I have some very sad news. Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5090 is no longer fast enough for the ultimate gaming experience. This is a truly devastating day for PC gaming. What hope do everyday buyers have when Nvidia's $4,700 model is no longer good enough? Maintaining 60 fps at ultra settings is off the table, even with upscaling, while path tracing remains a challenge. It's difficult to see a way forward for the RTX 5090. Even though this unit survived the 12VHPWR melting wars, it may be time to put it out of its misery.
Jokes aside, the RTX 5090 genuinely isn't fast enough for the type of gaming we'll be exploring here: gaming at resolutions beyond 4K. You'll see the results shortly, but the situation is particularly funny when you look back at September 2020.
Would you look at that? "The New Pinnacle Is Here," Nvidia proclaimed, because the GeForce RTX 3090 could deliver 8K HDR gaming. It was, according to the company, the world's first 8K gaming GPU.
"At 8K, detail is so crisp and clear that we can discern individual bricks and blades of grass, distant game elements are instantly recognizable, and from behind the shoulder of your player character, individual hairs, stitching on clothes and wrinkles on skin are appreciable." ... "8K enables you to view your games with unprecedented detail and clarity."
Nvidia went on to claim that the RTX 3090 made 8K possible through a huge leap in GPU horsepower and new technologies such as DLSS Ultra Performance. The company promised "smooth 8K gameplay across a host of both ray-traced and non-ray-traced games."
Some media outlets echoed those claims. Engadget said Nvidia had "finally cracked 8K gaming." Even Marques Brownlee got his hands on an RTX 3090 and, one day before regular reviews went live, described 8K gaming on the card as "surprisingly impressive." That video has 11.5 million views, by the way.
This was all a bit of a joke because no gamer would realistically use an RTX 3090 for 8K gaming. At the time, the main way to play games at 8K was on a very expensive 8K TV, and models such as the LG Z9 used in MKBHD's video were limited to just 60Hz at that resolution.
That was quite a downgrade for high-end gamers accustomed to high-refresh-rate monitors. By then, 1440p at 144Hz was common, while 4K at 144Hz was an emerging category that might have appealed to RTX 3090 buyers in a far more practical way. Even the LG Z9 could operate at 4K 120Hz, which was the obvious choice over 8K 60Hz for gaming.
How Viable Is 8K Gaming?
As time went on, the entire concept of 8K gaming became sillier and sillier. 8K TVs never really took off. Even today, most respected TV reviewers recommend 4K models as the best options on the market, while the 8K monitor category remains almost exclusively aimed at professionals.
You can buy an 8K monitor, but current models are limited to 60Hz and belong to creator-focused lineups such as Dell UltraSharp and Asus ProArt. Asus' model costs $8,800, by the way, roughly eight times the price of a 4K OLED monitor. There are no high-refresh-rate 8K models in existence.
Eventually, the whole idea fizzled out. Nobody bought an RTX 3090 specifically for 8K gaming. It was simply a very powerful graphics card that offered the best experience at more practical resolutions such as 4K.
Fast-forward five years and Nvidia launched the RTX 5090, a GPU roughly twice as fast as the RTX 3090. By that point, however, almost everyone had forgotten about 8K gaming. It was still impractical, still made very little sense, and the only mention of 8K during Nvidia's RTX 50-series announcement concerned the GPU's display-output capabilities. The actual gaming benchmarks were run at 4K.
The First Real 6K Gaming Monitor
And now we're now entering a new interesting period because genuine gaming monitors are beginning to exceed 4K resolution. Just a few weeks ago, we reviewed the world's first 6K gaming monitor, the Samsung Odyssey G80HS.
This isn't a pro-grade monitor repurposed for gaming. Samsung markets it directly to gamers, it's part of the Odyssey gaming lineup, and it includes a full suite of gaming features. Most importantly, it has a 165Hz refresh rate, the first time we've seen a high refresh rate on a 32-inch high-DPI monitor. Variable refresh rate, G-Sync, FreeSync, the whole works.
While we don't necessarily recommend the Odyssey G80HS for several reasons covered in our review (price chief among them), this is realistically a true 6K gaming monitor with all the proper features, and some people might want to use it for that purpose. Especially if you also use your monitor for productivity work that benefits from the very high resolution.
This raises the question: if the RTX 3090 was advertised as capable of 8K gaming at a time when 8K gaming made absolutely no sense, can the much more powerful RTX 5090 genuinely play games at 6K now that actual 6K gaming monitors are reaching the market? Surely, if the RTX 3090 could handle 2020-era games at 8K, the RTX 5090 should be able to handle the latest titles at 6K?
