Asus RTX 4090 ROG Strix OC Review: Truly Massive

Extreme size results in great cooling

Reviews
By last updated
Asus RTX 4090 ROG Strix OC
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
TOM'S HARDWARE 2022 GPU TEST PC

Intel Core i9-12900K
MSI Pro Z690-A WiFi DDR4
Corsair 2x16GB DDR4-3600 CL16
Crucial P5 Plus 2TB
Cooler Master MWE 1250 V2 Gold
Corsair H150i Elite Capellix
Cooler Master HAF500
Windows 11 Pro 64-bit 

We updated our GPU test PC and gaming suite in early 2022, and we'll continue to use the same hardware for a while longer. AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X or the upcoming Core i9-13900K might be a bit faster, but we're using XMP for a modest boost to performance and the GPU generally becomes the limiting factor at 4K — which is really what you should be running if you're thinking of buying an RTX 4090.

Our CPU sits in an MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4 WiFi motherboard, with DDR4-3600 memory — a nod to sensibility rather than outright maximum performance. We also upgraded to Windows 11 and are now running the latest 22H2 version (with VBS and HVCI disabled) to ensure we get the most out of Alder Lake. You can see the rest of the hardware in the boxout.

Our gaming tests consist of a "standard" suite of eight games without ray tracing enabled (even if the game supports it), and a separate "ray tracing" suite of six games that all use multiple RT effects. We've already tested the RTX 4090 Founders Edition at 1080p, and found that it's generally overkill at such settings. For the AIB cards, we'll focus on the 4K and 1440p performance.

Jarred Walton
Jarred Walton

Jarred Walton is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on everything GPU. He has been working as a tech journalist since 2004, writing for AnandTech, Maximum PC, and PC Gamer. From the first S3 Virge '3D decelerators' to today's GPUs, Jarred keeps up with all the latest graphics trends and is the one to ask about game performance.

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • -Fran-
    Thanks for the review, but I hate to say this: you missed the most important thing here...

    Can you do a proper workout with this card? How many calories do you burn by just unboxing it and then installing it in a case (when it fits)? Can you hold two at the same time without breaking your back?

    Regards :LOL:
    Reply
  • JarredWaltonGPU
    -Fran- said:
    Thanks for the review, but I hate to say this: you missed the most important thing here...

    Can you do a proper workout with this card? How many calories do you burn by just unboxing it and then installing it in a case (when it fits)? Can you hold two at the same time without breaking your back?

    Regards :LOL:
    I'll be following up with my new "90 Days to a Better You" fitness program.
    I may have already injured my wrist while trying to install the card, though... ;)
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    JarredWaltonGPU said:
    I'll be following up with my new "90 Days to a Better You" fitness program.
    I may have already injured my wrist while trying to install the card, though... ;)
    Hell yeah. Most expensive fitness program ever xD

    And I hope your wrist is actually fine. You still have the AIO-cooled one to review, no?

    Regards.
    Reply
  • JarredWaltonGPU
    -Fran- said:
    Hell yeah. Most expensive fitness program ever xD

    And I hope your wrist is actually fine. You still have the AIO-cooled one to review, no?

    Regards.
    Yeah, MSI, Gigabyte, PNY, Colorful, and Galax are still incoming, probably in that order. Maybe a Zotac as well (still waiting for confirmation on that one).
    Reply
  • Zizo007
    No one finds it weird that even big OCs on the core and memory only results in minor performance increase, 5% and less? I looked up many reviews online and they all show the same even for the Gigabyte rtx 4090 OC thats been clocked to 3ghz core and 25.6ghz memory. Thats a 22% OC only on the memory. My strix 2080 Ti benefits a lot more from OC. I wonder if we're CPU limited with an OCed rtx 4090.
    Reply
  • Geezer760
    This thing will injure your wallet or bank account!!, $1239.00 totally insane,
    Reply
  • JarredWaltonGPU
    Zizo007 said:
    No one finds it weird that even big OCs on the core and memory only results in minor performance increase, 5% and less? I looked up many reviews online and they all show the same even for the Gigabyte rtx 4090 OC thats been clocked to 3ghz core and 25.6ghz memory. Thats a 22% OC only on the memory. My strix 2080 Ti benefits a lot more from OC. I wonder if we're CPU limited with an OCed rtx 4090.
    The GPU core overclocks are what really matters, and if you do the math, you'll find that even though the reference 4090 Founders Edition claims a boost clock of 2520MHz, in practice it runs at around 2750MHz. Then you overclock to 2950MHz and that represents a 7% increase in clock speed. Given the memory overclocks are much higher — on the Asus card I managed 24.5Gbps vs. 21Gbps stock, so that's a 17% increase — it just means that the large L2 cache and architecture make raw memory bandwidth less of a factor. I suspect even without the memory OC, the 7% increase in GPU clocks will give you a 3-5% boost in performance, meaning the VRAM only accounts for an extra 2% or so.
    Reply
  • Murissokah
    The 4090 is a beast, but I can't look at a 4-slot VGA and see at as anything other than bad design. Watercooled solutions are like MSI's make it more palatable, but I'm still not very happy with almost 500W of power and heat. Hoping AMD can come up with something competitive.
    Reply
  • Tenin
    You mention the 4 screws for securing the heatsink to the GPU needs to be installed using a torque screwdriver to avoid overtightening. Any chance you can share the torque value needed ? Thanks in advance :)
    Reply
  • JarredWaltonGPU
    Tenin said:
    You mention the 4 screws for securing the heatsink to the GPU needs to be installed using a torque screwdriver to avoid overtightening. Any chance you can share the torque value needed ? Thanks in advance :)
    I note that you're supposed to use a torque screwdriver. Honestly: I don't have one. I basically check how 'tight' a screw is before dismantling, and try to get roughly the same level of tightness. In general, just tightening until the screw 'stops' is good enough — don't overtighten or force things.
    Reply