Nvidia allegedly faces die shortage, hindering production of the anticipated RTX 5090 - Noctua Edition variant, potentially leaving this cooling-enhanced model in the shadows.
In the world of high-performance graphics cards, Austrian cooling specialist Noctua has made a name for itself by partnering with Asus to create some of the most overbuilt air-cooled Nvidia graphics cards on the market. Their latest collaboration, the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition, has been making waves with its impressive cooling and acoustical performance.
To date, Noctua has never ventured into the xx90-series RTX graphics card market, but with the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition, they have made a significant entry. The card features a first-ever triple-fan cooler design for a Noctua GPU cooling solution, complete with three NF-A12x25 G2 fans and a heatsink equipped with 11 heatpipes.
Noctua's testing claims that the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition produces 1.7C lower VRAM, 6.2C lower GPU, and 14.5C lower dB(A) temperatures and noise compared to the Asus RTX 5080 ROG Astral. The Asus ROG Astral model, on the other hand, struggles to keep GPU temperatures under 90C at the same RPM as the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition.
Despite the success of the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition, it seems unlikely that we will see an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition in the foreseeable future. This is due to Nvidia's ongoing struggles with GB202 dies production for the RTX 5090, which has been a bottleneck since its release, largely due to high market demand.
If Noctua were to create an RTX 5090 version with the same cooler design, it could potentially be the best air-cooled RTX 5090 on the market. The heatsink of the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition model currently has 11 heatpipes, which could potentially be switched to 8mm heatpipes entirely for the theoretical RTX 5090 version. It is also possible that a vapor chamber similar to the one used in the Asus ROG Astral could be incorporated into the design.
However, recent developments suggest that Nvidia has been making strides in GB202 dies production. The company has released more GB202-powered GPUs recently, including the Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell workstation and server edition graphics cards. If Noctua were to overcome the production hurdles, an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition graphics card could be a reality.
For now, the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition continues to impress with its cooling and acoustical performance, achieving more than acceptable temperatures for modern Nvidia GPUs at 500RPM, with temperatures of 74.6C for the GPU. While an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition remains a theoretical possibility, the success of the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition serves as a testament to Noctua's commitment to pushing the boundaries of cooling technology.
Despite extensive online searches, no information about a Noctua founder discussing the production of an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition could be found. As always, we will keep a close eye on developments and bring you updates as they become available.
