The GeForce RTX 4090 is Nvidia’s newest flagship graphics card that was just released in October 2022. With its cutting-edge Ada Lovelace architecture, the RTX 4090 delivers blazing fast performance, setting a new standard for high-end GPUs. But just how fast is the RTX 4090 compared to previous generation cards? Let’s take a deep dive into the specs and benchmarks to find out.
RTX 4090 Key Specs
Here are some of the key specs of the RTX 4090 that contribute to its incredible performance:
- Ada Lovelace architecture – Nvidia’s new architecture provides up to 2x the performance per watt over Ampere
- 16,384 CUDA cores – Over 2x more than the 3090 Ti for vastly improved parallel processing
- 24GB GDDR6X memory – Massive memory bandwidth of up to 1TB/s for feeding the CUDA cores
- 450W TDP – Requires a large power draw to feed the beefy internals
- PCIe Gen 4 – Takes full advantage of the latest PCIe standard for bandwidth to CPU
These cutting-edge specs allow the RTX 4090 to deliver performance that far surpasses even the mighty 3090 Ti. Let’s look at some benchmark comparisons to see exactly how much faster we’re talking about.
Gaming Benchmark Comparison
For gaming performance, the RTX 4090 is in a league of its own. Here are results from some of the most demanding games at 4K resolution:
| Game | RTX 4090 FPS | RTX 3090 Ti FPS | Performance Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 138 | 78 | +77% |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 113 | 58 | +95% |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | 126 | 71 | +78% |
As you can see, the RTX 4090 provides massive gains of around 80-95% over the previous gen 3090 Ti across demanding AAA games. This means you can game comfortably at 4K resolution with all the eye candy turned up and still enjoy smooth 60+ fps gameplay.
Synthetic Benchmark Comparison
Looking at synthetic benchmarks reveals just how monstrous the performance capabilities of the RTX 4090 truly are.
| Benchmark | RTX 4090 Score | RTX 3090 Ti Score | Performance Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Time Spy Extreme | 22,192 | 10,918 | +103% |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra | 27,209 | 15,555 | +75% |
| VRMark Orange Room | 12,358 | 7,302 | +69% |
In these synthetic benchmarks that stress test the GPU, the RTX 4090 leaves the 3090 Ti in the dust with huge gains of 69-103%. This proves that the 4090 has unprecedented performance potential.
Compute Workload Comparison
The RTX 4090 isn’t just about gaming – it also dominates compute-heavy workloads like 3D rendering. Here’s how it stacks up against the 3090 Ti in Blender and Octanebench:
| Benchmark | RTX 4090 Score | RTX 3090 Ti Score | Performance Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blender Monster | 245 seconds | 385 seconds | +57% |
| Octanebench 2022 | 931 points | 582 points | +60% |
Creative professionals can cut their render times significantly with the 4090, thanks to its immense CUDA core horsepower advantage over previous gen cards.
Power Efficiency Comparison
Given its huge performance gains, you would expect power consumption on the RTX 4090 to be sky-high. But thanks to the power efficiencies of the Ada Lovelace architecture, the 4090 is surprisingly power efficient compared to last gen.
| Card | Performance (3DMark Time Spy Extreme) | TDP | Performance per Watt |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | 22,192 | 450W | 49.3 |
| RTX 3090 Ti | 10,918 | 450W | 24.3 |
Despite having over 2x the performance, the RTX 4090 has nearly the same 450W TDP as the 3090 Ti. This results in a huge 2x increase in performance per watt. So the 4090 is not just much faster, but also more power efficient.
RTX 4090 vs Previous Gen Cards Summary
To summarize the performance comparisons:
- Up to 95% faster gaming performance than RTX 3090 Ti
- Up to 103% higher scores in synthetic benchmarks
- Up to 60% faster creative app performance
- Around 2x performance per watt over last gen
Across the board, the RTX 4090 represents an enormous generational leap over previous high-end cards. It sets a new standard for speed and power unmatched by anything else on the market.
How Does RTX 4090 Performance Scale with Resolution?
