RTX 3090

RTX 3090 Review & Specifications

The RTX 3090 is based on the Ampere architecture and manufactured using the 8 nm nm process node. It was launched approximately 5 years, 10 months ago, originally priced at $1499. It features 10496 cores, including 82 compute units (SMs), 328 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 112 render output units (ROPs). For ray tracing and AI-accelerated tasks, it also includes 82 dedicated RT cores and 328 Tensor cores, enabling advanced rendering and upscaling features where supported. It has a base clock of 1395 MHz and a boost clock reaching up to 1695 MHz. The RTX 3090 comes equipped with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus. Memory runs at 1219 MHz and delivers a total memory bandwidth of 936 GB/s.

This GPU has a very high thermal design power (TDP) of 350 W. A PC case with excellent airflow and a high-quality, high-wattage power supply are essential for stable operation.

RTX 3090 Performance

RTX 3090 is a mid-range graphics card, scoring 56.15% in relative gaming performance. Thanks to 24 GB of VRAM, it offers excellent 1440p performance and can handle 4K gaming with optimized settings or the help of DLSS, FSR, and frame generation. Great for users targeting 100+ FPS at 1440p or playable 4K in lighter titles.

In terms of memory capacity, the RTX 3090 features an exceptionally high VRAM size of 24 GB — far exceeding what is typically required for modern games and creative tasks. This allows users to max out VRAM-dependent settings such as textures, caching, and resolution scaling. However, since this is not an ultra high-end GPU in terms of core performance, rendering speed and frame rates in demanding games may be limited by the processing power rather than memory. In the domain of AI and machine learning, the large VRAM capacity enables work with complex neural networks (e.g., large LLMs or diffusion models like Stable Diffusion XL) using high batch sizes without falling back on system memory. It is also ideal for creators running high-resolution video editing, 3D rendering, or simultaneous high-memory applications — even if render times are slower compared to top-tier GPUs. This card offers excellent value for prosumers prioritizing memory capacity over raw graphical horsepower.

RTX 3090 has a gaming performance-per-price ratio of 32.4%, suggesting lower value in this category. This GPU lacks both high performance and value, despite its large VRAM capacity. It is generally not recommended, as better options exist in this price range.