Kicking off 2025 with a bang, Nvidia has launched its top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 5090. Existing in a class of its own as AMD and Intel preoccupy themselves with midrange and budget offerings, its closest competitor is RTX 4090 instead. There’s no question the new flagship is better than its predecessor if money isn’t a factor, but there’s plenty to dissect when it comes to value.
The conversation is more nuanced than our usual head-to-head, as Nvidia DLSS 4 introduces a new neural rendering suite that’s exclusive to the latest Blackwell series. But alongside these apples to oranges upscalers, we’ll also look into native performance uplifts and their bang for your buck.
Specs
As the chiefs of Blackwell and Ada Lovelace, both GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 4090 contain the best hardware Nvidia has to offer for their respective generations. Expectedly, the newcomer follows the ‘bigger is better’ mantra, amplifying almost everything in sight, for better or worse.
| RTX 5090 | % diff | RTX 4090 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released | Jan 2025 | – | Sep 2022 |
| Codename | Blackwell | – | Ada Lovelace |
| GPU | GB202 | – | AD102 |
| Transistors | 92.2 billion | +21% | 76.3 billion |
| Die size | 744mm² | +22% | 609mm² |
| CUDA cores | 21,760 | +33% | 16,384 |
| SM count | 170 | +33% | 128 |
| RT cores | 170 (4th Gen) | +33% | 128 (3rd Gen) |
| RT TFLOPS | 317.5 | +66% | 191 |
| Tensor cores | 680 (5th Gen) | +33% | 512 (4th Gen) |
| Base clock | 2,017MHz | -10% | 2,235MHz |
| Boost clock | 2,407MHz | -4% | 2,520MHz |
| Memory | 32GB GDDR7 | +33% | 24GB GDDR6X |
| Mem. clock | 28Gb/s | +33% | 21Gb/s |
| Mem. interface | 512-bit | +33% | 384-bit |
| Mem. bandwidth | 1,792GB/s | +78% | 1,008GB/s |
| TOPS | 3,352 | +154% | 1,321 |
| TBP | 575W | +28% | 450W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,999 | +25% | $1,599 |
A tremendous increase in die size built on top of TSMC’s leaner 4N process affords RTX 5090 a wealth of opportunity, where a 33% uptick over RTX 4090 seems to be the magic number. A record 21,760 CUDA cores, 92.2 billion transistors, and 170 SMs and RT cores all help it flex over its forerunner.
Alongside fuller figures, Blackwell benefits from a mix of generational improvements. RT cores hop to the fourth gen, Tensor cores to their fifth iteration, and GDDR7 memory operates at a zippy 28Gb/s, broadening the bandwidth to 1,792GB/s. RTX 4090 was already a dab hand at artificial intelligence workloads, but it’s this kind of architectural chiseling that affords its successor a staggering 2.5x lead on TOPS.
Of course, playing the numbers game is always going to be swings and roundabouts. More of just about everything demands a hefty toll, as RTX 5090 requires up to 575W on its lonesome, necessitating a 1,000W power supply recommendation. Knowing how much electricity it’ll cost you to run alongside its stupefying $1,999 MSRP could tempt you into searching for an RTX 4090 instead, although you’d be hard-pressed to find one for less than the new flagship now that availability is scarce.
Performance
We’ve put both graphics cards through their paces using Club386’s trusty Ryzen 9 7950X3D-led test bench. Rather than reusing the same results in our GeForce RTX 4090 review, we conducted fresh benchmarks with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 launch drivers for the best possible performance.
Our 7950X3D Test PCs
Club386 carefully chooses each component in a test bench to best suit the review at hand. When you view our benchmarks, you’re not just getting an opinion, but the results of rigorous testing carried out using hardware we trust.
Shop Club386 test platform components:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard: MSI MEG X670E ACE
Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420 A-RGB
Memory: 64GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR5
Storage: 2TB WD_Black SN850X NVMe SSD
PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 13 1,300W
Chassis: Fractal Design Torrent Grey
Applying an assortment of synthetic tests alongside anlysing gaming performance at FHD (1080p), QHD (1440p), and UHD (2160p) resolutions, it’s easy to see what kind of generational uplift you can expect from one flagship to the next.
