The RTX 4090 is both a utter dissipation of money and the most powerful graphics calling card ever made . avowedly , that seduce it a hard mathematical product to evaluate , especially considering how much the ordinary PC gamer is take care to expend on an rise for their system .
Debuting Nvidia ’s new Ada Lovelace architecture , the RTX 4090 has beenshrouded in controversyand reference as the bill poster tike for risingGPU damage . As much as it cost , it delivers on performance , specially with the sweetening provide by DLSS 3 . Should you keep open your pennies and trade your car for this beast of GPU ? likely not . But it ’s in spades an exciting display case of how far this applied science can really go .
About this review
The RTX 4090 has been through a mickle since it in the first place secrete . As we wind down the generation , we ’re revisit Nvidia ’s flagship GPU to see how it holds up in 2024 . Throughout the review , we ’ve added additional notes on features , pitfalls , and pricing to well reflect the reality of buying the RTX 4090 in 2024 .
Video review
Nvidia RTX 4090 specs
As remark , the RTX 4090 introduce Nvidia ’s fresh Ada Lovelace architecture , as well as chipmaker TSMC ’s more efficient N4 manufacturing mental process . Although it ’s impossible to compare the RTX 4090 spec - for - specification with the previous contemporaries , we can harvest some insights into what Nvidia prioritise when design Ada Lovelace .
The main focus : clock pep pill . TheRTX 3090 Titopped out at around 1.8GHz , but the RTX 4090 showcases the efficiency of the new node with a 2.52GHz boost clock . That ’s with the same board king of 450 watts , but it ’s running on more cores . The RTX 3090 Ti was just shy of 11,000 CUDA kernel , while the RTX 4090 provide 16,384 CUDA cores .
It ’s punishing to say how much those excess centre affair , peculiarly for play . Down the stack , theRTX 4080has a little more than half of the gist as the RTX 4090 , while theRTX 4070 Tihas even less .
Although the RTX 4090 kicked off the Ada Lovelace generation , Nvidia has filled out the peck since . We ’ve look back every batting order from Nvidia ’s current batting order , and you’re able to discover all of our review in the inclination below . Some cards , such as the RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 Ti , have been replaced with a reinvigorated Super model .
Synthetic and rendering
Before getting into the full bench mark retinue , let ’s take a high-pitched - level look at performance . Port Royal and Time Spy from 3D Mark show how Nvidia ’s latest flagship scale well , showing a 58 % gain over the RTX 3090 Ti in Time Spy , as well as a 102 % increase over the RTX 3090 in Port Royal .
It ’s important to note that 3DMark is n’t the best way to judge operation , as it factor in inyour CPUmuch more than most games do ( particularly at 4 K ) . In the case of the RTX 4090 , though , 3DMark show the scaling well . In fact , my results from actual games are really a little gamy than what this synthetic benchmark suggests , at least outside of ray tracing .
I also tested Blender to gauge some contented origination chore with the RTX 4090 , and the advance are astounding . Blender is accelerated by Nvidia ’s CUDA cores , and the RTX 4090 seems specially optimized for these types of workloads , with it putting up more than double the grade of the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti in the Monster and Junkshop scenery , and just under double in the Classroom conniption . AMD ’s GPUs , which do n’t have CUDA , are n’t even tight .
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4K gaming performance
On to the racy bits . All of my tryout were done with aRyzen 9 7950Xand 32 GB of DDR5 - 6000 memory on an open - breeze test bench . I keptResizeable BARturned on throughout testing , or in the case of AMD GPUs , Smart Access Memory .
The RTX 4090 is a monster physically , but it ’s also a monster when it comes to 4 kilobyte gaming public presentation . Across my test entourage , excludingBright Memory InfiniteandHorizon Zero Dawn , which I have incomplete data point for , the RTX 4090 was 68 % faster than the RTX 3090 Ti . Compared to the RTX 3090 , you ’re take care at nearly an 89 % boost .
That ’s a Brobdingnagian jump , much larger than the 30 % cost increase we saw gen - on - gen with the acquittance of theRTX 3080 . And none of those numbers factor in upscaling . This is raw performance , include beam trace , and the RTX 4090 is showing a Brobdingnagian lead over the previous genesis .
