NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile vs NVIDIA Quadro GV100 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive sweep for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile across all nine benchmark tests, with no wins recorded for the NVIDIA Quadro GV100. The margins are substantial in nearly every category, though the size of the gap varies meaningfully by workload type.

In compute-oriented tests, the RTX 4090 Mobile leads by a wide margin. The Geekbench OpenCL score stands at 180831 versus 150004 for the Quadro GV100, a delta of 20.6%. The Geekbench Vulkan result widens further: 170774 against 139526, which is 22.4% ahead. These are strong indicators of general-purpose GPU throughput, and the data suggests the Ada Lovelace part holds a clear advantage in raw parallel compute.

The Passmark suite tells a similar story, but with even larger percentage gaps in several cases. The most lopsided result is Passmark DirectX 11, where the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 262 versus 168 for the Quadro GV100, a delta of 56%. DirectX 9 shows a 49.8% advantage (310 versus 207), and DirectX 12 comes in at 27.4% (107 versus 84). DirectX 10 is comparatively tighter, with a 23.6% lead (173 versus 140), but it is still a clear win for the newer architecture.

The 3D rendering and graphics workload results are also decisive. Passmark G3D shows the RTX 4090 Mobile at 27212, which is 38.5% above the Quadro GV100's 19650. The Passmark GPU Compute test, which isolates non-graphics compute, shows a 36.1% advantage (12347 versus 9069). Even the 2D graphics test, Passmark G2D, favors the RTX 4090 Mobile at 984 versus 836, a 17.7% delta.

What is notable is the consistency of the win pattern. There is no test where the Quadro GV100 comes out ahead, and the smallest margin anywhere is the 17.7% in G2D. The largest margins, in DirectX 11 and DirectX 9, suggest that the architectural differences between Ada Lovelace and Volta have a pronounced effect on legacy and mid-level DirectX workloads. The compute deltas, while still large, are smaller than the graphics deltas, which indicates that the gap in raw shader throughput is less extreme than the gap in feature support and driver-level optimization for modern APIs.

Looking at the broader database context, the RTX 4090 Mobile sits at the 84th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43667. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 at 43301 (0.8% behind), the GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile at 43268 (0.9% behind), and the RTX A6000 at 44075 (0.9% ahead). The Quadro GV100, by contrast, is at the 80th percentile with an average score of 35520. Its closest competitors are the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile at 35435 (0.2% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at 35860 (0.9% ahead), and the NVIDIA T1000 at 36289 (2.1% ahead). The average score difference between the two cards in this comparison is substantial: 43667 versus 35520, which is roughly 22.9% higher for the RTX 4090 Mobile based on the recorded averages.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark distribution is entirely one-sided, so the use-case split is straightforward. The RTX 4090 Mobile wins in every recorded category, but the strength of its wins varies by workload type.

For modern graphics APIs, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the clear choice. Its DirectX 12 score of 107 versus 84, a 27.4% advantage, reflects better support for the latest rendering features. The DirectX 11 result is even more pronounced at 56% ahead, which suggests that the Ada Lovelace architecture handles both legacy and current DirectX titles with considerably more efficiency. The Geekbench Vulkan score, 22.4% higher, reinforces this pattern for cross-platform graphics workloads.

For compute-heavy tasks, the RTX 4090 Mobile also leads, but the margins are smaller than in graphics. The Geekbench OpenCL delta is 20.6%, and the Passmark GPU Compute delta is 36.1%. The latter is notable because it is one of the largest compute margins in the dataset, indicating that the RTX 4090 Mobile's shader and tensor core configuration translates into superior raw compute throughput. The FP32 rating of 32.98 TFLOPS for the RTX 4090 Mobile versus 16.66 TFLOPS for the Quadro GV100 aligns with this observation, though it should be noted that the Quadro GV100 offers 33.32 TFLOPS in FP16, which is higher than its FP32 output.

The Quadro GV100 does not win any category in this comparison, but the data does show areas where it is relatively less disadvantaged. The G2D delta of 17.7% is the smallest gap, meaning the two cards are closest in 2D desktop and UI rendering performance. The DirectX 10 delta of 23.6% is also smaller than the DirectX 11 and DirectX 9 gaps, which suggests that the older Volta architecture handles early DirectX 10-era workloads with less penalty. For users who prioritize 2D-heavy applications or older DirectX 10 titles, the Quadro GV100 is not as far behind as in other scenarios, though it still trails in absolute terms.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures, which explains the benchmark gap. The RTX 4090 Mobile uses the AD103 chip based on Ada Lovelace, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The Quadro GV100 uses the GV100 chip based on Volta, also from TSMC but on a 12 nm process. The process node difference is significant: 5 nm versus 12 nm allows the Ada Lovelace part to pack far more transistors into a smaller die. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.1M per mm². The Quadro GV100 has 21,100 million transistors on a much larger 815 mm² die, giving a density of just 25.9M per mm². The density difference is roughly 4.7x, which directly explains why the RTX 4090 Mobile can deliver higher performance at a lower power envelope.

The shading unit count differs substantially. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 9728 shading units, while the Quadro GV100 has 5120. The RTX 4090 Mobile also has 304 TMUs and 112 ROPs, compared to 320 TMUs and 128 ROPs for the Quadro GV100. Interestingly, the Quadro GV100 has slightly more TMUs and ROPs, which explains why its pixel rate of 208.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 520.6 GTexel/s are not far off the RTX 4090 Mobile's 189.8 GPixel/s and 515.3 GTexel/s. The RTX 4090 Mobile actually has a lower pixel rate, yet it wins all graphics benchmarks, which points to architectural efficiency rather than raw rasterization throughput.

