Nvidia RTX 5090 Laptop GPU shows no real performance gains over the RTX 4090

[DragonSlayer101]

Facepalm: If you're planning to buy a new gaming laptop powered by the RTX 5090 mobile, you might want to hold onto your wallet a little longer. A noted hardware reviewer who tested the new GPU claims that it doesn't offer much of a performance boost over its predecessor in dozens of popular games.

According to early comparison tests carried out by Australian tech reviewer and YouTuber Jarrod Farncomb, the RTX 5090 mobile offers only a minor performance uplift over the RTX 4090 in most games. On average, an RTX 5090-equipped laptop managed around 66 frames per second at 4K across 25 popular titles, while an RTX 4090 laptop with an older CPU and slower DDR5 RAM achieved 65 fps.

Things got worse at 1080p, where the RTX 4090 laptop managed to outperform the newer device, hitting 133 fps compared to the 132 fps clocked by the RTX 5090. At 1440p, the two laptops managed 106 and 107 fps, respectively. The difference in each case is negligible, but the tests suggest that the new GPU doesn't offer any real-world performance benefit over the last-gen model.

Farncomb notes that the RTX 5090 struggled not only with older games, but also with newer titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Alan Wake 2, and Stalker 2, where the RTX 4090 was up to 12.5 percent faster than its successor.

The RTX 5090 did have its standout moments, as it proved faster than the 4090 in a few popular games. For example, it had a 20 percent advantage over the RTX 4090 mobile in Cyberpunk 2077 and an 18 percent lead in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.

The main difference between the two GPUs is power efficiency, with the RTX 5090 laptop offering significantly better battery life than the one with the RTX 4090. However, Farncomb believes that this could be partly attributed to the newer Arrow Lake-HX CPU, which was specifically designed to be more power efficient than the older Raptor Lake Refresh chips.

Both the laptops used in this comparison were XMG Neo 16s, but with very different hardware. The older XMG Neo 16 (2024) was equipped with an Intel Core i9-14900HX paired with 32 GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and an RTX 4090, while the newer XMG Neo 16 (2025) was powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX with 32 GB of DDR5-6400 RAM and an RTX 5090.

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Nvidia RTX 5090 Laptop GPU shows no real performance gains over the RTX 4090

 

[Thatsdisgusting]

Maybe all the reviewers should talk more about actual silicon they get for the money and not RTXs-per-money, and not only HW and GN (I don't remember any other youtuber or reviewer making any sort of % of topdog die). Plus provide that info in digestible manner for an average Joe, and not enthusiasts

 

[gigantor21]

Can’t crank up the power draw on laptops, so it’s not surprising.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

There were no gains from the 4080 to the 4080 Super.
There were minimal gains from the 4080/Super to the 5080.
There were minimal gains from the 4070Ti to the 5070Ti.
...and the list looks the same as you keep going down the line.

Anyone that was expecting to see performance gains on a cutdown 4090 (compared to a desktop version) to a 5090 (compared to a desktop version) in a laptop, you're out of your mind.

 

[EdmondRC]

So, what you are telling me is that the 50 series is definitely a pass.

 

[Squid Surprise]

While the 5090 might not be much better than the 4090, this doesn’t prove it…

We all know the newer Intel CPU is inferior to the 14900 when it comes to gaming… perhaps the results might be partially attributed to that…

Unless you get a few laptops with identical hardware - other than the GPU - it’s not really a fair test.

 

[hwertz]

Can you run nvidia-smi -l (well that's in Linux, but equivalent in Windows since I assume that's what you're using) and actually measure the GPU draw? Then you don't have to speculate if it's different CPUs, or even a different battery, based on battery life -- it'll directly tell you how many watts that GPU is pulling down.

Anyway, given the huge power draw and heat output of the mobile 4090, honestly they should have made sure the mobile 5090 was at least a hair faster just for PR purposes, but having the same performance at much lower power draw is not a bad idea for notebook usage.