Unreleased RTX 4090 prototype disassembled — massive four-slot GPU has unique PCB layout and runs exceptionally cool

We’ve previously covered a purported RTX 4090 Ti prototype circulating the internet, and someone has finally tested and disassembled the entire thing. Gamers Nexus conducted the test and tear down, where the prototype GPU was finally revealed to be an RTX 4090 with a massive flow-through heatsink and three fans. Another unique thing about this GPU is that its PCB is mounted parallel to the motherboard, and that it features a metal PCIe connector that’s connected to a socket directly on the GPU’s board.

Gamers Nexus host Steve Burke said that it took hours to take the GPU apart, especially as it’s just a prototype and there’s no available guide on how to disassemble the unit. There were also a ton of different screws that he had to get to, requiring him to use many screwdrivers. But once he was able to free the GPU’s PCB from its heatsink, Burke said that it’s most likely an RTX 4090 graphics card with 24GB of VRAM.

The PCB itself of the RTX 4090 prototype is fairly similar to other GPUs despite its unique mounting method. What makes it unique is its massive cooling solution, which, according to his tests, had the GPU running about 20 degrees cooler than a standard RTX 4090 FE that’s consuming the same amount of power. This kind of performance has only previously been seen on watercooled GPUs, showing how effective the three-fan, four-slot flow-through design Nvidia used on this prototype.

Aside from the external marking and internal configuration saying that the GPU is an RTX 4090, its driver also said that it was 4090. This likely makes it a prototype for a heatsink design for the 4090, unless Nvidia just flashed it with a 4090 driver to mask its true identity. However, when he tested the prototype’s actual FPS performance on software, the numbers showed that it had about 10% less performance than the RTX 4090 FE the Gamers Nexus team had on hand, which is on par for a prototype 4090 unit that’s not yet optimized.

So, after much speculation, we can finally put to rest that this GPU is in fact an RTX 4090, and not an RTX 4090 Ti. It could be that Nvidia was just using this prototype as a testbed to see if it could create a heatsink that can handle massive amounts of heat for an RTX 4090 Ti that we didn’t see the company release. And given that it just launched the RTX 50-series a couple of days ago, we likely never will.

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.