With the GeForce RTX 4090, Nvidia heralds the next-gen exchange of blows in gaming graphics cards. ComputerBase uses the Founders Edition to test how big the improvements are compared to the RTX 3000 series. In addition to performance, the focus is also on power consumption, energy efficiency, cooling and DLSS 3.
Table of contents
- 1 Extremely fast , also with less TDP and without DLSS 3
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 in the test
- Right at the start a small teaser
- A new test course for RTX 4000 (and RX 7000)
- Ada Lovelace's technique on the RTX 4090
- The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition in detail
- Test system and test methodology
- 2 benchmarks in WQHD, UHD & 5K with and without ray tracing
- Clock rates under load
- Benchmarks with and without RT in 3,840 × 2,160
- Benchmarks with RT and FSR 2.x/DLSS 2.x in 3,840 × 2,160
- Benchmarks with and without RT in 2,560 × 1,440
- Benchmarks with and without RT in 5,120 × 2,880
- Overview of game benchmarks
- Benchmarks in applications
- 3 GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition
- Volume in detail
- Temperatures in detail
- Power consumption in detail
- Energy efficiency in the factory state
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- 4 DLSS 3: technology, image quality and performance
- This is behind Nvidia DLSS 3
- The image quality of DLSS 3 in Cyberpunk 2077
- The performance of DLSS 3 in Cyberpunk 2077
- A first assessment
- When will the games come with DLSS 3?
- 5 performance with less TDP and overclocking
- RTX 4090 vs. RTX 3090 Ti at 450, 350 & 300 watts
- Overclocking: AD102 at almost 3.0 GHz
- 6 Price, availability and conclusion
- Prices and availability
- Conclusion
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 in test
The hot autumn of 2022 with graphics cards has really started today. Although the Intel Arc 770 and Arc 750 (test) attracted attention a week ago, the extremely late first generation does not take part in the next-gen exchange of blows. In all probability, only AMD will fight the duel again with the Radeon RX 7000 series based on RDNA 3 and Nvidia with the GeForce RTX 4000 series based on the revised Ada Lovelace architecture.
Nvidia presents the top model
With the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition for 1,949 euros RRP, Nvidia is making the first move today. Starting October 12th, both the “FE” and custom designs will be available in stores. The GeForce RTX 4080 with 12 GB and a faster RTX 4080 with 16 GB for 1,099 and 1,569 euros respectively are to follow in November.
With the new generation, the prices rise again compared to the respective predecessor. But the extra performance justifies that, argues Nvidia – and at the same time leaves enough leeway for selling the last generation.
The following article will clarify to what extent the higher computing power of the RTX 4090, which is said to surpass the RTX 3090 in ray tracing titles by up to 100 percent, and the new DLSS 3 compensate for this price premium. Analyzes of power consumption, efficiency, also with alternative power targets, as well as volume and cooling round off the initial test for the Nvidia RTX 40.
A small teaser right at the start
Detailed benchmarks can be found in this article on page 2, an analysis of the performance at 450, 350 and 300 watts on page 5. The following teaser However, it provides an initial impression of what Nvidia Ada Lovelace is capable of doing in the form of the AD102 on the GeForce RTX 4090.
11 entries Edit RTX 4090 vs. RTX 3090 Ti at 450, 350 and 300 watts (FPS, UHD) Inflow charts All None
- Call of Duty: Vanguard – 3,840 × 2,160, efficiency : FPS, Average
- Cyberpunk 2077 – 3840 × 2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Deathloop (RT) – 3840 × 2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Doom Eternal (RT) – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Dying Light 2 (RT) – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- F1 22 (RT) – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Far Cry 6 (RT) – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Forza Horizon 5 – 3840 × 2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Ghostwire Tokyo (RT) – 3,840 × 2,160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- God of War – 3,840 × 2,160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Guardians of the Galaxy (RT) – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Halo Infinite – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Metro Exodus Enhanced (RT) – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Saints Row (RT) – 3840×2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Shadow Warrior 3 – 3840 × 2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Sniper Elite 5 – 3,840 × 2,160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
- Spider-Man Remastered (RT) – 3,840 × 2,160, Efficiency: FPS , Average
- Tiny Tina's Wonderlands – 3840 × 2160, Efficiency: FPS, Average
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- GeForce RTX 4090 FE @ 450 Watt99.9
- GeForce RTX 4090 FE @ 350 Watt96.8
- GeForce RTX 4090 FE @ 300 Watt90.6
- GeForce RTX 3090 Ti @ 450 Watt58.9
- GeForce RTX 3090 Ti @ 350 Watt56.1
- Asus GeForce RTX 3090 Strix OC55,9
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE52,6
- GeForce RTX 3090 Ti @ 300 Watt49.8
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 FE47.0
- XFX Radeon RX 6900 XT Black45,5
- AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT43.1
- AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT39.1
- AMD Radeon RX 680033.0
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 FE28.5< /li>
- AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT25,7
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FE25,2
- Asus GeForce RTX 3090 Ti TUF OC0,0
< /li>
Unit: percent
The Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition in the test
ComputerBase already has a first custom design with the Asus GeForce RTX 4090 TUF OC. For the time being, however, this article will only deal with Nvidia's Founders Edition.
