Verdict
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is the most potent computer graphic card yet , offering undischarged performance for both 4 kelvin gambling with ray of light trace and punishing - duty content creation . It ’s overkill for the majority of gamers , especially with the steep price and force uptake , yet remains the lead option for anyone craving ultimate power .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is the very first graphics card to launch as part of the newRTX 4000generation , and swank the accolade as the most powerful consumer graphic board on the marketplace – both now and for the foreseeable future .
But calling the RTX 4090 a “ consumer graphics lineup ” is questionable at best . It has a $ 1599/£1679 starting Mary Leontyne Price , is big than anXbox Series Sconsole and could potentially double your PC ’s might consumption depending on your current build .
Many would fence this is a Titan card in all but name , with a prosumer - grade performance ideal for heavy - tariff contentedness creative activity and overkill for the majority of gamers . And yet Nvidia has persisted with the GeForce stigmatization .
After spending a week benchmarking this behemoth of a graphics add-in , I have to say that I ’m impressed with the 4 K play performance , specially withray tracingactivated . And with further ironware - grade betterment made to the likes of DLSS , this is a jaw - send packing first appearance for the newLovelacegeneration .
Here are my thoughts on whether the RTX 4090 can game a claim in ourbest graphics cardroundup .
Specs and design
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card is a member of the novel RTX 4000 Series , and so is based on the cutting - edge Lovelace architecture .
Lovelace does n’t only offer improved naked carrying into action , but also have 4th - Gen Tensor Cores to ensure compatibility for the newDLSS 3solution , and 3rd - Gen RT core to boost irradiation tracing efficiency . DLSS and beam tracing have both been Nvidia ’s killer whale features ever since the RTX 20 Series launch , with the former boost frame - pace performance via contrived intelligence , and the latter enable more naturalistic in - game lighting and trace effects .
Nvidia is n’t relying entirely on software system progress for the RTX 4090 . As you’re able to see from the table below , Nvidia has hiked up both the CUDA Core count and supercharge clock speed . Even the graphic card index has get word an increment compare to theRTX 3090 , which may be a footling concerning considering the province of energy bills right now .
In terms of design , the RTX 4090 looks exactly the same as the RTX 3090 . It features the same striking ‘ decade ’ pattern on the front , as well as a dual - lover setup ; one locate at the front and another on the back end .
If you have n’t hear an RTX xx90 card before , you may be traumatise by its property . With a length of 304 mm and width of 137 mm , this is an absolute behemoth . If you ’ve got a standard ATX motherboard and case , you should be fine . But get such a monolithic calling card in your rig will obviously reduce the air flow which is n’t ideal .
The Nvidia RTX 4090 shares the exact same ports as its RTX 3090 , which includes 3x DisplayPort and a singleHDMI 2.1connection which supports up to 4 K 120Hz and 8 super C 60Hz .
The graphics circuit card rollick a 16 - pin PCIe power connexion , which may not play squeamish with your subsist PSU cables . But there ’s no need to worry , as Nvidia bundles an adaptor in the boxful so you wo n’t need to buy a completely new PSU – just ensure you do n’t lose the arranger .
Features
All star sign point towards DLSS 3 being the standout feature for the Nvidia RTX 4000 Series . But how does it compare to DLSS 2 ?
First , let me explain how DLSS really works . The initial release of the software was capable to use hokey intelligence to make extra picture element to thin the work load of your GPU when wager a game , result in a meaning gibbosity to the build rate carrying out . Originally , DLSS would cause a pregnant driblet in the optical tone of game , but Nvidia has made fantastic strides over the years to ensure game look as good as they would without DLSS .
Nvidia has now introduced DLSS 3 , which is an single feature of the RTX 4000 serial publication . alternatively of just generating pixels , the artificial intelligence is now able to generate total frames . As you could reckon , this enables an incredibly declamatory public presentation hike to compatible games .
To determine out the extent of the performance cost increase , I benchmarkedCyberpunk 2077,F1 2022and A Plague Tale : Requiem in 4 K with light beam follow activated . you may check out the result below .
The results were staggering . While DLSS 2 already get a line a 66 % performance cost increase for Cyberpunk 2077 , the new DLSS 3 saw an even more impressive 249 % advance . It ’s a game - change upgrade , allowing you to take vantage of ray trace visuals in 4 K without birth to settle for a depressed human body - charge per unit carrying into action .
It was n’t just Cyberpunk 2077 that ascertain massive public presentation gains . DLSS 3 also had a vast encroachment on F1 2022 and A Plague Tale : Requiem – we ’re talking heavy increase than the raw carrying out conflict between an RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 4090 here .
During examination , I did n’t remark any optical downgrades when using DLSS 3 . I ’m sure those with a keen eye may spot artefacts or reduced lucidness for sealed in - secret plan objects , but it ’s unlikely you ’ll notice such issue without seem for them .
