With the launch of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 on January 30, 2025, avid gamers, creatives, and all-around computing fans have a brand new flagship Nvidia card to placed on their wishlist, and it is easy to see why.

The Nvidia RTX 5090 is well the most effective graphics card available on the market proper now, providing implausible efficiency for gaming, creating, and AI workloads that few different playing cards can compete with. There’s one card that may maintain its personal in opposition to Nvidia’s newest high-end card, and that is Nvidia’s last-gen flagship, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090.

Whereas inventory for the RTX 4090 is anticipated to develop into extra scarce now that the RTX 5090 is on the scene, that does not imply that it is disappeared completely, and for lots of parents, the RTX 4090 may be the higher choice, particularly if demand for the RTX 5090 forces the value of the RTX 4090 down from the ridiculously inflated heights we have seen just about because it launched.

So which of the 2 Nvidia graphics playing cards are the most effective wager in your wants and finances? Fortuitously, I’ve extensively examined each playing cards and I am right here to information you thru your determination backed by information and my very own expertise with the 2 playing cards so you should buy the graphics card that is best for you.

Nvidia RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090: Worth

So there are a few caveats when discussing the value of the RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090, and that is how costs for the most effective Nvidia graphics playing cards have been far and wide lately.

For the report, the MSRP of the RTX 5090 is $1,999 / £1,939 / AU$4,039 for the Founders Version playing cards from Nvidia, and $1,599 £1,679 / AU$2,959 for the Founders Version RTX 4090 playing cards launched again in October 2022.

Nearly instantly the RTX 4090 began promoting for a 50% premium or extra, relying on the cardboard and vendor, and that is not even factoring within the MSRPs of the assorted third-party playing cards from Nvidia companions like PNY, MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, and others. Costs for these playing cards have shot above the $2,000 / £2,000 / AU$4,000 mark and have stayed there just about because the RTX 4090’s launch.

However whereas it’d appear like the RTX 5090 and RTX 4090 are promoting for a similar worth, the RTX 5090 can be going to face the very same type of upward worth stress because the RTX 4090, and so that you undoubtedly should not anticipate finding many Nvidia RTX 5090 playing cards to promote at its MSRP.

That implies that, in the end, the RTX 5090 will nonetheless be costlier than the RTX 4090, and by a reasonably substantial quantity, making the RTX 4090 a pretty choice when you’re not keen to pay the exorbinant markups the RTX 5090 can be experiencing for the forseeable future.

• Winner: Nvidia RTX 4090

Nvidia RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090: Specs

Given that it is the newest flagship graphics card from Nvidia, it goes with out saying that the RTX 5090 has a spec benefit over the older RTX 4090, nevertheless it’s benefit goes past simply a rise in core counts or extra reminiscence.

The 2 greatest issues to know concerning the RTX 5090 vis a vis its specs is that it’s the first client GPU to make use of cutting-edge GDDR7 VRAM, in addition to the brand new PCIe 5.0 GPU interface, each of which imply quicker information throughput for some fairly essential funtions.

Of the 2, GDDR7 is well an important, as this considerably will increase the reminiscence bandwidth of the RTX 5090 over the RTX 4090, which means quicker texture processing whereas gaming at increased resolutions (which straight interprets into quicker framerates), in addition to opening up the opportunity of critical 8K gaming down the highway as soon as 8K displays go mainstream.

The RTX 4090, in the meantime, nonetheless makes use of the slower PCIe 4.0 interface and GDDR6X VRAM, so whereas these are ample for 4K gaming, you might hit a ceiling in terms of reminiscence lengthy earlier than the RTX 5090 does. If you need a futureproofed card, the RTX 5090 is the best way to go.

Additionally price noting is that the RTX 5090 has launched a brand new thermal design for the Founders Version card that makes use of twin flow-through, which means that there are two followers pushing cooler air over the GPU’s heatsink fins, giving it higher cooling than the RTX 4090.

