NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 wins 7 of 11 benchmarks, averaging 22.2% faster.
Both cards were measured first-party on our bench, same suite, same test rig.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Qwen3 4B, where NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 leads by 26% (206.45 vs 260.54 tok/s); the closest fight is Llama 3.1 8B (19% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 runs 8 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 3, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.45 | 260.54 | -21% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.11 | 171.29 | -16% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.31 | 95.12 | -18% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 0 | 44.28 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 0 | 7.425 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s | 0 | 4.7 | n/a |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0 | 0.43 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is faster on 0 of 1; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 on 1.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.8 min | 10.5 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 1.21x faster | $0.038 vs $0.027 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 finishes 1 of 1 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | $0.180 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | $0.155 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is 1.16x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB | 24GB |
| Transistors | 28,300M | 76,300M |
| Die size | 628.4 mm² | 608.5 mm² |
| Transistor density | 45 M/mm² | 125.4 M/mm² |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 1008 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,665 MHz | 2,520 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 450 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,199 | $1,599 |
| Release | 2021-06-03 | 2022-10-12 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 7 of 11 benchmarks in our suite with an average 22.2% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has 12GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has 24GB VRAM and a 450W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 fits 4 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. A model that exceeds VRAM doesn't run slower, it doesn't run at all, so the card that fits the model wins that workload outright.
- Where is the biggest performance difference between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090?
- Qwen3 4B: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 leads by roughly 26% (206.45 vs 260.54 tok/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti full review · NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings