RTX 4090 Laptop vs. Desktop GPU: Looks Same, But Are They?

---

The 4090 laptop graphics card will be the same as the desktop version. The fact that both bear the same name means that the company has made them equally. “Of course, there will be the size difference; we are not that gullible to miss that!” Many people think that desktop and laptop GPUs perform similarly because then why would a company name them precisely the same if there was a significant difference? It is a common misconception among casual gamers and reasonably so because the manufacturing companies did nothing to correct it. 

You must have seen comparisons of RTX 4090 vs 3090 TI because it makes sense the 3090 TI being the former crown prince of Nvidia. It was the fastest GPU until the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition arrived, and it came with some price lift. If you are a 3090 user here for the upgrade and want to be briefed about the RTX 4090 laptop graphic card, we will do it just for you.

Nvidia’s GeForce Series 40 is amazingly impressive (and expensive, as we mentioned earlier) performance-wise on both desktop and laptop. Due to its Ada Lovelace architecture, it is Nvidia’s top-tier GPU series, and the 4090 is at the top. It ascended to the top, delivering chart-topping frame rates and providing efficiency at advanced ray-traced lighting and image-sharpening DLSS compared to those who came before the 4090 laptop. 

Laptop vs Desktop

Apart from sharing the name, what else do they have in common? How closely related are the desktop and RTX 4090 laptop versions? The laptop vs desktop debate has been going on for quite some time. Since laptops can accommodate the specs necessary for gaming, the gaming laptop vs desktop debate is another topic discussed in the gaming fraternity. The distance between Nvidia GeForce’s full-fat desktop GPU and its compact version has varied. It is safe to say that for nearly all generations, desktop versions of the graphic cards have always had a distinct advantage, and the 4090 laptop is no exception.

The desktop versions gained the advantage on the back of their larger size, making them actively cool. They are fitted inside the desktop case, usually bigger than the laptop chassis, which provides them with more thermal headroom and enables them to run on higher wattages. The 4090 desktop GPU also falls under the mentioned attributes. However, the laptop GPUs, like the 4090 laptop, have come a long way in terms of performance and cooling technologies.

RTX 4090 Laptop

When we first saw the RTX 4090 laptop version’s name and learned the naming technique, we wrote this review to prevent people from being deceived. After all, we care for our loyal customer base, which values our insights before buying. We have tried to find and somewhat narrow down the margin significantly between these GPUs. We have done this, especially for those needing clarification about whether their 4090 laptop version will make do or they might have to go RTX 4090 desktop. This article will be a lifesaver for those with a high-end (spec-wise) laptop and want to convert it into a 4090 gaming laptop. 

Many gamers think that the best RTX 4090 will be this GPU’s desktop version, but that entirely depends on the games you choose and what settings you want to play them on. If you own a desktop and want to upgrade it with a 4090 desktop GPU, then who’s stopping you? However, laptops have become integral to our personal and professional lives, and almost every working individual has one.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 43% of U.S. adults often or sometimes play video games on various devices. If you are among this percentile and possess a laptop, we will share the insights and test results to help you decide whether to play that game or not.

People usually don’t try to choose between desktop computers and laptops when they shop; instead, they want to upgrade one system. So, we don’t typically compare or benchmark our two systems.

Read More: Nvidia RTX A4000: A Deep Dive into Its Features and Benefits

Comparing With Numbers

We tested the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition GPU and an unrestricted-as-possible mobile GeForce RTX 4090 (found within the impressive MSI Titan GT77) using the same tests. We compared the results so you can see how much of a difference there is between these two GPUs in 2024. Before we go into the outcomes, let’s establish the scene by comparing their technical aspects.

It all starts with the GPU die: the desktop card employs AD102, an incredible 609 sq mm die containing 76 billion transistors. On the other hand, the laptop version makes use of the same 379 sq mm, 46 billion transistor AD103 die as the RTX 4080. As a result, the number of CUDA cores, together with tensor cores, RT cores, and L2 cache, is drastically reduced, going from 16,384 to 9,728 in the laptop model.

Additionally, the laptop model’s memory subsystem is significantly smaller. On a desktop machine, a 384-bit bus accommodates 24 GB of GDDR6X RAM, while here, we only have 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus.

A desktop graphics card not only has a memory bandwidth that is 75% higher, but it also has a VRAM that is 50% higher.

Power

One key distinction that affects the performance of desktop and 4090 laptop GPUs is their power levels. Gaming laptops, as contrasted with desktops, have lower power limits because of space and thermal limitations. Although the 4090 laptop GPU can theoretically operate on as little as 80 watts, the reduced power constraint diminishes performance. The desktop GPU, on the other hand, is capable of using far more power, which means it can run at faster clock speeds and provide better gaming frame rates. Having said that, the laptop GPU offers respectable performance for a gaming laptop 4090; nonetheless, it is not up to level with its desktop equivalent.

Reduced clock speeds across the GPU core and memory result from the laptop GPU’s power limitation, which is 150-175W at best, as opposed to the desktop card’s enormous 450W. The graphics processing unit’s boost frequency is around 500 MHz slower, and the memory speeds are reduced from 21 to 18 Gbps.