With this, Nvidia wants to have revised the cooler compared to the GeForce RTX 3090 FE in order to be able to guarantee quiet operation. As with the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, the RTX 4090 has to dissipate up to 450 watts ex works, which is not only a challenge for the graphics card cooler itself, but also for the case (and the power supply). This is also covered in this article.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders EditionA new test course for RTX 4000 (and RX 7000)
The new graphics cards from Nvidia (and in a few weeks also from AMD) are once again completely new with their massively higher computing power Requirements for a test course. The editors are therefore not only completely rebuilding the latter, but have also optimized it specifically for the new generation. This affects both the participating graphics cards and the resolutions and graphics details used.
All benchmarks have been recreated accordingly in the last few weeks with the latest drivers, and the latest games are also used. With all the changes (details) that have been incorporated, the course is perfect for testing the new, fast graphics cards, even if the current generation often seems more or less overwhelmed – that's the intention. At a later date, the normal graphics card test course will also be updated again, which will then contain additional graphics cards. But in view of the abundance of new products in the 4th quarter there hasn't been time for that, even with a massive amount of work.
The technology of Ada Lovelace on the RTX 4090
The GeForce RTX 4090 is the first graphics card to rely on the “Ada Lovelace” architecture. The GPU AD102 used on the flagship is significantly more complex with 76.3 billion transistors than the GA102 on the RTX 3090 (Ti) with 28 billion circuits. However, the size is comparable at 609 mm². This is made possible by TSMC's N4 process, which offers significantly smaller structures than Samsung's 8 nm production.
The GeForce RTX 4090 does not yet use the full configuration of the AD102 GPU – the memory interface is at its maximum, but there are still computing units: The GeForce RTX 4090 comes with 128 streaming multiprocessors and thus 16,384 FP32 ALUs, but the AD102 offers their 144 and 18,432 respectively – that leaves room for a GeForce RTX 4090 Ti or a new Titan RTX.
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Nvidia AD102 “Ada Lovelace” (Image: Nvidia)
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All details about Ada Lovelace
The editors will not go into detail about the technology behind Ada Lovelace again at this point, because there was already a detailed article about it in September:
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000: More details on architecture, DLSS 3 and Founders Editions
GeForce RTX 4000: Specifications at a glance
1 × NVDEC (5th Gen ) 1 × NVENC (7th Gen)
1 × NVDEC (5th Gen) TDP 450 watts 320 watts 285 watts 450 watts Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition in detail
The GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition is Nvidia's own design of the flagship model, which will only be available for the price of 1,949 euros from the manufacturer itself or in Germany from the partner shop Notebooksbilliger*. Then the custom designs will start. Traditionally, there will also be select custom designs at the FE's RRP. However, the top models of the board partners will in some cases be significantly higher, as the first listings in retail show.
- GeForce RTX 4090: Custom themes at Alternate*
- GeForce RTX 4090: custom designs at Caseking*
- GeForce RTX 4090: custom designs at Mindfactory*
- GeForce RTX 4090: FE & Custom designs at NBB.de*
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RTX 3070 FE, RTX 3080 (Ti) FE and RTX 4090 FE (from left to right)
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition: Three slots thick and with a 16-pin connector (12VHPWR)The look, feel and material quality are outstanding
In terms of looks and feel, the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition has changed absolutely nothing compared to its predecessors. This means that the quality of the materials and workmanship is not only first-class, but is likely to be clearly superior to all custom designs. The GeForce RTX 4090 FE looks really elegant, has an absolutely serious look and at the same time feels extremely high quality. In keeping with this, the lighting is elegantly reserved. The GeForce RTX lettering is illuminated in white, and the front and back are also slightly illuminated.
New cooler in the familiar guise
Nvidia based the GeForce RTX 4090 FE on the cooler of the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti, despite the different internal structure, both cooling systems (3090 and 3090 Ti use exactly the same thing) can hardly be distinguished with the naked eye. However, with a length of 30.5 cm and a height of around 13.5 cm, the RTX 4090 FE is 9 mm shorter than the old design and 1 mm less high, while occupying exactly 3.0 instead of 2.7 slots. This makes the RTX 4090 FE look extremely stocky or compressed.
