Earlier this month, a report surfaced suggesting that NVIDIA would be skipping 2024 for its graphics cards. As such, the only high-end GPU for the rest of the year (and for next year) will be the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. That is of course if the green team does not release an RTX 4090Ti model. Still, and surprisingly enough, the NVIDIA RTX 4090 was one of the best purchases you could make in 2022.

Now before picking your pitchforks, let me explain. This is an article I wanted to write for a while. In fact, I highly recommended the NVIDIA RTX 4090 when it launched in 2022. And, since this is the weekend, this is better than more Unreal Engine 5 videos, right?

So, let’s start with the obvious. Even in 2023, this GPU is a beast. And when I say a beast, I mean a BEAST. Especially in 4K. Because, despite NVIDIA’s claims, the RTX 3080 and the RTX 2080Ti were never 4K GPUs. So, it’s not like we’re sugarcoating things. We always considered the RTX2080Ti and the RTX3080 as “1440p GPUs“. In fact, we were a bit underwhelmed by the performance of the RTX3080 over the RTX2080Ti. However, for the time being, the RTX 4090 IS a 4K GPU. Hell, even without DLSS 2, this GPU can maintain 60fps in the most demanding triple-A rasterized games like The Last of Us Part I, Hogwarts Legacy, A Plague Tale: Requiem or Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

What’s also crucial to note is that you’ll never encounter any VRAM issues with this graphics card. After all, there is no game that can fill 24GB of VRAM. This is one of the main reasons why it wasn’t wise to go with all the other RTX 40 series GPUs.

Let’s also don’t forget DLSS 2. Since DLSS 2 is SO GOOD these days, you’ll be mad not to use it in the games that support it. In fact, you can get a better image (with better framerates) than native resolution, especially if you game at 4K. Add to this DLSS 3’s Frame Generation, and you get yourself a GPU that can last you for a long time.

So, for those gaming at 4K, the RTX4090 was a blessing. Surely you had to pay $1600 (you could get it at that price at launch, and right now you can find it at 1800 euros). But hey, this was the first time you could enjoy native 4K gaming with 60fps on Ultra Settings. Let’s also not forget that the RTX4090 offers double the performance of the RTX3080. The RTX3080 launched at $699 and was universally praised for its price. So, given the performance gains, the RTX 4090 came close to that price/performance ratio.

But what about 1440p owners? Why should they pay $1600-$1800 when they could get cheaper GPUs? Well now here’s where things get interesting.

At 1440p/Ultra, the RTX 4090 remains the undisputed champion, allowing you to game with really high framerates. And that’s without using any upscaling techniques. Since we won’t be getting any new high-end GPUs in 2024, this means that for three whole years, you’ll be gaming with blazing high framerates. However, the RTX 4090 won’t become obsolete when the RTX 5090 comes out. Given the power of the current-gen consoles, we can safely assume that the RTX 4090 will last you FOR A LONG TIME, especially if you game at 1440p/60fps.

But wait, I hear you. Why shouldn’t I get an RTX 3080 now for $500 and in 2025 get an RTX 5070Ti for (speculating a price here, let’s say $700)? That’s $1200 vs 1600$.

Well, here is the thing. If you get an RTX3080, you’ll be getting less performance in all games. Yes, you only paid $500. But if you add to that the price of your next GPU, you’re looking at a total price that is close to the RTX4090. Right now, we also don’t expect the RTX 5070Ti to match the performance of the RTX 4090. Hell, even the RTX 5080 may not be able to beat it. The gap between the RTX4080 and the RTX4090 is too big. And if you think that NVIDIA will offer you a huge performance jump, you’re delusional. That, or you haven’t been paying attention to the rest of the RTX 40 series GPUs.

What this ultimately means is that an NVIDIA RTX 4090 will remain more powerful than an RTX 5070Ti. So, instead of paying upfront the price of the RTX4090, you’ll end up paying almost the same amount of money for GPUs that could not match RTX 4090’s performance. Even if you go for the RTX 5080 (let’s say it’s $1000 and not higher, though you know it will be higher), you’ll end up with a GPU that may match its performance. For the exact same price. And the downside is that you’ve missed out on the games that could not run on the RTX 3080 all the previous years. And, let’s be realistic here. When you get an RTX 5080, you won’t be playing CP2077 Overdrive or the Path Tracing Mods of older games. Not when The Witcher 4 and other triple-A games are right around the corner.

And I know, this is speculation (regarding RTX 5070Ti’s price). However, one of the reasons I’m writing this article is so that I can re-visit it when that GPU arrives. Think of it as a bet.

There’s also something else you should keep in mind. Although the RTX 4090 is overkill right now in modern-day games at 1440p, it WON’T be in games that will release in two years. PC requirements are constantly going higher and higher. So, if you’ve invested in a powerful GPU, you’re basically future-proofing yourself for the “more advanced” games. Common sense, I know. Who would have thought that?

Now the ONLY reason someone would be willing to upgrade from an RTX 4090 (when the RTX50 series releases) is due to FOMO reasons. FOMO stands for “Fear Of Missing Out”. And this is one of the most ridiculous reasons I’ve ever seen. Performance-wise, you won’t have to.

So basically, you can skip the entire RTX 50 series and still have amazing performance in all triple-A games. Hell, you might be able to skip the entire RTX 60 series if most games utilize DLSS 2/3. That is obviously at 1440p and not at 4K. Ultimately, you’re looking at a GPU that can last you 8 years. This is crazy. NVIDIA produced a beast of a GPU in 2022, and that was a really rare thing!