Under the opening strip (which unfortunately has to be broken to access the interior) we can find a slogan: «Inspired by Gamers. Enhanced by AI. Built by NVIDIA” which means “Inspired by gamers. Enhanced by AI. Manufactured by NVIDIA.
When we open the box, in the shape of a chest, we find another cardboard box but in this case made of paper fiber, grayish white in color that probably comes from recycling. At the top the NVIDIA logo stands out with a network of lines.
In the lower area we find the model name: GeForce RTX 5090, while in the upper area we have some icons that indicate the content: the graphics card, a power adapter and the instruction manual.
We find these last two things precisely under the gray box that contains the GPU, in addition to a QR code that takes us to the manufacturer’s website.
In this little box, we actually find a small instruction manual and the power adapter, so if the power supply you are going to use does not have a 12VHPWR connector you could use four 8-pin PCIe.
Now yes, this is the sub-packaging that contains the graphics, and you can see “GeForce RTX 5090” in bas-relief again. If you look closely, it has the shape of the Founders Edition heatsinks.
To open this you have to remove the upper and lower pieces that you can see with a little triangle in the image above, and we can remove the upper half giving us access to the brand new graphic.
So here we finally have the RTX 5090 from NVIDIA. We can already tell you that it is indeed smaller than the FE models of the RTX 4080 onwards (in case you didn’t know, there were two variants, a larger one on the RTX 4080 onwards and a smaller one on the lower models), but In the absence of empirical data, it seems to us that it weighs the same.
Let’s see it in detail. On the lower side (or the one that will be facing down when mounted on a PC in its traditional position) we have two large axial fans with 7 fairly wide and inclined blades, designed to generate not only a large air flow but also a lot of static pressure, Well, as we already told you before, now the design is double flow, so that the air pushed by the fans completely passes through the heatsink.
In the middle, a kind of X but it is almost decorative, because the entire heatsink seems to have been manufactured with a CNC process in a single piece; It is extremely rigid and robust. And heavy.
On the opposite side we have the same X in the center but on the sides we have two frames of black aluminum sheets, through which the air pushed by the fans will come out.
This is the most visible area of the graphics once it is mounted, so NVIDIA has taken the opportunity to decorate it by putting the RTX 5090 in silver.
At the top, or rather the part that will be on the outside once installed on the PC, we have the words “GeForce RTX”, which if we are not mistaken will light up white when the graphics card is on, just like in the models FAITH of the previous generation. Also here is the power connector and what NVIDIA has called “side directional vents”, a grille that directs heat up and out to prevent recirculation of hot air.
Here you can see the “GeForce RTX” logo closer.
And here the 12+4-pin power connector, which as you may have already noticed, is rotated 90 degrees. Honestly, we don’t like this too much, because it means that the power cable will be bent and, if you want to channel it so that it is aesthetically perfect, it will cover the illuminated GeForce RTX logo.
Let’s go to the outside area, the one with the connectors. There is no grille here, normal because the design of this heatsink is a unified 3D vapor chamber, which allows the vapor to go directly to the ducts to greatly increase thermal performance. Come on, you don’t need a grid here at all.
We have one HDMI video output and three DisplayPorts.
There is nothing really notable in the lower area, which cannot be seen because it faces the motherboard. The PCIe 5.0 connector and the other side of the grille (“side directional output”) that we saw on the opposite side.
Dimensions, weight and initial impressions
Officially, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition has dimensions of 304 mm long, 137 mm high and 40 mm wide (2 slots), which makes it – according to NVIDIA – an SFF Ready graphics card that is compatible with dozens of small form factor PC cases.
According to our own measurements, in fact the graph barely exceeds 30 cm long.
It measures a little more than 12 cm high, although that is the heatsink… then it will stick out a little more through the connector. In any case, the 137 mm that NVIDIA says.
And it measures just 4 centimeters wide. Two slots, which is greatly appreciated because in the previous generation the issue of size had gotten out of hand, and we have come to see custom assembler models with almost 4 slots.
As we have mentioned before, even though this RTX 5090 Founders Edition is a much smaller graphics card than the previous generation models, it is still quite large, and 304 mm long is not saying something. In any case, the size reduction is greatly appreciated, especially in width since it now occupies only two slots.
Despite being smaller, it is still a fairly heavy graphic. Although the heatsink is so homogeneous and rigid that we doubt it could warp, the weight could end up damaging the PCIe socket on the motherboard, especially in motherboard models that have metal reinforcement, so it would be highly recommended, in our opinion. judgment, use a support to avoid problems.
In any case, our personal opinion on the matter is that this GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition is a beautiful, relatively compact graphics card with a design that we love. A lot.
In a few days we will tell you how it works when push comes to shove.