That additional cooling is just about eaten up completely by the brand new 575W TDP for the RTX 5090, in comparison with the nonetheless extreme, however much less so, 450W TDP for the RTX 4090. You are additionally going to wish to do one thing with all that warmth being blown off the cardboard, so you may want to think about the airflow state of affairs in your case when utilizing the RTX 5090.

Nonetheless, these caveats cannot take away from the next-gen specs within the RTX 5090, making it a card you may really feel snug will go the space must you determine to purchase it.

• Winner: Nvidia RTX 5090

Nvidia RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090: Efficiency

Finally, when you’re investing in both of those playing cards, you are undoubtedly searching for the most effective efficiency attainable in your cash. Fortuitously, each playing cards are significantly highly effective GPUs, and there actually are no others of their class.

However ont card persistently comes out forward in my benchmark testing, and the outcomes should not be very stunning.

Beginning with artificial benchmarks, the RTX 5090 practically sweeps the complete artificial benchmark battery, shedding out to the RTX 4090 in just one take a look at, 3DMark Night time Raid, and even that may be extra of a fluke than something. General although, the RTX 5090 is available in about 21% quicker than the RTX 4090 throughout artificial testing, so it is off to a great begin.

In the case of artistic workloads, the RTX 5090 additionally comes out the general winner, although that’s nearly completely all the way down to its dominating efficiency in 3D mannequin rendering, as measured by Blender Benchmark 4.30.

On the video modifying aspect, there’s not a lot distinction between the 2 playing cards, however which will change as higher processors are launched, as each playing cards are outpacing what the CPU can handle at this level.

As for picture modifying and graphic design work, the software I take advantage of to measure this, the PugetBench for Creators Adobe Photoshop benchmark, saved crashing throughout testing, so I wasn’t in a position to get any definitive information on this entrance, however as soon as the software program is up to date, I am going to attempt once more and replace these charts with that information as soon as I’ve it.

On the gaming aspect of issues, as you’d count on, the Nvidia RTX 5090 is an absolute beast, chewing by way of 1440p gaming with out a lot bother, as does the RTX 4090. However the RTX 5090 manages a roughly 20% quicker common 1440p body price whereas gaming for each common fps and minimal/1% fps. Activate ray tracing (with out upscaling), and you’ll count on 23-26% higher gaming efficiency from the RTX 5090. Fundamental DLSS 3 upscaling on balanced (so no body era) will get you between 14-23% quicker efficiency on the RTX 5090 than the RTX 4090, relying on whether or not you employ ray tracing as properly.

However the place the RTX 5090 actually shines is its 4K gaming efficiency. Because of that quicker GDDR7 reminiscence and wider reminiscence bus, 4K textures fly by way of the pipeline, boosting framerates significantly over the RTX 4090 by about 26% for common fps, and practically 29% on common for minimal/1% fps. The RTX 5090’s ray tracing efficiency at 4K can be distinctive, getting about 34% quicker common framerates general.

And none of this even elements in DLSS 4 with Multi-Body Era, which you’ll be able to count on to considerably enhance the numbers for the RTX 5090 (you may try Matt Hanson’s DLSS 4 deep dive that explains how a lot of a distinction you may count on to see in your favourite video games).

General, then, there actually isn’t any contest on the efficiency entrance, with the RTX 5090 scoring decisive win after decisive win. The RTX 4090 definitely is not a slough in comparison with the remainder of the graphics card market, however the RTX 5090 is solely out forward by itself, performance-wise.

• Winner: Nvidia RTX 5090

Nvidia RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090: Closing Verdict

So, which one must you purchase?

Contemplating that you’ll be spending a fortune on both of these playing cards, I might suggest going for the RTX 5090. Sure, it is costlier, however the superior options and specs make for higher future proofing, and the efficiency good points gen-on-gen greater than justify the funding.

That does not imply it’s best to ignore the RTX 4090, nonetheless, particularly if its worth comes down within the coming weeks and months now that the RTX 5090 is on the scene. If you will get it for a cut price, it’s best to undoubtedly think about the RTX 4090, however barring that, there is no beating the RTX 5090.