An important consideration for just how fast the RTX 4090 is comes down to resolution. Here is how the 4090 scales across different resolutions in demanding games:
| Game Setting | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyberpunk 2077 Ultra | 227 fps | 148 fps | 113 fps |
| RDR2 Ultra | 271 fps | 190 fps | 138 fps |
At lower resolutions like 1080p, performance is CPU limited even for the 4090, so frames are capped around 200-300 fps in most games. But at higher 1440p and 4K, the 4090 can flex its muscle and deliver buttery smooth triple digit fps even at max settings.
This means to truly take advantage of the 4090’s capabilities for maximum speed, you’ll want to game at 1440p or 4K resolution. Otherwise, the 4090 is overkill for standard 1080p gaming.
RTX 4090 Ray Tracing and DLSS 3 Performance
Two key technologies where the RTX 4090 really spreads its wings are ray tracing and DLSS 3.
With its enhanced RT cores, the 4090 provides up to 2x faster ray tracing performance than 3090 Ti. This allows you to enjoy real-time ray traced lighting and reflections in games at over 60 fps for the first time.
Nvidia’s new DLSS 3 technology is a game changer for performance. It can double frame rates versus running games normally. For example, in Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K max settings, the 4090 achieves:
- 113 fps normally
- 226 fps with DLSS 3 enabled
This gives you fluid gameplay at high resolutions with all eye candy maxed out – something not possible even with the 4090 otherwise. DLSS 3 is only available on RTX 40 series cards.
Overclocking Headroom
With its beefy cooling solutions, the RTX 4090 has plenty of thermal headroom for overclocking. Here are some overclocked benchmark results:
| Benchmark | Stock 4090 Score | OC 4090 Score | Performance Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Time Spy Extreme | 22,192 | 24,358 | +10% |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra | 27,209 | 29,948 | +10% |
With some manual tweaking, you can expect around a 5-10% performance boost from overclocking the stock 4090. This further extends its lead over other cards when pushed to the limit.
How Does the RTX 4090 Stack Up Against Previous Gen Flagships?
Going back several generations, here is how the RTX 4090 compares against previous Nvidia flagship cards:
| GPU | Performance (3DMark Time Spy Extreme) | Performance vs 4090 |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | 22,192 | Base |
| RTX 3090 Ti | 10,918 | 49% slower |
| RTX 2080 Ti | 6,200 | 72% slower |
| GTX 1080 Ti | 4,500 | 80% slower |
Going back just one gen to the 3090 Ti, the 4090 is 49% faster. Against the Pascal-based 1080 Ti from 2016, the 4090 is a whopping 80% faster!
This shows just how incredible the performance leaps have been on Nvidia’s flagship cards in recent years. The 4090 sets a new high bar that leaves everything else in the dust.
How Does the RTX 4090 Rank Against AMD’s Flagship?
On the AMD front, their current flagship GPU is the RX 6950 XT. Here is how the RTX 4090 compares against AMD’s top offering:
| GPU | Performance (3DMark Time Spy Extreme) | Performance vs 4090 |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | 22,192 | Base |
| RX 6950 XT | 10,684 | 52% slower |
The 6950 XT is no slouch, delivering solid 4K gaming performance. But the RTX 4090 is in a different league, with over 50% higher performance based on synthetic benchmark results.
AMD won’t have a response to the 4090 until they release cards based on their next-gen RDNA 3 architecture later in 2022. Until then, the RTX 4090 reigns supreme as the undisputed fastest graphics card available.
Conclusion
In all areas, the GeForce RTX 4090 delivers simply unmatched performance, easily claiming the crown as the new fastest graphics card. Key takeaways include:
- Up to 2x faster than the 3090 Ti in gaming and content creation
- Powers ultra settings 4K gaming at over 100 fps
- Provides buttery smooth gameplay with RTX and DLSS 3
- Significant overclocking headroom for even more performance
- Far surpasses previous gen Nvidia and AMD flagships
For those seeking the absolute pinnacle of speed in a GPU, the RTX 4090 delivers in spades. It’s an investment for high-end systems that want cutting-edge performance today and for many years to come.