NVIDIA RTX 5090 vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Side-by-side local AI comparison: VRAM, memory bandwidth, model compatibility, and estimated tokens per second across 97 open-weight models.
Quick verdict
NVIDIA RTX 5090 wins for local AI inference. It has 8 GB more VRAM and 86.7% more memory bandwidth, runs 53 models natively (vs 52), and exclusively fits 1 models the other cannot. Note: NVIDIA RTX 5090 uses CUDA while AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX uses ROCM; software ecosystem matters for your framework.
Specs comparison
| Spec | NVIDIA RTX 5090 | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 32 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory type | GDDR7 | GDDR6 |
| Bandwidth | 1792 GB/s(+87%) | 960 GB/s |
| Architecture | Blackwell | RDNA 3 |
| Backend | CUDA | ROCM |
| Tier | Consumer | Consumer |
| Released | 2025 | 2022 |
| Models (native) | 53 | 52 |
Estimated tokens per second
Computed from memory bandwidth and model active-parameter weight. Assumes model fits natively in VRAM.
| Model | NVIDIA RTX 5090 | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct(70B) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Qwen 3.6 27B(27B) | 83 t/s(NVFP4) | 31.6 t/s(Q5_K_M) | +163% |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct(8B) | 68.2 t/s(BF16) | 36.5 t/s(BF16) | +87% |
| Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct(7.6B) | 74.3 t/s(BF16) | 39.8 t/s(BF16) | +87% |
Delta is NVIDIA RTX 5090 relative to AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.
Only NVIDIA RTX 5090 can run(1)
Only AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX can run(0)
No exclusive models: NVIDIA RTX 5090 can run everything AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX can.
Both run natively(52)
These models fit in VRAM on both GPUs. Bandwidth determines which runs them faster.
- Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.151.6 t/svs35.7 t/s
- Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B (MoE)225.4 t/svs125.4 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 35B59.3 t/svs32.9 t/s
- Ornith 1.5 35B-A3B (MoE)225.4 t/svs125.4 t/s
- Yi 1.5 34B Chat60.6 t/svs33.6 t/s
- Qwen3 32B65.7 t/svs36.5 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 32B Instruct63.3 t/svs35.1 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B Instruct63.3 t/svs35.1 t/s
- DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B63.3 t/svs35.1 t/s
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B214.3 t/svs95.6 t/s
- Gemma 4 31B69.1 t/svs30.9 t/s
- Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE)200.6 t/svs90.5 t/s
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B230.6 t/svs101.6 t/s
- Muse Glimmer 30B82.7 t/svs31.2 t/s
- Gemma 2 27B Instruct69.8 t/svs31.8 t/s
- Gemma 3 27B Instruct77.4 t/svs34.7 t/s
- +36 more on both
Which should you choose?
- • You need to run larger models (>24 GB VRAM)
- • Faster token generation is the priority
- • You rely on CUDA-based tools (PyTorch, vLLM, Ollama)
- • You want the newer architecture and longer driver support lifecycle
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better for local AI, the NVIDIA RTX 5090 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
- For local AI inference, the NVIDIA RTX 5090 has the edge. It offers 32 GB VRAM (vs 24 GB) and 1792 GB/s bandwidth (vs 960 GB/s), letting it run 53 models natively in VRAM vs 52 for its rival.
- How much VRAM does the NVIDIA RTX 5090 have vs the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
- The NVIDIA RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 at 1792 GB/s. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 at 960 GB/s. The NVIDIA RTX 5090 has 8 GB more VRAM, allowing it to run 1 models the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX cannot fit natively.
- Can the NVIDIA RTX 5090 run Llama 3.3 70B?
- The NVIDIA RTX 5090 can run Llama 3.3 70B with CPU offload at NVFP4, 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 Q3_K_M, but at reduced speed.
- What is the difference between the NVIDIA RTX 5090 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX for AI?
- The key difference for AI inference is VRAM and memory bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX 5090 has 32 GB VRAM at 1792 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 5090 runs 53 models natively vs 52 for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.