The laptop chip is roughly 60% smaller than the desktop card and has clock speeds around 80% of the desktop card’s level. This fact alone disproves the idea that the desktop and laptop versions of the GPU will have similar performance, so it is extremely misleading to term them the same thing.

We might be willing to give Nvidia a pass if the desktop and laptop versions shared a single GPU die, but alas, that is not the case. Next, we’ll take a look at performance…

Performance

Since most individuals who purchase an RTX 4090 laptop graphics card will be using a high-end gaming machine for desktop or laptop testing that is what we are employing. Inside the Corsair 5000D, you’ll find the MSI MEG X670E Carbon Wi-Fi motherboard, 32GB of DDR5-6000 CL30 memory, and a Ryzen 9 7950X processor.

An example of a laptop with an RTX 4090 Laptop GPU set to a power limit of 150-175W is the MSI Titan GT77. With 64GB of DDR5-4800 CL40 memory, a Core i9-13950HX processor, and ample cooling capacity, it can dissipate over 200W of combined CPU and GPU power.

The following chart compares performance at three resolutions: 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. In all cases, we will be using an external display. For maximum performance, the display is linked directly to the GPU on the laptop side.

Moreover, we have raised the CPU power restriction to 75W for 1080p testing in order to remove any possible CPU constraint effectively.

On the other hand, there is no overclocking whatsoever on the desktop.

AAA Games Testing

Even though they aren’t all brand new, the games in this compilation cover a good range of genres and feature high-quality visuals for the current market. All three of our resolution tests were conducted at the highest possible settings.

While the RTX 40 Series’ DLSS efficacy is undeniably impressive, the real performance shines through when you remove it: The RTX 4090 desktop card outperforms its mobile equivalent in every way. The most graphically intensive game here is Red Dead Redemption 2, and the difference is most noticeable at 4K.

The RTX 4090 laptop appears to be a GPU far lower on the stack due to its several shortcomings, in contrast to the 4090 desktop, which is significantly more powerful than the RTX 4080. That is the true performance of the mobile GPU in real life. The data shows that just because a card has the RTX 4090 moniker doesn’t mean it will always have a specific amount of power.

The 4090 laptop comes close to matching the desktop card in a few cases on these gaming tests, but overall, the frame rates are in completely different leagues. Some of these games have framerate disparities of up to 83 fps at 4K and 67 fps at 1440p. Even if not every game has such a dramatic change. There isn’t as much of a performance gap as there was when Nvidia 4080 vs 4090 were compared, but the benefits of a desktop card are still there.

RTX 4090 Laptop and 4090 Desktop Aren’t Similar

In the end, that’s how these outcomes really are. 4090 Laptop GPUs’ power and thermal disadvantages are constant, and the performance delta you observe here is not unexpected, considering the contrasts we mentioned earlier. With any luck, this sheds light on the possible practical manifestations of those frame rate differences. Although the GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop is more closely related to the RTX 4080, the graphics card with which it shares a base chip than the graphics card with which it shares a name, the mobile chip still falls short.

This laptop GPU is the top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 40 Series choice for laptops, so calling it an RTX 4090 laptop isn’t purposefully misleading. We have seen laptop RTX 4080 systems perform almost as well, so this is the GPU to acquire if you want maximum performance without necessarily looking at value, or you can also go for used RTX 4090. Although it may sound like a hardware or performance guarantee, the term is actually more of a branding term. Even at ultra settings, laptops powered by the RTX 4090 GPU will produce fluid frame rates, but they won’t be able to compete with the raw performance of desktops with more powerful graphics processing units. 

FAQs

What is GPU in a laptop?

A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) in a laptop is a highly sophisticated integrated circuit. It runs at ultrahigh speeds and is designed to rapidly move and alter memory to increase the creation of images on a frame buffer intended for display. It promotes gaming, video editing, and rendering of its performance.

How much is a 4090?

When it first came out, the Nvidia RTX 4090 had a US MSRP of $1599. At the moment, the MSRP of an RTX 4090 on Amazon is $2089. A used Nvidia RTX 4090 will cost you about $1740.

When did the 4090 come out?

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 was released on October 12, 2022.

What is the difference between TI and a normal GPU?

The “Ti” moniker that NVIDIA uses on GPUs is one that is more powerful than the original version but not quite as powerful as to demand a new series altogether. Speaking of the RTX 3080 Ti, it offers a performance boost over the RTX 3080. This is reflected in terms like “more cores,” “higher memory,” or “faster speeds,” allowing it to reach higher levels of performance than the model below, i.e., the RTX 3090. At the core, the “Ti” models are the beefed-up variants that don’t take you to the next tier but deliver better performance.

Final Say

Pitting 4090 laptop GPU against its counter 4090 desktop directly is never going to be fair. The desktop version has clear advantages because of a heavy deciding factor. The size is a major differentiator because it alone can change the cooling of the GPU. Many things can alter the cooling, and the size also brings in the disparity of CUDA cores. So, what should one do? If you want to play games and are satisfied with the performance of frame rates, go for it and buy the 4090 laptop or desktop, whatever you need. If you want to explore more, Direct Macro is here for you.