NVIDIA RTX 3090 vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Side-by-side local AI comparison — VRAM, memory bandwidth, model compatibility, and estimated tokens per second across 70 open-weight models.
Quick verdict
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX wins for local AI inference. It has 3% more memory bandwidth, runs 42 models natively (vs 42), and exclusively fits 0 models the other cannot. Note: NVIDIA RTX 3090 uses CUDA while AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX uses ROCM — software ecosystem matters for your framework.
Specs comparison
| Spec | NVIDIA RTX 3090 | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |
| Bandwidth | 936 GB/s | 960 GB/s(+3%) |
| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 3 |
| Backend | CUDA | ROCM |
| Tier | Consumer | Consumer |
| Released | 2020 | 2022 |
| Models (native) | 42 | 42 |
Estimated tokens per second
Computed from memory bandwidth and model active-parameter weight. Assumes model fits natively in VRAM.
| Model | NVIDIA RTX 3090 | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct(70B) | — | — | — |
| Qwen 3.6 27B(27B) | 55.5 t/s(Q5_K_M) | 56.9 t/s(Q5_K_M) | -2% |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct(8B) | 58.5 t/s(FP16) | 60 t/s(FP16) | -3% |
| Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct(7.6B) | 61.6 t/s(FP16) | 63.2 t/s(FP16) | -3% |
Delta is NVIDIA RTX 3090 relative to AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.
Only NVIDIA RTX 3090 can run(0)
No exclusive models — AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX can run everything NVIDIA RTX 3090 can.
Only AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX can run(0)
No exclusive models — NVIDIA RTX 3090 can run everything AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX can.
Both run natively(42)
These models fit in VRAM on both GPUs. Bandwidth determines which runs them faster.
- Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1199.5 t/svs204.7 t/s
- Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B (MoE)686.4 t/svs704 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 35B53.5 t/svs54.9 t/s
- Yi 1.5 34B Chat54.4 t/svs55.8 t/s
- Qwen3 32B57.1 t/svs58.5 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 32B Instruct57.6 t/svs59.1 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B Instruct57.6 t/svs59.1 t/s
- DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B57.6 t/svs59.1 t/s
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B686.4 t/svs704 t/s
- Gemma 4 31B60.4 t/svs61.9 t/s
- Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE)549.1 t/svs563.2 t/s
- Gemma 2 27B Instruct55.1 t/svs56.5 t/s
- Gemma 3 27B Instruct55.5 t/svs56.9 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 27B55.5 t/svs56.9 t/s
- Gemma 4 26B (MoE)433.5 t/svs444.6 t/s
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct52 t/svs53.3 t/s
- +26 more on both
Which should you choose?
- • You rely on CUDA-based tools (PyTorch, vLLM, Ollama)
- • Faster token generation is the priority
- • You want the newer architecture and longer driver support lifecycle
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better for local AI, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
- For local AI inference, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has the edge. It offers 24 GB VRAM (vs 24 GB) and 960 GB/s bandwidth (vs 936 GB/s), letting it run 42 models natively in VRAM vs 42 for its rival.
- How much VRAM does the NVIDIA RTX 3090 have vs the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
- The NVIDIA RTX 3090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X at 936 GB/s. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 at 960 GB/s. Both GPUs have the same VRAM amount; bandwidth determines which generates tokens faster.
- Can the NVIDIA RTX 3090 run Llama 3.3 70B?
- The NVIDIA RTX 3090 can run Llama 3.3 70B with CPU offload at Q4_K_M, but at reduced speed.
- Can the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX run Llama 3.3 70B?
- The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX can run Llama 3.3 70B with CPU offload at Q4_K_M, but at reduced speed.
- What is the difference between the NVIDIA RTX 3090 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX for AI?
- The key difference for AI inference is VRAM and memory bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX 3090 has 24 GB VRAM at 936 GB/s (CUDA backend). The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB VRAM at 960 GB/s (ROCM backend). VRAM determines which models fit; bandwidth determines tokens per second. The NVIDIA RTX 3090 runs 42 models natively vs 42 for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.