Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 5090 may push the limits of gaming GPU power consumption, as the card may use a total of 29 VRMs. Benchlife.info.
The Chinese outlet apparently followed up with an image of what appears to be a pre-release model of a high-end Blackwell GPU, possibly the 5090; the image was posted to semiconductor enthusiast forums Chiphell and Ostensibly depicting a GB202 qualification sample chip. Given that the GPU appears to come with 32GB VRAM and a massive power stage, and the die size is around 700 mm2 or so, it’s believed to be the 5090.
While most of the power levels are visible in the image, it’s difficult to tell how many there are in total and how they are organized. Benchlife.info, likely relying on sources familiar with Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 50 series, claims that the 5090 uses a 16+6+7 power stage configuration. This brings the total number of VRMs to 29, a significant increase from the previous 23 VRMs used by RTX 4090 Founders Edition In a 20+3 configuration.
The VRM configuration is divided into three parts, unlike what Nvidia did on the 4090 and 3090 (Ti). Both cards use the vast majority of VRM for the GPU, and then allocate three VRM for memory. Some third-party GPUs have power levels set into three sections, but usually the second set only has one or two levels.
Presumably, the first two groups are assigned to the graphics die, if the 5090 has a 600 watts total graphics power (TGP)Benchlife.info claims this rumor is accurate. This would leave a remaining 7 levels of memory, more than double what the 4090 24GB GDDR6 requires. If true, this means the 5090’s rumored 32GB of memory may consume more power than the VRAM on Nvidia’s previous graphics cards.
If the 5090 does use a 29-stage power supply design, Nvidia may need a larger or at least better cooler than the one used by the 4090. However, if an additional 150 watts of cooling power is required, more significant changes may be required, unless Nvidia can tolerate higher GPU temperatures or higher noise.
The Benchlife.info article also mentioned that 5090 will Support PCIe 5.0, 14-layer PCB In order to better accommodate the high-power design of GPUs, this section has been removed since publication. It’s unclear why the publication removed these details, especially since Benchlife.info was the first to claim support for PCIe 5.0 and 14-layer PCBs back in September.