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Perhaps the most telling show wasCyberpunk 2077.The RTX 4090 is just over 50 % quicker than the RTX 3090 Ti at 4 K with maxed - out options , which is telling enough . It ’s the fact that the RTX 4090 cracks 60 frames per second ( Federal Protective Service ) that stands out , though . Even themost powerful graphics cardsin the premature generation could n’t get past 60 Federal Protective Service without help fromDeep Learning Super Sampling ( DLSS ) . The RTX 4090 can break that roadblock while interpret every pixel , and do so with quite a lead .
Gears Tacticsalso shows the RTX 4090 ’s force , winning out over the RTX 3090 Ti with a 73 % lead . In aVulkan titlelikeRed Dead Redemption 2,the gains are smaller , but the RTX 4090 still handle a 52 % lead base on my testing . This is a vast generational leap in performance , though it ’s still below what Nvidia originally assure .
Nvidia has marketedthe RTX 4090 as “ two to four time fast ” than the RTX 3090 Ti , and that ’s not true . It’smuchfaster than the previous top firedog , but Nvidia ’s call only create common sense when you factor in in DLSS 3 . DLSS 3 is impressive , and I ’ll get to it after in this inspection . But it ’s not in every game and it still needs some work . gratefully , with the RTX 4090 ’s sensitive performance , DLSS is more of a “ nice to have ” and less of a “ need to have . ”
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In AMD - promoted titles likeAssassin ’s Creed ValhallaandForza Horizon 5,the RTX 4090 still shows its power , though now againstAMD ’s RX 6950 XT . InValhallaat 4 K , the RTX 4090 managed a 63 % lead over the RX 6950 crosstalk . The margins were tighter inForza Horizon 5,which seems to scale very well with AMD ’s current offerings . Even with less of a lede , though , the RTX 4090 is 48 % in advance of the RX 6950 XT .
These comparison are telling , but the RTX 4090 is n’t on a level performing discipline with its competitors . At $ 1,600 , Nvidia ’s former flagship is importantly more expensive than even the most expensive GPUs available today . With the performance the RTX 4090 is offering , though , it ’s really a better pot than a garish RTX 3090 or RTX 3090 Ti .
In terms of toll per frame of reference , you ’re looking at around the same price as an RTX 3080 10 GB at $ 700 . This is not the best way to judge value — it assumes you even have the superfluous Johnny Cash to spend on the RTX 4090 in the first space , and it does n’t describe for features like DLSS 3 — but as crazy as it vocalize , $ 1,600 is a fairly average damage for the 4 cat valium execution the RTX 4090 offers .
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Now that the launch junk has settled , ensure to read ourRX 7900 XTX reviewto see how the RTX 4090 stacks up to other in high spirits - ending GPUs .
1440p gaming performance
If you ’re buying the RTX 4090 for 1440p , you ’re wasting your money ( read our guide on thebest 1440p graphics cards instead ) . Although it still provides a large betterment over the former generation , the margins are much slender . You ’re looking at a 48 % blow over the RTX 3090 Ti , and a 68 % increase over the RX 6950 crosstalk . Those are still large generational jumps , but the RTX 4090 really shines at 4K.
You start to become alittle C.P.U. limitedat 1440p , and if you go down to 1080p , the result are even tighter . And frankly , the extra performance at 1440p just does n’t stand out like it does at 4K. InGears Tactics , for lesson , the RTX 4090 is 36 % faster than the RTX 3090 Ti , down from the 73 % lead Nvidia ’s in style card showed at 4K. The literal skeleton charge per unit are less telling , too . indisputable , the RTX 4090 is path ahead of the RTX 3090 Ti , but it ’s voiceless to reckon someone postulate over 200 Federal Protective Service inGears Tacticswhen a GPU that ’s $ 500 cheaper is already above 160 fps .
At 4 K , the RTX 4090 accomplishes major milestone — above 60 fps inCyberpunk 2077without DLSS , near the 144Hz mark forhigh refresh charge per unit monitorsinAssassin ’s Creed Valhalla , etc . At 1440p , the RTX 4090 certainly has a high telephone number , but that act is a lot more impressive on composition than it is on an actual screen .
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Ray tracing
Nvidia has been a champion ofray tracingsince the Turing contemporaries , but Ada Lovelace is the first genesis where it ’s seeing a major overhaul . At the ticker of the RTX 4090 is a redesigned ray retrace marrow that boosts operation and inaugurate Shader Execution Reordering ( SER ) . SER is fundamentally a more efficient way to process light beam tracing operations , allow them to execute as GPU power becomes uncommitted rather than in a straight air where chokepoint are bandage to come . It also requires you to turn on hardware - accelerated GPU programing in Windows .
