GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 GPUs. Available across seven gaming chassis options—MG-1, North, shroud, shroud Signature Edition, Rush, Force, and Zero, as well as all Workstations—these systems can be custom configured with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series GPUs and the latest CPU options from AMD and Intel to set a new benchmark for desktop gaming performance and customization.

Building on the excitement from CES 2025, MAINGEAR's "50 Series" also introduces non-APEX configurations of the hot new Rush and Force desktops, featuring 360 mm and 420 mm AIO coolers respectively, instead of open loop liquid cooling. Additionally, customers can order Rush desktops with custom chassis artwork for unparalleled personalization - as seen at CES. Available custom designs include Machina, Night Drive and Good Fortune.

The leading system integrator iBUYPOWER, a company focusing on building high-performance gaming computers, is excited to announce that gaming PCs equipped with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs can now be purchased starting today. Backed by iBUYPOWER's comprehensive warranty of three-years labor and two-years parts, players can literally change the game thanks to the RTX 50 Series video cards enabling all-new experiences and next-level graphical fidelity.

Powered by NVIDIA Blackwell, the all-new GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs bring game-changing capabilities to gamers and creators. Equipped with a massive level of AI horsepower, the RTX 50 Series video cards enable new experiences and next-level graphics fidelity. Owners of these new GPUs can look forward to multiplying their in-game performance with NVIDIA DLSS 4, generating images at unprecedented speed, and unleashing their creativity with NVIDIA Studio.

New GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs - built on the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture - are now available to power generative AI content creation and accelerate creative performance. GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs feature fifth-generation Tensor Cores with support for FP4, reducing the VRAM requirements to run generative AI models while doubling performance. For example, Black Forest Labs' FLUX models - available on Hugging Face this week - at FP4 precision require less than 10 GB of VRAM, compared with over 23 GB at FP16. With a GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, the FLUX.1 [dev] model can generate images in just over five seconds, compared with 15 seconds on FP16 or 10 seconds on FP8 on a GeForce RTX 4090 GPU.

GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs also come equipped with ninth-generation encoders and sixth-generation decoders that add support for 4:2:2 and increase encoding quality for HEVC and AV1. Fourth-generation RT Cores paired with DLSS 4 provide creators with super-smooth 3D rendering viewports. The GeForce RTX 5090 GPU includes 32 GB of ultra-fast GDDR7 memory and 1,792 GB/sec of total memory bandwidth - a 77% bandwidth increase over the GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. It also includes three encoders and two decoders, reducing export times by a third compared with the prior generation.

Alphacool International GmbH, based in Braunschweig, has been a pioneer in PC water cooling technology for over 20 years. With one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in the industry, Alphacool is now expanding its lineup with the introduction of new Core GPU water coolers for the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and 5090 series.

The GPU water coolers have been completely redesigned. Precise adjustments to the spacing between the cooler and the PCB, along with optimized water flow simulations and extensive practical testing, have resulted in significant improvements to the cooler base and jetplate. These enhancements ensure maximum cooling performance for the newest NVIDIA GeForce RTX generation. The GPU water coolers feature a precisely machined copper base with high-quality chrome plating for exceptional durability and a smooth surface. The design is further complemented by robust brass fittings with a nylon cover, ensuring maximum safety and reliability.

Earlier this week, MSI's China office admitted that it had only a limited supply of GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards available for launch day. A VideoCardz report from last night points out similar problems affecting retail channels in North America. MSI's official US store has delayed shipments of GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards. This announcement was extracted from a conversation conducted via Discord—between a company representative (MSI Spence) and a VideoCardz staffer (WhyCry). In full, MSI stated: "we are going to allow GeForce RTX 5090 pre-orders on January 30, at 6 AM PST—with a ship date of February 6. The GeForce RTX 5080 will be available for purchase on January 30 at 6 AM PST, with an immediate ship date of (same day) January 30. GeForce RTX 5090 pre-orders will open on January 30 at 6 AM PST, with a ship date of February 6."

Additionally, StinceBuilt has corroborated reports of newly adjusted timeframes—the custom PC builder publicly disclosed its own dealings with the NVIDIA board partner: "we're being told by the MSI Team that the MSI RTX 5090 Variants are now being pushed back until February 6th for launch. RTX 5090 Day of Launch is going to be very rough, both on the consumer retail/ecommerce side, and to all system integrators. Stock is minimal at best. Please be patient. We've confirmed this with other shops like ourselves."

