Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop vs. Desktop GPU

[Lew Zealand]

112 X 0.56 = 62.72 --> 4070 Super

Yup, naming it a 4080 Mobile would be a reasonable description with it being 24% slower than a desktop 4080. Even that's a bit lower than I expected but laptops can't amp up the power like desktops can so they fall farther behind as desktop GPUs use more power.

I know no such thing. You're working off a false premise. There are two types of consumers here: the basic Joe who (correctly) merely assumes that the bigger number means better performance, and the informed techie who (also correctly) bases their purchase off benchmarks not marketing hype. Neither is being misled. This is simply more hot air from those looking to justify their perpetual outrage at corporate America.

The 4090 name for the laptop is very much misleading, see that bit above. Enjoy your perpetual outrage at people who prefer reasonable accuracy in product naming.

 

[b3rdm4n]

This is simply more hot air from those looking to justify their perpetual outrage at corporate America.

Perhaps you mean perpetual outrage at Nvidia, the company people love to hate (honourable mention for Intel). Techspot comment sections regarding anti consumer shenanigans from AMD never garner nearly as much hate and likes on comments that correctly call out the bs they pull. It's especially amusing to see the logical fallacies and mental gymnastics people come up with to justify holding AMD in high regard/excusing their bs/dismissing legitimate, justified criticism, which occurs to me as a hilarious double standard, if they crucify Nvidia for it, to live by their own moral code they should apply the same logic to AMD, or any corporation that purposely does anti consumer actions.

 

[yRaz]

Perhaps you mean perpetual outrage at Nvidia, the company people love to hate (honourable mention for Intel). Techspot comment sections regarding anti consumer shenanigans from AMD never garner nearly as much hate and likes on comments that correctly call out the bs they pull. It's especially amusing to see the logical fallacies and mental gymnastics people come up with to justify holding AMD in high regard/excusing their bs/dismissing legitimate, justified criticism, which occurs to me as a hilarious double standard, if they crucify Nvidia for it, to live by their own moral code they should apply the same logic to AMD, or any corporation that purposely does anti consumer actions.

I was an nVidia customer for nearly 20 years until I saw the BS they pulled with the 40 series. Then their trash Linux support was just the icing on the cake. They made proprietary software for the last 3 generations they made that does not work on the on directly before it. All the new DLSS features won't work on the 40 series to help sell the 50 series. EVGA stopped doing business with them and now it's looking like MSI might do the same thing.

 

[toooooot]

Looking at 1080p scores, I could call mobile 4090 a 4090 gpu.
But almost 50% weaker at 4k...
Name it something else.
Honestly, 4080 would
be a perfectly fitting
name for this
mobile gpu.

 

[Endymio]

The 4090 name for the laptop is very much misleading, see that bit above.

The word misleading implies someone was misled. Who? Name just one person who was tricked into purchasing a 4090 laptop GPU based off their belief it would provide desktop-level performance. Just one will do.

The facts are exactly opposite. Long before NVidia had even announced the specs on the 4090 laptop, tech professionals and reviewers were lining up bets on how much further below its actual performance would be. You yourself admit you expected "some reasonable difference" between the two parts ... but because the deficit crossed some mythical boundary in your mind, you're upset.

As for those looking for justification for their perpetual outrage bit, it's very telling that those complaining the loudest are those who never even purchased the product, nor will so in the future. Q.E.D.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Lol so many assumptions in your statement there. Instead of projecting your feelings on someone else using words like "perpetual outrage" and "bellow in rage" and "upset", try discussing the numbers and understand that people have differences of opinion. I've presented the facts that support my opinion that the performance of the 4090 Mobile does not justify it's naming and I'm not singling out this product either as the 3060 8GB and the 3050 6GB are also deceptively named. As is the 6500 XT and probably the DDR4 version of 1030.

Just because you can look up the specs or a review on something doesn't mean the name of the product isn't deceptive.

 

[CMP01]

Pascal was the last "good" Nvidia laptop generation. A desktop 1070 and a laptop 1070 were the same chip with tailored configurations for power envelope.

I'd like to see Tim twist the knife by putting the laptop "4090" against a real 4090 limited to 150W.

This.

I had a 1070 desktop (w. i7 6700K, 16Gb 3000MHz RAM etc) from late 2016. Almost exactly three years later and due to circumstances making using the desktop difficult, my gf got me a backup/replacement gaming laptop; an Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition, quite a mouthful (w.1070, i7 8750H, 16Gb 2600MHz RAM etc) for less than half the price of the desktop plus monitor, speakers, kb etc.

