[PLUS] Geforce RTX 4090: 5 custom designs against the Founders Edition on the test bench

Custom designs put to the test

When the Geforce RTX 3090 Ti appeared seven months ago, the outcry was great because of the high power consumption. Even then, it was considered certain that it represented a kind of “warm-up exercise” for everyone involved in order to trim the circuit board and cooler designs for high currents and waste heat. It is interesting that the worst-case scenario outlined in the meantime did not materialize. A Geforce RTX 4090 does not need 600 or even 800 watts, not even remotely.

We can only speculate about the causes, but let’s record the good news: Most RTX 4090 graphics cards work with 450 watts of board power, even models with (mild) factory overclocking. Only exceptional models increase this base value, but always remain below the 500 watt mark. As we found out in extensive power supply tests – more on this after this article – the thirst for electricity is not to be despised, but most branded power supplies in recent years are up to the challenge. As a reminder: The first Ampere cards from the end of 2020 hit numerous power supplies with their short-term load peaks, even seemingly oversized ones. The board-side measures implemented with the RTX 3090 Ti eliminate the problem. The electronics of the RTX 4090 are based on the Ti, so the power supply requirements have not increased. Undervolting is still a good idea given the 450 watts; you can also read more about this later.

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You will find the following products in the test:

• Asus RTX 4090 TUF Gaming OC
• Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC
• MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X
• Palit RTX 4090 Game Rock OC
• Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme Airo
• Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition

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