Goodwill Nagoya Osu—a Japanese PC hardware store—has devised a lottery ticket system for potential buyers of GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 graphics cards. Earlier today, the shop's social media announced a strict set of rules—providing a preview of this Friday's buying experience. Several retail outlets (around the globe) are preparing various anti-scalping measures ahead of a predicted bloodbath—a particularly brutal example was highlighted recently. AutoBuy, a Taiwanese store, demands that customers purchase almost an entire build's worth of pricey PC components—just to get onto a waiting list for GeForce RTX 5080 graphics cards.

Goodwill Japan's prize draw looks quite reasonable in comparison. Their announcement reads as follows: "the next-generation GPUs—which will go on sale from 11:00 on January 31—will be sold by lottery at the Nagoya Osu store. Lottery tickets will be distributed from 10:20. Those who are in line at 10:20 will be eligible for the lottery." Industry experts believe that high-end graphics card enthusiasts will experience long-term shortages—possibly up to three months after this week's international rollout. Goodwill Nagoya Osu will not reveal their (proverbial) full deck of cards until tomorrow night—available products and quantities will be announced at 11:00 PM.

In an FAQ on its website, Gigabyte has confirmed that the company will use liquid metal thermal interface materials on some of its RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards. The cards in question are its Aorus Xtreme Waterforce cards, all of which will be using a liquid gallium based TIM that the company claims will offer up to 10 times heat transfer coefficent compared to what the company refers to as traditional thermal grease. However, it's unclear if the traditional thermal grease is simple silicone based TIM or something more modern. The cards in question are the GV-N5090AORUSX W-32GD, GV-N5080AORUSX W-16GD and GV-N509DAORUSX W-32GD.

In addition to those three cards, the company has a further seven Aorus Master cards that will use what Gigabyte refers to as a "composite metal grease that includes metal particles, to deliver enhanced thermal conductivity performance", which simply sounds like a modern, higher-end TIM. However, the FAQ specifically states that both materials are "fluid-like" in room temperature and above, it seems like Gigabyte is using something a bit different here, rather than your run-of-the-mill thermal paste, since only a few TIM's are runny in room temperature. The company further points out that both TIM's are electrically conductive, so for those planning on swapping out the cooler on their cards, this is something to pay attention to. Gigabyte also points out that it's using a "quadruple protection system to prevent possible short-circuiting of important components" and goes on to point out that if the cooler is removed, at least a couple of these protections will be damaged and will no longer hold the TIM in place. The Aorus Master models are the GV-N5090AORUS M-32GD, GV-N5090AORUS M-32GD, GV-N5090AORUSM ICE-32GD, GV-N509DAORUS M-32GD, GV-N509DAORUSM ICE-32GD, GV-N5080AORUS M-16GD and GV-N5080AORUSM ICE-16GD.

A die-shot of NVIDIA's GB202, the silicon powering the RTX 5090, has surfaced online, providing detailed insights into the "Blackwell" architecture's physical layout. The annotated images, shared by hardware analyst Kurnal and provided by ASUS China general manager Tony Yu, compare the GB202 to its AD102 predecessor and outline key architectural components. The die's central region houses 128 MB of L2 cache (96 MB enabled on RTX 5090), surrounded by memory interfaces. Eight 64-bit memory controllers support the 512-bit GDDR7 interface, with physical interfaces positioned along the top, left, and right edges of the die. Twelve graphics processing clusters (GPCs) surround the central cache. Each GPC contains eight texture processing clusters (TPCs), with each GPC housing 16 streaming multiprocessors (SMs). The complete die configuration enables 24,576 CUDA cores, arranged as 128 cores per SM across 192 SMs. With RTX 5090 offering "only" 21,760 CUDA cores, this means that the full GB202 die is reserved for workstation GPUs.

The SM design includes four slices sharing 128 KB of L1 cache and four texture mapping units (TMUs). Individual SM slices contain dedicated register files, L0 instruction caches, warp schedulers, load-store units, and special function units. Central to the die's layout is a vertical strip containing the media processing components—NVENC and NVDEC units—running from top to bottom. The RTX 5090 implementation enables three of four available NVENC encoders and two of four NVDEC decoders. The die includes twelve raster engine/3D FF blocks for geometry processing. At the bottom edge sits the PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and display controller components. Despite its substantial size, the GB202 remains smaller than NVIDIA's previous GH100 and GV100 dies, which exceeded 814 mm². Each SM integrates specialized hardware, including new 5th-generation Tensor cores and 4th-generation RT cores, contributing to the die's total of 192 RT cores, 768 Tensor cores, and 768 texture units.

