The final word:
So, what do we think of this ROG Astral LC RTX 5090?
One thing’s for sure: there’s a lot to say. Ever since NVIDIA announced its new range of RTX 5000 graphics cards at CES 2025, social networking sites have been buzzing with tension between fans of the green and those who don’t like the new architecture at all. We’re going to take a point-by-point look at the strengths and weaknesses of this ROG Astral LC RTX 5090, comparing it with NVIDIA’s Founders Edition model
Performance:
We’d like to stress once again that the etching process remains identical to that used on the RTX 4000, and therefore to that of the RTX 4090, so we shouldn’t have expected astronomical differences in pure rasterization, as was the case between ADA Lovelace and Ampere. We found a 32% gain in rasterization for our ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 compared to the RTX 4090 in 4K (2160p). This seems pretty decent to us, and will enable this model to enjoy many games without the need for NVIDIA upscaling. One thing’s for sure: this ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 is the best-performing card we’ve come across in recent years!
On the other hand, if you want to opt for ray tracing or path tracing, you’ll have to go through the Frame Generation to benefit from MFG. DLSS 4 is supported by all RTXs, but NVIDIA is announcing a Frame Generation enhancement for the RTX 4000, which could result in a gain of between 5% and 10%, according to NVIDIA.
DLSS 4:
Highlighted by NVIDIA, DLSS 4 is the big new feature of this Blackwell architecture. Here again, some people, like myself, activate DLSS in certain games, while others never, oh God, never, want to use “fake” FPS. It’s true that these are additional images created by AI, but as the name suggests, anything created by Artificial Intelligence will always have this “artificial” side. Now we have to admit that it works well, even better than before. We’d have liked to spend more time “playing” with this NVIDIA RTX 5090, but the numerous tests to be carried out reduced our gaming time. As far as games with DLSS 4 are concerned, it’s hard to see any difference in quality when DLSS 4 is activated.
If you want to take advantage of ray tracing and path tracing, you’ll be able to activate them while enjoying 4K definition (2160p) and retaining more than sufficient FPS. You can also choose the number of additional frames with DLSS 4. We’ll be back to the fluidity of the game after we’ve received a 4K 240Hz screen, to judge its impact.
A word about NVIDIA’s new DLSS Override application. This will enable games that have not yet been updated to the latest DLSS models and features to activate support via a DLSS override. We’ve tested this with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and it’s very effective!
Power consumption and cooling :
As we expected, with a TDP of 600 watts versus 450 watts for the RTX 4090, it explodes! No choice, NVIDIA also had to increase the TDP to support performance, a situation we’ve already encountered with CPUs. Temperatures are excellent, as are noise levels, thanks to ASUS’ choice of a liquid cooling system. Don’t forget that you’ll also need to think about inserting this cooling system into your case, so make sure it’s big enough.
Price:
As you’ll have gathered, it’s high, far too high, and the lack of cards doesn’t help matters at all. The last price we saw was 3,349 euros from AbsolutePC, with, of course, no cards available. This is a considerable budget, and one that will appeal to customers with no financial constraints. As it was already the case with the RTX 4090, if you can indeed play with this RTX 5090, don’t forget its “PRO” side. It will also find its place perfectly in the configuration of a designer using AI tools. Remember that this model benefits from three 9th-generation encoders and a new 6th-generation decoder, all combined with 32 GB GDDR7. NVIDIA also continues to develop Broadcast, with new AI-powered effects.
Should you sell your RTX 4000?
Of course not! RTX 4000s still have plenty of good days ahead of them. Since NVIDIA’s announcement of the RTX 5000, we’ve seen many RTX 4090/4080 sales come and go. Of course, you’re perfectly free to opt for an RTX 5090, as long as you want to acquire the very best and enjoy the best performance on the market. This ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 remains the flagship of the Blackwell range, but don’t forget that other models have also been announced. We invite you to read our latest articles by following this link.
With the ROG Astral LC RTX 5090, ASUS offers one of the most powerful cards on the market today. If you want the very best in performance, you can opt for this model or for the air-cooled version, like the ROG Astral RTX 5080 we tested last week. That’s why we’re giving it our ” Editor’s Choice ” award. Our only regret with the RTX 5090 is the absence of any real overclocking potential , restricted by NVIDIA, on this top-of-the-range model. Many thanks to ASUS for making this sample of the ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 available to us.