On the launch of the RTX 3080 Ti, we had a chance to take a look at the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 and it was our first encounter with Inno3D on our site. We were pleased with the iChill X4 and made it our GPU of choice for our test bench. The Launch of the RTX 40 series means a new series of GPUs from brand partners. Up on our alley is the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC. It’s not Inno3D’s flagship iChill line but it’s a card worth checking out as it’s one of the cheapest RTX 4090s in the market at only Php 109,995. Let’s see how the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC keeps up with the rest of our RTX 4090 stack.
Nvidia Ada Lovelace Architecture
Following the success of the RTX 30 series card and the Ampere architecture, Nvidia continues to double down on its proven and tested formula with the debut of the Nvidia Ada Lovelace architecture featuring 76 Billion Transistors. Nvidia has moved from Samsung 8N to TSMC’s 4N process, resulting in much bigger performance gains and slighter higher pricing as TSMC recently hiked up its prices. The new Ada Lovelace features 3rd Generation RT Cores at 200 RT TFLOPs and 4th Gen Tensor Cores for 1,4000 TFLOPs as well as a new streaming multiprocessor with up to 2x power efficiency. Moreover, Ada Lovelace also brings in new features exclusive to the RTX 40 series graphics card such as DLSS 3, AV1 Encoding, and Shader Execution Reordering.
Shader Execution Reordering
Shader Execution Reodering largely contributes to the performance gains of the RTX 40 series GPUs thanks to the more efficient usage of the shaders. SER is a scheduling system that reorders shading work on-the-fly for better execution efficiency, especially on ray-traced workloads. Think hyperthreading plus thread director but for GPUs particularly the RTX 40 series where the rays are reordered so that the ones that are running on the same program or similar are grouped together resulting in the shader working consistently instead of waiting on each other.
SER is an NVAPI extension meaning that developers would have to enable it on their games. We should expect SER to be heavily and quickly adopted especially in games where there are already Nvidia features enabled such as Reflex, RTX, and DLSS.
Nvidia DLSS 3
DLSS 3 uses the 4th Gen Tensor Cores and the Optical Flow Accelerator of the RTX 40 series to improve overall performance using AI-generated frames. In addition to already upscaling existing frames like DLSS 2, DLSS 3 generates intermediate frames in your game aka inserting AI-generated frames to improve performance. The RTX 40 series GPU will analyze two in-game frames and generate an optical flow field, closely looking at all elements in the game and using the information gathered to construct a frame in between. Additionally, DLSS 3 incorporates Nvidia Reflex ultra-low-latency solution making your games way more responsive and providing more frames. Games that support DLSS 3 will automatically support Nvidia Reflex.
DLSS 3 can be used by older Nvidia RTX graphics cards but won’t be able to fully maximize the feature as the biggest improvement of the technology, Frame Generation, is exclusive to the RTX 40 series graphics cards.
Nvidia RTX 40 Series Specifications
| RTX 40 SERIES SPECS | GeForce RTX 4090 | GeForce RTX 4080 16GB | GeForce RTX 4070 Ti |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 16,384 | 9,728 | 7,680 |
| Boost Clock (GHz) | 2.52 | 2.51 | 2.61 |
| Base Clock (GHz) | 2.23 | 2.21 | 2.31 |
| Memory Config | 24GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X | 12GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 384-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit |
| Graphics Power | 450W | 320W | 285W |
| Required System power | 850W | 750W | 700W |
| Price | Php 112,300 | Php 84,200 | Php 63,200 |
Three graphics cards were announced at GTC 2022 namely the GeForce RTX 4090 and two variants of the RTX 4080, a 16GB and 12GB variant similar to the current RTX 3080 that has a 10GB and 12GB version. The RTX 4090 is the brand’s flagship graphics card however the 4090 isn’t the maxed-out version of the AD 102 GPU so we’re expecting an RTX 4090 Ti in the future, should Nvidia see the need to release one. Going back to the RTX 4090 and 3090 Ti, the 4090 is only $100 more than the launch price of the latter and is considerably cheap when you take into account the performance gains, inflation, and global economic recession that we’re in.
