AMD Radeon RX 7900M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive sweep for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 across all three shared benchmark tests. The largest gap appears in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 4090 scores 9,223 against the RX 7900M's 4,201, a delta of -54.5% for the AMD part. This is more than a doubling of raw performance in a modern DirectX 12 workload, indicating a substantial advantage in geometry processing and overall GPU throughput under sustained load.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4090 posts 255,416 versus 129,499 for the RX 7900M, a 49.3% deficit for the latter. This test stresses general compute workloads, and the result aligns with the massive difference in shading units and FP32 throughput between the two chips. The Vulkan result narrows the gap slightly: the RTX 4090 reaches 271,631 while the RX 7900M manages 158,760, a 41.6% difference. Vulkan's lower overhead tends to favor AMD's architecture, yet the raw execution resources of the NVIDIA part still prevail by a wide margin.

The RX 7900M holds no wins in any recorded head-to-head test. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 97,487, placing it at the 94th percentile among all GPUs in the database. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60,347, which is lower than the RX 7900M's average, despite winning every shared test. This discrepancy stems from the fact that the RTX 4090's average includes additional legacy DirectX and compute tests where its scores are disproportionately low, such as PassMark DirectX 9 at 397 and PassMark G2D at 1,299. The RX 7900M's benchmark suite is more limited, skewing its average upward relative to its actual competitive position.

Looking at the nearest rivals in the database, the RX 7900M sits 0.4% above the AMD Radeon Pro VII (97,131) and 4.3% below the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 (101,872). It is 5.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92,466) and 6.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A4500 (91,671). The RTX 4090, by contrast, sits within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140) and 2.9% above the AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657), but trails the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896) by 2.5%. These rival comparisons highlight that the RX 7900M is a mid-to-high tier mobile part, while the RTX 4090's average is dragged down by its legacy test results, making its nearest rivals mostly workstation and professional cards with different benchmark profiles.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is fundamental. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M uses the Navi 31 chip built on RDNA 3.0 architecture, codenamed Plum Bonito, part of the Navi Mobile generation (RX 7000M). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 uses the AD102 chip built on Ada Lovelace, part of the GeForce 40 generation. Both are fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, but the transistor counts differ significantly: the RX 7900M packs 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, while the RTX 4090 contains 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 109.1M per mm² for AMD and 125.3M per mm² for NVIDIA, indicating a denser packing on the NVIDIA chip.

The compute configuration diverges sharply. The RX 7900M has 4,608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 192 render output units. The RTX 4090 has 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Despite having fewer ROPs, the RTX 4090 achieves a higher pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s versus 401.3 GPixel/s for the RX 7900M, due to its much higher boost clock of 2520 MHz versus 2090 MHz. The texture rate gap is enormous: 1,290.2 GTexel/s for the RTX 4090 against 601.9 GTexel/s for the RX 7900M, reflecting the 512 TMU count versus 288.

Ray tracing and compute features also differ. The RX 7900M has 72 ray tracing cores, while the RTX 4090 has 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores (the AMD part has no tensor core equivalent). FP32 throughput is 38.52 TFLOPS for the RX 7900M versus 82.58 TFLOPS for the RTX 4090, exactly double. FP16 performance tells a different story: the RX 7900M delivers 77.05 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the RTX 4090 delivers 82.58 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), meaning the NVIDIA part does not accelerate FP16 relative to FP32, whereas AMD's part doubles its throughput.

Memory architecture is another major split. The RX 7900M uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 18 Gbps effective. The RTX 4090 uses 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s at 21 Gbps effective. The RTX 4090's bandwidth advantage is nearly 75% higher, which matters for 4K textures and compute workloads. The power envelope differs as well: the RX 7900M is rated at 180 W and is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors, while the RTX 4090 is a triple-slot card with a 1x 16-pin connector and a 450 W TDP, requiring a suggested 850 W power supply.

Both cards support PCIe 4.0 x16 and the same API set: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4090 has explicit display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the RX 7900M's outputs are listed as portable device dependent, reflecting its mobile nature. The RTX 4090 is 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 61 mm wide, whereas the RX 7900M has no recorded dimensions, consistent with being an integrated part designed for laptops.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M has an average benchmark score of 97,487, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has an average of 60,347. However, the RTX 4090 wins every shared head-to-head test by a significant margin, so the averages are not directly comparable due to different test sets.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4090 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The RTX 4090 scores 9,223 versus 4,201 for the RX 7900M, a 54.5% advantage for the NVIDIA card in that specific test.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The RX 7900M has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The RTX 4090 has 16,384 shading units, while the RX 7900M has 4,608. This is a 3.5x difference in raw shader count.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The RX 7900M is rated at 180 W and uses no power connectors. The RTX 4090 is rated at 450 W, requires a 1x 16-pin connector, and has a suggested PSU of 850 W.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 still in production?

