Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO review: Six months on

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Six months of ownership later, I reveal whether I regret buying the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO and if it makes sense for racing games.

Ladies, gentleman and sentient objects, feast your peep-holes on the most powerful consumer graphics card ever made. Until the rumoured Ti version, at least. Which may not be a thing, after all.

This particular interpretation – known as the Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO – is the PC gaming equivalent of the Bugatti Chiron. Price, horsepower, size and curves included.

Admittedly, Zotac was not my first choice. Nothing against the brand. Each manufacturer has good and bad days. However, amongst all those hip-to-be-square GPUs the curvy Zotac ticked the most boxes.

Boxes such as a pleasing design, quiet operation, zero coil whine, lower price and a long and hopefully painless warranty in addition to immense polygon-pushing power.

Having spent £1,457.23 (approximately US$1,850) at the start of February 2023 I decided it was time for my Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO review, which features many driving games at 4K 60FPS with visual settings maxed-out.

Please note: This is the script from my YouTube video, click play above to watch or go here.

Yes, I dusted off my wallet, set the moths free and paid with my own money for this triple-fan beast, which makes the ASUS RTX 3080 I had beforehand look puny and feeble. Why?

Because what makes the AMP Extreme AIRO so powerful, as well as other RTX 4090 GPUs including the Founders Edition (FE), is that you get 16,384 CUDA cores, 24GB of GDDR6X VRAM, 8K resolution support and a 384-bit memory bus. This particular Zotac also has a boost clock speed of 2,580MHz.

All of that plus overkill cooling means the RTX 4090 is the first and currently only graphics card capable of not just a comfortable 4K 60 FPS with visuals maxed-out in almost every game – 4K 120FPS and beyond is possible too.

That is, if you can also afford a high-resolution display and are happy using Nvidia’s DLSS 3 introduced with the 40-series GeForce graphics cards for more visually demanding games such as Cyberpunk 2077.

If you want to play games at their visual peak, there is nothing else like it. The gap to the RTX 4080, for instance, can be tens of per cent, while AMD’s 7900XTX loses out on ray tracing performance.

Yes, 4K 144Hz monitors and high-frame rate, high-resolution VR headsets such as the HP Reverb G2 can finally get the horsepower they need while lazy gamers with bigger piggy banks can avoid tweaking graphics settings.

Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO: The specs

Okay, numbers. The Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO is 355.5mm long, 149.6mm wide and 72.1mm deep. Hence the need for 3.5 slots, which is basically 4. As such, this is not the GPU for mini-ITX or micro-ATX builds. Even some small and mid-sized ATX cases will struggle to house its gigantic size.

Weighing just over two kilograms, it is heavy too hence why you should use the included GPU support stand to ensure no damage is done to it, the motherboard or both. Display output-wise, it has three DisplayPort 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1. Typical except for Asus.

In the box is a four-to-one 12VHPWR cable, which needs to be connected to four (yes, four!) separate 8-pin cables from your power supply unit (PSU). Three can work but with reduced performance hence why Zotac recommends at least 1,000W though 850w can be sufficient.

If four separate cables seems like misery, you could always get an aftermarket cable such as the Corsair 12VHPWR as it only needs two 8-pinners. Whatever you choose, just make sure everything is fully plugged in – or risk damage. Check and check again.

Speaking of power, unlike the cheaper Zotac Trinity RTX 4090, the AMP Extreme AIRO has a 24+4 VRM. Not the absolute best in class, but definitely top tier.

Not that it matters because the RTX 4090 benefits little from overclocking. In fact, many owners undervolt to reduce power consumption and lower temperatures with minimal effect on frame-rates.

As for the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO design, its IceStorm 3.0 cooling system has three 110mm fans that spin in alternate directions to reduce turbulence and noise. There is also a vapour chamber and a three-pin RGB header for connecting an RGB strip.

Said vapour chamber is connected to nine heatpipes and a gigantic metal heatsink, which help cool the GPU, VRM and memory chips. Meanwhile, a metal backplate provides a nice look and improves structural rigidity.

Less impressive is the 495W power limit, making it weaker for overclocking than the Nvidia Founders Edition (FE). Although other manufacturers have opted to play it safe and the performance difference is a few per cent at best.

You could flash another bios for access to more power as I have seen on a few PC enthusiast forums, though only overclocking score-chasers will benefit. An extra 150W of electric for three to five per cent frame-rate gains just seems unnecessary.

DLSS 3: What is it?

Unique to the 40-series is Nvidia’s DLSS 3 option. For reaching 4K 120FPS and beyond in games that support it, it can be essential and the feature is less visually noticeable than you might think.

What does it do exactly? Well, without getting too complicated, DLSS 3 uses artificial intelligence (flavour of the month) to render a third frame, which it inserts between the preceding and subsequent frames.

Yes, it is drawing its own interpretation of what is happening on screen based on what has happened already. Because this rendering process is less hardware intensive, it means you can enjoy a higher frame rate.

In faster moving games, DLSS 3 is at its weakest because it may not always guess the frame accurately enough and user-interface information can get a tad messy though many of us would never notice.

In Cyberpunk 2077, I would say the ability to hit 60FPS with ray-tracing and path tracing on, as opposed to 30 to 40 frames per second, ensures the pros outweigh the cons. For high frame-rate monitors in GPU-demanding games, it is essential.

Firestorm: Is it good?

Some early issues with Zotac’s Firestorm software meant some users were unable to use RGB. However, this bug was ironed out by late February.

Firestorm is easy to use, with an ‘OC Scanner’ feature for utilising a basic overclock and controls for maximum power and temperature limits. There are three profiles you can use to save your custom core voltage and memory clocks.

Having run the OC Scanner, I was recommended to run the memory at +200MHz and nothing else. A conservative increase well below what I have seen other owners running 24/7.

Firestorm also includes a dual bios option like on other RTX 4090s. ‘Amplify’ offers maximum performance, while ‘quiet’ takes things down a notch to reduce fan noise.

A backplate RGB light displays red for amplify and blue for quiet. You can also use a physical button on the GPU to swap between each bios mode.

The fourth tab, Spectra (not the evil organisation in James Bond), is where you can adjust the RGB lighting. There are numerous animated and static effects, each one featuring brightness and speed adjustment. Or you can switch it all off.

Each of the five zones can be customised together or separately, providing aesthetic flexibility. Sadly, the colour palette is limited – yellow and white are not really a thing, for instance.

The difficulty in controlling individual areas and the seemingly useless nature of ‘idle’ versus ‘active’ loses Firestorm more points, as does the cheap-looking and unchangeable Spiderman design.

It is also a shame that the RGB lighting can only be controlled via Firestorm as opposed to Corsair’s iCue or equivalents. Overall, I prefer MSI Afterburner for overclocking.

Temperatures

In an office at 25° degrees Celsius, according to my Prusa MK3S+ printer, the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO idles at 35.1°C, with lows of 31.7°C and highs of 46.3°C while running Firefox, HWInfo, Adobe PhotoShop 2023 and other non-gaming software.

The memory junction, meanwhile, sits between 34°C and 40°C. The hot spot temperature is between two and three degrees Celsius higher. Run the fans at their minimum 30 per cent speed continuously, as I do, and all temperatures are at least 7°C lower.

Whether or not it makes sense is debatable. For me it is easier to replace a fan than a circuit board and the extra airflow helps with CPU temperatures. I also never notice the extra fan noise in my Anidees AI Crystal M case.

During gaming, Death Stranding at 4K 60FPS with everything maxed-out at the same room temperature results in a maximum of 46.3°C for the graphics card, 52°C for the memory junction and 51.4°C for the hot spot. Positively chilly compared with my Asus RTX 3080.

SnowRunner with peak visual settings at 4K sits at around 55°C, while the fan noise is impercetible. Microsoft Flight Simulator is handled similarly well, with tempertatures averaging around the same level.

Less intensive 3D in racing games such as MotoGP 23, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2 and Project Cars 2 barely breached 40°C sometimes, which is remarkable. Of course, Cyberpunk 2077 at peak could push into the 60s during the heaviest scenes.

Even with a modest overclock, the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO remains well below its 84°C thermal limit. This is despite the fact my GPU is mounted vertically about two inches away from the glass side panel (any closer and airflow is impeded). You may see even better results, depending on case configuration.

Performance

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Now the important bit. How does the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO perform in driving games? To find out, I played a variety of games at 4K 60FPS, all settings maxed out, with GPU utilisation, temperature and other info on screen.

Basically, you should not see a drop in frame-rate despite the fact I am also recording in 4K using OBS software simultaneously. 4K, just a reminder, is 8,284,000 pixels, all of which are refreshed 60 times per second or more. Crazy when you think about it and testament to how powerful the RTX 4090 is.

