The highly anticipated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 has finally arrived, bringing significant performance improvements over its predecessor. Let’s dive deep into how these two flagship GPUs compare across various benchmarks and real-world scenarios.
Raw Performance Gains
The RTX 5090 demonstrates impressive gains over the RTX 4090, with performance improvements varying by resolution and workload. At 4K resolution, the card delivers a 33-38% performance uplift in most gaming scenarios. In synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark, the RTX 5090 shows even more substantial gains, reaching up to 53% improvement in certain tests.
Gaming Performance
4K Gaming
The RTX 5090 truly shines in 4K gaming scenarios:
- Dying Light 2: 38% faster than RTX 4090
- Resident Evil 4: 37% performance improvement
- Dragon’s Dogma 2 (Ray Tracing): 33% better performance
1440p Performance
At 1440p resolution, the performance gap narrows slightly:
- Resident Evil 4: 25% faster than RTX 4090
- Dying Light 2: 25% performance improvement
Technical Specifications
The RTX 5090 brings significant hardware improvements:
| Specification | RTX 5090 | RTX 4090 |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Cores | 21,760 | 16,384 |
| Memory | 32GB GDDR7 | 24GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Speed | 30 Gbps | 21 Gbps |
| Memory Bus | 512-bit | 384-bit |
| Bandwidth | 1,792 GB/s | 1,008 GB/s |
| Power Usage | 575W | 450W |
Ray Tracing Performance
Ray tracing performance sees substantial improvements, with games showing between 23% to 47% better performance compared to the RTX 4090. Path-traced games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong demonstrate particularly impressive gains of 38% and 37% respectively.
Power and Thermal Characteristics
The RTX 5090 does draw more power than its predecessor, with an average power consumption of 461W compared to the RTX 4090’s 373W. However, temperature increases are minimal, showing only a 1-2°C difference.
Professional Applications
Content creators will appreciate the performance gains in professional applications:
- Blender V-Ray: 34-37% improvement
- DaVinci Resolve: 18% faster performance
Conclusion
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 represents a remarkable evolution in GPU technology, delivering 33-38% better gaming performance and up to 53% improvement in synthetic benchmarks over the RTX 4090. While the increased power consumption might give some users pause, the substantial performance gains in gaming, ray tracing, and professional applications make it an compelling choice for enthusiasts and professionals who demand cutting-edge performance. The significant improvements in memory bandwidth and GDDR7 implementation further cement its position as the new benchmark for high-end graphics cards.