Nvidia RTX 4090
The RTX 4090 has 52% more CUDA cores than the outgoing RTX 3090 Ti with a similar percentage increase in RT cores and Tensor cores. At the announcement, Nvidia claimed performance gains of around 2-4x faster than the RTX 3090 Ti with a launch price premium of $100. In the announcement, Nvidia showed rasterization performance graphs aka non-ray-traced titles but subsequent graphs showed Ray Tracing and DLSS enabled to get the four times performance improvement. Nonetheless, it’s still an improvement.
Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC Unboxing and Overview
Inno3D uses a new “mecha hound” box art for its X3 OC variant for its RTX 40 series graphics compared to last generation’s flaming girl design. I personally like the new design as it has less details and is much appealing to the eye. The features are highlighted on the lower left of the graphics card while the back part shows translated descriptions as well as the typical Nvidia GeForce GPU feature highlight.
First seen on our Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 review, Inno3D includes a warning sticker that states that the product is not designed for Crypto Mining before you get to open up the RTX 4090 X3. Again, kudos to Inno3D for this simple move albeit it’s also worth noting that GPU mining is as good as gone since the Ethereum POS update.
Moving to the rest of the packaging contents you have a warranty card, a PSU guideline card, and a 3x 8‐Pin to 12VHPWR adapter.
The design of the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC is a huge step up from the RTX 30 X3 series as the current iteration feels more premium with its two-tone finish and boxy design. The brushed aluminum half contributes to the overall rigidity and premium feel of the graphics card. Its boxyness makes it look less bulky given the RTX 4090’s insane cooling requirement.
Its side, on the other hand, is somewhat of a love-hate relationship. The design especially the area around the GeForce RTX logo looks like something that was just added at a later stage of the manufacturing process. It would’ve been nice to see the cage implementation
There’s a full metal backplate cover on the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC that provides passive cooling as well as structural support against GPU sag. Like most RTX 30 and 40 series cards, the right side of the backplate is exposed to give way for cooling. To Inno3D’s credit, the X3 OC variant has one of the most exposed openings allowing for more efficient airflow.
The exposed backplate shows how much of the heatsink is exposed with around the size of more than one 98mm fan.
You have the standard port configuration on the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC namely one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a ports.
Test Bench Setup and Benchmark Methodology
Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC Testbench Specs
| CPU | Intel Core i9 13900K |
| COOLER | ASUS ROG RYUJIN II 360mm V2 – Noctua NT-H2 Thermal Paste |
| MOTHERBOARD | Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master |
| MEMORY | Kingston Fury Beast RGB 32GB(2x16GB) 6000 MHz DDR5 |
| GPU | Nvidia RTX 4090 FE | Colorful iGame RTX 4090 Vulcan OC-V | RTX 4080 FE | ASUS TUF RTX 4080 | Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC | 526.72 driver | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX |
| STORAGE | Kingston KC3000 1TB PCI-E Gen 4 SSD |
| POWERSUPPLY | ROG Thor 1000W Platinum II PSU |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | Windows 11 Pro Build 22H2 |
| DISPLAY | Lenovo Legion Y27Q Gaming Monitor |
We use CapFrameX 1.7.0 Stable as our primary FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build version of Windows 11 Pro and WHQL-certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draws are recorded using HWINFO64, and other relevant software for cross-checking.
Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC Benchmarks
COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive aka CSGO is an 11-year-old first-person shooter title that’s still widely popular despite its old Source Engine. CS:GO is a great game to test out CPU performance as the game is heavily CPU-dependent like any other FPS title. Our CS:GO benchmark process uses ULLETICAL’s FPS Benchmark workshop mod to measure the hardware’s performance.
DOTA 2
Most gamers play at least one of the following free-to-play titles: League of Legends, CS: GO, Dota 2, and/or Fortnite. Dota 2 is a good representation of the F2P titles as it is the most demanding game in the spectrum. The benchmark will give you an idea of the graphic card’s relative performance on other lesser demanding titles. Our benchmark sequence is based on a replay of OG vs. Liquid in the TI9 grand finals from the team fight that happened from 28:30 to 29:30.
Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6
Far Cry 5 is an FPS game published by Ubisoft and uses the Dunia engine. It heavily relies on and takes advantage of DirectX 11 to render a realistic environment that makes it taxing to both the CPU and GPU. Far Cry 6 is the latest installment in the franchise which utilizes DirectX 12 to run the virtual world of Yara.
Rainbow Six Siege
Rainbow Six Seige is one of the few popular AAA games that’s still popular in 2021 due to its competitive gameplay mechanics. R6S uses the AnvilNext game engine, which the game’s publisher, Ubisoft, developed. As of writing, Rainbow Six Siege is currently the most popular Tom Clancy title beating out Wildlands, Breakpoint, and even Division 2.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably the most hyped game of 2020. Developed by CD Projekt Red, the dystopian open-world, action-adventure RPG sports is one of the most demanding titles to date. Cyberpunk 2077 also supports three Ray Tracing settings as well as DLSS which makes the game a great tool to measure Ray tracing performance for both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of The Tomb Raider or SOTR is the latest installment of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider franchise. Developed by Square Enix, SOTR uses the Foundation engine and is further enhanced by Eidos Montreal. SOTR is also one of the first games to come out with Ray Tracing and DLSS support.
Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus is the third Metro game trilogy based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels. The game is a first-person shooter with survival horror and stealth elements. The post-apocalyptic game uses 4A Engine by 4A games. Released last 2019, Metro Exodus remains to be one of the most graphically pleasing and demanding games that’s popular to date.
Assassins Creed: Odyssey and Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Valhalla are the latest franchise installment from Ubisoft. It’s by far the most popular and stable Assassin’s Creed title since AC IV: Black Flag. It uses the AnvilNext 2.0 game engine, an updated version of Rainbow Six Siege’s game engine, and uses the DirectX 12 API.
F1 2022 and F1 22
F1 2020 is the official video game of the 2020 Formula 1 and Formula 2 championships developed by Codemasters. F1 2020 is the twelfth installment in the franchise and uses the Ego Engine 3.0. F1 2020 is a good representation of racing games thanks to its realistic graphics and fairly demanding spec requirements.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the most popular console-port RPG developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Horizon Zero Dawn is a multi-award-winning action RPG, and its popularity resulted in an exclusive Complete Edition game bundle on Steam
Call of Duty Modern Warfare II
Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC Temperatures and Power Draw
The Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC has impressed us so far with its design and build quality. Looking at the recorded temperatures, things start to get a little grounded. Unfortunately, the X3 OC holds the highest temperature across our RTX 4090 stack at 70°C and has the same idle temp as our FE card at 30°C. That said, the higher temperatures, specifically the 2°C delta over the TUF card translate to higher overall framerates as seen in our benchmarks and that’s a tradeoff I’ll take any day.
Power consumption-wise, the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC consumes roughly the same power as the rest of the RTX 4090 OC cards. If anything, it’s actually the lowest power card in our OC RTX 4090s at about 0.007W lower than the Founders Edition.
Conclusion
Inno3D has clearly stepped up with the launch of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards as seen with the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC. Previously, non-flagship variants were just there to have an “MSRP” model, but that isn’t the case with the X3 OC. The Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC actually provides a decent alternative to flashy and gimmicky graphics cards without sacrificing performance. The simple industrial design focuses on both build quality and cooling as it doesn’t have unnecessary curves or edges that would just contribute to the weight of the already heavy graphics card. Inno3D’s cooling first approach makes the RTX 4090 X3 OC squeeze in as much performance before anything else thus making up most of the card’s value.
Out of all the RTX 4090 GPUs we have in the lab, the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC grants us a bit of nostalgia where performance and cooling were the focus of most brands. Its design makes it refreshing as the market is swamped with over-the-top designs that are magnified by the large cooler footprint of RTX 40 series graphics cards. That said, if you’re not particular about all the bells and whistles or if you’re actually looking for a minimalist GPU, then the Inno3D RTX 4090 X3 OC provides good value as it focuses on performance, build quality, and cooling – a rare trifecta, especially at the price of Php 109,995 which makes it one of the cheapest RTX 4090s in the market.
Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.