Numbers between the two were actually very close in gaming, with the CPU's newer arch, 2c/4t more and up to 500MHz higher clocks making up some difference such that at worst the laptop got at 1080p what the desktop did at 2560x1080. The only real con was in the temps, the laptop running around 10-15C higher on average (though still well under any limits) Not half bad I say.

Of course, that gen was almost a one off, with gens before and since being for gaming laptops far more a case of caveat and compromise in both build/engineering and user expectations vs mitigating strategies... Which tbh is nothing new, likewise this gen's laptop 4090 being a 4080 at best, maybe a 4070ti Super once thermals take a toll. But then, nobody gets (or should consider) a gaming laptop for desktop level anything.

 

[Endymio]

I've presented the facts that support my opinion that the performance of the 4090 Mobile does not justify it's naming

This is your error. Product trademarks aren't meant to indicate "performance". Never were. They're a branding tool companies use, generally to differentiate by market segment. And NVidia is being entirely consistent here.

In the DESKTOP segment, The "4090" brand is the halo product, meant for the no-hold-barred, price-is-no-object consumer. It steps downward by levels to the "4050" basement, intended for purchasers who want the latest generation, but don't intend to pay a penny more than necessary for it. The exact same nomenclature is used for the laptop segment. And, with all due respect, the notion that a latop part -- an entirely different segment -- should be named to correspond with the performance of a desktop part is absolutely absurd. Should Honda be required to name their scooters to correspond with the horsepower and performance of their commercial truck line? Or -- wild thought! -- do they assume customers realize a scooter is not a truck?

....and I'm not singling out this product either as the 3060 8GB and the 3050 6GB are also deceptively named.

Once again: you can't have "deception" unless someone was deceived. You've sidled past this crucial point twice already. Third time's the charm: name just one person, anywhere on the planet, who was "deceived".

 

[Lew Zealand]

Repeatedly arguing the same semantics is pointless and tiresome. You can keep going but I presented my opinion which remains unchanged since my first post over a year ago.

 

[toooooot]

Just because you can look up the specs or a review on something doesn't mean the name of the product isn't deceptive.

Furthermore, I am betting that 90% of buyers won't go past checking the model name.
If I were Nvidia and my business survival deepened on customers not doing anything except checking the model name, I would take it.
You have to remember, a lot of people simply don't care about tech. They like sports, foods, music etc.
It is normal that someone has little to know knowledge of something.

 

[scavengerspc]

"give the laptop GPU a slightly different name. This should be an RTX 4090M

The 4090 name for the laptop is very much misleading

In device manager, mine says "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU" If that's not made clear by the laptop maker, it's hardly Nvidia's fault.
Though I doubt many people feel ripped off when their laptop, has a laptop GPU.
Call me crazy.

I always get top line hardware, but don't worry much about frills. So for $3100 I have a complete, portable, powerful PC, that even with its lowly laptop 4090, performs on the high end between a desktop 3090 and a 3090 TI.

Overclocked Nvidia mobile RTX 4090 GPU can beat even a desktop RTX 3090 Ti

Although the new mobile RTX 4090 GPU is still limited to 175 W TGP, it still manages to score slightly more points in 3DMar's Time Spy test over the 400+ W RTX 3090 Ti with a bit of tinkering. The generational leap in efficiency is quite astounding thanks to the jump from 8 nm to 4 nm transistors.

www.notebookcheck.net

So yeah, poor me.

 

[liljom]

Just checked the 4090 laptop prices ... Eyewatering.
I'm so happy that I bought a lighweight efficient school laptop for my son, and an eGPU enclosure. This way he doesn't need to carry lotsa weight in his backpack, I can easily upgrade the GPU without changing the whole laptop, and the whole setup is cheaper than if I bought a gamer laptop.
Seems like even those willing to spend the money on a 4090 would be better off with an eGPU setup (as long as they don't need the graphics performance on the go) https://www.kitguru.net/components/...rformance-reduces-by-20-when-used-as-an-egpu/

 

[erickmendes]

Even better, Nvidia should name all GPU's the same.
4090 96GB
4090 48GB
4090 32GB
4090 24GB
4090 20GB
4090 16GB
4090 12GB
4090 10GB
4090 8GB
4090 6GB
4090 4GB
Makes sense?

You forgot these:
4090 Super
4090 XT
4090 Titan
4090 Ti
4090 FE
Also you could mix and match all of these.

 

[takaozo]

You forgot these:
4090 Super
4090 XT
4090 Titan
4090 Ti
4090 FE
Also you could mix and match all of these.

Also:
4090 MX
4090 TNT
4090 GT
4090 GTS
4090 SE
4090 LE

 

[AdamNovagen]

Should Honda be required to name their scooters to correspond with the horsepower and performance of their commercial truck line? Or -- wild thought! -- do they assume customers realize a scooter is not a truck?

