While NVIDIA has had a lead in the GPU industry for a while, AMD has been catching up really quickly of late. Choosing between AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards isn’t exactly a straightforward process and the companies don’t help matters with the naming schemes, inconsistent price-to-performance ratios, and the usual marketing jargon. This is where our helpful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX guide comes into play!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX: Price, specs & availability
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Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU Speed 2.23 GHz 2.30 GHz Interface PCIe 4.0 PCI 4.0 Memory 24 GB GDDR6X 24 GB GDDR6 Power 450 W 355 W Boost Speed 2.52 GHz 2.50 GHz
Picking the best graphics card for your PC depends largely on your available budget and the resolution at which you’ll be playing games. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX are the flagship GPUs for team green and team red, respectively. Both are designed with 4K gaming in mind, though the RTX 4090 is the better card for performance.
There’s also a considerable price difference between the two graphics cards. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 was launched at a price of $1,599, which was met with a negative response from the press and the public. The latest flagship GPU from NVIDIA costs the same as an entire PC did just a few years back. The performance is astounding and impressive, but does anyone truly require a $1,600 GPU?
AMD wanted to undercut NVIDIA and managed to do so with the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, priced at just $999. Now, while these two GPUs aren’t technically in the same league (and AMD is specifically targeting the RTX 4080 with this GPU), it’s still a substantial difference in cost between the two flagship graphics cards.
A few months down the line now, the RTX 4090 is mostly selling above the $1,599 starting price, while the 7900 XTX is available for as low as $979.
Should you seek the most affordable GPU or one that offers the best value (in terms of performance-per-dollar), AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX is going to come out on top. If the price truly doesn’t matter, the RTX 4090 offers mind-blowing performance.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX: Architecture differences
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX launched with the company’s latest RDNA 3 architecture, alongside the RX 7900 XT. Likewise, NVIDIA launched its new Ada Lovelace architecture through the RTX 4090, RTX 4080, and RTX 4070. NVIDIA utilizes TSMC’s 4nm manufacturing process and AMD makes use of larger 5nm and 6nm processes.
Like Intel with its new hybrid CPU core design, AMD decided to split up the main graphics compute die (GCD) and memory cache die (MCD) with the former built on the 5nm node and the latter on the larger 6nm node. The reasons behind this were cost reduction and the ability to cram all the important parts (GCD) onto the more advanced node.
AMD could bring to market something to take on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, but for now, the RX 7900 XTX is the RDNA 3 flagship GPU, and it’s simply no match for the RTX 4090.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX: Performance
It’s no secret that the NVIDIA RTX 4090 is the most powerful GPU we’ve seen yet. It’s capable of handling games at a resolution of 8K, which is quite frankly ridiculous. Most gamers are still using monitors that have a resolution lower than 4K, let alone 8K. It will decimate the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX in most games and synthetic benchmarks.
But NVIDIA’s GPU also costs vastly more than what most people can afford. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is expensive in its own right but costs a full $600 less. Its performance is still excellent, even when compared to the RTX 4090. Both graphics cards will happily run games at 4K with smooth results.
| Game | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 |
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| Cyberpunk 2077 |
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| DOOM Eternal |
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| Fay Cry 6 |
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| Metro Exodus |
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| Red Dead Redemption 2 |
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The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 wipes the floor with the RX 7900 XTX, especially with ray tracing enabled at both 2K and 4K resolutions. This makes sense since AMD is again targeting the RTX 4080 with its flagship GPU. But looking at the numbers from the AMD GPU, they’re almost always at least 60 frames-per-second as an average, which is largely considered smooth gameplay.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX: Which GPU is best for you?
Are you on a tighter budget and can’t see yourself feeling comfortable paying more than $1,000 for a GPU alone? The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the GPU for you. It’s an excellent 4K weapon that will easily tackle all your favorite games, some even with ray tracing enabled. It’s still early days for RDNA 3 and AMD has a history of providing excellent after-sale support through driver enhancements that improved performance over time.
Source: AMD
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
RDNA 3 allowed AMD to produce the mighty Radeon RX 7900 XTX, which undercuts and matches NVIDIA’s RTX 4080.
$1,599 isn’t a price many would feel comfortable paying. Sure, we’ve shown the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 to be the most powerful and best graphics card available, but it’s overpriced when compared to what came before and other GPUs available right now. It’s expected NVIDIA will lower its prices to compete against AMD, especially the RTX 4080. The RTX 4090 doesn’t offer great value, but it offers the best gaming experience overall.
Source: NVIDIA
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4090 is the company’s most powerful gaming powerhouse, leading the charge against AMD.