MSI has officially confirmed that its upcoming GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards will face limited availability when they launch on January 30, coinciding with the second day of the Lunar New Year. According to MSI's official account, the constrained supply originates from an insufficient allocation of GPU cores provided by NVIDIA, making it difficult for the manufacturer to meet the expected high demand. Some retailers even claimed they only receive single-digit quantities of these cards, leading to a dramatic price hike in certain regions. In extreme cases, prices have been observed at nearly twice the official MSRP, leaving many potential buyers concerned about availability and affordability. Taiwanese media outlet BenchLife.info previously indicated that "communication issues" between NVIDIA and its board partners contributed to the limited supply. These complications and holiday-related manufacturing and shipping disruptions have constrained how many units can be delivered to stores by launch day.

As a result, enthusiasts aiming to purchase a new GPU at MSRP—or even at slightly higher prices—might face an uphill battle. Despite the rocky start, supply levels will gradually improve in February. The precise rate of this improvement is unclear, but many anticipate that more stock will arrive as production normalizes and communication between NVIDIA and its partners recovers. For now, consumers should prepare for limited stock and potentially inflated prices, especially on day one of the launch. Those hoping to upgrade immediately may need to secure a pre-order or wait until supply becomes more stable in the coming weeks. Scalpers are already reserving "guaranteed" slots for RTX 5090 GPU at up to $7000 per GPU, indicating that supply is tight. However, we must wait for the official launch day to see if the situation improves.

Yes, the title is correct. One of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090D "China" edition GPUs, not the regular RTX 5090, managed to run at 3.4 GHz under liquid nitrogen. With a staggering 575 W default TDP, Tony Yu, ASUS China's general manager, has performed physical modifications that allow the card to run up to 1000 W TDP. The RTX 5090D is a China-exclusive variant with virtually no difference from the regular RTX 5090, just limited general AI capability due to US export regulations. ASUS China used its top-end Astral OC variant for this stunt, which, as we proved in our review of the regular ASUS RTX 5090 Astral OC, has some pretty good chip binning, allowing the card to reach the highest overclock. We pushed the regular RTX 5090 Astral OC GPU on air to 3086 MHz, a +277 MHz over the stock boost setting. However, the RTX 5090D equivalent under LN2 manages to reach 3,390 MHz at peak loads, which is a +581 MHz difference.

For memory, the overclock is equally impressive with 34 Gbps. Regarding performance, the LN2-overclocked RTX 5090D surpassed stock performance by approximately 16%. During benchmark tests, the GPU outperformed multiple previous-generation graphics cards, including a dual RTX 3090 Ti configuration in Port Royal and a quad GTX 1080 Ti setup in Fire Strike. Power consumption figures indicate that 1,760 W was used in total for a rig with ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090D, which is paired with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D on the ASUS ROG X870E Hero motherboard. This roughly yields a 1,000 W power consumption by the card, which has seen its PCB get physical modifications to output such high power.

A set of newly leaked benchmarks has revealed the performance capabilities of NVIDIA's upcoming RTX 5080 GPU. Scheduled to launch alongside the RTX 5090 on January 30, the GPU was spotted on Geekbench under OpenCL and Vulkan benchmark tests—and based on the performance, it might not make it among the best graphics cards. The tested device was an MSI-branded RTX 5080 labeled as model MS-7E62. This setup had AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, which many consider one of the best CPUs for gaming. It also included an MSI MPG 850 Edge TI Wi-Fi motherboard and 32 GB of DDR5-6000 memory.

The benchmark results show that the RTX 5080 scored 261,836 points in Vulkan and 256,138 points in OpenCL tests. Compared to the RTX 4080, its previous version, the RTX 5080 has a 22% boost in Vulkan performance and a small 6.7% gain in OpenCL. Reddit user TruthPhoenixV found that on the Blender Open Data platform, the GPU got a median score of 9,063.77. This score is 9.4% higher than the RTX 4080 and 8.2% better than the RTX 4080 Super. Even with these improvements, the RTX 5080 might not outperform the current-gen top-tier RTX 4090. In the past, NVIDIA's 80-class GPUs have beaten the 90-class GPUs from the previous generation, but these early numbers suggest this trend might not continue for the RTX 5080.

