DLSS 5 Raises RTX 5090 Power Consumption Concerns

Nvidia’s DLSS5 has raised questions about GPU power consumption after reports of an RTX 5090 exceeding its rated TDP. Meanwhile, AMD has introduced new Ryzen processors for both AM4 and AM5, while NAND flash pricing shows signs of a possible shift after months of increases.

According to a new report, one RTX 5090 owner claims that a 16-pin power connector melted while using DLSS5 and NBA 2K27. At first, I was pretty skeptical of blaming DLSS5 specifically. GPUs have melted connectors before DLSS5 was released, but after looking deeper, it really looks like that's the case.

DLSS5 Linked to RTX 5090 Power Connector Issue

The story started with a user on the HardOCP forum who was testing DLSS5 on an MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC. For those who don't know, the card has a 575W TDP. During the test, GPU-Z reported that the GPU not only hit 610W, but stayed there for a bit, maxing out at 613.5W.

Obviously, not all of that power necessarily went through the 16-pin connector since the PCI Express slot can provide 75W of power itself. However, shortly after running the card under these loads, the owner discovered that the connector had melted. According to the user, the card only consumed around 450W while gaming without DLSS5 enabled, meaning this one feature added over 150W.

And this isn't just one person seeing high power consumption with DLSS5 either. Other outlets have now tested it themselves, and the results are notable. TweakTown reportedly saw an RTX 5090 go from around 465W with DLSS5 disabled to roughly 575W with it enabled. Gadget saw something similar, with its 5090 jumping from around 400W to roughly 525W.

Using the MSI Lightning RTX 5090, which has two 16-pin connectors, Tom's Hardware saw power draw in Hogwarts Legacy go from 480W to 720W when turning DLSS5 on. Obviously, Hogwarts Legacy is using a mod to make DLSS5 work, but it is clear that this happens in the official version as well. Basically, all of this shows that DLSS5 can increase power draw on these cards.

MLC NAND has been moving in the opposite direction, but it is a niche market.

Spot prices are only an indicator of the market because they mostly involve smaller module makers restocking and similar activity. Most large OEMs tend to use contract pricing instead, so pricing depends on when contracts expire and where the market is at that point. As of now, however, the market appears to be moving downward.

The CEO said NAND prices have already risen enough and instructed the company's sales teams not to push data center customers for substantially higher prices. A company that reportedly raised prices by 70% quarter-on-quarter last quarter is now taking a different approach. The CEO also said hyperscalers have limited budgets.

With spot prices beginning to fall, comments from a major NAND storage company about the need to control prices further indicate where the market is heading. If demand and pricing continue to move in the same direction, consumer SSD prices could move further after the increases seen over the past several months.