That example defeats your own argument: no auto manufacturer uses the same name to describe two different vehicle classes. The Honda CB500X and CB500F both describe two variants of a motorcycle which is regarded as a 500cc engine class, the difference is the body panels. The CB350 describes a totally different 350cc engine class bike.

What Honda does NOT do is make a CB500 or CB350 pickup truck, sedan, van or coupe and say "well obviously it has different performance, it's a truck/car/van." Because that would be stupid.

Yes, computers are a bit of a different situation, and yes, the 4090 can be justified as the halo laptop GPU. But I want you to (metaphorically I guess) look me in the eye and tell me you genuinely believe that manufacturers selling 4090 gaming laptops will in any way shape or form try to clarify to the uninformed buying public that "this 4090 is different from that other 4090 you've been hearing so much about." The point here is not that the naming scheme is illegal or even inaccurate, but it is misleading and dishonest.

 

[Endymio]

That example defeats your own argument: no auto manufacturer uses the same name to describe two different vehicle classes.

Oh really? Volkswagen owns the "Porsche" sports car brand ... yet they used that name to market a SUV. AMC used the "Hornet" brand name to denote everything from a subcompact to a station wagon -- then Chrysler bought AMC, and made a Hornet SUV. The Ford Maverick was originally a two-seater coupe -- now it's a pickup truck. And the performance differences between GMC's Hummer EV and plain old Hummer are larger than those between Nvidia's 4090 and 4090 Laptop version.

The naming scheme [is] misleading and dishonest."

Were you misled? Yes or no.

 

[scavengerspc]

But I want you to (metaphorically I guess) look me in the eye and tell me you genuinely believe that manufacturers selling 4090 gaming laptops will in any way shape or form try to clarify to the uninformed buying public that "this 4090 is different from that other 4090 you've been hearing so much about.

I'm sure he could, and I can too. Look at these Amazon listings:

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Sager-NP9372W-Gaming-Laptop-i9-14900HX/dp/B0CSLD28QJ/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2OH32WRKLNHPL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JI9RkNRpGfq8-25zbWOtXYRDYJf-zz_XJF483baVdqXfmu0umg3-yKs-dLaCnUdKwugpCOoxwv37hVSgb3jVQakhjj6ZxfyENWtuRU8Gj6PLYohk2w491Uxs2AF8yyQ67SUk4mSQMLHnqgIwGSNFakvFWOBzVYQIHEeFA2S7Fd3HYQNacjwfM71w-Q8SB32ohE0JiH_RwBM6InXCvdNTNJ8Dmsgrz75o8YYDdxgiS0Q.NPnnKl3vPZNoiIWKMzG-2X2Zp2tKw1RpFMBW9PI1mQc&dib_tag=se&keywords=rtx%2B4090%2B175%2Bwatt%2Blaptop&qid=1708387060&sprefix=rtx%2B4090%2B175%2Bwatt%2Blaptop%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-8&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5&th=1

Amazon.com

These all have 175 watts either in the listing header or in the description.
For me, the only thing that sucks is the HP, because the price literally dropped by 1\3 a week or two after I got mine.

And a lot of others are listed too and specify 175 watts.

 

[petalsofpain]

Hi I am lurking about. Reason for even posting now is that I thought that around about now perhaps there would be som concluding remarks surrounding the whole 80 score that was given.

Especially since it dissappeared.

Alas I see nothing of the sort.

Has it been resolved in a new and novel way or am I actually demented or something?

Asking everyone really.

 

[Jonathan A]

Fantastic review and deep-dive into the RTX 4090's performance across both desktop and laptop configurations! The detailed comparisons really highlight the significant differences in GPU architecture and performance capabilities between the two. It's particularly enlightening to see how these variances play out in real-world gaming scenarios, especially in terms of frame rates and the substantial performance gap at higher resolutions. This analysis provides valuable insights for gamers pondering whether to invest in a high-end gaming laptop or a desktop setup, underlining the importance of understanding what you're getting for the price. Nvidia's naming convention indeed seems to muddy the waters for less informed consumers, making reviews like this crucial. Great work on shedding light on these critical distinctions!

 

[PierreJG]

I was looking through laptops as I am planning to get one for my work when I saw this article. I wanted to get a laptop with a small gpu. Reason why I was looking at AMD. Seeing this, the name is misleading. Rather than calling it a 4090. Do what Intel did back then with their CPU's. You got a 4590 and then you got the 4590s which used less power and less performance. Now new buyers buy a laptop with a 4090 that is a lot slower than a desktop 4090. In my mind, this just makes a little more sense.