Speaking of Nvidia’s most advanced and formidable RTX 4090, no other GPU has ever come close to its performance. Nvidia proves it can still charge whatever it wants for its most powerful mainstream GPU because it is a masterpiece. It sits alone among all other graphics cards at the top of the hierarchy.
What makes the RTX 4090 so unique and expensive are its over-the-top attributes and simple conquering performance that goes toe to toe with Nvidia’s professional graphics processors. It has a colossal memory of 24 Gigabytes with the contemporary GDDR6X SDRAM. Its massive 384-bit bus allows for bandwidths of more than one terabyte, which is yet to be disputed by a mainstream display card.
Moreover, with over 16 thousand CUDA, above 500 Tensor, and 128 Raytracing accelerators, it efficiently provides the best experience in everything. But getting your hands on one isn’t easy with the price tag of 1600 US dollars and very scarce supply in better parts of the world. We’ve also reviewed the compatible cases for 4090 so don’t forget to check them out.
Nevertheless, you are in luck today because we will discuss some reasonably equivalent cards designed to provide the same immense graphical power for gaming.
AMD GPU equivalent to the RTX 4090
The only GPU that comes remotely near the 4090 is the RX 7900 XTX. The RX 7900 XTX is a much closer match than the 7900 XT, so we won’t include it in this discussion. The 7900 XTX, on the contrary, manages to stay relevant in the battle against this purely high-end behemoth. It pulls smooth framerates in most titles at 4K resolution. Let’s briefly explore what the RX 7900 XTX delivers in its respective sections.
Gigabyte RX 7900 XTX
| Feature | Gigabyte RX 7900XTX | Ge force RTX 4090 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | RDNA 3.0 | Ada lovelace |
| Core Clock (MHz) | 1855 MHz | 2235 MHz |
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 2525 MHz (+1%) | 2520 MHz |
| CUDA Cores | 6144 | 18,432 |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6X |
| Memory Size (GB) | 24 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory Bus Width (bits) | 384 bit | 384 bit |
| Memory Speed (Gbps) | 2500 MHz 20 Gbps effective | 1313 MHz 21 Gbps effective |
| TDP (Watts) | 355 W | 450 W |
| DirectX Version | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| OpenGL Version | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| VR Ready | Yes | Yes |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 96 | 128 |
| Ports | 2x HDMI 2.1a 2x DisplayPort 2.1 | 1x HDMI 2.1 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| Price | $919.99 | $1599.00 |
Coming in at the 2nd position, The RX 7900 XTX is an absolute unit with extensive performance vigor and an astonishing feature list. It is the prime specimen for AMD to flex the limits of its trendy Radeon DNA 3.0 architecture and enhanced processing units.
It also entails a 24 Gig memory on a rather slower GDDR6 type. However, it easily achieves bandwidths of at least 960 GB/s. The RX 7900 XTX has a fantastic core count and core speeds with an upper limit of 2.5 GHz while starting modestly at 1.8 GHz. As for cores, AMD has put much effort into making it a worthy high-end GPU with 6144 Shading processors and 96 enhanced ray acceleration engines.
Moreover, the 7900 XTX utilizes a much faster and larger 96MB L3 cache that favors the overall rendering effectiveness of a graphics processing unit. These features require a hefty power draw, and this GPU easily munches 355 Watts of power.
Closing thoughts
Even with all the raw power of the RX 7900 XTX, it is still 20 – 30% behind in performance against the RTX 4090. The RTX 4090 remains undisputed in all cases, and we haven’t even touched the raytracing performance because it has the best 4K raytracing efficiency in the market.
However, it is worth noting that the RX 7900 XTX pulls its weight in most scenarios, and with intelligent utilization of its next-gen assets, its peak performance is pretty comparable. Furthermore, it has the best raytracing output among AMD graphics cards and allows a plausibly uninterrupted 4K experience.
The valuation of the 7900 XTX is much more intriguing, with it currently being sold at or around 900$. Nevertheless, the final decision between these GPUs comes from the consumer’s personal and monetary preference. But for a gaming-oriented user experience, the RX 7900 XTX is a finer choice with a peerless value for money.
Frequently Asked Questions
What power supply should I get for the RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX?
We recommend using a power supply with a 1000 Watts output for either the RTX 4090 or 7900 XTX. With this output, you will get some breathing room with extra power. Many brands, like Antec, ASUS, Corsair, CoolerMaster, etc., have outstanding and reliable 1000W power supplies, although their prices might vary.
Which CPUs are optimal for the RTX 4090?
Getting an equivalently robust CPU for a card like the RTX 4090 is essential. The best processors for the 4090 are Ryzen 9 7950X3D, Core i9 13900K, Core i7 14700K, and Ryzen 7 7800X3D, just to name a few.
Can the RTX 4090 do efficient ray tracing at 4K?
It absolutely can. It provides a quite definitive and exquisite 4K raytracing experience in most titles with more than 120 frames per second. It can even ray trace efficiently for up to 8K resolution.
