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RTX 4090 (& 4080) laptop GPU in the test: The performance of the RTX 3090 in a gaming notebook*

Feb 7, 2023

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Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 is now also available in notebooks. The top models GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 Laptop GPU are the first. The 4090 is very fast in the test, but the sample also comes with the maximum permitted power loss. As the editors explain, the results are not universally valid.

Table of contents

GeForce RTX 4000 laptop GPUs at a glance
1. The most important things about the new generation
2. The key technical data in comparison
3. The GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU in detail
4. The GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU in detail
The test patterns at a glance
1. Consumption and clock rates under load
Gaming benchmarks
1. WQHD benchmarks with and without RT
2. Power consumption with 60 FPS limit
3. Higher FPS with DLSS
4. Synthetic benchmarks
Application benchmarks
Conclusion
1. * The big fine print

At the beginning of January, Nvidia presented the GeForce RTX 4000 laptop GPUs at CES 2023, and the first notebooks with the new mobile graphics chips are now on the market. The two top models GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU and GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU will start on February 8 (probably from 3 p.m.), whose test embargo is already falling today.

< strong>Important note:In addition to the test sample of the MSI Titan GT77 HX with GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU, the editors also had a sample of a notebook with GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU under NDA. Its measurement results were removed from the test a few minutes before the article was published.

After problems had arisen over the past few days both with and without Dynamic Boost, with different BIOS versions and regardless of the connection type (MSHybrid via iGPU or direct dGPU output via MUX switch), the test author informed the editors at short notice a problem with the cooling of the graphics memory on all press samples that still have pre-production status. In fact, the editing pattern was also affected, as shown by the course of the GPU memory junction temperature using the example of Doom Eternal. When the 110°C limit is reached, the performance drops – in this case by around 10 percent. But that depends on the game, the effect can be even bigger.

RTX 4080 Laptop Sample GDDR6 Junction Temp 04080120160200°C 1102030405060708090100110120130140150160170180seconds “> GDDR6 Junction Temp (RTX 4080 Laptop GPU)

Even with maximum cooling performance and with breaks between each individual benchmark, the problem could not be mastered in all scenarios. The measured values, which are traditionally subject to greater fluctuations in notebooks than in desktops anyway, offered a reliable basis for assessing the performance. All results of the GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU with 150 + 25 watts and thus the same power loss as the 4090 laptop GPU in the test were therefore deleted. They will be submitted as soon as possible, possibly also initially in a selection of benchmarks in which the problem could be circumvented during the test.

GeForce RTX 4000 laptop GPUs at a glance

ComputerBase already presented all the essential information about the new GeForce RTX 4000 laptop GPUs in January.

The most important thing about the new generation

The main points, including those that could prevent customers from making a bad purchase, should be mentioned again below:

Nvidia updates the entire portfolio of GeForce RTX laptop GPUs right from the start. RTX 4090, 4080, 4070, 4060 and 4050 all use the new Ada Lovelace architecture.
The two large offshoots will be available in stores from February 8th, and the three smaller offshoots from February 22nd . The entire portfolio can thus be changed faster than ever before. In Germany it will most likely start at 2,899 euros (4080) or 3,999 euros (4090)
For the first time there is also the “90s class” in the notebook. This is essentially an adjustment to the nomenclature: the RTX 4090 laptop GPU, like the RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU as the fastest mobile GPU a year ago, relies on the second largest chip (AD103 instead of the GA103 back then; known from the RTX 4080), but now carries it the name of the largest desktop variant that relies on the largest GPU (AD102). The 4080 laptop GPU, initially the second-fastest mobile variant, uses the third-biggest chip (AD104 instead of the GA104 that was known from the 4070 Ti) like a year ago, etc.
Even in the 4000 generation, a 90s, 80s or 70s in the notebook has little to do with its counterpart in the desktop PC, neither technically nor in terms of performance. The designations cannot and must therefore not be used across platforms to compare performance. The features are again the same everywhere (video decoding and encoding, DLSS 3, G-Sync etc. pp.).
According to Nvidia, OEMs and dealers are obliged to identify mobile GPUs with the addition “Laptop GPU”, just like Nvidia's driver does. With this, Nvidia wants to ensure that “desktop GPUs” and “laptop GPUs” are clearly separated. However, the customer must a) receive this sign, b) recognize it and c) interpret it correctly at the end.
Each of the five laptop GPUs can be configured within a very broad TGP (Total Graphics Power) by the notebook manufacturer using them. The performance of an RTX 4090 or 4080 laptop GPU can therefore differ significantly from notebook to notebook. In a specific notebook chassis, the RTX 4090 laptop GPU will always be the fastest variant, but it does not have to be faster than a GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU with more TGP in another notebook.
An example: Nvidia specifies the RTX 4090 laptop GPU with 150 watts with a boost of 2,040 MHz, with the variant with 80 watts it is only 1,455 MHz – 29 percent less.

Comparison of key technical data

A look at the key data compared to the old generation reveals: The two largest models and the RTX 4050 laptop GPU are better than the old generation in terms of shaders, while the 4070 and the 4060 are weaker. All models except for the RTX 4090 laptop GPU use a narrower memory interface compared to their predecessors, with the 70s it's only half as wide at 128 to 256 bits.