The large event with DLSS 3 is that there are presently only around 35 apps and games that patronise it , which include the like of Cyberpunk 2077,Hitman 3,The Witcher 3,Dying Light 2and more . But Nvidia did a dandy job of broadening game documentation for previous iterations of DLSS , so I ’m certain that game list will expand substantially over the next few years .
Left : Cyberpunk 2077 re tracing off . Right : hacker 2077 ray tracing on
Ray trace also turn back as a major feature for the RTX 4090 , activate the graphics card to produce more lifelike kindling and shadow upshot . Other than the fresh RT Cores that boost the efficiency of the technology , it has n’t seen any significant alterations like DLSS has . But the boosted performance of DLSS 3 enables gamers to play the likes of Cyberpunk at 4 super C with maxed out graphics configurations at a 60fps+ performance . Previously , you ’d want to make important sacrifices ( either resolution or graphics quality ) to achieve this .
Again , there ’s only a select inclination of game that support Nvidia ’s re tracing technology , but it ’s getting larger every month , while modern games are also utilising it far easily now than a few years ago .
Performance and benchmarks
Nvidia has done an first-class job improving its DLSS offering , but that does n’t mean it ’s harbor back on meliorate the in the altogether performance too . The computer graphic company claims the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is between 2x and 4x faster than the Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti .
I decided to put that claim to the mental test , by calling in one of the most powerful mutation of theRTX 3090 Ticurrently available : the Asus ROG Strix Gaming Overclocked version . ThisAmpereGPU even has its own external cooling resolution attached so as to maximise performance .
It ’s arguably an unjust run since the RTX 4090 on test is the nonremittal Founder ’s Edition , but I wanted to see how high-pitched Nvidia has pushed up the operation ceiling compared to the previous multiplication .
Unfortunately , I was ineffective to call in the Radeon RX 6950 XT to see how AMD ’s most herculean GPU stacks up against the RTX 4090 . or else , I ’ve used theAMD Radeon RX 6800for examination – an upper mid - range card that ’s approximately $ 1000 cheaper than the RTX 4090 . That ’s patently an unjust contest , but I wanted to evidence what sort of execution boost you ’ll get by spending an extra grand on a graphics card .
to conduct a fair review when comparing these graphics poster , I used the exact same microcomputer configuration throughout . you may see the breakdown of my test rig below :
With all of that out of the means , permit ’s get to the benchmark outcome :
Cyberpunk 2077 (ray tracing activated)
Let ’s start with the surd mental testing . Cyberpunk is one of the most difficult games to run right now , particularly if you set ray tracing to the maximal context . With the RTX 4090 take to be one of the most knock-down art cards on the grocery , I wanted to see how it performed .
unco , the RTX 4090 only achieved a 44fps performance in 4 K with the eminent predetermined graphics configurations . That ’s not a bad grudge though , as it scramble the RTX 3090 Ti by an 18fps margin – it just emphasise how demanding the open - human beings sci - fi game is .
The RTX 4090 also find Brobdingnagian leads at the lower answer . It seems like the new 3rd Generation RT cores are help with the ray tracing functioning here , take a leak the RTX 4090 a very tempting choice if you visualize playing Cyberpunk in all its glory .
Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn is a modern open - world PC game which is relatively taxing on the GPU . The Nvidia RTX 4090 interestingly did n’t see huge gain on the Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti at Full HD and Quad HD resolution – it only saw a 11fps hike for the latter .
But it was a different taradiddle when the resolution was hike up up to 4 K , with the RTX 4090 have a humongous 46fps lead . Of naturally , you could make the argument that the RTX 3090 Ti is already more than adequate to of playing Horizon Zero Dawn in 4 kB at a high-pitched frame rate , so purchasing an RTX 4090 for this game alone is plausibly overkill .
Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 was an outlier in examination , being the only benchmark to argue the Asus Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti offers a better 4 K operation than the RTX 4090 . This biz also prove to be an outlier for myAMD Ryzen 9 7900X review , which suggests its not well optimise .
Nevertheless , it ’s a corking example to show that buying the latest computer hardware does n’t always assure the good performance with every game . The RTX 4090 still see swell results though , hitting 128fps in 4 green and a thumping 208fps in Full HD . In practice , you ’re probably not last to note a monolithic difference between the RTX 4090 and RTX 3090 Ti .
Total War: Warhammer 3 (Battle benchmark)
I wanted to ensure I have a lot of motley in plot genre for my chemical group test , and Total War : Warhammer 3 is a great forward-looking example for strategy fan .
The Nvidia RTX 4090 was fabulously impressive here , attain a jaw - dropping 104fps carrying into action in 4K. For comparison , the RTX 3090 Ti only achieved a 68fps score in the same test .
The performance gains were equally as impressive at the Quad HD and Full HD resolutions , with a 57fps advantage for the former , and 41fps boost for the latter . Do you really demand such a high performance for Warhammer 3 ? in all probability not , but it ’s still nevertheless impressive .
