MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z
February, 2026Type
Graphics CardPrice
$6000+NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series - GeForce RTX 5080
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is as high-end as Blackwell gets for gamers. This graphics card is a beast and a powerhouse solution for content creators and gamers alike. NVIDIA has gone to great lengths to design this engineering feat, so let's see what you get for a hefty price of $2000 US, the biggest-ever price bump for a GeForce GPU.
Updated with the new Blackwell GPU architecture, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 GPUs utilize next-gen hardware technologies such as 5th Gen Tensor Cores, new streaming multiprocessor units, and 4th Gen ray tracing cores. The new architecture also supports FP4 algorithms for even faster AI processing capabilities that can be leveraged by technologies such as DLSS 4.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Graphics Card Specifications
Starting with the details, we first have the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, which will be the top GPU of the lineup. The graphics card is expected to feature the PG144/145-SKU30 PCB design and will incorporate the GB202-300-A1 GPU core. The GPU will have 170 SMs enabled out of the total of 192 SMs and will feature 21,760 cores instead of the total of 24,576 cores. This marks an 11.4% reduction, slightly more than the -11.1% reduction of the RTX 4090 versus its full AD102 die.
On the memory side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 will be a beast with 32 GB of GDDR7 VRAM capacity running across a 512-bit interface. The VRAM will operate at 30 Gbps speeds for up to 1792 GB/s of bandwidth, plus a bigger L3 cache, and new memory compression techniques will also boost the overall bandwidth available to the GPU.
The card will come with a 575W TBP rating, though it should be mentioned that the TBP value shouldn't be compared with actual real-world or gaming power consumption, as that ends much lower. The graphics card will come with the latest technologies, such as PCIe Gen 5.0 support, and also get DisplayPort 2.1b UHBR20 (8K 165Hz) support to utilize those newer QD-OLED panels that are being rolled out.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Graphics Card Performance
In terms of performance, NVIDIA is showing over 2x faster performance for the GeForce RTX 5090 versus the RTX 4090, and that's using DLSS 4 in games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Alan Wake 2, and Black Myth Wukong, while standard titles such as Far Cry 6 will feature around a 30-40% uplift while not leveraging DLSS.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Graphics Card Available, Founders Edition & Custom Designs
In terms of design, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition goes for a dual-slot and dual-fan cooling solution, which makes use of a double flow-through design with two intake fans on the front and a very compact nature versus the RTX 4090. The FE model will feature 304mm in length and 137mm in height while leveraging liquid TIM and a 3-layered PCB, a first of its kind for a GeForce GPU. The card will also be available in custom flavors from board partners.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 GPU Specs (Official):
| Graphics Card Name | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Name | Blackwell GB202-300 | Blackwell GB203-400 | Blackwell GB203-300 | Blackwell GB205-300 | Blackwell GB206-300 | Blackwell GB206-250 | Blackwell GB207-300 |
| GPU SMs | 170 | 84 | 70 | 48 | 36 | 30 | 20 |
| GPU Cores | 21760 | 10752 | 8960 | 6144 | 4608 | 3840 | 2560 |
| Clock Speeds | 2017 MHz (Base) 2407 MHz (Boost) | 2295 MHz (Base) 2617 MHz (Boost) | 2295 MHz (Base) 2452 MHz (Boost) | 2325 MHz (Base) 2512 MHz (Boost) | 2407 MHz (Base) 2572 MHz (Boost) | 2280 MHz (Base) 2497 MHz (Boost) | 2317 MHz (Base) 2572 MHz (Boost) |
| Memory Capacity | 32 GB GDDR7 | 16 GB GDDR7 | 16 GB GDDR7 | 12 GB GDDR7 | 8-16 GB GDDR7 | 8 GB GDDR7 | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 512-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| Memory Speed | 28 Gbps | 30 Gbps | 28 Gbps | 28 Gbps | 28 Gbps | 28 Gbps | 20 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 1792 GB/s | 960 GB/s | 896 GB/s | 672 GB/s | 448 GB/s | 448 GB/s | 320 GB/s |
| Power Interface | 1 12V-2x6 (16-Pin) | 1 12V-2x6 (16-Pin) | 1 12V-2x6 (16-Pin) | 1 12V-2x6 (16-Pin) | 16-Pin or 8-Pin | 8-Pin | 8-Pin |
| Launch | 30th Jan, 2025 | 30th Jan, 2025 | 20th Feb, 2025 | 4th March, 2025 | 16th April, 2025 | 19th April, 2025 | 1st July, 2025 |
| TBP | 575W | 360W | 300W | 250W | 180W | 145W | 130W |
| Price (MSRP) | $1999 | $999 | $749 | $549 | $379-$429 | $299 | $249 |
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About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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