NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs AMD Radeon RX 590

#ad
Buy
VS

Combined performance score

RX 590
24.42

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 310% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking2051
Place by popularitynot in top-1007
Value for money32.3710.69
ArchitecturePolaris (2016−2019)Ada Lovelace
GPU code namePolaris 30AD102-300-A1
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date15 November 2018 (5 years old)20 September 2022 (1 year old)
Launch price (MSRP)$279 $1,599
Current price$133 (0.5x MSRP)$1756 (1.1x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 590 has 203% better value for money than RTX 4090.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores230416384
Core clock speed1469 MHz2235 MHz
Boost clock speed1545 MHz2520 MHz
Number of transistors5,700 million76,300 million
Manufacturing process technology12 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt450 Watt
Texture fill rate222.51,290

Size and compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Length241 mm304 mm
Width2-slot3-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 8-pin1x 16-pin

Memory

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR6X
Maximum RAM amount8 GB24 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed8000 MHz21000 MHz
Memory bandwidth256.0 GB/s1,008 GB/s
Shared memory--

Video outputs and ports

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI++

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

FreeSync+no data

API support

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 (12_0)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model6.46.6
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.03.0
Vulkan1.2.1311.3
CUDAno data8.9

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

RX 590 24.42
RTX 4090 100.00
+310%

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 310% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

RX 590 9463
RTX 4090 38753
+310%

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 310% in Passmark.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX 590 48454
RTX 4090 137170
+183%

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 183% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX 590 23363
RTX 4090 104937
+349%

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 349% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

RX 590 16814
RTX 4090 73174
+335%

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 335% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

RX 590 86825
RTX 4090 250667
+189%

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 189% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 8%

RX 590 397712
RTX 4090 771257
+93.9%

GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms Radeon RX 590 by 94% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD103
−157%
265
+157%
1440p60
−253%
212
+253%
4K37
−305%
150
+305%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
−463%
225
+463%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 65
−262%
235
+262%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 86
−234%
287
+234%
Battlefield 5 133
−45.1%
190−200
+45.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 99
−79.8%
170−180
+79.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
−455%
222
+455%
Far Cry 5 85
−146%
209
+146%
Far Cry New Dawn 88
−102%
178
+102%
Forza Horizon 4 120
−159%
300−350
+159%
Hitman 3 70−75
−200%
210−220
+200%
Horizon Zero Dawn 73
−277%
275
+277%
Red Dead Redemption 2 77
−138%
180−190
+138%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 78
−277%
294
+277%
Watch Dogs: Legion 72
−161%
188
+161%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 54
−309%
221
+309%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 73
−240%
248
+240%
Battlefield 5 111
−73.9%
190−200
+73.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 81
−120%
170−180
+120%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
−435%
214
+435%
Far Cry 5 79
−154%
201
+154%
Far Cry New Dawn 83
−106%
171
+106%
Forza Horizon 4 113
−175%
300−350
+175%
Hitman 3 70−75
−200%
210−220
+200%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55
−355%
250
+355%
Metro Exodus 52
−335%
226
+335%
Red Dead Redemption 2 39
−369%
180−190
+369%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 71
−306%
288
+306%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 88
−551%
573
+551%
Watch Dogs: Legion 59
−193%
173
+193%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 39
−359%
179
+359%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 62
−255%
220
+255%
Battlefield 5 100
−93%
190−200
+93%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
−425%
210
+425%
Far Cry 5 74
−153%
187
+153%
Far Cry New Dawn 76
−103%
154
+103%
Forza Horizon 4 91
−242%
300−350
+242%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 51
−498%
305
+498%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35
−337%
153
+337%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 56
−166%
140−150
+166%
Hitman 3 40−45
−420%
210−220
+420%
Horizon Zero Dawn 37
−541%
237
+541%
Metro Exodus 31
−471%
177
+471%
Red Dead Redemption 2 25
−272%
90−95
+272%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
−721%
271
+721%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−496%
155
+496%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 55
−233%
183
+233%
Battlefield 5 50−55
−263%
190−200
+263%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−927%
154
+927%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−343%
186
+343%
Far Cry New Dawn 58
−162%
152
+162%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
−466%
280−290
+466%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
−824%
268
+824%
Watch Dogs: Legion 25
−508%
152
+508%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 31
−210%
95−100
+210%
Hitman 3 21−24
−457%
120−130
+457%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10
−1770%
187
+1770%
Metro Exodus 19
−621%
137
+621%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16
−300%
60−65
+300%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24
−675%
186
+675%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 32
−775%
280
+775%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 19
−532%
120
+532%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 42
−186%
120
+186%
Battlefield 5 40
−240%
130−140
+240%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−1233%
80
+1233%
Far Cry 5 24
−621%
173
+621%
Far Cry New Dawn 31
−368%
145
+368%
Forza Horizon 4 46
−452%
250−260
+452%
Watch Dogs: Legion 13
−800%
117
+800%

This is how RX 590 and RTX 4090 compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • RTX 4090 is 157% faster than RX 590

1440p resolution:

  • RTX 4090 is 253% faster than RX 590

4K resolution:

  • RTX 4090 is 305% faster than RX 590

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RTX 4090 is 1770% faster than the RX 590.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, RTX 4090 surpassed RX 590 in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 24.42 100.00
Recency 15 November 2018 20 September 2022
Cost $279 $1599
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 24 GB
Chip lithography 12 nm 5 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 450 Watt

The GeForce RTX 4090 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 590 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon RX 590
Radeon RX 590
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
GeForce RTX 4090

Similar GPU comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

User ratings: view and submit

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.2 2040 votes

Rate AMD Radeon RX 590 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.7 10642 votes

Rate NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.