NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 : Features, Specifications, Architecture, Working, Differences & Its Applications

The enthusiast-class graphics card by NVIDIA, like the GeForce RTX 4090, is launched on Sep 20th, 2022. GeForce is a product of Nvidia GPUs mostly designed for graphics-intensive and high-performance gaming applications. Now, GeForce is a familiar graphics card found in both laptop and desktop computers. In addition, it can also power cloud gaming services. GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the 5 nm process, based on the AD102 graphics processor. This GeForce GPU brings a huge increase in efficiency, AI-powered graphics, and performance. This article elaborates on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, its architecture, working, and its applications.

What is Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090?

The GeForce RTX 4090 GPU is a high-end and enthusiast-level graphics card by NVIDIA, designed mainly for professional and gaming applications. It is the flagship model within NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 40 series, which uses Ada Lovelace architecture to deliver significant leaps in efficiency and performance as compared to earlier GPU generations. This GPU is available with 24 GB of G6X memory which delivers the ultimate experience for creators and gamers.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is well-known for its advanced features and outstanding performance. It is designed for high-resolution gaming, mainly at 4K which outshines in different tasks like AI-powered graphics and ray tracing.

How does NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Work?

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 works by using the Ada Lovelace architecture with a combination of hardware & software. It provides a high range of performance for graphical and gaming workloads.

It features third-generation RT cores used for ray tracing, fourth-generation Tensor cores used for AI-powered features such as a large amount of GDDR6X 24 GB memory, and DLSS 3 with around 1 TB/s high bandwidth to feed the GPU through data. In addition, this GPU can also have some features like an ADA optical flow accelerator and shader execution reordering to improve performance.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU merges the power of its different core types through high-speed memory and superior software methods like DLSS to provide a better visual experience in recent games as well as other applications.

Features & Specifications

The features and specifications of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU include the following.

• GeForce RTX 4090 GPU is developed by NVIDIA.
• It is a flagship consumer graphics card.
• It features 5th Gen NVDEC and 8th Gen NVENC.
• This GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate & OpenGL 4.6.
• This graphics card is designed mainly for high-refresh-rate gaming, high-resolution with 4K & beyond.
• It provides improvements in significant performance over earlier generation cards, particularly in AI-related and ray-tracing tasks.
• Its path tracing and DLSS 3 allows for improved performance and visuals in supported games.
• It uses Ada Lovelace architecture.
• This GPU includes 16,384 CUDA cores.
• Boost CLK speed is 2.52 GHz.
• Memory is 24 GB GDDR6X.
• It has a 384-bit memory bus.
• It has 3rd generation ray tracing cores and 4th generation tensor cores.
• Thermal design power or TDP is 450W.
• It has a 1x 16-pin power connector.
• Its outputs are; 3x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x HDMI 2.1.
• The recommended PSU is 850W.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Architecture

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU uses the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture to provide major improvements in power efficiency and performance than earlier generations. This is a high-end desktop graphics card that includes significant components like CUDA cores, RT cores, Tensor cores, GDDR6X memory, and many more.

GPU Core

The RTX 4090 is designed with an AD102 GPU including a significant range of SMs (Streaming Multiprocessors). Every processor includes CUDA cores like both FP32 & INT32/FP32 ALUs and a ray tracing core. The AD102 GPU is the main part of the GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. It includes 76.3 billion transistors, enabling advanced features and performance.

The AD102 GPU is arranged on the Ada Lovelace architecture, which initiates new technologies such as; DLSS 3 & improved ray tracing abilities. The RTX 4090 uses the AD102 GPU to attain its exciting performance levels. The AD102 die size is 609 mm² which reflects its power and complexity.

CUDA Cores

This GPU card includes 16,384 CUDA cores and thus handles general computing tasks. CUDA cores are parallel processing cores that handle general computing & rendering tasks by allowing the GPU to begin difficult workloads proficiently. In addition, its high core count adds extensively to the performance of GPU in both gaming & other compute-intensive applications.

RT Cores

This GPU includes specialized hardware units like 128 RT Cores, designed for speeding up real-time ray tracing. It is a rendering technique that reproduces how light performs in an effective setting, forming visually stunning and more realistic graphics, particularly in shadows, lighting, and reflections. RT Cores handle the required complex calculations for ray tracing like traversing bounding volume hierarchies & executing ray-triangle intersection tests for producing realistic lighting & reflections.

