One of the few people who was able to buy an RTX 5080 was surprised to see that their card was an RTX 5090, at least according to the engraved name on the cooler. Reddit user EssDee3D posted an image showing what appears to be an RTX 5090 Founders Edition GPU in an RTX 5080 box ordered straight from Nvidia to the Linus Tech Tips subreddit.
“I ordered a 5080 and I got a graphics card with 5090 engraved on it,” the user said. “The outer box has the 5080 SKU on it. Wondering if anyone else has seen something like this before?” Unfortunately, no one in the thread (as far as we could see) said they had a similar experience. Instead, responses were a mix of envy, congratulations, and a few wondering if EssDee3D was faking the whole thing.
A few hours later, the RTX 5080 buyer returned with a video (embedded below) showing the graphics card running inside his PC to provide hard proof. When he panned over to his monitor and revealed the GPU’s details, the Task Manager reported that the card was an RTX 5080, much to EssDee3D’s audible disappointment; GPU-Z also confirmed it was an RTX 5080.
Although we don’t have further details from the man himself, one of two things happened: either the graphics card had an RTX 5080 cooler and was just engraved incorrectly, or the cooler was meant for the RTX 5090. It’s hard to say which scenario is more plausible (and if either is impossible), and without a tear-down from the purchaser, we’ll never know for sure.
However, despite sharing the exact physical dimensions, the RTX 5090 Founders Edition cooler is much higher-end than the one used for the RTX 5080. The RTX 5080 is roughly 180 grams lighter than the RTX 5090, and while some of that is down to having fewer VRAM chips, a smaller graphics die, and using thermal paste instead of liquid metal, some of that has to be because the RTX 5080’s cooler has less cooling prowess. If EssDee3D received an RTX 5090 cooler and not just an RTX 5080 cooler with the wrong name engraved on it, it would be the coolest reference RTX 5080 graphics card out there.
A simple stress test would likely reveal whether this is a regular RTX 5080 cooler or the RTX 5090's cooler. Nvidia's flagship GPU is rated for 575 watts, while the RTX 5080 is a 360-watt card, so the difference would be pretty noticeable.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this misnamed GPU is that it wasn’t a complete mixup. Even though the card was ostensibly an RTX 5090, it was still shipped in the correct box and delivered to someone who had bought an RTX 5080. Nvidia must make a lot of effort to ensure people get the right model while the RTX 50 series is in extremely short supply.