Application and AI
Kicking off with a massive 35% lead, it takes the combined might of Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and 3090 to exceed the performance of RTX 5090 in Blender. Achieving 15,101 samples per minute, it’s a creator’s dream with nothing on the market better suited to 3D rendering.
Artificial intelligence is in Nvidia’s DNA and Team Green is unsurprisingly setting the bar in Geekbench AI. Delivering a half-precision score of 66,821, it’s already 44% more effective than its predecessor, giving phenomenal value to its quarter bump in price.
To the general user, RTX 5090 offers a real-world improvement of 37% compared to RTX 4090 in Procyon AI Text Generation tests. The latest Llama 3.1 model throws as many curve balls as it can using multiple large language models, but Blackwell simply keeps hitting home runs.
Gaming
Turning our attention to the quintessential gaming benchmark suite, RTX 5090 runs rings around past graphics cards. It doesn’t matter whether you crank the settings as high as they’ll go or flick real-time ray tracing on, nothing compares.
It makes the most difficult rendering techniques look like child’s play with a 39% higher score in 3D Mark Speed Way, and increases this lead to 48% with no holds barred in 3DMark Steel Nomad. These are synthetic numbers rather than real-world performance, but impressive nonetheless considering there’s no upscaling involved.
Moving to the streets of 9th Century Baghdad, Assassin’s Creed Mirage gives us a glimpse at Blackwell’s rasterised gaming capabilities, but there’s certainly a question of value here. RTX 5090 is the decisive winner on all fronts, but with its biggest victory only mustering 17% over its competitor, the 25% premium makes the cost harder to swallow for gaming specifically.
One bonus comes in the form of higher minimum frames, narrowing the gap when those inevitable stutters and stumbles rear their ugly head. Dips are never pleasant, but rather than an unsightly 29% drop at UHD, it’s far more comfortable with a 23% loss instead.
GeForce RTX 5090 narrows the value gap a little, performing an average of 22% better than its predecessor when running Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail at UHD. Unfortunately, the other resolutions are somewhat disappointing, with just 11% in it between both graphics cards at QHD.
Minimum frame rates slightly benefit from the new architecture, steering the course with their average counterparts. Still, you’re sure to notice fps drops in Square Enix’s MMORPG no matter which pixel pusher is in your system.
Switching tracks to Forza Motorsport in all its ray traced glory, RTX 5090 finally starts proving its worth as a gaming powerhouse. Just like the former king, FHD feels silky smooth with max image quality, but it’s higher resolutions where the GPU starts to shine.
Blackwell flexes with higher fps at QHD than RTX 4090 manages at a meagre 1080p, while UHD pushes 34% more frames. More than your money’s worth this time around.
It seems a little silly counting frames north of 200fps, let alone the blistering 455fps our new crowning champion delivers in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, but that’s the name of the game here. Lower resolutions provide a lukewarm look, but RTX 5090 continues its UHD winning streak with another stellar 31% bump.
These higher ceilings come with a greater fall when it comes to stutters, as minimums can’t keep up with averages. Still, you won’t expect a card of this calibre to judder often, making it a worthy trade-off.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction accentuates RTX 5090’s scalability struggles with just 3fps in it between FHD and QHD. Generally, this serves as a reminder that a graphics card is only really as strong as the weakest link in its hardware chain. As admirable as Ryzen 9 7950X3D and 64GB of DDR5 RAM are, they don’t quite pave the runway our flagship needs to see more than a 5% bump at lower resolutions.
Thankfully, the new card is pushes as many pixels as possible, claiming an admirable 24% rasterised improvement at UHD. This isn’t enough to recommend an upgrade on its own, but lays a good foundation for Nvidia’s latest frame generation to build on.
