The GeForce RTX 5080 And 5090 Founders Edition Removed From NVIDIA's Store In Some Regions
This was in initially spotted by ComputerBase.de, a prominent German PC hardware news site, who asked NVIDIA whether or not this is a permanent change and has yet to receive a reply at time of writing. If that's the case, this could potentially be the sign of an imminent Super 50 Series refresh, or NVIDIA has simply decided to defer production of high-end 50 Series cards to AIB partners rather than making any more Founders Editions itself.
We can see why NVIDIA would choose to discontinue production of Founders Edition RTX 5080 and 5090 GPUs. The best-performing versions of these cards are not usually the Founders Editions— to squeeze the most out of an NVIDIA GPU, a card from an AIB partner willing to slap on much beefier cooling solution with pre-binned chips is usually the way to go, if you're OK with the larger form factors. In our review of the MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Expert OC, we noted a decent improvement in the card's out-of-box performance, and an even more substantial boost of up to 18% when overclocking. The liquid-cooled MSI RTX 5090 Suprim Liquid had smaller gains due to voltage limits, but still managed a meaningful boost while running cooler and quieter than a Founders Edition.
For now, it's hard to speak on the true fate of the Founders Edition RTX 5080 and 5090 GPUs without further comment from NVIDIA. Users who appreciate the Founders Edition designs can still attain them from third parties at time of writing, but if NVIDIA doesn't replenish its stocks of those cards, they may soon be harder to come by. Thankfully, AIB partners can fill the gap in the interim.
