RTX 3090 vs RTX A6000 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 A6000 has 24 GB more, so it fits bigger models: at Q4 it runs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct, Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE), which the RTX 3090 can't.
- Speed: the RTX 3090 has about 22% more memory bandwidth, so expect roughly 22% faster token generation on models that fit both (estimate; prompt processing and image generation depend on compute, not shown).
- Price: the RTX 3090 is $2,852 cheaper today ($1,618 used vs $4,470 used); per GB of VRAM that's $67 vs $93.
- Renting: RTX 3090 from $0.14/hr, RTX A6000 from $0.33/hr. Try both by the hour before you buy.
Specs and prices
| RTX 3090 | RTX A6000 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24 GB GDDR6X | 48 GB GDDR6 ECC |
| Memory bandwidth | 936 GB/s | 768 GB/s |
| Memory bus | 384-bit | 384-bit |
| Cheapest today | $1,618 usedGPU Sold · 2026-11-10 | $4,470 usedGPU Sold · 2026-11-10 |
| Lowest new | — | — |
| Used (median eBay ask) | $1,618GPU Sold | $4,470GPU Sold |
| $ per GB VRAM | $67 | $93 |
| Rent from | $0.14/hrVast.ai | $0.33/hrRunpod |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | n/a |
| Launched | 2020-09 | 2020-10 |
| Software | CUDA - best support in llama.cpp, vLLM, ComfyUI | CUDA - best support in llama.cpp, vLLM, ComfyUI (blower workstation card, 300 W) |
| Check priceused · eBayor new on Amazon | Check priceused · eBayor new on Amazon |
Which models fit
| Model | RTX 3090 Q4 | RTX A6000 Q4 | RTX 3090 Q8 | RTX A6000 Q8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct | ✓ ~94 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~77 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~58 tok/s9.9 GB | ✓ ~47 tok/s9.9 GB |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct | ✗needs 43 GB | ✓ ~10 tok/s43.3 GB | ✗needs 73 GB | ✗needs 73 GB |
| Qwen3 8B | ✓ ~90 tok/s6.7 GB | ✓ ~74 tok/s6.7 GB | ✓ ~56 tok/s10.2 GB | ✓ ~46 tok/s10.2 GB |
| Qwen3 14B | ✓ ~54 tok/s10.6 GB | ✓ ~44 tok/s10.6 GB | ✓ ~32 tok/s16.9 GB | ✓ ~27 tok/s16.9 GB |
| Qwen3 32B | ✓ ~25 tok/s21.5 GB | ✓ ~20 tok/s21.5 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✓ ~12 tok/s35.4 GB |
| Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE) | ✓ ~197 tok/s19.0 GB | ✓ ~162 tok/s19.0 GB | ✗needs 32 GB | ✓ ~105 tok/s32.0 GB |
| Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct | ✓ ~25 tok/s21.5 GB | ✓ ~20 tok/s21.5 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✓ ~12 tok/s35.4 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 | ✓ ~55 tok/s8.7 GB | ✓ ~40 tok/s13.9 GB | ✓ ~33 tok/s13.9 GB |
| Gemma 3 27B IT | ✓ ~31 tok/s17.5 GB | ✓ ~25 tok/s17.5 GB | ✗needs 29 GB | ✓ ~15 tok/s29.2 GB |
| Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 | ✓ ~102 tok/s6.1 GB | ✓ ~84 tok/s6.1 GB | ✓ ~64 tok/s9.2 GB | ✓ ~52 tok/s9.2 GB |
| Mistral Small 24B Instruct (2501) | ✓ ~35 tok/s15.6 GB | ✓ ~29 tok/s15.6 GB | ✗needs 26 GB | ✓ ~17 tok/s25.6 GB |
| Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE) | ✗needs 28 GB | ✓ ~51 tok/s28.4 GB | ✗needs 48 GB | ✗needs 48 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B | ✓ ~94 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~77 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~58 tok/s9.9 GB | ✓ ~47 tok/s9.9 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B | ✓ ~53 tok/s10.8 GB | ✓ ~43 tok/s10.8 GB | ✓ ~32 tok/s17.1 GB | ✓ ~26 tok/s17.1 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | ✓ ~25 tok/s21.5 GB | ✓ ~20 tok/s21.5 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✓ ~12 tok/s35.4 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 A6000 better for local AI?
VRAM: the RTX A6000 has 24 GB more, so it fits bigger models: at Q4 it runs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct, Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE), which the RTX 3090 can't. Speed: the RTX 3090 has about 22% more memory bandwidth, so expect roughly 22% faster token generation on models that fit both (estimate; prompt processing and image generation depend on compute, not shown). Price: the RTX 3090 is $2,852 cheaper today ($1,618 used vs $4,470 used); per GB of VRAM that's $67 vs $93. Renting: RTX 3090 from $0.14/hr, RTX A6000 from $0.33/hr. Try both by the hour before you buy.
Which has more VRAM, RTX 3090 or RTX A6000?
RTX 3090: 24 GB; RTX A6000: 48 GB.
Is the RTX 3090 faster than the RTX A6000 for LLMs?
For token generation, likely yes by roughly 22% (memory bandwidth 936 vs 768 GB/s). This is an estimate, not a benchmark.
How much do the RTX 3090 and RTX A6000 cost today?
RTX 3090: about $1,618 (used, GPU Sold). RTX A6000: about $4,470 (used, GPU Sold). Observed Nov 12, 2026.
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