Tensor Cores

Tensor Cores are specialized hardware units in the GPU that accelerate AI tasks and deep learning, mostly matrix operations. These cores allow neural network inference and faster training by handling 4 x 4 matrix multiplications & accumulations efficiently. This GPU has 512 Tensor Cores, which are used for optimizing machine learning tasks like the DLSS technology of NVIDIA to boost performance with AI to upscale imagery.

Memory

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU includes GDDR6X video memory (VRAM) – 24GB which provides high bandwidth to handle large textures & data. This memory can be connected to the GPU through a 384-bit memory interface which functions at a higher speed. In addition, it provides approximately 1,008 GB/s memory bandwidth. The high bandwidth and large memory capacity are essential for handling more demanding tasks like complex AI workloads, 8K video editing, and high-resolution gaming.

Memory Interface

This GPU has a 384-bit memory interface which is the physical connection between the video memory and GPU. It transfers 384 data bits for each clock cycle from and to its 24GB GDDR6X memory. Thus this wide interface supplies the high memory bandwidth of the card by allowing it to handle very demanding tasks. It determines how many bits of data can be transferred simultaneously.

This memory interface allows the GPU to shift a large amount of data very fast by feeding the GPU for performing computations and rendering graphics. The GDDR6X memory is a high-speed memory designed for graphics cards. Thus, this memory can be combined through the 384-bit interface to contribute exciting memory bandwidth to the card.

Boost Clock

The boost clock is the highest frequency it can achieve in the best conditions, frequently when the GPU is below load and in its power and thermal limits. GPU Boost technology of NVIDIA adjusts the clock speed automatically to increase performance while maintaining stability. The boost clock speed of this GPU can reach equal to ~2.5 GHz by managing demanding workloads powerfully. The high boost clock of RTX 4090 GPU contributes to its outstanding performance within graphically intensive applications by delivering a major boost within frame rates & overall graphical fidelity.

Power Requirements

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU has a typical 450W power consumption. It needs a strong power supply with 850W of minimum suggested. In addition, a 1000W to 1300W supply is suggested for best performance especially when connected with high-end Core i9-13900K CPUs. This GPU card includes a 450Watts power draw which needs a 16-pin power connector. It connects via a 16-pin power connector & a PCI-Express 4.0 x 16 interface to the system.

L2 Cache

The RTX 4090 GPU has a large 72MB on-die L2 cache, which improves performance, and memory bandwidth and enhances energy efficiency. It is a significant upgrade to its predecessor the RTX 3090 because it has 6MB only. Not like the L1 cache, the L2 cache can be shared through all SMs (Streaming Multiprocessor) on the GPU. The larger L2 cache helps in decreasing power consumption by maintaining frequently used data nearer to the processing units.

Streaming Multiprocessors

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU includes 128 improved SMs with enhancements in architecture and improvements in clock speed. Every SM includes CUDA cores, Tensor cores, and RT cores. There are 128 CUDA cores specifically for each SM which results in 16,384 CUDA cores total for the whole GPU. In addition, the RTX 4090 GPU includes third-generation RT cores – 128 and fourth-generation Tensor cores – 512.

TSMC 4N Process

The RTX 4090 GPU is designed on TSMC’s 4N procedure, which is a 4nm normal process node that contributes increased power efficiency as compared to earlier generations. Thus, this is a custom process and co-developed through TSMC by allowing better power efficiency and high transistor density. This GPU boasts 76.3 billion transistors on its AD102 die, a significant increase from the previous generation’s GA102.

DLSS 3

DLSS 3 or deep learning super sampling 3 is the most recent core up-scaling technology; It leverages the fourth-generation tensor cores and optical flow accelerator of Ada Lovelace architecture to boost image quality and gaming performance significantly. In addition, it merges both the Super Resolution with NVIDIA Reflex and Frame Generation, providing up to a 4x increased performance & 2x responsiveness.

There are many benefits of DLSS 3 in architecture like improved performance, image quality, improved responsiveness, CPU bottleneck mitigation, and many more.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU Software

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU needs numerous software components for best functionality and performance mainly the graphics driver & GeForce experience software. So, the graphics driver allows communication between the operating system and the GPU whereas the GeForce experience delivers extra features like driver updates, streaming capabilities, and game optimization.

The main software components of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU include the following.

• NVIDIA GeForce drivers are necessary to function properly in the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. Thus, they convert commands from the OS & applications into understandable actions.
• GeForce Experience software provides a range of features like driver updates, game optimization, streaming and recording, NVIDIA analytics, etc.
• NVIDIA Studio Drivers are specially optimized for innovative workloads like 3D rendering, graphic design, and video editing by providing stability and improved performance for specialized applications.
• NVIDIA RTX desktop manage is a tool that helps you to control and arrange you’re desktop if you have several displays.
• CUDA Toolkit offers a development environment to create GPU-accelerated and high-performance applications, mostly useful for those involved in scientific and AI computing.
• NVIDIA AI Workbench is a platform that simplifies the development of AI on GPUs.
• NGC Catalog provides GPU-optimized software for HPC, data science, and AI.
• For installation, need to download the latest NVIDIA GeForce drivers & GeForce Experience software from the official website of NVIDIA.
• After that, follow the on-screen instructions to install the drivers
• To allow its features, need to Install GeForce Experience software.
• Discover the NVIDIA website for other related software to your needs like the CUDA Toolkit or NVIDIA Studio Drivers.

Drivers

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU needs specific drivers to work properly which can be downloaded from the official website. NVIDIA provides both Studio Drivers and Game Ready Drivers, optimized for creative and gaming applications correspondingly. To install these drivers, need to download them from the website by following the on-screen instructions, either using the Device Manager or the NVIDIA app.

Difference between GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080

The difference between GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 includes the following.

Advantages

The advantages of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU include the following.

• The RTX 4090 GPU provides a significant performance leap over earlier generations.
• It performs well at ray-traced graphics handling and creating very realistic visuals.
• The RTX 4090 is well-equipped with its 24GB – VRAM & powerful hardware to handle future games & software demands.
• Its architecture accelerates AI-powered tasks like running AI creative tools and training models.
• This CPU speeds up video editing, 3D rendering & other innovative workflows with some features like AV1 support and dual encoder in very famous creative apps.
• NVIDIA provides some features like virtual background and noise removal for live streamers, improving their videos & streams.
• This graphic card is optimized through NVIDIA tools and Studio drivers for innovative workflows, ensuring constancy & performance.
• It provides exciting performance while handling power efficiency, particularly when compared to earlier high-end cards.
• It decreases system latency by providing better aiming and faster reactions in games.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU include the following.

• The RTX 4090 GPU is expensive.
• Some models are extremely large and use more space in a PC case.
• Its power consumption is high.
• DLSS 3 issues may occur.
• The sheer size & weight can be a challenge throughout installation thus it potentially pressures the motherboard.

Applications

The applications of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU include the following.

• The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a high-performance GPU primarily designed for demanding tasks like gaming, content creation, and AI/machine learning.
• It excels in handling 4K gaming, 3D rendering, video editing, and accelerating AI model training.
• Its controlling hardware and higher features make it suitable for a wide range of applications where significant graphical and computational processing.
• It handles 4K gaming at extremely high frame speeds with maximum settings in most games.
• The RTX 4090 GPU is built for ray tracing that simulates the physical light performance to make realistic visuals by providing a significant boost in visual fidelity.
• Its large memory and powerful hardware make it perfect for providing complex 3D scenes within software like OctaneRender, V-Ray, and Blender to decrease rendering times.
• It speeds up video editing workflows in DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro mainly when working through high-resolution footage & complex effects.
• It is used in a variety of machine learning tasks like training & inference.
• In addition, this GPU can also be found in professional workstations in a variety of industries like engineering, architecture, scientific research, construction, etc.

Thus, this is an overview of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, designed with Ada Lovelace architecture. It provides unmatched productivity and a high-performance gaming experience for graphical workloads. In addition, this card includes third-generation Ray Tracing cores, fourth-generation Tensor cores & Lovelace Generation CUDA cores. Its large capacity, high bandwidth, and high-speed memory allow this GPU to handle ray tracing, large textures & other demanding graphical operations very efficiently. Therefore, it is used in memory-intensive applications like 3D modeling & rendering with 24GB of high-speed GDDR6 memory. Here is a question for you, what is GPU?