A: No, the RTX 4090 is listed as end-of-life with a successor in the GeForce 50 series. The RX 7900M is listed as active production.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the superior GPU in every recorded head-to-head benchmark. Its 54.5% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad, 49.3% lead in OpenCL, and 41.6% lead in Vulkan represent massive performance deltas that no architectural advantage on the AMD side can offset. The RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 128 RT cores, 512 tensor cores, and 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth place it in a different performance class entirely.

However, the RX 7900M is not without merits. Its 180 W power envelope, integrated form factor, and active production status make it a viable option for mobile workstations and laptops where the RTX 4090's triple-slot, 450 W, 304 mm design is physically impossible to accommodate. The RX 7900M's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates it is still a high-performance part, just not in the same league as the RTX 4090.

The RTX 4090's end-of-life status and successor in the GeForce 50 series suggest that buyers seeking current generation peak performance should consider the newer lineup, but within the data presented, the RTX 4090 is the clear performance king. The RX 7900M, with its higher average benchmark score, shows that its benchmark suite is more favorable to it, but direct comparisons reveal the truth: the RTX 4090 wins all shared tests by margins of 41.6% to 54.5%. For users who need the absolute highest frame rates and compute throughput in a desktop form factor, the RTX 4090 is the choice. For users who need high-end performance in a portable, low-power package, the RX 7900M is the only option that exists in this comparison.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs:

• Chip: Navi 31 (AMD) vs AD102 (NVIDIA)
• Architecture: RDNA 3.0 vs Ada Lovelace
• Generation: Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) vs GeForce 40
• Transistors: 57,700 million vs 76,300 million
• Die Size: 529 mm² vs 609 mm²
• Transistor Density: 109.1M / mm² vs 125.3M / mm²
• Base Clock: 1825 MHz vs 2235 MHz
• Boost Clock: 2090 MHz vs 2520 MHz
• Memory Clock: 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) vs 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective)
• Memory Size: 16 GB vs 24 GB
• Memory Type: GDDR6 vs GDDR6X
• Memory Bus Width: 256 bit vs 384 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 576.0 GB/s vs 1.01 TB/s
• Shading Units: 4608 vs 16384
• TMUs: 288 vs 512
• ROPs: 192 vs 176
• RT Cores: 72 vs 128
• Tensor Cores: None vs 512
• Pixel Rate: 401.3 GPixel/s vs 443.5 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 601.9 GTexel/s vs 1,290.2 GTexel/s
• FP32: 38.52 TFLOPS vs 82.58 TFLOPS
• FP16: 77.05 TFLOPS (2:1) vs 82.58 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 180 W vs 450 W
• Slot Width: IGP vs Triple-slot
• Power Connectors: None vs 1x 16-pin
• Suggested PSU: Not listed vs 850 W
• Display Outputs: Portable Device Dependent vs 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
• Dimensions: Not listed vs 304 mm x 137 mm x 61 mm
• Production Status: Active vs End-of-life
• Release Date: 2023-10-18 vs 2022-09-19
• Predecessor: Polaris Mobile vs GeForce 30
• Successor: None vs GeForce 50
• Launch MSRP: Not listed vs 1,599 USD

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 wins in every shared benchmark test, making it the clear choice for desktop users prioritizing raw performance. Its 54.5% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 indicates superiority in modern DirectX 12 gaming workloads. The 49.3% OpenCL advantage and 41.6% Vulkan advantage show that compute-intensive applications, such as rendering, simulation, and machine learning tasks that leverage OpenCL, will run substantially faster on the RTX 4090. The 512 tensor cores provide dedicated hardware for AI inference and deep learning workloads, a feature entirely absent from the RX 7900M. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is suited for large datasets, high-resolution textures, and multi-monitor setups. The triple-slot design and 450 W power envelope are acceptable for full tower desktops with robust power supplies.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M wins in the categories of portability and efficiency. Its 180 W TDP is less than half of the RTX 4090's 450 W, making it suitable for thin-and-light gaming laptops and mobile workstations. The integrated form factor (IGP) with no power connectors means it can be integrated directly into a motherboard without additional cabling. Its 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates it outperforms the vast majority of graphics hardware in the database, even if it loses to the RTX 4090. The RX 7900M's 2:1 FP16 ratio means its half-precision compute throughput (77.05 TFLOPS) nearly matches the RTX 4090's (82.58 TFLOPS), making it competitive in workloads that can utilize FP16 arithmetic. Its active production status means it remains available for new systems, whereas the RTX 4090 is end-of-life. The RX 7900M also has a smaller die size (529 mm² vs 609 mm²) and fewer transistors, which could imply lower manufacturing costs, though pricing data is not available for the AMD part. For users who need desktop-class performance in a laptop form factor, the RX 7900M is the only viable choice in this comparison.