DLSS 5 pushed the RTX 5090 power connector to 91.7°C in testing
The results put connector temperature and pin-current margin alongside power draw as considerations for RTX 5090 owners.
QuasarZone found that DLSS 5 increased power demand and pushed the RTX 5090’s 16-pin connector above 90°C, making connector headroom a practical concern for owners. In a 20-minute Cyberpunk 2077 run at 27.5°C and 4K, using DLSS Quality and Ultra settings, the RTX 5090 connector reached 83.4°C on the latch side and 91.7°C on the opposite side with DLSS 5 enabled. PCAT measured 646.7W through the RTX 5090 connector with DLSS 5 on, compared with 582.7W off, while peak card draw reached 658W. The RTX 5080 Founders Edition’s connector stayed cooler, reaching 52.2°C on the latch side and 48.6°C opposite. On an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090, DLSS 5 raised current per pin to 7.83–8.51A; that was below PCI-SIG’s 9.2A requirement, with just 0.69A between the highest reading and the threshold.
Why it matters
For RTX 5090 owners, the test makes the connector a separate point of concern during DLSS 5 use, rather than treating the card’s overall power draw as the whole story. Pin current remained below the cited requirement, but the highest reading left only 0.69A of margin.
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