Thermal and Power Impact
Testing by QuasarZone indicates that the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition peaked at nearly 650W in power draw when utilizing DLSS 5, with the highest recorded temperature on the 16-pin power connector exceeding 90 degrees Celsius. Notably, that is higher than the standard temperatures measured for the GPU die.
While less frequent, user reports of the 16-pin power connector melting continue to surface across online platforms like Reddit. Similar thermal issues have historically affected various high-end hardware, suggesting that running demanding workloads like DLSS 5 places heavy stress on physical power delivery components.
QuasarZone evaluated hardware in a controlled environment at 27.5 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes using a 4K resolution with DLSS Quality and Ultra image settings. The publication tested the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition, Asus ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090, and GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition.
Connector Temperature Analysis
In testing using a GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition with DLSS 5 disabled, QuasarZone measured 77.1 degrees Celsius on the latch side of the 16-pin power connector and 80.9 degrees Celsius on the opposite side. With DLSS 5 enabled, temperatures quickly jumped to 83.4 and 91.7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Before DLSS 5, average core and peak temperatures for the GeForce RTX 5090 were 79.4 and 82.3 degrees Celsius, respectively. Afterward, they increased to 83 and 86.3 degrees Celsius, making the 16-pin power connector the hottest spot on the graphics card.
By contrast, the GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition operated at lower temperatures. Before activating DLSS 5, the temperature on the latch side and opposite the 16-pin power connector registered 45.8 and 47.6 degrees Celsius. With DLSS 5, temperatures rose to 52.2 degrees Celsius on the latch side and 48.6 degrees Celsius on the opposite side.
Power Draw Measurements
Using HWiNFO to measure average power consumption, the GeForce RTX 5090 showed a 13% increase in power draw with DLSS 5 enabled. The GeForce RTX 5080 showed a 17% increase under the same conditions. Both cards remained within official TDP specifications, with the RTX 5090 rated at 575W and the RTX 5080 at 360W.
While software monitoring via HWiNFO APIs is useful for everyday tracking, direct circuit board measurement using tools like the Nvidia Power Capture Analysis Tool provides higher accuracy for electrical loads.
QuasarZone found that the GeForce RTX 5090 average and peak power draw increased by 13% with DLSS 5 active. Average power consumption readings differed by 3% between HWiNFO and PCAT telemetry methods.
Focusing on the 16-pin power connector, PCAT measurements showed a 582.7W power draw without DLSS 5 and 646.7W with it active, representing an 11% increase.
Custom factory-overclocked models exhibit even higher spikes. On custom variants running DLSS 5, power consumption has been observed reaching up to 592W at 1080p, 695W at 1440p, and 848W at 4K.
Monitoring current flowing through individual pins on an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 showed readings ranging from 6.94A to 7.47A before DLSS 5, which spiked to between 7.83A and 8.51A when activated. While values remained within PCI-SIG’s requirement of 9.2A per pin, thermal and electrical headroom remains narrow.
Simulations exploring the consequences of a loose pin or improper connection demonstrate how unbalanced power loading redistributes electrical loads across remaining functional pins.
With DLSS 5 disabled, single-pin current reached 8.9A. Activating DLSS 5 pushed individual power pins to 10.1A, exceeding standard specifications by roughly 10% under simulated suboptimal connection conditions.
These findings highlight that intensive upscaling features substantially increase electrical load and thermal output on high-end desktop graphics hardware.