Ray tracing and tensor capabilities are a major differentiator. The RTX 4090 Mobile includes 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores. The Quadro GV100 has no ray tracing cores listed, but it does have 640 tensor cores. The tensor core count is higher on the Quadro GV100, which is a nod to its Volta-era compute heritage, but the Ada Lovelace tensor cores are newer and likely more efficient per core. The FP16 output for the Quadro GV100 is 33.32 TFLOPS, which is higher than its FP32 output of 16.66 TFLOPS, reflecting a 2:1 ratio. The RTX 4090 Mobile has FP16 at 32.98 TFLOPS, matching its FP32 output at a 1:1 ratio. This means the RTX 4090 Mobile has effectively doubled its FP16 throughput compared to FP32, while the Quadro GV100 only achieves this via a 2:1 rate, which is typical for older architectures.

The API support also differs. The RTX 4090 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Quadro GV100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The DirectX 12 Ultimate designation includes features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading, which are absent from the Quadro GV100's feature set. This explains why the DirectX 12 benchmark shows a 27.4% advantage for the RTX 4090 Mobile, despite the Quadro GV100 having more ROPs.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet reveals several key differences beyond the architecture. The memory configuration is a major divergence. The RTX 4090 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Quadro GV100 uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 868.4 GB/s. The Quadro GV100 has twice the memory capacity and roughly 50% more bandwidth, which is a significant advantage for large datasets. However, the RTX 4090 Mobile's memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus 848 MHz (1696 Mbps effective) for the Quadro GV100, so the newer GDDR6 standard compensates with higher per-pin speeds.

Clock speeds also differ. The RTX 4090 Mobile has a base clock of 1335 MHz and a boost clock of 1695 MHz. The Quadro GV100 has a base clock of 1132 MHz and a boost clock of 1627 MHz. The RTX 4090 Mobile runs higher in both cases, which contributes to its higher FP32 throughput.

Power and physical design are starkly different. The RTX 4090 Mobile is rated at 120 W TDP, uses an IGP form factor, has no power connectors, and is described as "Portable Device Dependent" for display outputs. The Quadro GV100 is rated at 250 W TDP, is a dual-slot card, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and has a suggested PSU of 600 W. The Quadro GV100 also has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the RTX 4090 Mobile's display outputs depend on the host device. The Quadro GV100 is a physical card measuring 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, whereas the RTX 4090 Mobile is an integrated GPU for laptops.

The bus interface differs as well: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 4090 Mobile versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Quadro GV100. The production status also differs, with the RTX 4090 Mobile listed as Active and the Quadro GV100 as End-of-life. Release dates are far apart: the RTX 4090 Mobile launched on 2023-01-02, while the Quadro GV100 launched on 2018-03-26. The Quadro GV100 has a launch MSRP of 8,999 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is rated at 32.98 TFLOPS FP32, which is double the Quadro GV100's 16.66 TFLOPS.

Q: Does the Quadro GV100 have any advantage in memory capacity?

A: Yes, the Quadro GV100 has 32 GB of HBM2 memory, which is twice the 16 GB of GDDR6 on the RTX 4090 Mobile. It also has higher memory bandwidth at 868.4 GB/s versus 576.0 GB/s.

Q: Why does the RTX 4090 Mobile win the DirectX 12 benchmark by a large margin?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Quadro GV100 supports only DirectX 12 (12_1). The newer feature set in the Ada Lovelace architecture contributes to the 27.4% score advantage (107 versus 84).

Q: Which GPU has more tensor cores?

A: The Quadro GV100 has 640 tensor cores, which is more than double the 304 tensor cores on the RTX 4090 Mobile. However, the RTX 4090 Mobile still wins the compute benchmarks, indicating newer tensor core efficiency.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile has a 120 W TDP, while the Quadro GV100 has a 250 W TDP. The Quadro GV100 also requires a 600 W suggested PSU and a single 8-pin power connector.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 43667, placing it at the 84th percentile. The Quadro GV100 has an average score of 35520, placing it at the 80th percentile.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile outperforms the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 in every recorded benchmark, with deltas ranging from 17.7% in 2D graphics to 56% in DirectX 11. The RTX 4090 Mobile wins all nine head-to-head tests, and its average benchmark score of 43667 is roughly 23% higher than the Quadro GV100's 35520. For any workload that relies on shader throughput, modern graphics APIs, or general compute, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the faster part.

However, the choice is not purely about speed. The Quadro GV100 offers 32 GB of HBM2 memory with 868.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a substantial advantage for large-memory workloads such as rendering massive scenes or holding large datasets in VRAM. It also has more tensor cores (640 versus 304), which may be relevant for specific compute tasks that leverage Volta's tensor core design. The Quadro GV100 is a dual-slot, 250 W desktop card with four DisplayPort outputs, while the RTX 4090 Mobile is a 120 W integrated GPU for portable devices.

The RTX 4090 Mobile is the better choice for users who prioritize raw performance, modern feature support, and power efficiency. It is also the only option for laptop form factors. The Quadro GV100, despite being end-of-life and slower in every test, retains a niche for workloads that require more than 16 GB of VRAM or that specifically benefit from HBM2 bandwidth. The RTX 4090 Mobile is the faster GPU, but the Quadro GV100 is the denser memory solution. Based on the recorded data, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the overall winner, with the Quadro GV100 only making sense for memory-capacity-bound scenarios.