Image comparison: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 FE ⇔ Nvidia GeForce Ti FE Under the hood, a new vapor chamber and a different heat pipe design are said to have improved cooling performance. At the same time, the draft should be better, for which the two larger axial fans are responsible, each with a diameter of not quite 11.5 cm. The dual fans remain off at low temperatures, just like on the Windows desktop.
Overall, the graphics card weighs 2,180 g. Due to the very solid construction including 3-slot bracket, the GeForce RTX 4090 does not bend when installed. Nvidia does not include a holder (“GPU stand”).
The GeForce RTX 4090 FE clocks unsurprisingly as specified by Nvidia. The base clock is 2,230 MHz, the average turbo is 2,520 MHz. The maximum clock was 2,790 MHz in the test, but it was only available under certain circumstances. More on this in the Clock rates under load section.
Image comparison: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 FE ⇔ Asus GeForce RTX 4090 TUF Gaming Up to 600 watts TDP are possible
The temperature target is 82 °C, as usual from Nvidia, but it can be increased to 88 °C manually. The power target is 450 watts ex works, but it can be increased to 600 watts manually. But this is only possible if the power supply meets certain requirements.
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The GeForce RTX 4090 FE and the power adapter
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The GeForce RTX 4090 FE and the power adapter< h3 class="text-width text-h3" id="section_of_the_12vhpwrconnector_and_the_adapter_situation">The 12VHPWR connector and the adapter situation
Like all custom designs, the GeForce RTX 4090 FE comes with the new 12VHPWR connector according to the PCIe 5.0 standard, which has a total of 16 pins (12 live and 4 auxiliary). communication) can permanently deliver up to 600 watts.
If you use a power supply with a 16-pin cable, be it via an adapter or a native ATX 3.0 power supply, the TDP of the graphics card can be increased to 600 watts, provided the power supply (itself or via the adapter released for it) signals that it is capable of doing so. Alternatively, a maximum of 450, 300 or just 150 watts can be reported by the power supply unit. The following content provides more details on the subject:
- 12VHPWR connector: Overloaded connector also possible without adapter
- New 12VHPWR connector : be quiet! for power supply compatibility with RTX 4000
- 12VHPWR connector: Seasonic and FSP with cables and power supplies
Alternatively, 600 watts of power target are possible if the included adapter (16-pin to 4 × 8-pin) is used. But all four 8-pin connectors really have to be used for this. The graphics card also works perfectly with three 8-pin connectors, but in accordance with the specification (3 × 8-pin PCIe = 3 × 150 watts), the power target then remains fixed at 450 watts. The graphics card will not start with only two 8-pin cables connected to the adapter.
Monitors can be controlled on the GeForce RTX 4090 FE via an HDMI 2.1 interface or via three DisplayPort 1.4 outputs with DSC. The AD102 and the other Ada Lovelace GPUs do not support DisplayPort 2.0. The same applies to PCIe 5.0, the graphics card can only handle the PCIe 4.0 standard.
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 FE
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FEFounders Edition Card PCB design Nvidia Length, width 30.5 cm, 13.5 cm Weight 2,180 g Power supply 1 × 16-pin (12VHPWR, PCIe 5.0)
4 × 8-pin per Adapter cooler Design Founders Edition, 3.0 slots heatsink vapor chamber, heatpipes
Aluminum core/radiator Fan 2 × 115 mm (axial) Fan switched off (2D) Yes Startup speed 500 revolutions Clock
GPU base 2,235 MHz GPU average 2,520 MHz GPU maximum 2,790 MHz Memory 10,504 MHz Memory size 24 GB GDDR6X Power consumption Standard TGP 450 watts Max. TDP 600 watts Ports 3 x DisplayPort 1.4 DSC
1 x HDMI 2.1
Test system and test methodology
ComputerBase has extensively tested the GeForce RTX 4090 over the past ten days. The following test system and a methodology adapted to older articles were used in a new test course that was explicitly geared towards the next-gen graphics card.
The processor in the test system is still the Intel Core i9-12900K (factory setting), which does its job on an Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Apex. The CPU has 32 GB of memory (2 × 16 GB DDR5-5400, 40-40-40-84) at its disposal. Windows 11 is installed as the operating system, including all available updates, on an NVMe SSD (PCIe 4.0). Resizable BAR is enabled on all graphics cards. The Asus ROG Thor Platinum II with 1,200 watts acts as the power supply, which comes with a 12VHPWR connector that signals “I deliver 600 watts!”. If the graphics card offers such a connection, it will be used accordingly (4090, 3090 Ti).