A day after the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 launch, scalpers are already in action to profit from the hype train. Many of these sellers on eBay claim to have "guaranteed" early access through connections with retailers, while others ask for astronomical prices that dwarf the rumored official MSRP. Currently, the graphics card is not widely available, yet eBay and similar sites list it at up to $7,000. Some individuals go so far as to promise customers "guaranteed slots" to secure the product, often with no refund or return policy. These tactics exploit consumer fear of missing out, especially after repeated GPU shortages and scalper-driven price hikes in recent years. NVIDIA has reportedly taken steps to manage supply, planning to "nitpick" distribution and limit bulk business-to-business sales, at least in some regions.

While these efforts may reduce scalping, other jurisdictions lack similar protections. Rumors from German outlets point to NVIDIA aiming to curb large-volume B2B purchases, but no equivalent strategy has been confirmed for markets like the United States or Asia. Interestingly, there are reports from Vietnam of select shops selling RTX 5080 cards before the launch date, heightening fears of a black market for the entire RTX 50 lineup. Additionally, some sellers have disclaimers that shift blame for any potential defects to manufacturers, leaving buyers with minimal recourse. E-commerce platforms typically permit dispute resolutions for damaged goods, rendering these disclaimers largely ineffective. Buying from scalpers encourages price hikes, and there are no guarantees of the product arriving/working, and there is no warranty for after-purchase care.

Did you catch our launch review of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card? If you did, you'd have noticed the hoops we had to jump through to disassemble the card without breaking anything. As we carefully peeled the card's aesthetic finery and worked out way down to the GPU, we found that NVIDIA is using a liquid-metal thermal interface material (TIM) between the "GB202" GPU and the unified vapor chamber plate of the Double Flow Through cooling solution. After our photography the problem arose of putting the card back together, and we wondered if using a mainstream thermal paste would be a suitable replacement since we didn't have the patience to toy with liquid metal given our review volume. So we pulled out our trusty tube of Arctic MX6, gave it a suitable application, skipped the gasket, and put the card back together.

Here's what we found—the GPU temperatures rise by about 2°C on average over the stock liquid metal TIM. In the graph below, you will see both TIM applications compete with each other over a 370-second stress from a benchmark run. In the chart the start temperatures are slightly different, this does not mean that idle temperatures are higher with liquid metal. At the end of test the maximum temperature reached with the stock liquid metal TIM is around 77.6°C. The Arctic MX6, on the other hand settles to 79.4°C. This +1.8°C temperature increase really isn't significant at all—room temperature changes between summer and winter will cause bigger swings. We also tested performance, and it was spot on, the same as pre-disassembly—not a hint of thermal throttling. Both values are safely below the 90°C thermal threshold for the RTX 5090—that's right, NVIDIA raised the thermal throttle point, it's not 83°C anymore like on the RTX 40-series Ada. Taking the RTX 5090 apart and putting it back together was a challenging experience, but we're glad we didn't have to do a liquid metal application to ensure trouble-free operation. This is good news for all DIYers—don't bother with replacing the liquid metal—a thin thermal paste application works fine, too.

Igor's Lab conducted an in-depth analysis of the power management system of the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, including the way the card draws peak power within the tolerances of the ATX 3.1 specification. This analysis should prove particularly useful for those still on older ATX v2.51 PSUs, and plan to use the included power adapter that converts four 8-pin PCIe power connectors to a 12V2x6. Igor's peak power analysis shows that the RTX 5090 is capable of excursions as high as 627.5 W for 10 ms to 20 ms durations; as high as 738.2 W in 5 ms to 10 ms durations, as high as 823.6 W in the 1 ms to 5 ms category, and as high as 901.1 W in spikes under 1 ms in duration.

An excursion is a brief increase in power draw beyond the continuous power delivery limit of the connector (600 W in case of the RTX 5090's single 12V2x6 input and adapter that converts four 150 W 8-pin PCIe inputs). There is nothing particularly alarming about these numbers, and the excursions part of Igor's analysis fall within the specification of the ATX 3.1 standard, which calls for excursions of up to 200% (1200 W) up to 1 ms. Any PSU meeting the ATX 3.1 specs that even has a continuous power output of less than 1200 W will be capable of handling these spikes. It's only with the much older generations of PSUs, such as ATX v2.51 (mid-2010s) that excursions can trigger OCP. Find other great insights in the Igor's Lab review linked below.

Yesterday evening (GMT), Overclockers UK's product purchasing manager set expectations for his store's day one inventory of GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards. Taking to the OCUK forum, Gibbo (aka Andrew Gibson) revealed that the flagship stock count was in: "single digits at present, maybe double for launch." His "TDLR" also pointed to the store having a "few hundred" RTX 5080 models ready for launch day, with pre-orders starting on January 30 (for both Blackwell GPU product tiers). Gibbo warned potential customers about anticipated tight conditions: "we are expecting greater demand than (the RTX) 40 series, but with the launch just prior to CNY and lots of other rumors circulating initial waves of supply are poor and will probably take some time to build up. So the stock we have will be made available from the launch via the webshop, but I know what we have is likely to last only seconds, minutes at most."

Similar (predicted) circumstances have been reported across Europe and the Far East—certain outlets believe that GeForce RTX 50 series shortages will last up to three months post-launch. Potential "Blackwell" GPU customers are very likely dreading a forthcoming buying experience riddled with scalper bots, price gouging and all sorts of shady shenanigans. OCUK's product manager recommends taking a pragmatic approach when faced with a chaotic state of affairs: "to put it simply patience and expectations need to be realistic if the UK has—say 10,000 cards, and 500,000 people want one—well it is going to take time so plan ahead and also act like adults. I shall try and keep these forums updated with stock drops with heads up on the site etc. Do not call Sales or Customer service for any info or try to place orders, it shall be strictly via website only and all information will be posted on forums and on product display pages for the products as and when we have it."

NVIDIA has unveiled a radical graphics card prototype that never reached production, offering insight into its design process. In a YouTube video called "Designing the Founders Edition | GeForce RTX 5090", NVIDIA showcases an unreleased design that would have occupied four PCIe slots, featuring a "three-thirds flow-through" cooling system with an unconventional three-fan stair-step configuration. NVIDIA ultimately rejected the quad-slot concept as impractical for most computer systems.
Engineers refined the cooling approach for the RTX 50-series, developing a more streamlined "two-thirds flow-through" design that maintains thermal performance while reducing the card's footprint to two PCIe slots.

Technical challenges emerged during development, particularly in connector design. The team struggled to create a ribbon cable supporting high-bandwidth UHBR20 DisplayPort 2.1b and HDMI 2.1b connections. Their solution involved infusing glass fibers into the cable, enabling support for three DisplayPort and one HDMI connector. Critical engineering focus was placed on the liquid metal thermal interface material. Extensive stress testing ensured reliability across various orientations, with particular attention to preventing oxidation. Given the electrically conductive nature of liquid metal, an air-tight seal around the GPU die became crucial to prevent potential hardware failure.

Recent shipping manifests suggest that NVIDIA works on a graphics card with 96 GB of GDDR7 memory. Documents reveal a product utilizing a 512-bit memory bus and a clamshell (memory on both PCB sides) design that combines two 3 GB modules per memory controller. This setup effectively doubles the memory capacity of existing workstation-oriented cards. The product is believed to use the GB202 chip, the only Blackwell desktop GPU with a 512-bit interface. The documents refer to a board labeled PG153, a designation not seen in any of NVIDIA's existing consumer GPUs. This finding points toward a professional or workstation model rather than a gaming product. There is a possibility that it could be part of the RTX 6000 Blackwell or RTX 8000 Blackwell series.

NVIDIA's current top workstation card, the RTX 6000 "Ada," features 48 GB of memory. A move to 96 GB would be a substantial jump, enabling more complex workloads for content creation, data analysis, and AI. This GPU could carry a significantly higher power target than current workstation models. However, professional GPUs often maintain lower clock speeds to keep power consumption within limits that accommodate more stable operation in professional environments. There is no confirmed information regarding the card's official name or final specifications, such as core count or actual clock frequencies. NVIDIA's workstation GPUs have historically provided a higher core count than their gaming counterparts. If the rumored 96 GB GPU follows this pattern, it may surpass even the potential GeForce RTX 5090, which comes with 32 GB of GDDR7. NVIDIA is expected to hold its annual GPU Technology Conference in March. This event is viewed as a likely venue for official announcements. Until then, these details remain unverified.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series of "Blackwell" GPUs are set to launch at the tail end of this month, but market conditions are not looking favorable for day one customers. Recent news articles have highlighted alleged regional supply issues, and industry insiders believe that it will be very difficult to obtain the two higher-end models (RTX 5090 and RTX 5080). Monday's report posited that delays could result in stock not turning up until a month after Team Green's official kick-off on January 30. VideoCardz has pointed to a root cause; Team Green's alleged late issuing of finalized BIOSes—board partners were reportedly not able to prepare stock until very late in 2024.

Unfortunately, further disappointing disclosures have trickled out mid-week—PowerGPU's social media account sent out a stern warning: "the launch of the RTX 5090 will be the worst when it comes to availability. Already being told to expect it to be that way for the first three months." Benchlife piled on with more bad news—their report suggests that problems will emerge further down in Team Green's "Blackwell" product stack: "we can confirm that there are not many supplies on the market. This is mainly due to some communication issues between NVIDIA and AIC partners, as well as the Spring Festival Factors are expected to improve in February. In addition, we expect to see the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti starting to appear on the channel in mid-to-late February. As for the $549 GeForce RTX 5070, we may have to wait until early March."

The RTX 50-series gaming GPUs have the gaming community divided. While some appreciate the DLSS 4 and MFG technologies driving impressive improvements in FPS through AI wizardry, others are left disappointed by the seemingly poor improvements in raw performance. For instance, when DLSS and MFG are taken out of the equation, the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 are around 33%, 15%, and 20% faster than their predecessors respectively in gaming performance. That said, VideoCardz has tapped into its sources, and revealed the 3DMark scores for the RTX 5090 GPU, and the results certainly do appear to exceed expectations.

In the non-ray traced Steel Nomad test at 4K, the RTX 5090 managed to score around 14,133 points, putting it roughly 53% ahead of its predecessor. In the Port Royal test, which does utilize ray tracing, the RTX 5090 raked in 36,667 points - a 40% improvement over the RTX 4090. The results are much the same in the older Time Spy and Fire Strike tests as well, indicating at roughly a 31% and 38% jump in performance respectively. Moreover, according to the benchmarks, the RTX 5090 appears to be roughly twice as powerful as the RTX 4080 Super. Of course, synthetic benchmarks do not entirely dictate gaming performance, and VideoCardz clearly mentions that gaming performance (without MFG) will witness a substantially more modest improvement. There is no denying that Blackwell's vastly superior memory bandwidth is helping a lot with the synthetic tests, with the 33% extra shaders doing the rest of the work.

During a recent press event in South Korea, NVIDIA addressed concerns about power connector safety for their upcoming RTX 5090 graphics card. The new GPU will consume 575 watts of power, marking a massive 225-watt increase from its predecessor, the RTX 4090. The previous generation RTX 4090 faced significant issues with melting 12VHPWR power connectors, especially with third-party adapters, where incomplete connections led to overheating and connector damage. When questioned about potential risks with the RTX 5090's higher power draw, NVIDIA representatives stated they've implemented an updated 12V-2×6 power connector across the RTX 50 series. Unlike the 12VHPWR 16-pin connector, the new 12V-2x6 has sense pins having recessed further back to ensure proper contact before the GPU can request higher power outputs.

"It is expected that such issues will not occur with the RTX 50 series," a company representative explained during the Q&A session. "After about two years, we believe these problems have been resolved." While the company maintains that user error was the leading cause of failures, the extended timeframe required for developing and shipping revised connectors raised questions about the initial design's reliability. Despite NVIDIA's assurances, the RTX 5090's exceptional power requirements could potentially amplify any unexpected technical issues. The company's previous experience showed that problems became more pronounced in cards with higher power demands, as demonstrated by the RTX 4090 having more incidents than the lower-powered RTX 4080 series. So, more power means more trouble, but the company has worked on it to ensure no future problems arise.

Is NVIDIA reviving the RTX TITAN brand of halo-segment graphics cards with "Blackwell"? A curious-looking GB202-200-A1 spy-shot making rounds on ChilHell hints at the possibility. The upcoming GeForce RTX 5090 is the company's flagship product from the RTX 50-series "Blackwell" generation, although it does not max out the 4 nm "GB202" silicon on which it is based. The RTX 5090 enables 170 out of the 192 SM (streaming multiprocessors) physically present on the "GB202." This leaves NVIDIA with a lot of room to carve out either a halo-segment SKU such as the RTX TITAN Blackwell, or a Pro-Vis (professional visualization) product that also targets the AI research community.

NVIDIA's top Pro-Vis product tended to have more SMs enabled than the top GeForce RTX product, while having lower clock speeds, so its target users have access to more FP64-capable CUDA cores, more Tensor cores, etc. However, over the past two generations, NVIDIA discontinued the practice of giving its RTX GPUs large numbers of FP64 cores that are disabled on GeForce RTX products, to make die-space for the Tensor cores. This hence makes it more likely that a maxed-out "GB202" is the RTX TITAN Blackwell, and not a Pro-Vis product.