NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D vs NVIDIA N1 16SM Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits these two NVIDIA parts into entirely different categories. The RTX 4090 D is a fully measured discrete graphics card with three recorded benchmark scores. The N1 16SM, by contrast, has no recorded benchmarks in the database, an average benchmark score of zero, and no nearest rivals. That alone determines the shape of the comparison: the RTX 4090 D wins every measurable category, but the N1 16SM is not competing in the same arena.

The RTX 4090 D posts an average benchmark score of 178050, placing it in the 98th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA data center and professional parts. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell averages 182109, which is 2.2 percent higher. The A100 SXM4 80 GB averages 183725, 3.1 percent higher. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation averages 184664, 3.6 percent higher. The A100 SXM4 40 GB averages 187147, 4.9 percent higher. Every rival in the database outperforms the RTX 4090 D in average score, but the margins are narrow, all below five percent.

The N1 16SM sits at the 50th percentile with an average score of zero. It has no wins, no rival deltas, and no benchmark entries. The database cannot assign it a single recorded victory. The RTX 4090 D holds wins in all three individual tests it appears in: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 8587, Geekbench OpenCL at 278621, and Geekbench Vulkan at 246941. The N1 16SM has none of these entries. The use-case split is therefore stark: the RTX 4090 D is a measured, high-end discrete accelerator with quantifiable performance in DX12, OpenCL, and Vulkan workloads. The N1 16SM is an integrated graphics processor with no recorded performance data, no direct comparisons, and no percentile basis beyond the median.

Architecture Differences

The two chips share a manufacturer and a process node but diverge almost everywhere else. The RTX 4090 D uses the AD102 chip built on Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process. The N1 16SM uses the GB20B chip built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, also fabricated on 5 nm at TSMC. Both are five-nanometer parts, but the transistor counts tell a different story. The RTX 4090 D packs 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 125.3 million per square millimeter. The N1 16SM has an unknown transistor count on a 382 mm² die, with no density figure recorded.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The RTX 4090 D carries 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The N1 16SM carries 128 GB of LPDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 273.2 GB/s. The N1 16SM has more than five times the capacity but less than a third of the bandwidth. The RTX 4090 D uses a dedicated 16-pin power connector and a triple-slot cooler, while the N1 16SM is an IGP with no power connector and no slot width beyond the integrated form factor. The suggested PSU for the RTX 4090 D is 800 W; the N1 16SM has no suggested PSU recorded.

Compute resources differ by an order of magnitude. The RTX 4090 D has 14,592 shading units, 456 texture mapping units, 176 ROPs, 114 ray tracing cores, and 456 tensor cores. The N1 16SM has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 24 ROPs, 16 RT cores, and 64 tensor cores. The RTX 4090 D reaches a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,149.1 GTexel/s. The N1 16SM reaches 56.30 GPixel/s and 300.3 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 73.54 TFLOPS on the RTX 4090 D versus 9.609 TFLOPS on the N1 16SM. FP16 runs at the same 1:1 ratio on both parts, but the absolute numbers are identical to the FP32 figures for each.

Clocks also diverge. The RTX 4090 D runs a base of 2280 MHz and boosts to 2520 MHz, with memory at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The N1 16SM runs a base of 741 MHz and boosts to 2346 MHz, with memory at 1067 MHz (8.5 Gbps effective). The RTX 4090 D has a much higher base clock and a modestly higher boost clock. The N1 16SM has a very low base clock, suggesting a power-constrained integrated design that relies on boosting under load.

The API support is another dividing line. The RTX 4090 D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The N1 16SM records N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 4.0 x16 on the RTX 4090 D versus PCIe 5.0 x16 on the N1 16SM. The N1 16SM is newer in the release timeline, dated 2026-05-31, while the RTX 4090 D is dated 2023-12-27. The RTX 4090 D is end-of-life with a predecessor in GeForce 30 and a successor in GeForce 50. The N1 16SM is active with no predecessor or successor recorded.

The Verdict

The database shows two NVIDIA products that cannot be compared on equal footing. The RTX 4090 D is a complete, measured, high-performance discrete GPU with three benchmark scores, a 98th percentile ranking, and an average score of 178050. The N1 16SM is an active integrated processor with zero recorded benchmarks, a 50th percentile placeholder, and no average score. Anyone choosing between these two for a desktop graphics workload would select the RTX 4090 D based on the recorded data alone. The N1 16SM offers no measured performance evidence in this database.

For workloads involving DX12, OpenCL, or Vulkan, the RTX 4090 D is the only option with data. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 8587, Geekbench OpenCL score of 278621, and Geekbench Vulkan score of 246941 are the sole recorded performance figures. The N1 16SM has none. For memory capacity, the N1 16SM leads with 128 GB, but that capacity comes with 273.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is far below the RTX 4090 D's 1.01 TB/s. The N1 16SM also lacks API support entries for the major graphics APIs, making it a questionable fit for standard rendering workloads.

The RTX 4090 D sits within a narrow competitive band against its nearest rivals. It trails the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell by 2.2 percent, the A100 SXM4 80 GB by 3.1 percent, the RTX 5000 Ada Generation by 3.6 percent, and the A100 SXM4 40 GB by 4.9 percent. Those are small margins, suggesting the RTX 4090 D is competitive with professional data center parts despite being a consumer-oriented GeForce product. The N1 16SM has no such comparisons.

