GPU Showdown

GeForce RTX 3090vsGeForce RTX 4090

The GeForce RTX 3090 is a pro-grade card for creators and heavy multitaskers who need that 24GB buffer, while the RTX 4090 is the pure speed king for gamers and renderers who want the fastest frames and compute.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
24 GB · 350W
VS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
24 GB · 450W
NVIDIA

GeForce RTX 3090

Ampere · TSMC 8 nm · 2020

64score
1.3/ 5
0 votes
VRAM
24 GB
TDP
350W
CUDA Cores
10,496
Boost Clock
1695 MHz

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NVIDIA

GeForce RTX 4090

Ada Lovelace · TSMC 5 nm · 2022

92score
3.8/ 5
0 votes
VRAM
24 GB
TDP
450W
Shaders
16,384
Boost Clock
2520 MHz

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Aggregate Performance

Overall Performance Score

A unified score from combined synthetic and real-world benchmarks. 100 represents the fastest consumer GPU available.

RTX 3090
64
RTX 4090Winner
92
RTX 4090 leads by 43.8% in aggregate performance.
Where they rank overall
#2RTX 509094
#3RTX 409092
#4RTX 508086
#23RTX 3080 12 GB64
#24RTX 309064
#25RX 907061
Technical Specifications

Side-by-Side Specs

Every detail compared. Highlighted cells indicate the leading value for that metric.

SpecsRTX 3090RTX 4090
General
ArchitectureAmpereAda Lovelace
Process Node8 nm5 nm
Memory
VRAM24 GB24 GB
Memory TypeGDDR6XGDDR6X
Memory Bus384-bit384-bit
Bandwidth936.2 GB/s1010 GB/s
Compute
CUDA Cores10,49616,384
TMUs328512
ROPs112176
Boost Clock1695 MHz2520 MHz
FP3235.58 TF82.58 TF
Power
TDP350450
Power Connectors1x 12-pin1x 16-pin
Display
Max Resolution7680×43207680×4320
Display Outputs1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
Verdict

Which should you buy?

Winner overall

The GeForce RTX 4090 wins overall with noticeably faster performance for gaming and creative work.

Best value

For budget-focused buyers, the GeForce RTX 4090 offers better long-term value despite costing more, given its superior speed and efficiency.

When the other wins

The GeForce RTX 3090 is the right choice when you need ample video memory for large projects but can't justify the premium for extra speed.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is the RTX 3090 better than the RTX 4090?

Overall the RTX 4090 is the stronger graphics card: it ranks higher in our aggregate performance score (92 vs 64 out of 100), so it leads the RTX 3090 in most workloads.

How much faster is the RTX 4090 than the RTX 3090?

Based on our aggregated benchmark scores the RTX 4090 is roughly 44% faster than the RTX 3090 overall. The real-world gap varies by game, resolution and settings.

Which should you buy, the RTX 3090 or the RTX 4090?

If you want the most performance, pick the RTX 4090. If the RTX 3090 is meaningfully cheaper where you shop, it can be the better value for similar real-world results — check current prices and the full spec comparison above before deciding.