Microsoft Flight Simulator
The test bench used by NVIDIA features Intel’s top-notch i9-12900K paired with 32GB of RAM on the Windows 11 OS. The grey bars represent raw raster performance, whereas the green and lime colors showcase the DLSS 2.0 and DLSS 3.0 metrics respectively. The RTX 4090 takes the charge by posing a respective lead of 40% over the Ampere kingpin without DLSS. However, the RTX 4080 12GB seems to fall short of the 3090 Ti while being priced almost similar. The 4080 16GB is almost on par with RTX 4090, giving it a massive leap in price-to-performance. RTX 4090 vs the RTX 3090 Ti;
Raw Raster Performance -> 40% FasterDLSS 2.0 vs DLSS 3.0 -> 100% Faster
RTX 4080 12GB vs the RTX 3090 Ti;
Raw Raster Performance -> 1% SlowerDLSS 2.0 vs DLSS 3.0 -> 60% Faster
A Plague Tale : Requiem
Moving over to A Plague Tale : Requiem, the RTX 4090 remains uncontested by crushing the 3090 Ti by more than 2x. DLSS 3.0 does tip the balance slightly in favor of the 3090 Ti with the 4090’s lead dropping to 1.9x. RTX 4090 vs the RTX 3090 Ti;
Raw Raster Performance -> 112% FasterDLSS 2.0 vs DLSS 3.0 -> 92.30% Faster
RTX 4080 12GB vs the RTX 3090 Ti;
Raw Raster Performance -> 23% SlowerDLSS 2.0 vs DLSS 3.0 -> 16% Faster
F1 22
At last, we have F1 22 which will receive a DLSS 3.0 update soon. The RTX 4090 is almost 60% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti. DLSS 3.0 extends this lead to 85%. Yet again, the RTX 4080 12GB fails to deliver performance on-par with the best offerings from the RTX 3000 lineup. RTX 4090 vs the RTX 3090 Ti;
Raw Raster Performance -> 60% FasterDLSS 2.0 vs DLSS 3.0 -> 85% Faster
RTX 4080 12GB vs the RTX 3090 Ti;
Raw Raster Performance -> 6% SlowerDLSS 2.0 vs DLSS 3.0 -> 14% Faster
Conclusion
All in all, the RTX 4090 is a solid upgrade from last generation. This GPU is literally the definition of ‘overkill’. The other Lovelace GPUs have not seen the best reaction from the community due to the NVIDIA’s pricing strategy. The RTX 4080 12GB comes in at around $900, but loses out to the RTX 3090 Ti which is for around $1000-$1049. DLSS 3.0 might be the game changer for those stuck on deciding between the 3090 Ti or the 4080 12GB. However, productivity wise, the 24GB of G6X offered by the RTX 3090 Ti is really compelling. The only way to see for yourself is to wait until these GPUs get tested. Do note that the 4080 12GB may have something up its sleeve offering it more productivity performance.
