Not all cards carrying the GeForce RTX 4090 name are created equal, with the version you’ll find in a laptop different to the desktop model in just about every way that matters. For a start, the laptop model is built around a different GPU—Nvidia’s AD103 rather than the desktop version’s AD102—and has 8 GB less memory to work with. And then, even after all of that compromise, there’s also the price.
The most obvious source of this divergence is that the desktop RTX 4090 has some serious heft that would make it an undertaking to fit into a traditional laptop shell. So naturally, an enterprising modder got to thinking.
According to VideoCardz, a Chinese modder known as ‘A Beginner Who Enjoys Overclocking’ (or ‘爱超频的小白’) has answered a question I definitely wasn’t asking: ‘What would a laptop with a desktop 4090 look like?’
The resulting build uses a custom blower-style RTX 4090 card that is, in a word, chunky. Photographic evidence depicts it still fitting inside a backpack but, weighing about the same as a jack russell terrier strapped to your back, it’s really pushing the limits of portability (even if it is less wriggly than the dog). Weighing 6.7 kg while unplugged, and boasting a 7 cm thick profile on top of that heft, it’s more than a handful—and definitely not one you’d want to drop on your foot.
Then there’s the power situation. A typical laptop RTX 4090 has a TGP between 80 to 175 W, but as this mod job uses the desktop version, that number jumps up dramatically to between 450 to 600 W. As such, the unit must be plugged into a power supply at all times. That, plus the weight, plus the fact the desktop RTX 4090 can get as hot as 70°C during peak performance at the best of times, and it’s not exactly the comfiest situation to perch atop your lap.
You won’t be short for performance with this machine, at least. Thanks to the desktop-grade, entirely overkill RTX 4090 and Ryzen 9 7950X3D, this machine scores a whopping 28,490 in Time Spy. That’s with a GPU score of 36,426. The average GPU score for an RTX 4090 is 21,593—meaning the desktop part is around 68% faster, even stuffed into a laptop.
Still, despite all of its impracticalities, I just can’t tear my eyes away from this absolute beast of a machine. The efforts of a self-described ‘Beginner,’ it’s an impressive piece of work.
