Same-bench raster and ray-tracing FPS from Tom’s Hardware, specs and a decision matrix.
By Mike Perry, Founder & Editor-in-Chief · Published 2026-04-21 · Updated 2026-10-02 · 3 min read
The RTX 4090 is 26% faster than the RX 7900 XTX at 4K raster (89.1 vs 70.6 FPS) and 91% faster with ray tracing, per Tom’s Hardware’s June 2026 GPU hierarchy.
Quick answer
The RTX 4090 is 17% faster than the RX 7900 XTX at 1440p and 26% faster at 4K in raster games. With ray tracing on, the lead is 74–91%. Those numbers come from Tom's Hardware's GPU benchmarks hierarchy (update of 24 June 2026), where both cards run on the same Ryzen 7 9800X3D test PC. The raster 11-game geomean is 89.1 vs 70.6 FPS at 4K, and the ray-tracing suite shows 52.2 vs 27.3 FPS at 4K. At launch MSRPs ($999 for the 7900 XTX, $1,599 for the 4090), the XTX was the value pick for raster-only gaming and the 4090 the pick for ray-traced 4K. That value case holds only while the XTX sells near $999: the one new XTX listing SpecPicks tracks is priced above the 4090's $1,599 launch price, so at its current price it is not the value pick. See the current listing on this page (price may vary), and check used listings before deciding on price.
Tom's runs "a mix of high and ultra settings, depending on the game". The hierarchy is a living page, so these are the figures as of its 24 June 2026 update.
Specs side by side
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Manufacturer
NVIDIA
AMD
Family
Ada Lovelace
RDNA 3
Release year
2022
2022
MSRP
$1,599
$999
VRAM
24 GB GDDR6X
24 GB GDDR6
Shader units
16384
6144
TDP
450 W
355 W
Price delta: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is $600 more expensive than the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.
Power and thermals
TDP: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 450W vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 355W. That's a 95W delta. Over 4 hours a day, 365 days — roughly 21 USD/yr in electricity at $0.15/kWh. Plan your PSU at least 1.5x peak draw.
Decision matrix
Get the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 if
Get the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX if
You need the most VRAM / cores in the comparison
Budget is tighter
Your workload scales with memory bandwidth
You want better perf-per-dollar
You're on a 2022-era platform anyway
You're keeping an older platform
You prioritize headroom for future larger models
You know exactly what you need today
Don't bother with either if your real bottleneck is somewhere else — at the end of the day, both of these are competent parts. If you're gaming at 1080p, if your LLM workload is a single 7B model, if your renders fit in half this VRAM — get the cheaper part and save the delta.
Bottom line
For most buyers in 2026, the choice between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX comes down to how much headroom you value. If you're certain your workload fits today's requirements, the cheaper card is the rational pick. If you're building a workstation you want to keep relevant for 2-3 years of increasingly hungry models, pay up for the VRAM.
If both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (launch MSRP $1,599) and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (launch MSRP $999) feel overkill, consider the tier below. For gaming at 1440p, an RTX 5070 at $549 or an RX 7900 GRE delivers 80-90% of the experience at less than half the cost — you give up headroom for 4K and some AI/ML work, but not much for modern AAA games.
For AI inference specifically, the cheapest card that holds a 14B q4 model natively in 2026 is the Arc B580 at $249. It's not fast, but it works — and the 12 GB VRAM buys you more headroom than an 8 GB GeForce at the same price.
Get neither if…
Your actual bottleneck is CPU-limited single-threaded software (older games, emulators) — a cheaper GPU paired with a better CPU will outperform both of these in that workload.
You only run 7-8B LLMs and don't plan to go larger — the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX are both massively over-provisioned for that use case. An RTX 4070 SUPER will match their tok/s at 7B while costing half as much.
Your workload fits in integrated GPU or unified memory — an Apple M4 Pro 48 GB is $2,399 and holds models neither of these discrete cards can hold.
You can't give the card 1.5x its TDP in clean PSU headroom. Undersized PSUs cause transient shutdowns on transient power spikes; that's not a card problem, it's a build problem.
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What are the main differences between the RTX 4090 and RX 7900 XTX?
The RTX 4090 offers 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM, 16,384 shader units, and a 450W TDP, while the RX 7900 XTX features 24 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, 6,144 shader units, and a 355W TDP. The RTX 4090 is priced at $1,599, $600 more than the RX 7900 XTX. Performance differences depend on workload, with the RTX 4090 excelling in AI inference and synthetic benchmarks.
How do the two GPUs compare in synthetic benchmarks?
In synthetic benchmarks like PassMark G3D Mark, the RTX 4090 scores 38,066 points compared to the RX 7900 XTX's 31,409 points. Other benchmarks, such as Tom's Hardware GPU hierarchy, show the RTX 4090 leading in specific scenarios. These results highlight the RTX 4090's advantage in raw computational power, though the RX 7900 XTX remains competitive for its price.
Which GPU is better for AI inference workloads?
The RTX 4090 generally outperforms the RX 7900 XTX in AI inference, particularly for larger models like Llama 70B, due to its higher VRAM bandwidth and CUDA core count. However, for smaller models, the performance gap narrows, making the RX 7900 XTX a more cost-effective option in those cases.
What is the power consumption difference between the two GPUs?
The RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450W, while the RX 7900 XTX has a TDP of 355W, a difference of 95W. Over a year of daily use, this translates to approximately $21 in additional electricity costs at $0.15/kWh. Users should ensure their PSU provides at least 1.5x the peak power draw for stable operation.
Which GPU offers better value for gaming at 4K resolution?
For 4K gaming, the RTX 4090 provides higher performance in most scenarios, but the RX 7900 XTX offers better value per dollar. The choice depends on the specific game and whether the performance difference justifies the $600 price premium of the RTX 4090.
