NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA RTX A6000, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA RTX A6000 wins 5 of 9 benchmarks, averaging 3.8% 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 RTX A6000 leads by 41% (3.825 vs 5.4 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (12% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA RTX A6000 runs 9 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 8, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA RTX A6000 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.67 | 184.34 | +12% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.9 | 124.87 | +16% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.79 | 68.51 | +15% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 37.95 | 32.18 | +18% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 15.73 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 7.46 | 10.02 | -26% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 3.825 | 5.4 | -29% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 2.164 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 0 | 1.05 | 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 2; NVIDIA RTX A6000 on 1.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA RTX A6000 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 8.3 min | 7.1 min | NVIDIA RTX A6000 1.17x faster | $0.010 vs $0.039 |
| Full codebase review | 12.7 min | 14.6 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 1.15x faster | $0.015 vs $0.080 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 finishes 2 of 2 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 A6000 | $0.330 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is 4.78x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA RTX A6000 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ampere |
| Memory bandwidth | 936.2 GB/s | 768 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,695 MHz | 1,860 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | $4,650 |
| Release | 2020-09-24 | 2020-10-05 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 or NVIDIA RTX A6000?
- NVIDIA RTX A6000 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 5 of 9 benchmarks in our suite with an average 3.8% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA RTX A6000?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has 24GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA RTX A6000 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA RTX A6000?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA RTX A6000 fits 4 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090. 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 A6000?
- Z-Image Turbo: NVIDIA RTX A6000 leads by roughly 41% (3.825 vs 5.4 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 full review · NVIDIA RTX A6000 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings