Consumer NVIDIA

RTX 3090

Q: How much does RTX 3090 cost?

The RTX 3090 has a market price of approximately $800 (MSRP: $1.5k). Cloud rental starts at $0.015/hr. Prices may vary based on retailer, region, and availability.

Q: Is RTX 3090 good for AI and machine learning?

Yes, the RTX 3090 with 24GB VRAM is suitable for many AI/ML workloads. For large language models, you may need multiple GPUs or consider higher-VRAM options like A100 or H100.

Q: Should I buy RTX 3090 or rent from cloud?

The breakeven point is approximately 53,333 hours of usage. Buy if you'll use it more than this; rent for shorter projects or variable workloads. Cloud rental from Vast.ai starts at $0.015/hr.

Q: What can I run on RTX 3090?

With 24GB VRAM and 71.2 FP16 TFLOPS, the RTX 3090 can run: Large language models (7B-13B), Stable Diffusion XL, video AI, and professional 3D rendering.

Q: RTX 3090 vs alternatives - which is better?

The RTX 3090 offers 24GB VRAM and 71.2 FP16 performance at $800. Compare with similar GPUs using our comparison tool above. Key factors: VRAM for model size, TFLOPS for speed, and price for budget.

Ampere Architecture · 24GB GDDR6X · PCIe

VRAM

24GB

FP16

71.2

TDP

350W

Hardware Price

$800

MSRP: $1.5k

Cloud from

$0.015/hr

3 providers

Cheapest at Vast.ai →

Quick Insights

Performance/Dollar

89.00 TFLOPS/$k

FP16 performance per $1000

VRAM/Dollar

30.0 GB/$k

VRAM per $1000

vs Consumer Average

-35% perf

FP16 TFLOPS comparison

Cloud Availability

3 providers

from $0.015/hr

Specifications

VRAM	24GB GDDR6X
Memory Bandwidth	936 GB/s
FP16 TFLOPS	71.2
Tensor TFLOPS	-
FP32 TFLOPS	35.6

TDP	350W
Form Factor	PCIe
Architecture	Ampere
NVLink	No
Release Date	2020-09

Buy vs Rent Analysis

Buy Hardware

$800

One-time cost, unlimited usage
Full control over hardware
Electricity & cooling costs extra
Depreciation over 2-3 years

Best if using >53333 hours total

Rent Cloud GPU

$0.015/hr

Pay only for what you use
No upfront investment
Scale up/down instantly
No maintenance required

Best for <53333 hours or variable usage

Breakeven Point

53,333

hours of usage

At $0.015/hr cloud pricing, buying the hardware pays off after 53,333 hours (~2222 days or 74.1 months of 24/7 usage).

Usage	Monthly Cloud Cost	Months to Breakeven
100 hrs/month	$1.50	534 months
200 hrs/month	$3.00	267 months
500 hrs/month	$7.50	107 months

Cloud GPU Pricing

Rent RTX 3090 from 3 cloud providers. Prices shown per GPU per hour.

Provider	Type	Instance	GPUs	On-Demand	Per GPU	Spot	Availability
Vast.ai	marketplace	vastai-rtx-3090	1x	$0.015/hr	$0.015/hr Cheapest	$0.014/hr (-4%)	-
TensorDock	marketplace	tensordock-rtx-3090	1x	$0.200/hr	$0.200/hr	-	-
RunPod	gpu-cloud	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090	1x	$0.500/hr	$0.500/hr	$0.500/hr	-

Best Spot Deal: Vast.ai offers spot pricing at $0.014/hr (4% off on-demand).

RTX 3090 vs Alternatives

Compare RTX 3090 with similar GPUs from other brands.

GPU	VRAM	FP16 TFLOPS	Bandwidth	Hardware Price	Cloud Price
RTX 3090 Current	24GB	71.2	936 GB/s	$800	-	-
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX AMD	24GB (+0%)	122.0 (+71%)	960 GB/s	-	-	Compare
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT AMD	20GB (-17%)	104.0 (+46%)	800 GB/s	-	-	Compare
AMD Instinct MI100 AMD	32GB (+33%)	184.6 (+159%)	1.2 TB/s	-	-	Compare

Best Use Cases

No specific use case recommendations for RTX 3090 yet.

Browse All Use Cases →

Compare RTX 3090

Other NVIDIA GPUs

B200 192GB · $45k
H200 141GB · $38k
H100 80GB · $32k
H100 PCIe 80GB · $28k
H100 NVL 93GB · $35k

Alternatives

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Frequently Asked Questions about RTX 3090