- Accusations have been made around RTX 5090 review samples
- Some folks think GPUs labeled as ‘Press Build’ could be faster than retail products
- Nvidia has assured us this isn’t the case
Nvidia has denied that the RTX 5090 graphics cards sent out to press for review were in any way different to the flagship boards that’ll be sold by retailers, following online accusations that the review samples were somehow ‘binned.’
As Tom’s Hardware reports, there are markings on some review models of the RTX 5090 which say ‘Press Build’ (as seen at TechPowerUp, for example), something remarked upon by Andreas Schilling (editor at German tech site Hardwareluxx) on X.
Ian Cutress (of TechTechPotato) replied to Schilling’s comment about whether there was anything ‘special’ about these graphics cards by jokily altering the words on the RTX 5090 chip to read ‘Press Binned’ as you can see below (if you expand the post).
Binning refers not to throwing graphics chips in the trashcan, of course, but to the process of allocating silicon to different models of GPU (in ‘bins’ or groups). Every chip in a particular group that pertains to a certain GPU model conforms to the base level spec (silicon that doesn’t is usually repurposed in a lower bin), but some chips are actually of a slightly higher quality, and can be pushed to faster than base clock speeds.
This is why you get different levels of overclock with a certain GPU, or indeed a CPU, with more headroom in a higher-quality chip (even though it’s in the same bin) – which is referred to as ‘winning the silicon lottery’ (you got a good overclocker, in short).
So, without getting too deep into the weeds on this, the insinuation made by some folks online is that Nvidia has ensured that those better-performing chips from the top-end of the bin, as it were, have been used in review samples to get the best results for the RTX 5090.
Tom’s directly asked Nvidia if these press build RTX 5090 Founders Edition cards were “higher-performing iterations of retail counterparts” and a rep from Team Green replied to say: “Some early GeForce RTX GPUs include a top mark related to intended use [the ‘Press Build’ stamp]. Their functionality and performance are identical to retail GPUs.”
In short, the marking means nothing save for indicating that these graphics cards are models put aside for sending out to the press.
Analysis: An unusual clarification, but clearly Nvidia felt it necessary
This is an odd one, and it’s unusual that Nvidia would respond to such chatter, but it’s clear Team Green felt the need to set the record straight here.
We have to take Nvidia’s assertion at face value, but of course, the difference that any such binning might make wouldn’t be that huge anyway. But even if it was, that’d be a silly route for Nvidia to take, as reviews of third-party RTX 5090 boards compared to the Founders Edition would surely look odd if there was an obvious discrepancy. Yes, Nvidia’s own boards may be well-designed and cooled, but you can be sure third-party models with more premium price tags will be, as well.
I believe that Nvidia is being up front here, and any markings are just for admin or legal purposes (guarding against reselling review boards for example). Indeed, if there was any binning going on with RTX 5090 reviews, it would surely make more sense for Nvidia not to identify those chips as ‘press samples’ so explicitly.
There are more pressing concerns on the RTX 5090, for sure, including whether you’ll actually be able to buy one on launch day (tomorrow, January 30) – as that isn’t the case with MSI’s online store, we’ve just discovered. While you will be able to pre-order an MSI RTX 5090 model tomorrow, it won’t be shipped until February 6, we’re told – and Nvidia is warning on potential stock shortages of the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080. This is a topic that’s been buzzing on the rumor mill for some time now, with a whole lot of pessimistic noises being made, unfortunately.
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