NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile occupy opposite ends of the Ada Lovelace spectrum: one is a desktop card built for maximum sustained output, the other a mobile part tuned for efficiency. Benchmark results show a decisive split, with the desktop RTX 4070 Ti winning 8 of 9 head-to-head tests, yet the mobile RTX 4090 takes the single most important compute test. The data paints a clear picture of two GPUs designed for different jobs, with the desktop part dominating legacy and modern graphics workloads while the mobile chip edges ahead in raw OpenCL throughput.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided result comes in Passmark GPU Compute, where the RTX 4070 Ti scores 18,396 against the RTX 4090 Mobile’s 12,347 — a 49% advantage. This is the largest delta in the entire comparison, and it reflects the desktop card’s higher FP32 throughput of 40.09 TFLOPS versus 32.98 TFLOPS for the mobile part. The gap is so wide that it skews the overall average, though the RTX 4070 Ti still leads in average benchmark score with 44,795 versus 43,667.

Vulkan performance tells a similar story, though with a smaller but still substantial margin. The RTX 4070 Ti posts 213,808 in Geekbench Vulkan, beating the RTX 4090 Mobile’s 170,774 by 25.2%. That is a significant advantage for the desktop card, suggesting its higher boost clock of 2610 MHz (versus 1695 MHz) helps in API-level workloads that scale with raw shader throughput.

The 2D and 3D Passmark tests follow the same pattern. In Passmark G3D, the RTX 4070 Ti scores 31,624 versus 27,212 — a 16.2% win. The desktop card also takes Passmark G2D with 1,200 points against 984, a 22% margin. Even legacy DirectX tests favor the desktop GPU: DirectX 9 shows a 13.5% lead (352 vs 310), DirectX 11 a 9.9% edge (288 vs 262), and DirectX 10 a 8.1% win (187 vs 173). DirectX 12 is closest, with the RTX 4070 Ti ahead by 8.4% (116 vs 107).

The single victory for the RTX 4090 Mobile comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 180,831 versus 176,953 — a 2.1% lead. This is notable because OpenCL often favors memory bandwidth and compute unit count, and the mobile part has more shading units (9,728 vs 7,680) and a wider 256-bit memory bus. It is a narrow win, but it signals that the mobile GPU’s larger silicon can flex its muscles in certain compute scenarios.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 Ti is the clear choice for traditional rasterization and DirectX-based gaming. It wins every Passmark DirectX test, with margins ranging from 8.1% to 13.5%. The desktop card also dominates in general 3D performance (16.2% in G3D) and 2D workloads (22% in G2D), making it a more versatile all-around performer for desktop users who need a single card for gaming, productivity, and content creation.

The RTX 4090 Mobile’s win is narrower but strategically important. Its 2.1% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL suggests it handles compute-heavy tasks better, likely due to its larger core count and higher memory bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s versus 504.2 GB/s. For users running OpenCL-accelerated applications like video encoding or scientific simulations, the mobile part offers a slight edge, though the difference is small enough that most users would not notice it in real-world workloads.

Beyond raw scores, the RTX 4070 Ti holds a 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs, matching the RTX 4090 Mobile’s percentile. This parity is reflected in their nearest rivals: the RTX 4070 Ti sits just 0.8% below the RTX 5090 Mobile (45,152) and 1.6% above the RTX A6000 (44,075), while the RTX 4090 Mobile is 0.8% above the Quadro M6000 (43,301) and 0.9% above the RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268). Both cards are clustered in the same performance tier, but the desktop part consistently pushes higher in graphics-specific tests.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and use TSMC’s 5 nm process node, but they employ different chips. The RTX 4070 Ti uses the AD104 die, while the RTX 4090 Mobile uses the larger AD103. This size difference is significant: AD103 packs 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, while AD104 has 35,800 million on 294 mm². The transistor density is nearly identical — 121.8M per mm² for the desktop part versus 121.1M for the mobile — confirming that the process is the same, but the mobile chip has more silicon to work with.

The larger die translates directly into more execution resources. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, 112 ROPs, 76 RT cores, and 304 tensor cores. The RTX 4070 Ti counters with 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 60 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. The mobile part leads in every category, yet it still loses most benchmarks due to a much lower clock speed: 1,335 MHz base and 1,695 MHz boost versus 2,310 MHz and 2,610 MHz for the desktop card.

Memory architecture also diverges. The RTX 4070 Ti uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, while the RTX 4090 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. Despite the wider bus, the mobile card’s memory clock is lower (2,250 MHz vs 1,313 MHz base, with 18 Gbps effective versus 21 Gbps), resulting in bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s versus 504.2 GB/s. The desktop card’s higher effective speed compensates for its narrower bus, but the mobile part still wins on raw bandwidth.

Specification Differences

The most obvious difference is form factor. The RTX 4070 Ti is a dual-slot desktop card measuring 285 mm in length, requiring a 16-pin power connector and a 600 W suggested PSU. The RTX 4090 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no dimensions listed, no power connectors, and a 120 W TDP. The desktop card draws 285 W, more than double the mobile part’s power budget, which explains its ability to sustain higher clocks.

Memory capacity and type differ: 12 GB GDDR6X on the desktop versus 16 GB GDDR6 on the mobile. The mobile card also has a higher base and boost memory clock (2,250 MHz vs 1,313 MHz), though the effective speed favors the desktop (21 Gbps vs 18 Gbps). Pixel rate is higher on the desktop (208.8 GPixel/s vs 189.8 GPixel/s), but texture rate is higher on the mobile (515.3 GTexel/s vs 626.4 GTexel/s) — an odd split that favors the desktop in pixel-heavy workloads.

Production status and pricing differ as well. The RTX 4070 Ti is end-of-life with a launch MSRP of 799 USD, while the RTX 4090 Mobile is active with no launch MSRP listed. Both share the same API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4) and PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The desktop card offers fixed display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the mobile part’s outputs are "Portable Device Dependent."

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti leads with an average benchmark score of 44,795, compared to 43,667 for the RTX 4090 Mobile, a difference of roughly 2.6%.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The biggest delta is in Passmark GPU Compute, where the RTX 4070 Ti scores 18,396 versus 12,347 for the RTX 4090 Mobile, a 49% advantage.

Q: Does the RTX 4090 Mobile win any benchmark tests?

A: Yes, it wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 180,831 versus 176,953 for the RTX 4070 Ti, a 2.1% margin.

Q: How do the two cards compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile has higher memory bandwidth at 576.0 GB/s, while the RTX 4070 Ti offers 504.2 GB/s. The mobile part also has more memory (16 GB vs 12 GB) and a wider bus (256-bit vs 192-bit).

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile has 9,728 shading units, while the RTX 4070 Ti has 7,680. The mobile part also leads in TMUs (304 vs 240), ROPs (112 vs 80), RT cores (76 vs 60), and tensor cores (304 vs 240).

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has a TDP of 285 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU, while the RTX 4090 Mobile has a 120 W TDP and no power connector requirements.