ZOTAC PGF: the largest graphics card on the market returns under RTX 4090 D
Tech review media Expreview test ZOTAC’s flagship model based on RTX 4090D.
This year, NVIDIA launched three graphics cards based in the SUPER series and one SKU designed specifically for the Chinese market. The RTX 4090D is a cut-down version of the original RTX 4090 design to meet the U.S. export restriction to China. ZOTAC just updated their PGF model, which is currently considered the flagship design of this company.
The RTX 4090D PGF is physically similar to the original model, but the underlying GPU specs are different. As a reminder, the D variant has 14592 CUDA cores and Total Graphics Power limited to 425W (a downgrade from 16384 cores and 450W). There is no factory-overclocking on any RTX 4090D available on the market, except for some software OC available for individual models.
ZOTAC RTX4090D PGF, Source: Expreview
The PGF is also a victim of power limitations, but only in default settings. The card offers 425W default power and a maximum of 530W for overclocking, potential enough to beat RTX 4090. As we mentioned earlier, the RTX 4090D overclocking was mostly pointless when these cards came out because it didn’t work properly. Sadly, two months later, things do not look much different.
ZOTAC RTX4090D PGF, Source: Expreview
The BIOS aside, the PGF stands out not for the specs, but for its looks. This ‘sneaker shoe’ design is not something every graphics card enthusiast appreciates, but regardless of personal preferences, one must admit that this is the largest RTX 4090D on the market. It comes with three 11 cm fans (typically we see 9 to 10 cm). The card measures 38.1×15.4×7.4 cm, which means it is not only long but also very thick. To give you some perspective, the PGF is actually longer than the Gigabyte RTX 4090 AORUS Master, which is 35 cm long.
The interesting detail is that since the original RTX 4090 PGF is no longer manufactured, the RTX 4090D PGF has become the largest desktop GPU currently on the market.
ZOTAC RTX4090D PGF, Source: Expreview
The card has high maximum TGP and a powerful 28-phase power PCB design. Despite the technological headroom, the card struggles to offer much of the overclocking potential. The team from Expreview only managed to squeeze 3.7% more performance from this card. That’s despite 24.7% more power theoretically available.
Overclocking, Source: Expreview
The ZOTAC RTX 4090D PGF is now available in China, and it is not expected to hit the stores in other countries. This is both the most high-end RTX 4090D ZOTAC model presently, and the biggest disappointment in terms of OC. We encourage you to check the full review for more details, such as noise and cooling tests, whether such a large cooler is even needed.
Source: Expreview