The RTX 4090 D is the choice for anyone needing a discrete, triple-slot, 425 W GPU with 24 GB of GDDR6X and full API support. The N1 16SM is a 5 nm integrated part with 128 GB of LPDDR5X, no power connector, and no recorded benchmark performance. The data does not support the N1 16SM as a substitute for the RTX 4090 D in any measured workload.

FAQ

Q: Does the NVIDIA N1 16SM have any benchmark scores in the database?

A: No. The N1 16SM has an empty benchmarks array, an average benchmark score of 0, and no nearest rivals. It is listed at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, but that is a placeholder with no supporting measurements.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 D compare to its nearest rivals in average score?

A: The RTX 4090 D averages 178050. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell averages 182109, which is 2.2 percent higher. The A100 SXM4 80 GB averages 183725, 3.1 percent higher. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation averages 184664, 3.6 percent higher. The A100 SXM4 40 GB averages 187147, 4.9 percent higher.

Q: What are the RTX 4090 D's individual benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4090 D scores 8587 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 278621 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 246941 in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4090 D has 1.01 TB/s from 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus. The N1 16SM has 273.2 GB/s from 128 GB of LPDDR5X on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What APIs does the N1 16SM support?

A: The database records N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan on the N1 16SM. The RTX 4090 D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What are the process nodes for both chips?

A: Both use TSMC's 5 nm process. The RTX 4090 D uses the AD102 chip on Ada Lovelace architecture. The N1 16SM uses the GB20B chip on Blackwell 2.0 architecture.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

There are no head-to-head benchmark entries in the database. The winsA and winsB fields are both zero. The RTX 4090 D has its own three benchmark results, while the N1 16SM has none. The largest win for the RTX 4090 D is in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 278621. That is a massive margin over the N1 16SM's absent score, but the comparison is not a direct head-to-head; it is simply the only measurable part in the pair.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 8587 is the only DX12 measurement in this comparison. Geekbench Vulkan at 246941 is the only Vulkan measurement. The N1 16SM has no recorded result in any of these tests. The RTX 4090 D also dominates in raw compute resources: 73.54 TFLOPS FP32 versus 9.609 TFLOPS, a difference of roughly 7.7 times. Texture rate is 1,149.1 GTexel/s versus 300.3 GTexel/s. Pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s versus 56.30 GPixel/s.

The RTX 4090 D also leads in clock speeds. Its base clock of 2280 MHz is over three times the N1 16SM's 741 MHz. The boost clock of 2520 MHz exceeds the N1 16SM's 2346 MHz by 174 MHz. Memory clock is 1313 MHz versus 1067 MHz, and effective memory speed is 21 Gbps versus 8.5 Gbps. Every clock-domain comparison favors the RTX 4090 D.

The only areas where the N1 16SM leads are memory capacity and bus interface generation. The N1 16SM has 128 GB versus 24 GB, and PCIe 5.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Neither of those advantages translates into a benchmark win because no benchmark data exists for the N1 16SM. The RTX 4090 D wins every recorded performance category by default and by magnitude.

Specification Differences

The two parts differ in nearly every specification field. The chip names are AD102 versus GB20B. The architecture is Ada Lovelace versus Blackwell 2.0. The generation is GeForce 40 versus Blackwell IGP (N1x). The process node is the same 5 nm at TSMC, but the die size differs: 609 mm² for the RTX 4090 D versus 382 mm² for the N1 16SM. Transistors are 76,300 million versus unknown. Transistor density is 125.3M per mm² versus null.

Memory size is 24 GB GDDR6X versus 128 GB LPDDR5X. Bus width is 384 bit versus 256 bit. Bandwidth is 1.01 TB/s versus 273.2 GB/s. Shading units are 14,592 versus 2,048. TMUs are 456 versus 128. ROPs are 176 versus 24. RT cores are 114 versus 16. Tensor cores are 456 versus 64.

Pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s versus 56.30 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 1,149.1 GTexel/s versus 300.3 GTexel/s. FP32 is 73.54 TFLOPS versus 9.609 TFLOPS. FP16 is 73.54 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 9.609 TFLOPS (1:1). TDP is 425 W versus unknown. Slot width is triple-slot versus IGP. Power connectors are 1x 16-pin versus none. Suggested PSU is 800 W versus null.

Bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus 1x HDMI. API support is DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 versus N/A for all three. Dimensions are 304 mm by 137 mm by 61 mm for the RTX 4090 D; the N1 16SM has no recorded dimensions.

Production status is end-of-life versus active. Release dates are 2023-12-27 versus 2026-05-31. The RTX 4090 D has a predecessor in GeForce 30 and a successor in GeForce 50. The N1 16SM has neither. The RTX 4090 D has a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD. The N1 16SM has no launch MSRP recorded. Base clock is 2280 MHz versus 741 MHz. Boost clock is 2520 MHz versus 2346 MHz. Memory clock is 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) versus 1067 MHz (8.5 Gbps effective). The RTX 4090 D is the only one of the two with any benchmark scores, and it holds the 98th percentile versus the N1 16SM's 50th.