NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 wins 6 of 12 benchmarks, averaging 3.3% faster.
Both cards were measured first-party on our bench, same suite, same test rig.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Z-Image Turbo, where NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 leads by 50% (3.825 vs 2.55 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (2% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 runs 8 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 6, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.67 | 201.76 | +2% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.9 | 127.09 | +14% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.79 | 69.93 | +13% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 37.95 | 0 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 7.46 | 10.16 | -27% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 3.825 | 2.55 | +50% |
| 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 | 3.23 | -33% |
| 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 4080 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.7 min | 14.3 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 1.13x faster | $0.015 vs $0.026 |
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 4080 | $0.108 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is 1.57x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24GB | 16GB |
| Transistors | 28,300M | 45,900M |
| Die size | 628.4 mm² | 378.6 mm² |
| Transistor density | 45 M/mm² | 121.2 M/mm² |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ada Lovelace (AD103) |
| Memory bandwidth | 936.2 GB/s | 716.8 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,695 MHz | 2,505 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 320 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | $1,199 |
| Release | 2020-09-24 | 2022-11-16 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 6 of 12 benchmarks in our suite with an average 3.3% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has 24GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has 16GB VRAM and a 320W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 fits 2 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. 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 4080?
- Z-Image Turbo: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 leads by roughly 50% (3.825 vs 2.55 images/min) in our testing.
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