Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 RTX 5090 comes in slower than many older RTX 4090 laptops

[Redaktion]

Uh oh — we all knew that the mobile GeForce RTX 5090 can operate under a wide TGP range, but 120 W may be too low for comfort as the performance benefits over the mobile RTX 4090 begin to disappear.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ROG-Zephyrus-G16-RTX-5090-comes-in-slower-than-many-older-RTX-4090-laptops.994751.0.html

[RobertJasiek]

Allen Ngo fails to mention the major reason why somebody would want to operate a 5090 at 120W: very low noise. Needless to say, the notebook fails in this regard. Only this consideration then gives rise to Allen's light and thin reflections. That is, the notebook is form over function instead of vice versa.

[TGPmatters]

I disagree that the 120w 5090 being comparable to a 175w 4090 laptop is bad. You're telling me you can get 4090 mobile performance at a whopping 55w, 30% LESS power and still get a sleeker, lighter, more compact chasis? that's a good thing. nobody needs anything more than 4090-level performance for gaming and it's clear Asus is targeting efficiency and thermal design over raw performance with this model. performance per watt sounds fantastic for the 120w 5090. I wish manufacturers like Microsoft could make a 2-in-1 type device (with a 3:2 aspect ratio) that includes a lower TGP graphics card like this so we can get the best of both worlds with portability and power. we need more mid-to-low TGP discrete graphics options and NBC should be encouraging efficiency in graphics performance, not diminishing it.

[Worgarthe]

Allen Ngo fails to mention the major reason why somebody would want to operate a 5090 at 120W: very low noise.

You can do that with 175W also - just cap the wattage in the GPU settings and get lower noise and heat. I cap mine to 50W when I don't need full 130W of power - no noise, no heat, enough of GPU power for most of my non-gaming usage.

[Lily]

I disagree that the 120w 5090 being comparable to a 175w 4090 laptop is bad. You're telling me you can get 4090 mobile performance at a whopping 55w, 30% LESS power and still get a sleeker, lighter, more compact chasis? that's a good thing. nobody needs anything more than 4090-level performance for gaming and it's clear Asus is targeting efficiency and thermal design over raw performance with this model. performance per watt sounds fantastic for the 120w 5090. I wish manufacturers like Microsoft could make a 2-in-1 type device (with a 3:2 aspect ratio) that includes a lower TGP graphics card like this so we can get the best of both worlds with portability and power. we need more mid-to-low TGP discrete graphics options and NBC should be encouraging efficiency in graphics performance, not diminishing it.

I wanted the Surface Laptop Studio to get dGPU options like this to become my perfect Windows laptop. Microsoft wont will it though.

[Ninjaunmatched]

I've work on a lot of laptops and thinner, is cool, but all the thinner laptops get quite hot. There's just isn't enough space to put good enough fans to blow enough heat out.

Way I see it. A thinner fan that can spin at much higher speeds reliability for a long time is now necessary. Possibly a fan that is thin but larger may do it but that'll take up more space.

Only other option I can think of is what Samsung did in the Note 9..... some liquid carbon cooling feature which did prove to work at keeping the phone under 100 degrees.  Plus I've had many Samsung phones and the Note 9 never overheated on hot days in the car. Now ever other phone I've had after did overheat though. But that is just my experience and I know the system didn't always prove better but in a laptop? It can be improved... and it would be larger than a phone of course... it might prove better in this way. Surprised no one has tried it.

[Samwise]

You're comparing a 1.8 kg laptop to a 2.6 kg one and you actually expect them to be vaguely similar?

Almost nobody is actually choosing between these two laptops.

One is clearly for carrying around, the other clearly for spending 90% of it's time on a desk.

Find a 4090 laptop under 2 kg and try again.