We weren't originally planning to investigate this, but several requests came in after the G80HS review asking what 6K gaming actually looks like. So here we are, testing 6K gaming on not only the RTX 5090, but also the relatively more affordable, yet still very expensive, RTX 5070 Ti.
Now, there are a few things to know about gaming at 6K. First, you can't even access this monitor's highest refresh rate using older GPUs. With the GeForce RTX 40 series, for example, which is limited to DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1, the monitor cannot operate at 6K above 60Hz. You need an Nvidia Blackwell GPU with DisplayPort 2.1 and its faster display engine to enable the 165Hz mode. So, amusingly, the "8K gaming" RTX 3090 can't even make full use of the first genuine 6K gaming monitor.
6K represents a massive increase in resolution over 4K. It might not sound like an enormous jump at first, but 6144x3456 contains 21.2 million pixels, compared with just 8.3 million pixels at 3840x2160, otherwise known as 4K
Second, 6K represents a massive increase in resolution over 4K. It might not sound like an enormous jump at first, but 6144x3456 contains 21.2 million pixels, compared with just 8.3 million pixels at 3840x2160, otherwise known as 4K. That's a 2.6x increase in pixel count, placing significantly more strain on both the GPU core and VRAM.
You might be wondering why anyone would bother with 6K gaming. It's a huge increase in hardware requirements compared with 4K, which already looks excellent. And if that's what you're thinking, you'd largely be right.
However, the resolution and sharpness of the Odyssey G80HS are genuinely impressive in games. It isn't a revolutionary improvement over 4K, but it does look better, especially in modern titles filled with fine geometry, dense grass, high-resolution textures, and other intricate details. From a resolution and image sharpness standpoint, this display looks incredible while gaming.
Testing 6K vs. 4K Gaming Performance
Cyberpunk 2077
Let's get into the performance data and we thought a good way to approach this would be to first look at what is a potentially realistic configuration for gaming on an RTX 5090 at 4K. So it turns out this GPU is capable of playing using the maximum Ray Tracing Overdrive preset (path tracing) using the DLSS Performance mode at about 85 FPS on average.
Certainly very decent and you'll know from our recent DLSS coverage that the Performance mode at 4K is a great way to play, providing a high level of detail and minimal artefacts despite a relatively low render resolution.
Using that same graphics configuration at 6K causes the frame rate to collapse to just 42 fps, roughly half the performance achieved at 4K. To make the RTX 5090 deliver a reasonably playable frame rate at 6K, we had to disable ray tracing entirely. The Ultra preset with DLSS Performance averaged 72 fps.
In a way, 6K gaming is possible here, just not with the maximum in-game settings available at 4K. Even using the standard Ultra preset, the RTX 5090 delivers 134 fps at 4K. We'd argue that 4K at the substantially higher frame rate makes more sense than 6K at around 70 fps.
The RTX 5070 Ti fares much worse as expected. The RTX 5090 is ~70% faster in our testing, so it's no surprise to see the 5070 Ti struggle with path tracing at 4K, even with DLSS Performance. A more realistic configuration for this GPU is the standard Ultra preset, which achieves around 90 fps.
At 6K, however, the RTX 5070 Ti is effectively crippled using either the Overdrive or Ultra preset, failing to average 40 fps. That's not a particularly good experience. To even approach 60 fps at 6K, you have to reduce the settings to Medium or use the High preset with DLSS Ultra Performance.
Crimson Desert
In Crimson Desert, the RTX 5090 can run the game at 4K using the maximum in-game settings. That means the Cinematic preset with Ray Reconstruction enabled, a feature that significantly cleans up and improves the ray-traced presentation. With DLSS 4.5 L in Quality mode, we averaged 63 fps during our benchmark pass, which is pretty decent.
At 6K, however, the game drops below 30 fps using the same settings. The only way to recover that performance is to disable Ray Reconstruction and move DLSS down one tier to Balanced. Lower upscaling modes have a noticeable impact on shadow and texture quality in this title, so that isn't ideal, but these changes allow the game to run at 66 fps.
Meanwhile, the RTX 5070 Ti isn't capable of much in this game. Using the Cinematic preset with Ray Reconstruction disabled, this GPU can achieve around 70 fps at 4K. That drops to just 36 fps at 6K, and even lower if you enable Ray Reconstruction.
The only way to make 6K playable on this GPU is to reduce the preset all the way to Medium and enable DLSS 4.0 in Performance mode, which just edges past 60 fps.