The Asus ROG Thor Platinum II with 16 -Pin cable for up to 600 watts of downloadFor the case, the editors rely on a Fractal Design Torrent, which relies on maximum airflow – and this is also necessary for graphics cards with more than 350 watts, as the editors worked out in July. The following article is warmly recommended to all those interested in a GeForce RTX 4090:
- Graphics cards with 450+ W TDP: RTX 4000 & Cooling the RX 7000 won't be easy
The factory-installed fans are used in the case, but the speeds have been significantly reduced. More details about this and the test system in general can be found in the following table.
1 × Crucial P1 1TB NVMe PCIe 3.0 (Gaming) Case Fractal Design Torrent Fans 2 x 180mm fans ~500rpm on the front
3 x 140 mm fans, ~800 rpm on the ground
The Adrenalin 22.9.1 driver was used on all Radeon graphics cards, while the 516.94 was installed on the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and the GeForce RTX 3070. The larger GeForce 3000 models were tested with the GeForce 517.48, which was not available at the beginning of the test series. The GeForce 517.48 and the Adrenalin 22.9.1 both date from September and are accordingly of comparable age. The GeForce RTX 4090 was tested with the GeForce 521.90 – Nvidia made the driver available to the press under NDA.
The test course has been adjusted for Ada Lovelace and RDNA 3
Full HD is no longer a challenge for one of the new graphics cards, so the resolution is not used in the benchmarks. The change only applies temporarily to the special course that has been optimized for Ada Lovelace and RDNA 3. 1,920 × 1,080 will return at a later date. The smallest resolution is WQHD, in 1,920 × 1,080 the new graphics cards will only be faster accordingly. In addition, tests are still being carried out in Ultra HD and, for the first time, in 5,120 × 2,880 for the fastest models in order to use them to the maximum possible extent. However, ray tracing is only activated in 2,560 × 1,440 and 3,840 × 2,160. The detail levels of the games are screwed to the maximum for WQHD and Ultra HD, in 5,120 × 2,880 the details are partially reduced.
The game selection has been adapted for the test course, and the latest titles such as Spider-Man Remastered are now represented. The graphics details were tightened compared to the “normal” course, so that the level of detail is always at the maximum up to and including Ultra HD – this was not the case in every title before. While the general test course takes slower GPUs into account due to the high requirements, especially in the ray tracing details, the new course goes to the limit – since both Ada Lovelace and RDNA 3 will have significantly more ray tracing performance than their predecessors. Maximum RT details are not available in every title, but in many. The editors have summarized the exact graphics settings in a table.
RT: Ultra preset Deathloop Ultra preset
RT: AO Quality + Sun Shadow Doom Eternal Ultra Nightmare Preset
RT: Reflections “On” Dying Light 2 to Ultra HD High Preset, at 5K Mid Preset
RT: GI, Shadows, AO, Reflections “On” F1 22 Ultra High Preset, AO CACAO
RT Shadows + AO + Reflections “High” Far Cry 6 Ultra Preset, HD Textures
RT: Shadows and Reflections “On” Forza Horizon 5 Extreme Preset, TAA, SSAO Ultra, Reflections/SSR “Extreme” Ghostwire: Tokyo Maximum Graphic Details
RT: Reflections “High” + Culling “High” God of War Ultra Preset + Reflections “Ultra+” Guardians of the Galaxy Ultra Preset
RT: Reflections “Ultra” + Transparent Reflections “On” Halo Infinite Ultra Preset Metro Exodus Enhanced Extreme Quality, Hairworks + PhysX + VRS “Off”, Tessellation “On”
RT: “Ultra” + Reflections Saints Row Ultra Preset
RT: Ultra AO Shadow Warrior 3 High Preset, FX CAS “Low” Sniper Elite 5 Ultra Preset Spider-Man Remastered Maximum Graphic Details
RT: Resolution + Geometry on “Very High”, View Distance on “10” Tiny Tina' s Wonderlands Badass Preset
AMD FSR 2.x and Nvidia DLSS 2.x are now important
Last but not least, what is new is that the current upsampling techniques from AMD and Nvidia play a greater role in the article. DLSS 2.x and FSR 2.x have become indispensable in modern games and are often a must for ray tracing use. Since the quality has now been massively improved compared to the first attempts at upsampling and the quality of the native resolution is often achieved and sometimes even exceeded, especially in high resolutions, there is a separate series of measurements that in the target resolution of 3,840 × 2,160 with activated ray tracing GeForce Comparison of graphics cards with DLSS 2.x and Radeons with FSR 2.x. In both cases, the Quality level is used, which means a render resolution of 2560 × 1440.
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Benchmarks in WQHD, UHD & 5K with and without ray tracing