While reported leaked specs for Nvidia’s upcoming next-generation halo GPU, the RTX 5090, have been inflicting a lot web dialogue of late, we have but to see any photos or footage of the cardboard in motion. Now a video has surfaced on Bilibili, purportedly displaying two of the brand new GPUs put in on a rack of check benches.
The video is reportedly from a manufacturing facility in Batam, Indonesia, making Zotac graphics playing cards. The facility is claimed to have been constructed to maintain provide strains with China intact exterior of US export restrictions. Two plus-sized GPUs are seen put in on check benches in entrance of a small crowd of workers, who clap and cheer when the system first boots (through Tom’s Hardware).
Zotac is a model owned by PC Partner, a beforehand Hong Kong primarily based laptop electronics contract producer that has not too long ago moved its headquarters to Singapore as a part of an enlargement into Southeast Asia. This manufacturing facility seems to be the brand new Batam manufacturing facility introduced earlier this yr (PDF warning).
So, what to make of all this then? Well, the playing cards in query listed here are actually giant—and the accompanying voiceover reportedly says that the cooler is barely extra substantial than that of the RTX 4090, however not by an enormous quantity.
That’s to be anticipated for the RTX 5090, as whereas we’re anticipating it to want a big quantity of cooling, it is tough to see the way it might be a lot bigger than present RTX 4090 sizes with out severely limiting the circumstances by which it might be put in.
Otherwise, that appears like a fairly commonplace three fan cooler design to me. We within the PC Gamer {hardware} staff had a scout round for one thing comparable, and the closest cooler design we may discover is the Zotac Gaming RTX 4070 Ti Super Solid OC.
That’s an fascinating graphics card in its personal proper, because it’s primarily based on a cut-down AD102 GPU, just like the RTX 4090D—a GPU that was designed to keep away from US authorities enforced export restrictions on high-performance {hardware} to China. Given that this manufacturing facility is claimed to be doing a lot the identical factor, it is attainable that what we’re right here is definitely an RTX 4090D or comparable, assembled and working on check {hardware} from this manufacturing facility for the primary time.
What’s additionally fascinating is the facility connector, which appears to be a single 16-pin connection. Rumours have recommended that the RTX 5090 may make use of two connectors to fulfill its reported 600 W peak energy necessities. While one 16-pin 12VHPWR connector can ship a most of 600 W, it could make sense {that a} card able to hitting that high restrict would cut up its energy supply over two connectors to keep away from potential points.
Still, that is not a given, so we may very well be getting our first glimpse of an RTX 5090 “within the wild”, or on the very least, in a graphics card manufacturing facility in Indonesia. Not {that a} glimpse of a cooler tells us very a lot, aside from the truth that the cardboard is about as giant as an RTX 4090, seems to be utilizing a single energy connection, and on this case makes use of three followers on this configuration.
The crowd response is considerably telling, although. A smattering of workers, who might be celebrating the primary boot of an RTX 5090 on their check rig—or probably, simply the primary boot of the check rigs basically. Really what we is perhaps seeing listed here are the primary fruits of a rushed facility taking its first steps in GPU manufacturing as a complete, regardless of what the voiceover claims.
Ifs, buts, maybes. As the present rumours counsel that Nvidia could also be aiming for a simultaneous RTX 5090, RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 launch at CES 2025, it does appear seemingly that somebody may spill the beans on what the playing cards appear like earlier than then—however this grainy footage has some fairly heavy query marks hovering above it for now.
