Gamer reportedly received an RTX 5080 with RTX 5090 branding — it turns out to be an RTX 5080, after all

An RTX 5080 mislabeled as an RTX 5090.
(Image credit: EssDee3D)

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.

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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.

Matthew Connatser

Matthew Connatser is a freelancing writer for Tom's Hardware US. He writes articles about CPUs, GPUs, SSDs, and computers in general.

  • cp0x
    This is normal when a new release happens: The first trickle of cards that hit retail are often the ones being built pretty much by hand in small quantities by the manufacturers as they perfect their build and automation processes. Sometimes you'll get beta software on the cards, and sometimes you even get pre-prod hardware (beta versions of the chips) as the manufacturers clear their benches. It's one of the reasons why I usually wait a few months before considering buying a newly released GPU, because I've gotten some pre-prod hardware in the past, and those usually need more work over their lifetimes to keep them running. (Although to be fair, I've still had good experiences overall, even with the beta hardware. It's the hand-built aspects that tend to need to get repaired over time, e.g. the pads, the grease, ...)
    Reply
  • King_V
    Kinda neat - and I'm hoping that a simple weighing of the card would be enough to determine which cooler it has.
    Reply
  • The Beav
    Can't believe anyone buys founders editions after what they did with the 30 series... All Ti versions had the same cooling as regular versions, my 3080 ti ran at 110°C and being throttled and Nvidia kept saying that's within spec.... Even tho the 3080, 3070, and 3090 all ran much cooler. Oh and fixing it yourself voids the warranty..... And they won't fix it for you either.

    And no it wasn't an issue with my case, google it, it was every 3080 ti.

    I guess I can finally repaste and repad it myself now that the warranty is done heh.

    Next card will def be AMD tho that's for sure.
    Reply
  • Shiznizzle
    The Beav said:
    Can't believe anyone buys founders editions after what they did with the 30 series... All Ti versions had the same cooling as regular versions, my 3080 ti ran at 110°C and being throttled and Nvidia kept saying that's within spec.... Even tho the 3080, 3070, and 3090 all ran much cooler. Oh and fixing it yourself voids the warranty..... And they won't fix it for you either.

    And no it wasn't an issue with my case, google it, it was every 3080 ti.

    I guess I can finally repaste and repad it myself now that the warranty is done heh.

    Next card will def be AMD tho that's for sure.
    My next card will be AMD no matter how good or bad it will be. I am switching OS and moving away from the NSA data supplier, after using them for the last 30 years. At the cost of frustrations and things not working, i am moving to linux.

    My guess is that windows 7 had some hidden under the hood telemetry going on that they stepped up to overt status in windows 10. They stepped up their data gathering ambitions even more so in windows 11. I also suspect that after conditioning the user to AI they will make Recall mandatory and bake it in just like they did with Edge, which once again is baked. Contrary to prior settlements.

    Microsoft were previously sued for their baked in browser advantage. Now they are doing it again with edge. Stating the same BS lies as excuses.

    It is bad enough we have to do with google snooping on us no matter where you are on the world wide we since google has its dirty fingers everywhere. Google also quietly removed language yesterday that now means they can develop weapons from their AI.

    That's right. Google now wants to use their AI to blow up and test fictional weapons inside their massive data centers for the purpose of testing nukes.

    Think i am wearing a tin hat?

    Talk to snowdon.
    Reply