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RTX 4090 - actually future proof?

The future is supposed to be in firmware not hardware, things like DLSS and other advanced processing options. NVIDIA aren't stupid, they are not going to release these things in a way that you can use without new hardware. We have seen this already with RT and DLSS. You have to buy the latest hardware to get the latest RT and DLSS. This trend will continue. So no, there is no such thing as future proof. This is by design.
 
I have 3090 ti. I am hungry for 4090. But i can buy in every moment. Also there are not dlls 3.0 games yet. Maybe CBB2077 and Plague.

Even i am on 1440P. So no hurry :)
 
I'd expect a 9050 to be on par by the time they're released. So you've got a few years of safety before nVidia nerf the drivers for it.
 
it depends on your expectations I think.
People are still using 4790k’s and GTX 1080’s and having a decent playable experience at sensible resolutions in most games.

A 4090 would technically last years and years and offer decent gameplay for a very long time before it started to become a minimum requirement.

Could probably play at the high end at 1440p for well over five years.
 
Vexr said:
Especially for us 1440p / UWQHD 3440x1440 users. Are we talking about rock solid max settings with ray tracing at these resolutions at 100-120-144 Hz? Even the power consumption scales when it's under-utilized.

Sure, currently it's said the 4090 is wasted on anything less than a high refresh rate 4K display. However, looking back at a previously mega-OP GPU, the 1080 Ti, I'm sure that was once considered wasted on 1080p displays, yet now 1080p is the only category it can truly bring a high FPS experience to still.

Also there is no new technology on the near horizon that might render the 4090 obsolete as far as I'm aware of. Sounds to me like you could buy the 4090, and that might be a GPU that will last you 5 years+ or more at 1440p / UWQHD with DLSS 3.0, maybe evem 6, 7, 8 years.

I'm throwing this out there as Devil's Advocate. I don't want to pay £1600 for a GPU, but if I could actually get a triple A futuristic experience that might last the better part of a decade from a GPU, then that sounds to me like a potential investment.
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Every gen Nvidia come up with some way to make their old cards look obsolete - there is no way a 4090 is going to last anyone 10 years, certainly not the type of person considering buying one now.

I suspect we are reaching the limits of what's possible with rasterisation and certainly within 10 years there will be a flip to proper raytracing or some other rendering method that will instantly make the 4090 obsolete.

You need to evaluate the cost/benefit of the 4090 now because any future usage of it is in no way guaranteed.

I mean, is anyone still using an original Titan? That's not even 10 years old and the oldest card in my current stable is a 1080ti.
 
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jaycob said:
Just as long as it's HR Ready you should be fine :p
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Should that be HD Ready ?

@OP Why start yet another thread when you can ask this in the 4000 series thread.

Sounds more like the OP wants us to justify them spending £1800 on a 4090. Yeah go ahead and buy one it will last you 25 years. Probably.
 
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dazzlaa said:
There will be another 'moment' in gaming that requires a better card. Nvidia will see to that. "Oh sorry, you see this new tech? It's called Ray Tracing 2, you can only have this on our new card".
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ReBAR seemed to be a real flop. Which did get pushed for that big marketing and fell away.
 
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Rather than use the words 'future proof', it might be worth asking will there be a performance 'plateau' with the releases in 2 years time? Like when we were stuck on 28nm for ages, then 14/12nm.

The answer to that? Dunno. Next to nothing in the way of leaks. I'm gona guess that at least one of Nvidia/AMD will still be on 4nm (so called) rather than 3/2 in 2 years time. But they may both move to multi die and offer more transistors that way.
 
OC2000 said:
It is definitely not Future proof. In 2 years Monitors with display port 2.0 will be readily available and no doubt the 5090 will have display port 2.
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You'd never know...depending on how the DP2.0 adaptation rate on monitors are like...wouldn't put it pass Nvidia to still to try to put DP1.4a on on the 5090, because they are lovely like that lol
 
There is no future-proofing with this class of cards because it's a want, not a need. Realistically people are still playing every game that doesn't require RT even with a 7970, so that's a decade of use. No doubt you could buy a 4090 and it will be better than even the GPU in the future consoles, so you could easily get 10 years out of it, if that's what you wanted. But will you be happy not maxing out settings, resolution, >60 fps? Unlikely if you're the type to buy a 4090, and the "investment" route makes no sense - it would be a wiser investment to buy mid-range every 4 years particularly used, no need to get a top of the line card and hold on to it for 10 years.
 
Vexr said:
Especially for us 1440p / UWQHD 3440x1440 users. Are we talking about rock solid max settings with ray tracing at these resolutions at 100-120-144 Hz? Even the power consumption scales when it's under-utilized.

Sure, currently it's said the 4090 is wasted on anything less than a high refresh rate 4K display. However, looking back at a previously mega-OP GPU, the 1080 Ti, I'm sure that was once considered wasted on 1080p displays, yet now 1080p is the only category it can truly bring a high FPS experience to still.

Also there is no new technology on the near horizon that might render the 4090 obsolete as far as I'm aware of. Sounds to me like you could buy the 4090, and that might be a GPU that will last you 5 years+ or more at 1440p / UWQHD with DLSS 3.0, maybe evem 6, 7, 8 years.

I'm throwing this out there as Devil's Advocate. I don't want to pay £1600 for a GPU, but if I could actually get a triple A futuristic experience that might last the better part of a decade from a GPU, then that sounds to me like a potential investment.
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It is out of date already I am afraid, the common term being 8K. That resolution will humble even the great RTX 4090.
 
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It won't be future proof becuase of feature support. As shown by DLSS3,Nvidia will try and gate off newer features to the RTX5000 series,etc. They are trying to justify pricing the RTX3060/RTX3070 successor as a £900 RTX4080 12GB and they can only do that by limiting feature support for older generations.
 
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Did people think the 3090 was future proof at the time? Probably not. 4090 is more expensive yes, but in grand scheme of things i'd argue if you can afford £1399 on a graphics card, you're probably doing ok, so £1699 isn't going to make you homeless on one either. No-one is forcing anyone to buy one either.

Reminds me of the "evergreen" term that was being thrown around a few years ago about moving workloads from on prem to Cloud :d

People are spending almost the same on an iPhone every year.
 
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My monitor caps out at 175hz so if I can hit that you could say it’s future proof until I get a better monitor but every year games will get more graphically intense and that run will run slower. Maybe in 20 years time and we can get GPUs with quantum supercomputers in them they will be future proof but can’t see that anytime soon!
 
Been gaming for well over 15 years the answer is no ! same with everything it life it gets replaced a year later with better tech.... You could technically have 4090 now but will it give you the performance for games in 3 years time on the newest titles ? defo not.
 
aoaaron said:
100% agreed.

Is essentially code for "I've bought something I shouldn't have which my current gear can't take advantage of; can you please help me justify it?".

I've been there and future proofed plenty of tech purchases. My gaming PC, my macbook, my ipad - and they're all oudated junk now LOL.
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Outdated how? Have they stopped working on your current crop of games you play?
 
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