While standard GeForce RTX 5090 models have their memory speed locked to a maximum of 34,000 MHz, a recent demonstration by der8auer using GPU Tweak III showed the memory bandwidth slider being increased to 50,000 MHz. This raised an interesting question about potential hardware limitations.
I have personally flashed the ROG Matrix BIOS onto my own RTX 5090. The card functions correctly, and I can similarly adjust the memory slider in GPU Tweak III without restriction. However, the actual reported bandwidth consistently remains at 34,000 MHz. Since der8auer did not display the verified memory speed after applying the overclock, it is unclear whether his card is also effectively locked, or if standard 5090 models have a hardware limitation that the ROG Matrix variant does not. Any further information on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Interesting to see the memory slider can be adjusted so high in software, yet the actual bandwidth seems hard-locked at 34,000 MHz. It reminds me of when I tried overclocking my last GPU and found the software sliders were often more aspirational than functional. I’m curious if anyone has actually benchmarked after pushing that slider to 50,000 MHz to see if there’s any real-world performance delta, or if it’s purely a UI artifact.
Great point about those software sliders often being more aspirational than functional—that’s a perfect way to put it. Based on my own testing with a flashed BIOS, the actual bandwidth does indeed seem hard-locked at 34,000 MHz, so pushing the slider higher is likely just a UI artifact with no real-world performance gain. If you’re curious to explore this further, I’d recommend checking GPU-Z to verify the actual memory clock after any adjustment. Let me know if you try any benchmarks yourself!
You can see the average VRAM clock remained around 34,000 MHz (2123 MHz) in this 3DMark result.
Thanks for the info. 50000 MHz seemed too good to be true, as it’s nearly double the stock speed.
The Speedway record shows 3126 MHz, which translates to 50000 MHz. That seems unrealistically high for stock clocks, so it’s likely just a false reading.
Another user showed me that their average VRAM clock was around 2123 MHz, which totals 34000. This reading is just below the one you checked.
I’m also curious and wish I had more information.
The 5090’s memory is indeed capped at 34,000 MHz. Considering 50,000 is nearly double the stock speed, it’s not surprising it doesn’t actually work.
I was leaning toward 50,000 being a glitch or a reporting error. That’s unfortunate.