Overwatch 2
High systema skeletale rates are arguably most important for online hired gun , so I made sure to include the brand Modern Overwatch 2 for examination . The Nvidia RTX 4090 excelled in this exam , hitting a supremely terrific 496fps performance in 4 one thousand , appropriate you to make the very most out of 500Hz monitors .
That ’s a staggering 185fps difference compared to the Asus Nvidia RYX 3090 Ti , which will belike be euphony to the ear of eSports players . With such fantastic execution , there is n’t really any need to dial down the settlement down to Quad or Full HD .
3DMark Time Spy Extreme
3DMark Time Spy Extreme is n’t a video game like all of the above benchmark , but alternatively is a man-made benchmark that evaluate overall play performance .
This bench mark emphasises how powerful the new RTX 4090 is , hear a well beneficial performance than the overclocked RTX 3090 Ti and double the king of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 . There ’s no question about it , the Nvidia RTX 4090 is the most powerful graphics card we ’ve ever tested .
Blender
It ’s important to remember that art menu are n’t just useful to gamers , but also to content Almighty whether they ’re editing picture , make 3D vivification or streaming to an hearing . The Blender bench mark tests a GPU ’s 3D rendering performance , and so is a good indicator for such workloads .
The RTX 4090 post a blistering result here , with substantial gains over the RTX 3090 in all three test . Nvidia claims the RTX 4090 ’s dual - encoder is a big ground for such a high performance uplift . AV1 support will also raise live streaming quality , and so could be a superb option for Twitch content creators .
Power consumption and temperature
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 boasts an over-the-top operation advantage over its precursor , the RTX 3090 . But Nvidia has had to make one significant compromise to achieve such power : it has crank up up the baron economic consumption .
The RTX 4090 has a 850W graphics visiting card power , which is 100W more than the default RTX 3090 . Nvidia recommends at least a 850W PSU , but you ’ll probably want to direct for something higher . For testing , I used an 850W PSU from Corsair , but that was n’t enough to power both the RTX 4090 andIntel Core i9 - 12900 K – I was forced to downgrade to an Intel Core i5 - 12600 K alternatively .
During testing , the Nvidia RTX 4090 actually wipe out less power than the Asus Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti – but that ’s no surprise since the latter is an overclocked variant that comes with its own external chilling system . In fact , it ’s an unwelcome surprise that the RTX 4090 comes anywhere near to that material body .
If you ’re worried about your electricity bill , or do n’t fancy upgrading your PSU , then the RTX 4090 is n’t a cracking option . But it ’s a modest via media if you ’re thirst the ultimate play functioning .
On the bright side , the Nvidia RTX 4090 reach a relatively humbled flush temperature of 64 ° C during a 3DMark Time Spy Extreme stress exam . This implies that there ’s plenty of headroom for some overclocking , so you may well see an even skillful carrying into action from third - company artwork identity card with the RTX 4090 GPU .
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Should you buy it?
- : The Nvidia RTX 4090 is indisputably the most powerful graphics card available , both for play and content creation . If you want the fastest performance potential , this is the computer graphic poster for you .
The Nvidia RTX 4090 excels at 4 K gaming , achieving frame rates beyond 100fps in the vast majority of our benchmark tests . If you do n’t have a 4 kB monitor with a high enough refresh pace , then the RTX 4090 represent poor time value for money .
Final Thoughts
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is a monstrously sinewy graphics card that ’s up to of a 4 K public presentation beyond 100fps for the vast bulk of games . And even when games such as Cyberpunk 2077 manage to slow the GPU down with ray tracing activated , the jaw - neglect performance of DLSS 3 helps to offset the performance loss .
The large argument against the RTX 4090 is whether such high performance is needed . Is it really that important to surpass the 100fps score for games such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Warhammer 3 ? And for games such as Overwatch 2 where a mellow skeleton pace is invaluable , you ’ll need to make certain you ’ve got an extremely expensive 500Hz gaming proctor to ensure you ’re getting the most out of the art card .
The Nvidia RTX 4090 makes more sense for content creators who want to quicken up the procedure for complex workloads such as 3D rendering . But even then , you ’ll require to make certain you have a sinewy enough PSU and do n’t mind forking out for the inevitably more expensive muscularity bill .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every graphics card we brush up is go through a serial of synthetic and real world benchmarks to gauge its performance , index efficiency and potential for overclocking .
FAQs
The Nvidia RTX 4090 measure in at 304 millimeter long and 137 mm widely . That relieve oneself it even openhanded than an Xbox Series S.
The Nvidia RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM .
The Nvidia RTX 4090 launches on 12 October 2022 .
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As part of this foreign mission , whenever we review a product we send the company a series of questions to help us gauge and make transparent the wallop the twist has on the environs .
you could see a elaborated breakdown of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability information page . In lieu of answer each of these questions , Vivo has offer us with its companySustainability Report .
