NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 wins 7 of 11 benchmarks, averaging 49.6% faster.
Both cards were measured first-party on our bench, same suite, same test rig.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Llama 3.1 8B, where NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 leads by 56% (144.9 vs 93.16 tok/s); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (38% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 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 3090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.67 | 149.68 | +38% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.9 | 93.16 | +56% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.79 | 50.74 | +55% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 37.95 | 0 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 3.825 | 0 | 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 | 2.17 | 0 | n/a |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.22 | 0 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is faster on 1 of 1; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.7 min | 19.7 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 1.55x faster | $0.015 vs $0.025 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 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 3090 | $0.069 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 | $0.076 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is 1.10x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24GB | 12GB |
| Transistors | 28,300M | 35,800M |
| Die size | 628.4 mm² | 294.5 mm² |
| Transistor density | 45 M/mm² | 121.6 M/mm² |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 936.2 GB/s | 504 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,695 MHz | 2,475 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 200 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | $599 |
| Release | 2020-09-24 | 2023-04-13 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 7 of 11 benchmarks in our suite with an average 49.6% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has 24GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has 12GB VRAM and a 200W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 fits 4 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070. 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 3090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070?
- Llama 3.1 8B: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 leads by roughly 56% (144.9 vs 93.16 tok/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 full review · NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings