The electricity bill can be shocking: MSI introduced the GeForce RTX 5090 32G Lightning Z — the first consumer graphics card with a TDP over 1000 W
At CES 2026, MSI officially introduced its most extreme graphics card — the GeForce RTX 5090 32G Lightning Z. This flagship model has already achieved the status of one of the most unusual and powerful graphics cards in history. MSI claims that this is the first consumer GPU with a TDP of over 1000 W.
What's known
Lightning Z is equipped with a fully maintenance-free liquid cooling system with a 360mm radiator, copper cold plate, and a new high-pressure pump. The water block cover houses an 8” display — a first for graphics cards of this class. The screen is used for parameter monitoring, displaying animations and customization.
The graphics card is powered by two 12V-2×6 connectors, and MSI strongly recommends using a power supply of at least 1600 W. In Boost mode, the GPU operates at a frequency of 2730 MHz, and in the proprietary Extreme mode — up to 2775 MHz. The power subsystem includes 40 phases, making the card suitable for extreme overclocking using liquid nitrogen.
It is known that Lightning Z will be released in a limited edition — only 1300 copies worldwide. Already at the announcement stage, the card set 17 world records in benchmarks thanks to extreme overclocking and a powerful cooling system.
MSI positions the RTX 5090 Lightning Z as an “engineering showcase” and the return of the legendary Lightning series, which has not been updated since 2019.
MSI does not disclose the cost of the monstrous graphics card, but there is no chance that it will cost less than $5000.
Source: MSI