4070, 4060 and 4050 can be configured by OEMs in the identical TGP range from 35 to 115 watts, the bandwidth has thus increased significantly – with the 4050 up, with the other two GPUs down. This is also true of the 80's class, while the 90's remain in the last generation 80's (Ti) TGP band (80-150 watts).

GeForce RTX 4000 Laptop GPU vs. Desktop vs. RTX 3000 Laptop GPU in comparison Model GPU Shader Memory,
Interface, max bandwidth TGP max Dynamic Boost 2.0 DLSS FG* GeForce RTX 4090 AD102 16,384 24 GB GDDR6X
384 Bit, 21.0 Gbps 450 Watt ✓ GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU AD103 9.728 16 GB GDDR6
256 Bit, 18.0 Gbps 80 – 150 Watt 25 Watt ✓ GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU GA103M 7,424 16GB GDDR6
256-bit, 16.0 Gbps 80 – 150 watts 25 watts GeForce RTX 4080 AD103 9,728 16GB GDDR6X
256-bit, 22.4 Gbps 320 watts ✓ GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU AD104 7,424 12 GB GDDR6
192-bit, 18.0 Gbps 60 – 150 watts 25 watts ✓ GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU GA104 6,144 8/16 GB GDDR6
256-bit, 14 .0 Gbps 80 – 150 watts 15 watts GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AD104 7,680 12 GB GDDR6X
192 bit, 21.0 Gbps 285 watts ✓ GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU GA104 5,888 8 GB GDDR6
256 bit, 14, 0 Gbps 80 – 125 Watts 25 Watts GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU AD106 4,608 8GB GDDR6
128 bits ?? Gbps 35 – 115 Watts 25 Watts ✓ GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU GA104 5,120 8 GB GDDR6
256 Bit , 14.0 Gbps 80 – 125 Watts 15 Watts GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU AD107 3,072 8 GB GDDR6
128 bit, ?? Gbps 35 – 115 Watt 25 Watt ✓ GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU GA106 3840 6 GB GDDR6
192 Bit, 14.0 Gbps 60 – 115 Watt 25 Watt GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU GA107 2560 4 GB GDDR6
128 Bit , 12.0 Gbps 35 – 80 watts 15 watts GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU AD107 2,560 6GB GDDR6
96 bits, ??? Gbps 35 – 115 watts 15 watts ✓ GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU GA107 2,048 4 GB GDDR6
128 bit, 12.0 Gbps 35 – 80 watts 15 watts DLSS Frame Generation as a new feature of DLSS 3

The GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU in detail

The new top model is the GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU based on the AD103 GPU, which is also used by the GeForce RTX 4080 in the desktop PC. With 9,718 active FP32 ALUs, the chip configuration is also the same. A larger graphics unit than the new RTX 4090 laptop GPU has never been available from Nvidia for notebooks.

With a maximum of 150 watts plus a maximum of 25 watts via Dynamic Boost (electrical power to which the CPU is entitled but not required), the TDP is significantly lower than that of the RTX 4080 for desktop PCs (320 watts), but remains at that of The RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU known level between 150 and 80 watts. With 16 GB GDDR6, the mobile 4090 also offers as much memory as the 4080 for the desktop, which in turn clocks higher with GDDR6X. RTX 3080 laptop GPU (optional) and RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU also already have 16 GB.

The mobile GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU is essentially a GeForce RTX 4080 for the desktop PC with lower TDP and less memory bandwidth.

The GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU in detail

The GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU, like the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, uses the AD104 GPU, but with 7,424 shaders, 3 percent fewer execution units are active than in the new desktop model. The mobile 4080 offers exactly as many shaders as the RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU based on the GA103M, so it is broader than the 3080 laptop GPU. There is no information on the full configuration of the AD104.

At 12 GB, the memory expansion of the RTX 4080 laptop GPU is the same as that of the RTX 4070 Ti in the desktop, but the clock and thus the bandwidth are also lower in this case with GDDR6 instead of GDDR6X. How clear remains to be seen. Interestingly, the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU came in both 8GB and 16GB GDDR6 versions. When it comes to memory expansion, switching to the RTX 4080 laptop GPU does not necessarily mean progress.

The RTX 4080 laptop GPU can also be configured up to a TGP of 150 watts without Dynamic Boost. What's new is that OEMs can throttle them down to 60 instead of the previous 80 watts.

Overview of the test patterns

The editors used the MSI GT77 Titan with Core i9-13950HX and GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU (150 watts TGP + max. 25 watts Dynamic Boost 2.0) as well as a second notebook with Core i7-13700HX and GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU (150 Watt TGP + max. 25 Watt via Dynamic Boost 2.0) available. As described at the beginning, the sample with the RTX 4080 laptop GPU struggled with insufficient cooling capacity. Too little contact pressure of the cooler is said to be responsible for this.

The other sample also drew attention at first glance, because the MSI GT77 Titan was only configured with DDR5-4000, which also could not be adjusted – the BIOS completely lacks OC functions.