NVIDIA has shed light on how they managed to create the RTX 5090 Founders Edition with a significantly slimmer design compared to its predecessor. The flagship GPU from the Blackwell generation is notably 40% thinner than the previous Ada Lovelace model.
Achieving this level of compactness required substantial effort and intricate engineering. Numerous adjustments were made to ensure that the flagship RTX 50 series could be designed as a two-slot graphics card.
NVIDIA Details the Slimmer RTX 5090 Founders Edition Design
NVIDIA released a 12-minute video dedicated to the design process of the RTX 5090 Founders Edition. In the early stages of development, the company considered it nearly impossible to produce a Founders Edition with such a compact size.
Initially, they explored the possibility of a Founders Edition with three cooling fans and a four-slot configuration. However, this approach was deemed overly complex. Instead, NVIDIA focused on reducing the size further, ultimately achieving a two-slot design.
The solution involved segmenting the PCB into multiple sections and concentrating on the central area, allowing airflow to move freely on both sides. This design required the main PCB to be split into separate daughter boards for PCIe and I/O functions.
New Vapor Chamber and Increased Use of Liquid Metal
One of the major challenges with the modular PCB design was the integration of DisplayPort. Due to the use of multi-layer PCBs, which are incompatible with standard DP connectors, NVIDIA had to develop a custom method to connect the daughter boards to the main board.
For cooling, NVIDIA introduced a new 3D vapor chamber that is more effective at dissipating the heat generated by this 500-watt GPU. This advanced approach also allowed for the application of additional liquid metal to enhance contact with the heatsink.
Lastly, NVIDIA addressed the angled PCIe power port, explaining that it was designed with PC builders in mind. This adjustment accommodates smaller builds by reducing the clearance required for integrating the RTX 5090 into compact systems.
