NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation), AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 wins 7 of 11 benchmarks, averaging 60.5% 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 118% (144.9 vs 66.59 tok/s); the closest fight is LTX-Video (distilled) (5% 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 RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.67 | 110.18 | +88% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.9 | 66.59 | +118% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.79 | 36.34 | +117% |
| 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 | 6.56 | +14% |
| 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 | 2.06 | +5% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.22 | 0.18 | +22% |
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 RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.7 min | 27.5 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 2.17x faster | $0.015 vs $0.092 |
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 RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | $0.200 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is 2.90x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24GB | 20GB |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 936.2 GB/s | 360 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,695 MHz | 2,175 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 130 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | $1,250 |
| Release | 2020-09-24 | 2023-08-09 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 or NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 7 of 11 benchmarks in our suite with an average 60.5% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has 24GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) has 20GB VRAM and a 130W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 fits 1 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation). 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 RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- Llama 3.1 8B: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 leads by roughly 118% (144.9 vs 66.59 tok/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 full review · NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings