GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop vs Radeon RX 6950 XT

Speed and memory

In our performance index the GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop scores 59 and the Radeon RX 6950 XT scores 56, which makes the GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop about 5% faster. That is a small gap, below what most people notice without a frame counter.

Both cards have 16 GB of video memory, so memory will not separate them.

In our estimates for popular games at 1080p on High, the biggest gap is in Cyberpunk 2077 (146 against 139 fps), and the smallest is in Call of Duty (135 against 129 fps). Games that are light enough to run above 200 fps on both cards show little difference at all.

Power and value

The GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop is rated at 175 W and the Radeon RX 6950 XT at 335 W. With a mid-range processor that means a power supply of about 550 W for the first and 750 W for the second. A gap of 160 W shows up in heat and fan noise, and in your electricity use over a few years.

We do not have launch prices for both cards, so we cannot compare value. Check current listings for both.

Which one to buy

Choose the GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop if you want the faster card, and it also has at least as much memory. It makes the most sense at 1440p and above, or on a monitor with a high refresh rate.

Choose the Radeon RX 6950 XT if the price gap matters more than the 5% speed difference. Whichever you pick, check reviews for the games you play, because two cards with similar scores can differ in individual titles.