At CES 2026, MSI unveiled its flagship GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z, a GPU engineered for extreme overclocking. This custom PCB features a robust 40-phase VRM design, essential for delivering stable voltage to the GB202 GPU. The card operates with a maximum power rating of 800 W out of the box, but can be pushed to 1000 W via an 'Extreme' power preset when using the included 360 mm AIO water cooler.

For memory, MSI utilized 28 Gbps Samsung GDDR7 modules, which are capable of reaching 36 Gbps under liquid nitrogen. The cooling solution is comprehensive, featuring a full-copper cold plate that covers the 3 oz copper PCB to cool the GPU, VRMs, and memory simultaneously. Powered by dual 16-pin 12V-2x6 connectors, the Lightning Z represents the pinnacle of enthusiast-grade hardware, offering unprecedented performance headroom for record-breaking benchmarks.