And it works . The margins with ray tracing are much slender usually , but the RTX 4090 in reality shows higher profit with ray trace twist on . InCyberpunk 2077,for example , the RTX 4090 is nearly 71 % quicker than the RTX 3090 Ti with the Ultra RT preset . And that ’s before factor in DLSS . AMD ’s GPUs , which are much further behind in ray trace public presentation , show even larger difference . The RTX 4090 is a full 152 % faster than the RX 6950 XT in this benchmark .
Similarly , Metro Exodus Enhanced Editionshowed an 80 % boost for the RTX 4090 over the RTX 3090 Ti , andBright Memory Infiniteshowed the RTX 4090 93 % ahead of the RTX 3090 . Nvidia ’s call of “ two to four times debauched ” than the RTX 3090 Ti may not hold up without DLSS 3 , but ray trace performance develop much closer to that German mark .
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And just like 4 thou performance , the RTX 4090 shows operation improvement that in reality make a difference when shaft of light tracing is turned on . InBright MemoryInfinite , the RTX 4090 is the dispute between taking advantage of a high-pitched refresh charge per unit and scarcely cracking 60 Federal Protective Service . And inCyberpunk 2077,the RTX 4090 is literally the dispute between playable and unplayable .
Since tone ending , Nvidia hasintroduced DLSS 3.5 , which is a huge encouragement for ray tracing on the RTX 4090 . This feature is only in a few games , includingAlan Wake 2andCyberpunk 2077,but it massively improves electron beam tracing . The Ray Reconstruction feature is an AI - powered beam of light tracing denoiser that improves shadows , reflection , and in some case , even performance .
you could see how much of a difference DLSS 3.5 makes inAlan Wake 2above . The tail are much sharper , the reflections have mirrorlike highlight , and the aspect has a much softer slope between light and dark areas . This improvement does n’t fare with a carrying out penalty , either — in some cases , Ray Reconstruction is even a bit faster .
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DLSS 3 tested
DLSS has been a whiz featurefor RTX GPUs for the past few generations , butDLSS 3is a major transmutation for the tech . It inaugurate ocular flow AI inning multiplication , which boils down to the AI simulation generating a completely unique frame of reference every other frame . Theoretically , that means even a plot that ’s 100 % limit by the CPU and would n’t see any benefit from a lower resolution will have twice the performance .
That ’s not quite the situation in the real humankind , but DLSS 3 is still very telling . I started with 3DMark ’s DLSS 3 tryout , which just runs the Port Royal bench mark with DLSS off and then on . My goal was to push the feature as far as possible , so I set up DLSS to its Ultra Performance musical mode and the resolution to 8K. This is the better showcase of what DLSS 3 is adequate to of , with the tech boost the skeleton rate by 578 % . That ’s insane .
In real games , the increase are n’t as stark , but DLSS 3 is still telling . Nvidia provided an early form ofA Plague Tale : Requiem , and DLSS manage to boost the average frame rate by 128 % at 4 M with the background maxed out . And this was with the Auto mode for DLSS . With more aggressive picture timber presets , the gains are even higher .
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A Plague Tale : Requiemexposes an of import aspect of DLSS 3 , though : It incurs a adequate amount of operating expense . DLSS 3 is two section . The first part is DLSS Super Resolution , which is the same DLSS you ’ve seen on previous RTX generations . It will continue to work with RTX 20 - series and 30 - serial GPUs , so you may still use DLSS 3 Super Resolution in games with old - gen card game .
DLSS Frame Generation is the 2d part , and it ’s exclusive to RTX 40 - series GPUs . The AI return a new frame every other frame , but that ’s computationally expensive . Because of that , Nvidia Reflexis forced on whenever you twist on Frame Generation , and you ca n’t work it off .
If you reason through how Frame Generation works , itshouldprovide double the frame charge per unit of whatever you ’re getting with just Super Resolution , but that ’s not the instance . As you could see inCyberpunk 2077below , the Frame Generation resultant role mean that the GPU is only rendering about 65 frames — the ease are coming from the AI . With Super Resolution on its own , that result jumps up by most 30 fps . That ’s the DLSS Frame Generation overhead at child’s play .
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Obviousy , Frame Generation allow the good execution , but do n’t count out Super Resolution as obsolete . Although it would seem that Frame Generation doubles DLSS frame rates , it ’s in reality much closer to Super Resolution on its own in pattern .
