We waited for it, made memes about it, and ranted about it, and now it's here — Nvidia has launched the new fastest consumer GPU in the world, the RTX 5090. Unlike the other SKUs, like the RTX 5080, whose MSRP took almost all of us by surprise, the leaks about the RTX 5090 were bang-on. It's a $2,000 monster that is so far ahead of the RTX 5080 that it's ridiculous. This is the first time Nvidia has put a $1,000 price gulf between its 80 and 90 class cards.

It goes without saying that most people will be crazy to even consider the RTX 5090 — $2,000 can get you a beast of a 4K gaming PC, even with the latest RTX 50 series cards. Why would you spend it all on a single graphics card? Well, there might be a handful of scenarios where buying the RTX 5090 would be sensible, maybe even a good deal.

You want a phenomenal upgrade over your RTX 4090

Playing king of the hill comes at a cost

For most gamers who own a mid-range or budget graphics card, old or new, almost any of Nvidia's 50 series cards can count as a good upgrade. Price-to-performance considerations aside, upgrading from, say, an RTX 3060 or RTX 4070 to the RTX 5070 (which is supposedly as fast as the RTX 4090) will be a massive upgrade. However, for the enthusiast audience that bought the RTX 4090 — for anywhere between $1,600 to $2,500 — only the very best can suffice.

While I don't really buy the argument that the $549 RTX 5070 is enough to outclass the RTX 4090 — it's mostly AI frames anyway — the point is moot when considering RTX 4090 owners. Someone who needs to have the absolute best GPU on their system doesn't get into the nitty-gritty of whether they should upgrade; they feel compelled to. After all, once you experience flagship gaming performance, anything less feels like a downgrade.

The RTX 4090 was already miles ahead of the RTX 3090 (and even the 3090 Ti), but the RTX 5090 seems to have unlocked a whole new frontier of performance. You might balk at its price, as you should, but there's no contesting the multiple initial impressions by creators showing how ridiculously fast it is compared to the RTX 4090. For enthusiasts who can afford to buy the Halo product once again, the price of the RTX 5090 is incidental — the performance, real or AI-generated, is all there is.

You just can't settle for 16GB of VRAM

It sucks, but it is what it is

Whatever game-changing performance Nvidia may have cooked up with the Blackwell architecture and AI trickery, the same memo didn't reach the VRAM department. The lack of VRAM on Nvidia GPUs is a beaten horse that's flatter than the RTX 4060 Ti's improvement over its predecessor. However, the fact remains that the company refuses to provide sufficient VRAM even on its expensive offerings.

The RTX 5080, a $999 graphics card, has the same VRAM as the previous-gen RTX 4080 Super and the $749 RTX 5070 Ti. Yes, the memory is now GDDR7 and the architectural improvements count for a lot, but if you feel that getting 16GB of VRAM after spending a grand is a rip-off, you'll be forced to make a colossal jump to the RTX 5090 and its 32GB of VRAM.

If you can't handle the anxiety of running out of VRAM and can afford the Blackwell flagship, splurging on the RTX 5090 can seem like a reluctant but obvious decision. I just hope that the RTX 6090 doesn't make the RTX 5090 buyers regret their decision — get in touch with your RTX 4090 friends for more details.

You need all the AI compute you can get

Top of the TOPS charts

Nvidia made no efforts to conceal its AI push in its CES keynote. Even the slide showing the prices of each of the newly announced SKUs proudly displayed the AI TOPS of each card. More than ever, the company focuses heavily on AI computing and probably wants consumers to do the same.

Professionals who want the latest and greatest AI accelerator for their LLMs, deep learning projects, and more without spending thousands more on professional-grade GPUs might seriously consider the RTX 5090. It's a big improvement over the already blazing-fast RTX 4090, with 8GB more VRAM and only a 25% premium. In professional circles, that might even be considered a bargain. Moreover, an RTX 4090 in the current market, for better or worse, already costs upwards of $2,000.

Buying the RTX 5090 for AI workloads makes the most sense from a consumer standpoint. Enthusiast gamers will get it just for the kicks, yes, but it isn't a gaming GPU, no matter what Nvidia says. In a way, I welcome the enormous price and performance gulf between the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080. This way, the majority of consumers will consider the RTX 5080 the "flagship gaming GPU," with the RTX 5090 being an anomaly that's insanely fast and insanely priced, only making sense for professionals.

Of course, as I mentioned before, gamers who can afford them and need nothing but the best will keep buying top-tier cards every generation, but more than ever before, 80-class cards will be more than enough for high-end gaming.

The RTX 5090 costs a bomb, but it's worth it for some

With every GPU generation, Nvidia keeps increasing the prices across the board, but the most eye-watering prices are seen on its flagship cards. The RTX 4090 was received as well as you'd expect, and the RTX 5090 is going much the same way. However, for a handful of consumers who demand nothing but the best, can't compromise on any aspect of the card, or need extra performance for professional workloads, the RTX 5090 can be value for money (imagine that).