As it turns out, running every racing game in my collection maxed-out at 4K is rarely an issue for the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO. WRC Generations and Dirt Rally 2.0 are gloriously detailed and stable.

Moving towards tarmac, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Automobilista 2, F1 22, F1 23, MotoGP 23, Project Cars 2, rFactor 2 and Wreckfest all achieve maxed-out 4K 60FPS.

Cyberpunk 2077 is stable at 4K 60FPS ‘ultra’ with all but that silly ‘psycho’ shadow setting enabled. 30 to 45FPS is hardly bad either with ray-tracing on, though DLSS 3 saves the day here for smooth gaming at 60FPS.

Even with ‘Path Tracing’ enabled, which the menu describes as a “technology preview”, DLSS 3 ensures only a few dips below 60FPS.

Poorly optimised SnowRunner proves to be smooth most of the time, with only the odd stutter. Dakar Desert Rally, from a subsidiary of the SnowRunner maker, struggles more. It look stunning, but there are too many performance drops even with such a weapon of a GPU.

If anything, this highlights that future games may well push the RTX 4090 beyond what it can manage now. Partly because of lazy developer optimisation but also advances in fancy lighting effects, with DLSS 3 taking up the slack.

Virtual reality

Given the sheer graphical punch of the RTX 4090, it is no surprise that I am able to run Microsoft Flight Simulator VR at high settings without seeing the frame-rate drop much below 90 frames per second. The maximum of the HP Reverb G2.

This is a CPU-intensive game, admittedly, and the AMD Ryzen 5950X is no slouch. Yet with the RTX 3080 I had most visual options dialled back. Here, I could go for extremely high settings even without a more powerful AM5 CPU.

Half Life: Alyx, meanwhile, is served up in a way that really showcases modern-day graphics and virtual reality at its best. Here, the RTX 4090 does its thing effortlessly. It is the same story in the peaceful and pretty Kayak VR, where everything maxed out is no problem at all.

Other racing games are also more than happy in VR, with that high resolution of the Reverb G2 more than catered for. I would still not recommend VR wholeheartedly as I think more technology advances are required, but the immersion is impressive.

Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO: Worth buying, then?

Look, the RTX 4090 is a hotly debated graphics card and I can understand why. Ignoring Titan cards and top-end 30-series offerings, it is an absurdly expensive way to make games look better. You can get great visuals, even at 4K 60FPS, for less unless you want the best settings.

But you have to remember that, accounting for inflation and sheer grunt, the RTX 4090 is actually good value. Yes, really. It can do what no other graphics card has done before it, while staying cool, quiet and power efficient.

In Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO form, it also happens to be backed up by a five-year warranty in the UK, has zero coil whine, performance as strong as most of its rivals and a unique look. Never did I imagine I would spend £1,430 on a single PC component, let alone have zero regrets.

For £25 every month over five years, I can max-out virtually every game. I think it is worth it. I would understand if you disagree. Especially given current energy prices, inflation and rising temperatures. An Xbox Series X or PS5 can be as fun and less hassle than a gaming PC.

It is, however, that “virtually” I must circle back to. It stings most when a GPU such as the RTX 4090 is unable to wear every game like a hat and I would be sad to see the likes of DLSS 3 and sheer GPU grunt encourage development laziness.

TLDR: For those who crave the best visuals, fast frame rates and peak virtual reality there really is no other option. High-end, low-effort gaming is best served by the RTX 4090 and Zotac’s sizeable and curvy card has (so far) never skipped a beat.

Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO specs

• Boost clock: 2,580MHz
• CUDA cores: 16,384
• 24gb GDDR6X VRAM
• Power connectors: 1 x 16-pin
• Dimensions: 355.5 x 149.6 x 72.1 millimetres
• Weight: 2.044 kilograms
• Slots required: 3.6
• Connectivity: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
• Recommended PSU: 1,000W (850W works)
• TDP: 450W
• Power limit: 495W
• Warranty: 5 years (with registration)
• MSRP: £1,650 / US$1,700
• Website

Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO images

Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO review: Six months on

Verdict

Despite a lower power limit, the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO is a monster of a GPU in terms of 4K performance, VR, size, cooling performance and warranty.

Positives

4K 60FPS at max settings

Low temperatures

Original design

Negatives

Bulky

Lower maximum power limit

Spectra software needs work

95

The Score