Hardware Unboxed has done something that will no doubt ruffle some feathers at Nvidia; they have compared the RTX 4090 mobile to the RTX 4090 Desktop.
Let’s get this out of the way: The RTX MOBILE 4090 is nowhere near as a fast as the RTX DESKTOP 4090. It’s still a fast chip, but it’s not even on the same planet at the desktop variant. Hardware Unboxed discovered up to an 87.2% performance difference (Hitman 3) though the average was 56% faster in favor of the desktop 4090 at 4K. They also tested 1080P and 1440P, as well as with raytracing. This video is definitely worth the watch, and these guys have a history of telling it like it is to their detriment.
Let’s be clear; the Mobile 4090 is still a fast chip when fed by a fast CPU. It gives good performance in all modern games, and high-refresh experiences in older titles. I’m hoping the 150 watt variant will show up in some next-generation pre-builts paired with CPUs fast enough to feed it. That’s not the problem.
The problem is the name.
Nvidia continues to confuse consumers by naming their GPUs on the mobile side the same name as their desktop variants, and not clarifying what wattage they are running at. While there is a big difference between the desktop and mobile 4090, there is also a similarly massive difference between the low and high wattage variants. It’s a damn mystery to most tech savy people which version their getting, and may the GPU gods help the average consumer who will have no idea.
…and this isn’t a marketing mistake. It’s a feature.
Nvidia knows damn well what their doing, and that this confusion drives sales and profit margins. Laptop manufactures are just as guilty in this as they will have more margin on a premium parts than they do on low and mid-range parts. Unknowing consumers will think they’re buying themselves, or worse their kids, a great gaming laptop only to find out they over paid for a low wattage RTX Mobile 4090/4080 that can’t keep up with a high wattage RTX Mobile 4070 for half the price. People will get confused.
This is, to put it simply, fuck-you-level of “buyer beware” bullshit.
Check out the Hardware Unboxed video below. I encourage you to subscribe and even donate to HW Unboxed as they are on the receiving end of review bans on more than one occasion.
