NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA T4, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 wins 6 of 10 benchmarks, averaging 258.5% 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 314% (144.9 vs 35.01 tok/s); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (205% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 runs 111 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 T4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.67 | 67.71 | +205% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.9 | 35.01 | +314% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.79 | 19.76 | +299% |
| 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 | 2.36 | +216% |
| 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 |
| 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 T4 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA T4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.7 min | 50.7 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 3.99x faster |
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA T4 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24GB | 16GB |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Turing |
| Memory bandwidth | 936.2 GB/s | 320 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,695 MHz | 1,590 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 70 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | $2,299 |
| Release | 2020-09-24 | 2018-09-13 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 or NVIDIA T4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 6 of 10 benchmarks in our suite with an average 258.5% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA T4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has 24GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA T4 has 16GB VRAM and a 70W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA T4?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 fits 40 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA T4. 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 T4?
- Llama 3.1 8B: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 leads by roughly 314% (144.9 vs 35.01 tok/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 full review · NVIDIA T4 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings