Unboxing the RTX 5090 Founders Edition

With the paper pull tape out of the way, the box opens up along four sides—top, rear, left-hand, and right hand. The top and rear comes off first, clamshell styled, and then two printed arrows point you to pull the sides apart.


We now get to the inner box. This is made entirely of paperboard, there is nothing printed on it, except a debossed GeForce RTX 5090 logo. This box protects the card inside. There is no anti-static bag, but that's been the case with several past generations of Founders Edition card packaging. The inner box is sealed by a paper lever that clutches the two halves shut. You pull them apart following two debossed arrows, and the box pops open, clamshell style.


Besides the inner box, the main box has another small paperboard box, which contains the power adapter, and a printed Quick Start Guide leaflet.


The Quick Start Guide gives you the most basic pictoral instructions on how to install the card, and a QR code to a website with a more detailed installation guide. It also has product warranty information.


This is NVIDIA's second generation, first-party power adapter, which will be included with all GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards, including the custom design ones. It converts four 8-pin PCIe power connectors to a 16-pin 12V2x6 power connector. It feels MUCH better than the older adapters.


The 12V2x6 connector is physically compatible with the older 12VHPWR, but has deeper female pins for better contact with the receptacle on the card. NVIDIA has also replaced the soft band strain-relief that bunches all the incoming 8-pin cables behind the card; with a hard plastic shroud that channelizes each of the incoming cables, not allowing their movement to loosen the contacts inside. Here's what the new cable looks like next to the previous generation adapter that converts three 8-pin to a 12VHPWR.