Whether or not you call that a win will depend on your refresh rate. People with 4K monitors that have a 60Hz refresh rate will probably be happy with most of this, but I can imagine that some people with 120Hz monitors will have to tweak settings to consistently stay above 100fps. It certainly seems that true 4K gaming at the highest end is still not quite achievable with current hardware, at least without the help of technology like frame generation that sidesteps the problem.
My primary gaming monitor is a 1440p ultrawide with a 120Hz refresh rate, and I know many of my friends have gone the same direction. It’s easier to achieve consistently high frame rates, but it’s also a cinematic experience, on a single screen that easily handles two windows for non-gaming work.
Diagram screenshot courtesy of Brad Bourque
It’s safe to expect 90- to 120-fps performance across most games at this resolution, which is great news for gamers looking to max out their existing display. Single player, cinematic-heavy games like Cyberpunk 2022 and Star Wars Outlaws are still on the cutting edge of graphical fidelity, so I’m not necessarily upset that they have some room to grow, especially when they look so good already. Online games and shooters like Amazing Rivals run smoothly without much assistance, and it’s probably more important to have consistent frame rates in those games.
Is It Worth It For You?
Anyone considering the RTX 5090, Founders Edition or otherwise, should really consider their budget first. The FE version of the card will set you back $2,000 if you buy it directly from Nvidia, and the partner cards with overclocking and liquid cooling are likely to be even more expensive. You’ll also need to spend around $1,000 for a monitor that really takes advantage of your newfound graphics power, and perhaps a new 1,000-watt or 1,200-watt PSU. That means you could be looking at a $3,500 bill before you have any other parts, and regardless of performance, I have trouble imagining starting any construction like that.
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Photo: Brad Bourque
The RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 will hit the market at the end of January, and more budget cards will arrive soon after. Without having spent time with the other RTX 50 Series cards, I can’t speak to their relative performance, but I do know that their price tags look much more attractive. I expect these cards to support multi-frame generation out of the box, and that’s fantastic news if you just want to sit back and watch smooth gameplay.
Previous Founders Editions didn’t stay in stock for long, so you might have to wake up early on the 30th to grab one of these if you want one. The whole situation makes the RTX 5090 feel less like the top end of the 50 Series, and more like a spectacle.
It’s the GPU I’d configure when envisioning a new rig, not the first part I’d choose in a realistic build. PCPartPicker. If the price tag doesn’t give you a moment of pause, then by all means enjoy your new GPU. For everyone else, I’d wait and see what the rest of the new GPUs look like before you jump.
