Nvidia RTX 5090 rumored to have 30% higher clock speed vs RTX 4090

Rebecca Hills-Duty
RTX 4090 silhouette on a green background

As anticipation builds for the official reveal of Nvidia’s next flagship graphics card, a new rumor suggests a big uplift in clock speed is coming.

Nvidia has remained tight-lipped about the consumer grade ‘Blackwell’ graphics cards, the RTX 50 series. But, the gap has been filled by a swathe of leaks and rumors. The latest points to a big improvement in the base clock speed of the flagship model, the RTX 5090.

The leak comes from Panzerlied on the Chiphell forums. Panzerlied has become known for providing reliable insider information on upcoming Nvidia devices.

The latest information points to a massive speed increase for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, pointing to a base clock speed of 2.9 GHz.

Nvidia GPU on green background

As a point of comparison, the GeForce RTX 4090 had a base clock speed of 2235 MHz. If the leak is accurate, the RTX 5090 would be sporting an almost 30% increase for its base clock. This does not take into account what the boost clock would be capable of, though if the Base Clock figure is true, then the RTX 5090 could easily break through the 3GHz barrier with the Boost clock engaged.

GPUBus interfaceBase ClockMemoryVRAM
GeForce RTX 5090 (Rumor)448-bit (512-bit full chip)~2900 MHz Base Clock14 GDDR7 Modules (16 Full)28 GB VRAM
GeForce RTX 4090 (Official)384-bit (384-bit full chip)2235 MHz Base Clock12 GDDR6X Modules (12 Full)24 GB VRAM

As noted by WCCFTech, the RTX 4090 had a boost clock of 2520 MHz but could run up to 2.9 GHz under the correct thermal conditions with a suitable power supply. With this in mind, what the RTX 5090 could be capable of if these specifications are confirmed is awe-inspiring.

The RTX 5090 is believed to feature the Blackwell GB202 GPU, though a slightly cut-down version compared to the commercial edition. Leaks have pointed to a 448-bit bus interface and 28GB of GDDR7 memory.

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