ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4090 OC Review

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the fastest GPU on the market. We see how it fares under the guise of ASUS TUF Gaming and see whether its a graphics card you should consider.

Product on Review: TUF RTX 4090 OC
Manufacturer: ASUS
Street Price: USD $2400 | AUD $3500 | GBP £2000

Leading the race in the GPU market, NVIDIA has unleashed their next-gen RTX 4090 which is the 3rd iteration of RTX, codenamed Ada Lovelace. The intention with RTX 4090 is crystal clear, to blow the last series out of the water and leave main contender AMD in the dust with their 7900 Series. RTX 4090 boasts a whopping 16384 Cuda Cores, 24GB VRAM, 512 Tensor Cores and 128 RT Cores.

In the spotlight today we have the ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4090 OC. One of the many custom 4090s on the market. Just like previous generations of TUF Gaming graphics cards, we have a distinct gun metal shroud and minimal RGB lighting. This card comes with a beasty triple fan cooler and a factory overclock

In the market for a 4090? Should this be on your radar? Let’s check it out!

ASUS on their TUF 4090 OC

NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture elevated by buffed cooling and power delivery, and backed with an arsenal of rugged reinforcements to cover your six. Lock, load, and dominate with the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX™ 4090.

Technical Specifications

Below are the technical specifications surrounding the TUF 4090 OC:

GPU
AD102
Shader Units
16384
Video Memory
24GB GDDR6X
Memory Bus
384-bit
Engine Clock Boost
2595 MHz (Reference: 2520 MHz)
Memory Clock
21 Gbps
PCI Express
4.0
Display Outputs
3x DisplayPort 1.4a
2x HDMI 2.1
Recommended Power Supply
850W
DirectX
12 API feature level 12_2
OpenGL
4.6
Cooling
Triple cooling fans
Slot Size
3
Card Length
348.2 x 150 x 72.6 mm

Closer Look

First up we have the bundled accessories which consist of the following:

• 1 x Collection Card
• 1 x Speedsetup Manual
• 1 x Adapter Cable
• 1 x TUF Graphics Card Holder
• 1 x TUF Velcro Hook & Loop
• 1 x Thank you Card

Just like last seasons TUF gaming cards, the TUF 4090 adopts an all-metal design which definitely screams high-quality, the only downside to this is that it contributes to more weight being added to the card. It is no secret that the RTX 40 Series GPUs are the biggest graphics cards we have ever seen, so adding an all-metal shroud, is this really necessary? On this occasion we’d actually prefer a nicely designed plastic shroud instead, to keep that weight down.

Now this card uses a triple fan configuration. The two outer fans spin counter clockwise, while the middle fan spins in a clockwise motion and all fans come with the zero decibel technology, meaning they will stop spinning if the GPU temperature is under 50 degrees. Underneath the fans we have a huge vapour chamber heatsink.

The overall dimensions for our card are: 348.2 x 150 x 72.6 mm. So, the TUF 4090 OC is gigantic, being long and tall. It is strongly advised that you check your case dimensions before moving ahead with ha purchase.

The backside of TUF 4090 OC, again features a metal backplate which helps with rigidity, but will undoubtedly add more weight to this product. This has a large cut-out which allows airflow to pass through from the cooling fan on the other side. The backside also features a dual-BIOS switch, allowing users to flick to a silent mode, where the fan curve is less aggressive.

Just like other 4090s, this card features the new 12-pin PCI Express and since PSUs lack a 12-pin PCIe 5.0 connector, ASUS has included a 12-pin to four 8-pin (yes, four!). As such it is necessary to have an 850W power supply and no less, and what’s more is that the PSU will need to have 4x PCIe cables. On this edge of the card we have the only real aspect which is RGB lit, the lighting has been kept to a minimum just like other generations of TUF GPUs, but the colours can be tweaked using ASUS Armoury software.

On the rear IO panel there are a total of four video outputs – 3x DisplayPort 1.4 and 2x HDMI 2.1. Having an additional HDMI will be useful to many.

Out of the box, TUF 4090 OC comes with a factory overclock which sees the GPU clock boost elevate from 2520MHz to 2595MHz. Memory sits at the reference settings of 21 Gbps. We would have liked to see the GPU clock boost set to a higher frequency, bearing in mind this is quite a “safe” modification and it places this TUF card below many other models in terms of factory OC.

Test Setup & Methodology

HOW WE TEST GRAPHICS CARDS

Testing a graphics card is an extremely lengthy process. We sometimes see reviews where a graphics card has been tested using out of date equipment, out of date games and even out of date drivers. While the latter can be excused due to the sheer amount of driver updates making a thorough review impossible we will however notify the reader when we have used a different driver to the normal for example a pre-release driver. For the most part however we will always use the same hardware and latest drivers so this does certainly need to be taken into consideration when viewing our testing results. Each game and benchmark is tested times with the lowest and highest scores omitted out of the 5 results and the average then taken from the three remaining to give us our final result for each resolution and setting used.

HARDWARE

In Q3 2020 we decided to move on from our Intel X99-based graphics card test system to embrace AMD Ryzen Gen3. The basis for this was quite simple, AMD’s platform is one of the most popular choices for gamers and by using such a configuration, we can hopefully showcase to our readership what they can expect. In the past we’ve used HEDT platforms and while this does indeed align itself to the bleeding edge for a computer system, it doesn’t reflect what most gamers will be using.

With NVIDIA and AMD now using PCIe 4.0 for their bus interface on graphics cards, AMD Ryzen Gen3 and the X570 chipset are well-equipped to test appropriately.

Graphics Cards on test:
AMD RX 5700
AMD RX 5700 XT
AMD RX 6800
XFX MERC 319 RX 6800 XT
NVIDIA RTX 2060
NVIDIA RTX 2060 SUPER
NVIDIA RTX 2070 SUPER
NVIDIA RTX 2080 SUPER
NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti
ZOTAC RTX 3060 Ti Twin Edge OC
GIGABYTE RTX 3070 GAMING OC
Colorful iGame RTX 3070 Advanced OC-V
Colorful iGame RTX 3070 Ti Advanced OC-V
ASUS TUF RTX 3080 OC
AORUS RTX 3080 Master
ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3090 OC
AORUS RTX 4080 MASTER
ASUS TUF RTX 4090 OC

Special thanks go to AMD, MSI, Corsair, Noctua and AverMedia for providing the hardware configuration for our graphics card reviews:

Motherboard: MSI PRESTIGE X570 CREATION
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
RAM – 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair LPX Vengeance DDR4 @ 3000MHz
Power Supply – CORSAIR HX1050
Hard Drive – Samsung 830 EVO 250GB + Crucial MX300 2TB
Cooler – CORSAIR Hydro Series™ H150i Pro 360mm Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Capture Card – Avermedia Live Gamer Extreme 2

BENCHMARKS

If you are a regular reader of our reviews you will know we like to test the latest hardware with the latest games and benchmarks on the market. Here are the games we’ve chosen:

Horizon Zero Dawn
Control
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
F1 2020
A Total War Saga: Troy

To capture framerates we use a combination of in-game benchmark tools and FRAPS.

We also take into consideration the benchmarkers out there so have included three of the more popular synthetic benchmarks available:

3DMark Time Spy
3DMark Port Royal
Unigine: SuperPosition

In light of the new RTX and DLSS features, we have also added in some tests to cover this tech to provide some analysis, showcasing what users can expect with/without such a feature enabled. For this we are using:

3DMark DLSS
Control – RT Off/RT On

Let’s see how today’s graphics card performed…

Power, Temperatures, Acoustics

To test for power consumption, we take a measurement from the plug socket. It is important to note that the figures below represent total system power use and not just the GPU. The CPU was always in a fixed state so did not affect the additional power load when the GPU was placed under 100% load using AIDA64 stability test (GPU Only) which was ran for 20 minutes at which point a load reading was taken. Idle readings were taken 5 minutes after system boot to ensure any background services and applications had loaded.

TEMPERATURE

To test temperatures we measured idle temperatures after booting windows, letting all applications finish loading and ran a few benchmarks. Once the benchmarks were complete we left the card to reach a cooling plateau where we then took the idle temperatures. For the load tests we set Unigine SuperPosition running in game mode continuously for ~30 minutes and recorded the peak/maximum GPU temperature.

ACOUSTICS

For the purpose of testing audio levels we have the NDI KC-3300 sound level meter. During the temperature recording above, while in Unigine SuperPosition gamemode we monitored the audio and the results are found below. All graphics cards are tested in their out of the box state (auto).

DX12: 3DMark Time Spy

Download your copy now

With its pure DirectX 12 engine, which supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, 3DMark Time Spy is the ideal benchmark for testing the DirectX 12 performance of the latest graphics cards.

DX12: 3DMark Port Royal

Download your copy now

3DMark Port Royal is the world’s first dedicated real-time ray tracing benchmark for gamers. You can use Port Royal to test and compare the real-time ray tracing performance of any graphics card that supports Microsoft DirectX Raytracing. As well as benchmarking performance, 3DMark Port Royal provides a realistic and practical example of what to expect from ray tracing in upcoming games.

DX11: Unigine SuperPosition

Superposition is a new-generation benchmark tailored for testing reliability and performance of the latest GPUs. Top-notch visuals, support for VR-devices and an interactive mode with mini-games — the list of features built into Superposition could go on and on.

DX12: Horizon Zero Dawn

Horizon Zero Dawn is an action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The plot follows Aloy, a hunter in a world overrun by machines, who sets out to uncover her past

DX12: Control

Control Ultimate Edition contains the main game and all previously released Expansions (“The Foundation” and “AWE&quot

in one great value package. Winner of over 80 awards, Control is a visually stunning third-person action-adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

DX12: Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Eidos Montréal in conjunction with Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. It continues the narrative from the 2013 game Tomb Raider and its sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider, and is the twelfth mainline entry in the Tomb Raider series.

DX12: F1 2020

F1® 2020 allows you to create your F1® team for the very first time and race alongside the official teams and drivers. Alternatively, challenge your friends in new split-screen with casual race options for more relaxed racing. Compete on 22 circuits, with current and classic content.

DX12: A Total War Saga: TROY

A Total War Saga: TROY is the first in the award-winning strategy series to focus on the Bronze-Age Mediterranean and the legendary twenty-year conflict between the kingdoms of Troy and Mycenaean Greece, known as the Trojan War.

DLSS Analysis: 3DMark DLSS

Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) is an NVIDIA RTX technology that uses the power of deep learning and AI to improve game performance while maintaining visual quality.

Ray Tracing Analysis: Control

Control is an action-adventure video game title which has the ability to take advantage of real-time ray tracing. For this test we ran the game in 1440p with Ultra Detail set. Under the settings we enable Ray Tracingand assign the preset as “High”. Below are the results with RT On and RT Off.

Conclusion

One thing is certain from the performance results on the preceding pages, the RTX 4090 is an outstanding GPU, that pushes the possibilities for 4K gaming to a level we haven’t yet seen.

The performance benefits are evident as higher resolutions are utilised. So, while 1440p is still relevant, 4K is really where the RTX 4090 shines.

Under the guise of ASUS TUF Gaming, the RTX 4090 is a decent card. While the physical design does look good, using an all-metal design on a GPU which is so large is an unwise move. Models which use a plastic shroud are already hefty, so adding in metal just contributes more to the weight (and strain on the PCI Express slot). ASUS has provided a support adapter/bracket but it is seriously pathetic. It resembles a retractable pencil which sits at the bottom of your case, to hold up the edge of the card. It features a magnetic tip – but this assumes the bottom of your case is metal.

Something which has been reported elsewhere is coil whine. Yes, we can confirm that the ASUS TUF Gaming 4090 OC does suffer from excessive coil whine, and it is probably the worst we have encountered before. This doesn’t seem to be an isolated issue since others have also experienced it too.

The TUF RTX 4090 OC comes in at a USD $2400 | AUD $3500 | GBP £2000. Such figures are reminiscent of the RTX 3090 Ti AIB models at launch – a premium, expensive. Other models of similar spec come in at a lower cost, with similar cooling performance, factory overclock and no coil whine, so we would point gamers in that direction.

The ASUS TUF RTX 4090 OC will satisfy those with a thirst for high-performance, and while this card does provide excellent gaming performance, it is let down by its size, weight, coil whine and pitiful support bracket!

Pros
+ Features a solid design
+ Handy dual BIOS switch on rear IO
+ 4090 is currently the fastest card on the market
+ Zero decibel technology

Cons
– Insignificant factory overclock
– Huge power draw
– Ridiculous dimensions
– Heavier due to metal shroud
– Poor support bracket
– Excessive coil whine
– Cost

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