NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D vs NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation, with the RTX 4090 D winning both head-to-head tests. The most significant margin appears in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the RTX 4090 D scores 246,941 against 123,842 for the RTX 4000 Ada, a delta of 99.4%. This near-doubling of performance in a low-level graphics API indicates that the RTX 4090 D’s larger chip configuration provides substantial raw compute advantages that scale directly to Vulkan workloads.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 4090 D again leads, scoring 278,621 versus 146,593 for the RTX 4000 Ada, a delta of 90.1%. While this is a slightly smaller margin than the Vulkan result, it still represents a massive lead for the larger card. The OpenCL benchmark exercises general-purpose compute across shading units and tensor cores, and the data suggests the RTX 4090 D’s higher shading unit count and memory bandwidth translate into nearly double the throughput. For context, the RTX 4090 D’s average benchmark score of 178,050 places it in the 98th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4000 Ada’s average score of 135,218 puts it in the 95th percentile.

The delta percentages are telling: a 90.1% lead in OpenCL and a 99.4% lead in Vulkan are not incremental gains but rather class-level differences. The RTX 4090 D’s nearest rivals, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell (avg score 182,109, delta -2.2%) and NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB (avg score 183,725, delta -3.1%), are much closer in performance, which highlights how the RTX 4090 D sits in a higher performance tier. Conversely, the RTX 4000 Ada’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA A10M, matches its average score at 135,230 with a delta of 0%, showing that the RTX 4000 Ada is competitive within its own segment. The head-to-head results, however, leave no ambiguity: the RTX 4090 D is the dominant performer in both tested scenarios.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D is the superior choice for applications that demand maximum compute throughput, while the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation serves a different purpose entirely. If the primary metric is raw benchmark performance, the RTX 4090 D wins outright, with a 90.1% lead in OpenCL and a 99.4% lead in Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 178,050 is 31.6% higher than the RTX 4000 Ada’s 135,218, and its 98th percentile ranking versus 95th percentile confirms that the RTX 4090 D is closer to the top of the GPU performance hierarchy.

However, the RTX 4000 Ada is not without merit for specific users. Its average score of 135,218 places it in the 95th percentile, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of GPUs. The RTX 4000 Ada’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 (avg score 135,396, delta -0.1%) and the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo (avg score 135,774, delta -0.4%), showing that it is highly competitive within its workstation segment. The verdict, therefore, depends on the use case: the RTX 4090 D for users who need every bit of compute performance, and the RTX 4000 Ada for those who prioritize other factors like power draw or physical size, which the data shows are drastically different.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4090 D wins decisively in both benchmark categories tested, so its advantage is universal across OpenCL and Vulkan workloads. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 246,941 versus 123,842 suggests the RTX 4090 D is particularly strong in applications that leverage Vulkan’s explicit control over GPU resources, such as modern game engines or compute-heavy rendering pipelines. Its OpenCL score of 278,621 versus 146,593 indicates similar dominance in cross-platform compute tasks that rely on OpenCL for parallel processing. The RTX 4090 D’s 24 GB of memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth likely contribute to its ability to sustain high throughput, though the fact pack does not provide direct per-test memory data.

The RTX 4000 Ada, while losing both head-to-head tests, still occupies a valid niche. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 360.0 GB/s bandwidth are lower than the RTX 4090 D’s specifications, but the card’s single-slot design and 130 W TDP make it a viable option for dense workstation builds where space and power are constrained. The RTX 4000 Ada’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA A10M, matches its average score exactly (delta 0%), and it edges out the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 by a 0.1% margin, so it holds its own against similar-class hardware. The data shows the RTX 4000 Ada wins on efficiency metrics, but the fact pack does not include direct efficiency benchmarks, so this conclusion is drawn from the TDP and slot width differences.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4090 D in the Geekbench Vulkan test compared to the RTX 4000 Ada?

A: The RTX 4090 D scores 246,941, while the RTX 4000 Ada scores 123,842, resulting in a 99.4% delta in favor of the RTX 4090 D.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 4090 D has an average benchmark score of 178,050, while the RTX 4000 Ada has an average score of 135,218, making the RTX 4090 D approximately 31.6% higher.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4090 D ranks in the 98th percentile, whereas the RTX 4000 Ada ranks in the 95th percentile.

Q: What are the nearest rivals to the RTX 4000 Ada in terms of average score?

A: The NVIDIA A10M matches the RTX 4000 Ada’s average score with a delta of 0%, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 trails by 0.1% and the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo trails by 0.4%.

Q: How many benchmark tests does the RTX 4090 D win in the head-to-head comparison?

A: The RTX 4090 D wins 2 out of 2 tests, with the RTX 4000 Ada winning 0.

Q: What is the boost clock difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 4090 D has a boost clock of 2520 MHz, while the RTX 4000 Ada has a boost clock of 2175 MHz.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture and use a 5 nm process from TSMC, but they employ different chips with distinct configurations. The RTX 4090 D uses the AD102 chip, which contains 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 125.3M per mm². The RTX 4000 Ada uses the smaller AD104 chip, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, giving a density of 121.8M per mm². This means the RTX 4090 D has over twice the transistor count and die area, which directly correlates with its higher shading unit count of 14,592 versus 6,144 for the RTX 4000 Ada.

The memory subsystems also differ fundamentally. The RTX 4090 D features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 4000 Ada has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, yielding 360.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 4090 D’s memory clock is 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective), while the RTX 4000 Ada’s is 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). Additionally, the RTX 4090 D has 114 RT cores and 456 tensor cores, compared to 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores on the RTX 4000 Ada. These architectural differences explain the performance gap in ray tracing and AI workloads, though the fact pack does not include dedicated ray tracing benchmarks.

Specification Differences

The specifications where the two cards differ are extensive. The RTX 4090 D has a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, while the RTX 4000 Ada operates at 1500 MHz base and 2175 MHz boost. The RTX 4090 D’s FP32 compute is 73.54 TFLOPS, and its FP16 is also 73.54 TFLOPS (1:1), compared to the RTX 4000 Ada’s 26.73 TFLOPS for both. The texture fill rate is 1,149.1 GTexel/s for the RTX 4090 D versus 417.6 GTexel/s for the RTX 4000 Ada, and the pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s versus 139.2 GPixel/s.

Power consumption is a major differentiator: the RTX 4090 D has a TDP of 425 W and requires a 800 W suggested PSU, while the RTX 4000 Ada has a TDP of 130 W and a 300 W suggested PSU. The RTX 4090 D is a triple-slot card measuring 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 61 mm in width, whereas the RTX 4000 Ada is a single-slot card at 245 mm by 112 mm. The RTX 4090 D includes 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the RTX 4000 Ada offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. Finally, the RTX 4090 D’s launch MSRP was 1,599 USD, and it is end-of-life, while the RTX 4000 Ada is active with no launch MSRP listed.