NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 wins 7 of 9 benchmarks, averaging 48.8% faster.
Both cards were measured first-party on our bench, same suite, same test rig.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Qwen3 32B, where NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 leads by 61% (44.28 vs 71.15 tok/s); the closest fight is Stable Diffusion XL (29% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 runs 8 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 7, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 260.54 | 375.6 | -31% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 171.29 | 268.14 | -36% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 95.12 | 149.75 | -36% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 44.28 | 71.15 | -38% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 16.28 | 21.08 | -23% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 7.425 | 10.725 | -31% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 2.036 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is faster on 1 of 2; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 on 1.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 5 min | 12.5 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 2.50x faster | $0.013 vs $0.067 |
| Full codebase review | 10.5 min | 6.7 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 1.57x faster | $0.027 vs $0.036 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 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 4090 | $0.155 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | $0.321 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is 2.07x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24GB | 32GB |
| Transistors | 76,300M | 92,200M |
| Die size | 608.5 mm² | 750 mm² |
| Process node | 4 nm | 4 nm |
| Transistor density | 125.4 M/mm² | 122.9 M/mm² |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Blackwell (GB202) |
| Memory bandwidth | 1008 GB/s | 1792 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 2,520 MHz | 2,407 MHz |
| TDP | 450 W | 575 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,599 | $1,999 |
| Release | 2022-10-12 | 2025-01-30 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 7 of 9 benchmarks in our suite with an average 48.8% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has 24GB VRAM and a 450W TDP, while NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 has 32GB VRAM and a 575W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 fits 2 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. 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 4090 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090?
- Qwen3 32B: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 leads by roughly 61% (44.28 vs 71.15 tok/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 full review · NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings