RTX 3090 vs RTX 5090 for local AI (2026)
VRAM, memory bandwidth, today's prices (new, used and rental) and which local AI models each card can run.
Prices updated Nov 12, 2026The short version
- VRAM: the RTX 5090 has 8 GB more, so it fits bigger models: at Q4 it runs Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE), which the RTX 3090 can't.
- Speed: the RTX 5090 has about 91% more memory bandwidth, so expect roughly 91% faster token generation on models that fit both (estimate; prompt processing and image generation depend on compute, not shown).
- Price: the RTX 3090 is $4,629 cheaper today ($1,618 used vs $6,247 used); per GB of VRAM that's $67 vs $195.
- Renting: RTX 3090 from $0.14/hr, RTX 5090 from $0.50/hr. Try both by the hour before you buy.
Specs and prices
| RTX 3090 | RTX 5090 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24 GB GDDR6X | 32 GB GDDR7 |
| Memory bandwidth | 936 GB/s | 1,792 GB/s |
| Memory bus | 384-bit | 512-bit |
| Cheapest today | $1,618 usedGPU Sold · 2026-11-10 | $6,247 usedGPU Sold · 2026-11-10 |
| Lowest new | — | $6,250VideoCardPrices (Newegg) |
| Used (median eBay ask) | $1,618GPU Sold | $6,247GPU Sold |
| $ per GB VRAM | $67 | $195 |
| Rent from | $0.14/hrVast.ai | $0.50/hrVast.ai |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | $1,999 |
| Launched | 2020-09 | 2025-01 |
| Software | CUDA - best support in llama.cpp, vLLM, ComfyUI | CUDA - best support in llama.cpp, vLLM, ComfyUI |
| Check priceused · eBayor new on Amazon | Check priceused · eBayor new on Amazon |
Which models fit
| Model | RTX 3090 Q4 | RTX 5090 Q4 | RTX 3090 Q8 | RTX 5090 Q8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct | ✓ ~94 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~180 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~58 tok/s9.9 GB | ✓ ~111 tok/s9.9 GB |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct | ✗needs 43 GB | ✗needs 43 GB | ✗needs 73 GB | ✗needs 73 GB |
| Qwen3 8B | ✓ ~90 tok/s6.7 GB | ✓ ~174 tok/s6.7 GB | ✓ ~56 tok/s10.2 GB | ✓ ~108 tok/s10.2 GB |
| Qwen3 14B | ✓ ~54 tok/s10.6 GB | ✓ ~104 tok/s10.6 GB | ✓ ~32 tok/s16.9 GB | ✓ ~63 tok/s16.9 GB |
| Qwen3 32B | ✓ ~25 tok/s21.5 GB | ✓ ~48 tok/s21.5 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 35 GB |
| Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE) | ✓ ~197 tok/s19.0 GB | ✓ ~378 tok/s19.0 GB | ✗needs 32 GB | ✓ ~246 tok/s32.0 GB |
| Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct | ✓ ~25 tok/s21.5 GB | ✓ ~48 tok/s21.5 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 35 GB |
| Qwen3 235B-A22B (MoE) | ✗needs 135 GB | ✗needs 135 GB | ✗needs 235 GB | ✗needs 235 GB |
| Gemma 3 12B IT | ✓ ~67 tok/s8.7 GB | ✓ ~130 tok/s8.7 GB | ✓ ~40 tok/s13.9 GB | ✓ ~77 tok/s13.9 GB |
| Gemma 3 27B IT | ✓ ~31 tok/s17.5 GB | ✓ ~60 tok/s17.5 GB | ✗needs 29 GB | ✓ ~35 tok/s29.2 GB |
| Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 | ✓ ~102 tok/s6.1 GB | ✓ ~196 tok/s6.1 GB | ✓ ~64 tok/s9.2 GB | ✓ ~122 tok/s9.2 GB |
| Mistral Small 24B Instruct (2501) | ✓ ~35 tok/s15.6 GB | ✓ ~68 tok/s15.6 GB | ✗needs 26 GB | ✓ ~40 tok/s25.6 GB |
| Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE) | ✗needs 28 GB | ✓ ~121 tok/s28.4 GB | ✗needs 48 GB | ✗needs 48 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B | ✓ ~94 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~180 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~58 tok/s9.9 GB | ✓ ~111 tok/s9.9 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B | ✓ ~53 tok/s10.8 GB | ✓ ~101 tok/s10.8 GB | ✓ ~32 tok/s17.1 GB | ✓ ~62 tok/s17.1 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | ✓ ~25 tok/s21.5 GB | ✓ ~48 tok/s21.5 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 35 GB |
| FLUX.1 [dev] | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✓ fits15.0 GB | ✓ fits15.0 GB |
| FLUX.1 [schnell] | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✓ fits15.0 GB | ✓ fits15.0 GB |
| Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits6.3 GB | ✓ fits6.3 GB |
| Wan 2.1 T2V 14B (video) | ✓ fits14.9 GB | ✓ fits14.9 GB | ✓ fits20.9 GB | ✓ fits20.9 GB |
| Wan 2.1 T2V 1.3B (video) | ✓ fits4.6 GB | ✓ fits4.6 GB | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits5.2 GB |
8K-token context. tok/s = rough bandwidth-based estimate. Method.
FAQ
Is the RTX 3090 or RTX 5090 better for local AI?
VRAM: the RTX 5090 has 8 GB more, so it fits bigger models: at Q4 it runs Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE), which the RTX 3090 can't. Speed: the RTX 5090 has about 91% more memory bandwidth, so expect roughly 91% faster token generation on models that fit both (estimate; prompt processing and image generation depend on compute, not shown). Price: the RTX 3090 is $4,629 cheaper today ($1,618 used vs $6,247 used); per GB of VRAM that's $67 vs $195. Renting: RTX 3090 from $0.14/hr, RTX 5090 from $0.50/hr. Try both by the hour before you buy.
Which has more VRAM, RTX 3090 or RTX 5090?
RTX 3090: 24 GB; RTX 5090: 32 GB.
Is the RTX 5090 faster than the RTX 3090 for LLMs?
For token generation, likely yes by roughly 91% (memory bandwidth 1,792 vs 936 GB/s). This is an estimate, not a benchmark.
How much do the RTX 3090 and RTX 5090 cost today?
RTX 3090: about $1,618 (used, GPU Sold). RTX 5090: about $6,247 (used, GPU Sold). Observed Nov 12, 2026.
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