Mafia: The Old Country
Mafia: The Old Country runs quite well on the RTX 5090 at 4K, averaging 85 fps using the Epic preset with DLSS Quality enabled. The performance hit at 6K is less severe in this game, with the frame rate falling to 54 fps using the same Epic preset. That isn't the best experience, but it's reasonable.
You can achieve a very playable 85 fps at 6K by dropping the preset one tier to High and switching DLSS to Performance mode.
The RTX 5070 Ti struggles, as expected. It can play the game at 89 fps using the High preset with DLSS Performance, but this configuration drops to just 53 fps at 6K. To edge above 60 fps at this resolution, we had to reduce the preset all the way to Low while continuing to use DLSS Performance, so that isn't an ideal configuration.
Doom: The Dark Ages
Doom: The Dark Ages is playable on the RTX 5090 using maximum settings. Enabling the Ultra Nightmare preset, path tracing with every option turned on, and DLSS Performance produces 85 fps in our benchmark run. That might not be the highest frame rate for a fast-paced shooter, but it's decent considering the settings being used.
The same cannot be said when playing at 6K. Using identical settings, the RTX 5090 drops to just 43 fps, which is very much not a good way to play Doom.
However, if you're willing to disable path tracing and use the regular Ultra Nightmare preset with DLSS Performance, the frame rate climbs back to 82 fps. That same configuration runs at 167 fps at 4K, so the extra resolution costs you a true high-refresh-rate experience on the RTX 5090.
In typical fashion, the RTX 5070 Ti is a bit of a bust for 6K gaming in Doom: The Dark Ages. The game runs at 92 fps at 4K using the Ultra Nightmare preset with DLSS Performance, but this configuration drops to 44 fps at 6K.
To exceed 60 fps, we had to reduce the preset to Low and enable DLSS Ultra Performance. That produces a much worse visual experience, so you can pretty much forget about playing this title at 6K on the RTX 5070 Ti.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced
The performance impact isn't as severe in every game. In Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, the RTX 5090 runs at 88 fps at 4K using the maximum Ultra High preset with DLSS Quality. That's pretty decent, and switching to 6K only reduces the frame rate to 57 fps.
That falls short of the 60 fps I usually like to see, but it's nowhere near the drop we saw in Cyberpunk 2077 from a similar starting frame rate.
Manually reducing the render resolution to 25%, thereby avoiding the strange and incorrect upscaling behavior of the game's built-in Performance mode, improves the 6K result to 74 fps on the RTX 5090 without reducing the graphics preset. These settings run at 103 fps at 4K, so Black Flag Resynced is surprisingly well suited to 6K when comparing the two resolutions.
The RTX 5070 Ti has a harder time. At 4K, using the Ultra High preset requires a 25% render scale to exceed 60 fps, which is equivalent to DLSS Performance upscaling. Those settings deliver only 45 fps at 6K, and you'll need to reduce the overall preset to Medium to achieve a frame rate slightly above 60 fps.
Forza Horizon 6
In Forza Horizon 6, the Extreme + RT preset with DLSS Quality is a great way to play on the RTX 5090 at 4K, achieving nearly 100 fps. Using the same settings at 6K reduces the frame rate to just 56 fps. I'd consider that insufficient for a racing game, although it isn't terrible compared with some of the results we've seen in other titles.
Disabling ray tracing and using the standard Extreme preset pushes performance back up to 102 fps, which is highly playable. However, that configuration runs at more than 150 fps at 4K.
This game is also playable on the RTX 5070 Ti, provided you don't enable ray tracing. At 4K, we measured 102 fps using the Extreme preset with DLSS Quality, dropping to 61 fps at 6K.
Ray tracing isn't really viable here, and 60 fps is far from amazing. Still, given that we're using only DLSS Quality and the highest non-RT preset, there's room to achieve better performance by reducing either setting.
Battlefield 6
We were also interested to see how Battlefield 6 would run on these GPUs, given that we'd generally target at least 120 fps rather than 60 fps in a competitive multiplayer shooter. That's very achievable on the RTX 5090 at 4K, where we measured 137 fps using the maximum Overkill preset with DLSS Quality. I'd be satisfied with that for general play.
At 6K, this configuration drops to 77 fps. While that's above 60 fps, it's a much less fluid experience. Some players might find it acceptable for a multiplayer game, but I'm not particularly enthused by that result, so we drastically reduced the quality settings.
Unfortunately, achieving 120 fps required dropping all the way to the Low preset with DLSS Performance, which isn't ideal. That's especially true when you consider that this configuration runs at nearly 200 fps at 4K.
We'd also describe the RTX 5070 Ti as unsuitable for 6K gaming in Battlefield 6. At 4K, the Overkill configuration runs at 89 fps, while the Low configuration reaches 150 fps. Both are decent enough, particularly if you're willing to drop slightly below Overkill settings.
At 6K, however, even the lowest configuration runs at just 78 fps. Switching DLSS to Ultra Performance, effectively using the lowest settings the game offers, only increased performance to 90 fps.
Marvel Rivals
The final game we tested was Marvel Rivals. In the benchmark tool, the RTX 5090 delivered excellent performance at 4K, reaching 124 fps using the Ultra preset and 218 fps using the Low preset, both with DLSS Performance.
Unfortunately, the Ultra configuration isn't particularly appealing at 6K. It delivers 77 fps, but I'd much rather reduce the settings to Low and achieve 116 fps.
The RTX 5070 Ti struggles here, much as it did in Battlefield 6. At 4K, it can achieve 148 fps using the Low preset with DLSS Performance, but increasing the resolution to 6K reduces that figure to just 70 fps.
Switching all the way down to DLSS Ultra Performance improves the average to 96 fps, but that hardly seems worthwhile when you can achieve the same frame rate at 4K with much higher graphics settings and less aggressive upscaling.
What Gaming at 6K Is Actually Like
For the handful of people genuinely considering gaming at 6K on the latest 6K monitor, these benchmarks should at least provide some insight into how the experience compares with gaming at 4K.
In heavily GPU-limited scenarios, such as playing with the highest-quality settings, increasing the resolution to 6K will typically halve your frame rate compared with 4K, even on the RTX 5090.
If you're comfortable playing the latest titles with intensive features such as path tracing at around 80 to 90 fps, which I think is perfectly fine for many single-player games, moving to 6K will drop performance below 60 fps in most cases, often into the 40s. This will likely remain true even when using DLSS Performance upscaling.
In that sense, the RTX 5090 isn't really powerful enough for 6K gaming. It certainly can't run the latest titles at 6K using the highest-quality settings, even with upscaling enabled. Now that we have a genuine 6K 165Hz gaming monitor, you could argue that 6K is the new pinnacle resolution for PC gaming. By that definition, the RTX 5090 is no longer sufficient for the absolute best gaming experience.
The RTX 5090 isn't useless at 6K, though. It simply requires settings reductions in some titles. That could mean disabling ray tracing or path tracing, using a lower graphics preset, or enabling DLSS Ultra Performance.
However, DLSS Ultra Performance doesn't always produce playable frame rates with maximum graphics settings, and the aggressive upscaling means you're getting less of the true "6K resolution" experience.
As for the RTX 5070 Ti, you can pretty much forget about using this GPU at 6K unless you enjoy playing at the lowest settings or at frame rates below 60 fps. That's quite funny considering the RTX 5070 Ti is faster than the RTX 3090, the GPU originally advertised for 8K gaming. If the RTX 5070 Ti can't handle 6K, the RTX 3090 absolutely cannot handle 8K gaming, not that 8K makes any more sense today.
We originally planned to test the RTX 5070 at 6K as well, but given the struggles of the RTX 5070 Ti, we decided to skip it entirely.
Only the RTX 5090 is even remotely suitable for 6K gaming. Although the RTX 4090 isn't dramatically slower, it is disqualified because it cannot drive this 6K display at 165Hz. That isn't a limitation of the GPU's shader performance, but rather its display engine.
Is Frame Generation the Answer? (No)
What about frame generation? You're welcome to use frame generation with a base frame rate of 42 fps if you want, but I don't think that produces a good gaming experience at all.
It's also worth noting that frame generation has greater performance overhead and uses more VRAM at higher output resolutions. As a result, it doesn't provide as large a smoothness boost at 6K as it does at 4K.
Ultimately, you probably shouldn't consider 6K gaming at all, at least with current hardware. The RTX 5090 costs $4,700, so it isn't really a gaming card anymore. That's workstation GPU territory, and you need to spend that kind of money just to make 6K gaming somewhat viable.
That doesn't include the monitor. The Samsung G80HS costs $1,600, and in my opinion, you'd be better off buying a 4K 240Hz OLED for gaming. It would be considerably cheaper, less demanding to run, and capable of delivering proper HDR.
Even if you did buy the G80HS, you'd probably use its 3K Dual Mode for gaming rather than the native 6K mode, unless you were playing relatively lightweight titles.
6K does make sense for productivity, desktop applications, creator workflows, and similar tasks. Six years after Nvidia's silly 8K gaming stunt, even the lower 6K resolution still doesn't make much sense for gaming, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon. As a high-DPI desktop display, however, the G80HS provides a great experience. You can learn more about the monitor, including where it excels and where it falls short, in our full review.