GeForce RTX 4090 Founders edition review - Product photos

Product photos 

The cooling design for the Founder cards has been reworked a bit with what NVIDIA markets as twin axial flow through thermals. Essentially, the air is drawn in from the outer side and vented from the top and connection port sides. The fan design seen on the RTX 4090 FEis an upgrade over the one included with the RTX 3090 Ti FE. There is no RGB lighting, however, the GeForce RTX logo glows white.

The RTX 4000 series graphics cards are equipped with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 ports. It's a bit of a bummer that NVIDIA opt the new DP standard already. The IO panel is an air vent with connectors that will support 8K 60 Hz HDR via a single HDMI cable. The card, like the previous version, is designed with an alloy frame that houses an aluminium fin stack. This fin-stack accounts for the majority of the cooler's volume. Fresh air taken in by the first fan is vented from the card's sides, while the second fan sucks air through the fin stack and vents it upward. Six heat pipes connect the various cooling elements to a vapour-chamber plate, which removes heat from the GPU and memory.

The cards are equipped with the new 12VHPWR power connector header (converter cable included that feeds from four 8-pin connectors). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition comes in premium, soft-touch paperboard packaging. Documentation and an adapter that transforms quad 8-pin PCIe power inputs to a 12-pin power connector are included among the included materials. Despite what you might think, using three 8-pin connectors already will be sufficient; four are recommended. 

The GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition is almost 31 centimeters in length. It weighs 2.184 kg, so be careful when installing it because, if not secured with screws, your PCIe slot could easily break. The latch is secured magnetically and can be removed easily, offering mounts for horizontal chassis placement. The GeForce RTX 4090 FE is three slots thick. 

Also, be warned that the graohics card generates a ~425 Watts of heat; you will need a PC with a proper intake (front) and vent (rear/top).