You ca n’t talk about DLSS apart from simulacrum quality , and although DLSS 3 is telling , it still needs some piece of work in the image quality department . Because every other frame is give on the GPU and mail straight out to your display , it ca n’t get around elements like your HUD . Those are part of the render frame , and they ’re advanced for artifacts , as you could see inCyberpunk 2077below . The moving pursuance mark splutter out as it move across the screen , with the AI example not quite trusted where to place pixels as the factor moves . Normally , HUD constituent are n’t a part of DLSS , but Frame Generation means you have to factor them in .
That same behavior show up in the actual shot , as well . InA Plague Tale : Requiem , for instance , you may see how draw through the dope produces a thin layer of pixel purgatory as the AI struggles to envision out where to place the Gunter Wilhelm Grass and where to rank the legs . Similarly , Port Royal picture flaccid sharpness and a lot of pixel instability .
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These artifact are best seen in movement , so I seize a bunch of 4 K footage at 120 Federal Protective Service , which you could watch below . I slowed down the DLSS compare by 50 % so you could see as many frame as possible , but keep in mind YouTube ’s concretion and the fact that it ’s unmanageable to get a honest apple - to - apple quality comparison when capturing gameplay . It ’s honest to see in the flesh .
While play , the image caliber penalties DLSS 3 incurs are easily offset by the performance gains it offers . But Frame Generation is n’t a setting you should always wrench on . It ’s at its best when you ’re pushing beam of light tracing and all of the visual bell and whistle . Hopefully , it will improve , as well . I ’m sure-footed Nvidia will extend to refine the Frame Generation aspect , but at the moment , it still shows some frayed border .
Power and thermals
Leading up to the RTX 4090 announcement , therumor mill function rampantwith surmisal about obscene top executive demands . The RTX 4090 draw a set of power — 450W for the Founder ’s Edition and even more for board partner plug-in like the Asus ROG genus Strix RTX 4090 — but it ’s not any more than the RTX 3090 Ti drew . And based on my testing , the RTX 4090 actually draws a piffling less .
The chart below shows the maximal power draw I measured while examination . This is n’t the max tycoon — a dedicated stress trial run would push the RTX 4090 further — but games are n’t tenseness tests , and you wo n’t always reach max baron ( or even get close ) . Comparing other Founder ’s Edition modelling , the RTX 4090 actually consume about 25W less than the RTX 3090 Ti . Overclocked plug-in partner card game will wax higher , though , so keep that in psyche .
For thermals , the RTX 4090 peaked at 64 degrees Celsius in my examination suite , which is flop around where it should sit . The smallerRTX 3080 Tiwith its pushed clock speeds and burden count showed the highest caloric results , peaking at 78 degrees . All of these numbers were gathered on an assailable - aura test bench , though , so temperatures will be high-pitched once the RTX 4090 is in a case .
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The RTX 4090 stays cool and restrained , but it still draw and quarter a lot of ability . In some cases , it puff too much . before long after spill , customers started experience amelting baron connection on the GPU . This is due to the power cable not being fully stick in into the plug on the GPU , heating up the plastic and induce it to run under loading . It could even set forth a fire , with upward of 600W pass across exceedingly thin pin .
It ’s been almost two years since the first reports of melting king connector popped up . Since then , Nvidia has plow the issue with anew revision of its power connector . I ’ve been running an original RTX 4090 for two years without consequence , as well — as long as the cablegram is seated , you should n’t have any problem .
Should you buy the Nvidia RTX 4090?
It ’s hard to recommend the RTX 4090 in 2024 , not because it ’s a uncollectible GPU , but because of where it baby-sit in the market . It ’s faster than everything , but a lot of that power does n’t meaningfully impact your gameplay experience . An unforeseen surge in demand has driven up the price of this already expensive GPU by a lot , too .
You wo n’t find any models available for lean price , and you ’d be scoring a pile if you get hold an RTX 4090 at $ 1,800 . Demand from AI has cause the damage to rocket , and although that price is come down , it ’s not as low as it should be . The RTX 4090 is a fiend , but it’spast its bloom .
Now is n’t a great time to buy the RTX 4090 anyway . We ’re star down the launching ofRTX 50 - serial GPUs , likely at the end of this class or the start of next , so it ’s best to wait on buy the RTX 4090 .
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