The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is still the fastest consumer GPU on the market. If you want to get hold of one, we provide all the information you need.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 remains the king of the hill when it comes to consumer graphics cards, still posting the fastest performance figures despite the recent launches of the three 40 Super series cards.
The RTX 4090 was a surprisingly popular card despite its high price point. On launch, several retailers reported issues with keeping the card in stock. Considering that nothing else on the market can match its performance figures, it is the preferred choice for PC builders who have large wallets.
With only vague rumors currently available when it comes to the Blackwell 50 series, the RTX 4090 is still the best choice when it comes to pure performance. Even the newly released RTX 4070 Ti Super and RTX 4080 Super cannot match its awesome performance figures.
Where to buy the RTX 4090 in the US
The RTX 4090 is available at most major retailers in the US, but you shouldn’t expect a cheap price anywhere, as no matter what card you choose, you’ll be paying at least $1599. On the higher-end of the AIB cards, especially the ASUS ROG Strix OC’d model, you could pay up to around $2000 in total.
However, some of these premium cards can now be found at a slight discount if you are lucky.
Where to buy RTX 4090 PCs in the US
If you’re looking for an RTX 4090 prebuilt PC, retailer B&H has equipped itself with all manner of configurations for you to purchase. However, expect to spend around $4000 on a brand-new PC of this caliber, as the rest of the parts will also be fairly high-end.
How much does RTX 4090 cost?
The RTX 4090 is priced at an MSRP of $1599. However, in current listings, you should expect this number to vary from $1599, all the way to around $2000 for the higher-end AIB models from brands such as ASUS. However, this long after launch, prices for board partner GPUs are beginning to ease toward MSRP.
Despite this, it’s still priced lower than we initially expected, as a Vietnamese retailer listed the GPU for over $2000. However, it’s thankfully lower. The RTX 4090 also possesses a higher MSRP than the RTX 3090, which was launched at $1499. This bump of $100 is actually fairly good pricing, considering inflation in the subsequent years, too.
It’s tough to tell what demand might look like for the RTX 4090, but since it will retain Nvidia’s power crown, and will remain to be one of the best graphics cards in 2024.
When was the RTX 4090 released?
The RTX 4090 was released on October 12. However, while Nvidia enjoys the launch of the 4090, its 30-series cards are now gaining even more popularity.
Due to an oversupply, Nvidia has cut the price of current-generation high-end graphics cards, and the newer RTX 40-series GPUs are priced slightly higher.
RTX 4090 specifications
The RTX 4090 manages to boast incredibly impressive specifications on paper, with even more impressive results in gaming scenarios like in Overwatch 2. We’ve listed the full specifications of the 4090 below. You’ll be able to find extensive benchmarks of the GPU in our full review.
| NVIDIA CUDA® Cores | 16384 |
| Boost Clock (GHz) | 2.52 |
| Base Clock (GHz) | 2.23 |
| Standard Memory Config | 24 GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface Width | 384-bit |
| Maximum GPU Temperature (in C) | 90 |
| Graphics Card Power (W) | 450 |
| Required System Power (W) (4) | 850 |
| Required Power Connectors | 3x PCIe 8-pin cables (adapter in box) OR1x 450 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable |
| Maximum Digital Resolution (1) | 7680×4320 |
| Standard Display Connectors | HDMI(2), 3x DisplayPort(3) |
| Multi Monitor | 4 |
| HDCP | 2.3 |
| Length | 304 mm |
| Width | 137 mm |
| Slot | 3-Slot (61mm) |
According to Nvidia’s own benchmarks, the GPU can produce the following results compared against a system using an i9-12900k, equipped with a 3090 Ti with 32GB of RAM.
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- 2x the performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator
- 2x the performance in Warhammer 40K: Darktide
- Over 4x the performance in Cyberpunk 2077
Nvidia released further information on performance that you can expect out of Overwatch 2 using the GPU, we’ve listed their results below.
Configuration: Intel i9-12900k, 1440p, Ultra Settings
| GPU | FPS |
| RTX 4090 | 507 FPS |
| RTX 4080 16GB | 368 FPS |
| RTX 4080 12GB | 296 FPS |
| RTX 3080 | 249 FPS |
| RTX 3070 | 195 FPS |
| RTX 3060 | 122 FPS |
In leaked benchmarks, this behemoth of a GPU managed to perform 82% better than the RTX 3090 in Time Spy Extreme, according to Kopite7Kimi. This is extremely promising for Nvidia’s upcoming GPU, and we believe that it will absolutely trample all over current consumer graphics cards available today.
In gaming workloads, leaked benchmarks suggest that the 4090 performs exceptionally. Leaker XpeaGPU revealed that the card managed to run Control at 4K, with Ray Tracing and DLSS on at a blisteringly fast 160FPS.
This is no small feat for a game that is notorious for bringing many GPUs to their knees with how heavy it can run. Though, remember that these are leaked benchmarks, are by no means official, and can change compared to the final product.
Where is the RTX 4090 on sale?
The RTX 4090 is available at all good electronics retailers. Though, we’ve seen many of them already go live, and have listed where you can buy these upcoming GPUs earlier in this article.
It’s likely that we will see more AIB cards hit the market after the initial launch, from the likes of companies like PALIT and more. However, these are likely to come some weeks after launch, possibly due to logistical reasons. Now, we’re seeing some SKUs, such as premium cooling models get slight discounts, presumably in an effort to get the pricey GPU off of the shelves.
The 4090 might not be the fastest 40-series GPU
The RTX 4090 uses the best chip from the Lovelace series, the AD102. However, the RTX 4090 does not use its full capabilities.
New rumors have now indicated that an RTX 4090 Super might be in development to finally unleash the full power of the AD102.
Leaks have previously indicated that there were originally plans for an even more powerful version of the card called the RTX 4090 Ti, though this appears to have been scrapped.
Is the RTX 4090 just as good in a gaming laptop?
It’s important to note that we are talking about the desktop-class RTX 4090. For laptops, the RTX 4090 is actually similar in performance to an RTX 4070 Ti, though it comes slightly shy of being as powerful as the desktop-class GPU.
You should also take note of how much power this is going to the GPU itself, not all laptop RTX 4090s are born the same. For the best performance, you should be looking at the laptops that have the highest wattage 4090 under the hood, as this will eke out more performance. Of course, this comes with a cost as it will also mean more thermal load on the device.
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