The verdict
It's a dead heat.
Neither pulls ahead on the published figures, so the decision is in the details this comparison cannot see. Check the current figures on both pages.
Choose RTX 5090 if…
- • You want RTX 5090's edge on how much video memory you get and how many shader cores it has
Choose RTX 4090 if…
- • You want RTX 4090's edge on what it cost at launch and how fast it boosts
Round by round
- Round 1What it cost at launchRTX 4090 winsRTX 50905/10
$1,999
launch price announced by NVIDIA
- $1,999, against $1,599
Source: nvidianews.nvidia.com ↗
RTX 4090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 2How much video memory you getRTX 5090 wins
RTX 5090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 3How many shader cores it hasRTX 5090 winsRTX 40905/10
16,384 CUDA cores
Founders Edition spec
- 16,384 CUDA cores, against 21,760 CUDA cores
Source: nvidia.com ↗
RTX 5090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 4How fast it boostsRTX 4090 wins
RTX 4090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 5How much power it drawsRTX 4090 wins
RTX 4090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 6Which memory it usesRTX 5090 wins
RTX 5090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 7How wide the memory bus isRTX 5090 wins
RTX 5090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
- Round 8What power supply it needsRTX 4090 wins
RTX 4090 wins this round on what the company itself publishes.
Side by side
- $1,999, against $999
- 575 W, against 355 W
- 1000 W, against 800 W
- $1,999, against $1,599
- $1,599, against $999
- 2.52 GHz, against 2.62 GHz
- 450 W, against 360 W
- GDDR6X, against GDDR7