DLSS
Running Cyberpunk 2077 with all the bells and whistles is a tall order. The game’s Ray Tracing: Overdrive preset alone makes most graphics cards buckle, but RTX 5090 shows smooth sailing across the board with anywhere between a 28-32% uplift over RTX 4090.
Granted, UHD leaves a little desired. At heights of 33fps, it just about scrapes the bare minimum we’d consider playable by cinematic standards. We’d usually set the bar at double that for a smooth experience, but must recognise it’s the first pixel pusher to achieve such heights.
Switching DLSS to Quality, it seems as though GeForce RTX 4090 benefits from super resolution upscaling a little more than RTX 5090. The latter’s lead shrinks to 17% at FHD, 25% at QHD, and 28% at UHD.
Still, it’s hard to call this anything other than a monumental win for Blackwell as GeForce RTX 5090 manages to hit that coveted 60fps mark running at 4K.
The true magic comes from Nvidia’s brand-new Multi-Frame Generation (MFG), upgrading the sandwich of AI frames into a veritable Big Mac. Opting for DLSS Quality with MFG x4, RTX 5090 more than doubles the fps of RTX 4090 at FHD and QHD, and comes close to tripling its UHD performance.
Away from raw uplifts, DLSS 4 features improved visual quality compared to the previous generation, ensuring less visual artifacts from thinner textures and blooming lights. Naturally, ballooning frames to this extent does come with the caveat of more latency, but Team Green has thought of that, too. Nvidia Reflex 2 is quick to rein any lag in, actually undercutting the latency of RTX 4090 at every turn.
It’s safe to say rivals have no hope of catching RTX 5090 in this arena, but these 167% improvements only apply to games that bake DLSS 4 into their DNA. This starts with 75 titles right off the bat, but the question remains just how prevalent the feature suite will be in new releases throughout 2025. One to keep an eye on.
Vitals
With great power comes even greater power requirements. GeForce RTX 5090 is 124W hungrier than its predecessor under load and sips 8W more when idle. Credit where it’s due: it’s tamer than Nvidia’s 1,000W recommendation that likely errs on the side of caution and potentially leaves some headroom for overclocking over the 600W 16-pin cable, but it’s still going to spike the electric bill.
It’s no shock to see GeForce RTX 4090 runs cooler than its successor, but I am surprised to see just 6°C in it between the two when both are hard at work. Despite siphoning 21% more power, RTX 5090 remains just 9% warmer and still well within acceptable margins.
Much of this is owed to Nvidia’s most astounding innovation for Blackwell: its GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition cooler. Don’t be fooled by the familiar design, as the 3D vapor chamber beneath is entirely new, reducing its size to just two slots compared to RTX 4090’s 3.5 slot chassis. Alongside added compatibility, it also keeps fans running nearly 2dB quieter.
Conclusion
As expected, GeForce RTX 5090 blows its predecessor out the water, supplanting RTX 4090 as the new reigning champ where it’ll likely sit for the next few years. It features impressive brute power, particularly in AI and applications, but rasterised gaming prowess will vary depending on the title.
Multi Frame Generation is the card’s hidden blade, adding unprecedented scalability to games that support it. The frame rates it offers are truly staggering and it’s clear to see how Nvidia envisions AI as the future. It’s not quite the silver bullet you’d want considering it hinges n developers implementing it effectively, which in turn might rest on how quickly people are willing to adopt RTX 50 Series models.
GeForce RTX 5090 is the clear choice if money is no object, but it’s going to be tough to get your hands on one. AI-driven companies, 3D designers, and content creators are all waiting in line, so you can be sure they’ll be in short supply at launch. That said, with RTX 4090 seeing so much inflation as its curtain calls, Blackwell still seems like the better option of the two even when factoring in its hefty MSRP.
GeForce RTX 5090
“GeForce RTX 5090 is the absolute pinnacle of PC gaming. If you can afford it, just go right ahead and buy one.” Read our review.
GeForce RTX 4090
“Ferociously quick, GeForce RTX 4090 stands tall as the former gaming champ that’s still worth it if you can find a good discount.” Read our review.
