GeForce RTX 3090 vs Radeon RX 6800
The GeForce RTX 3090 pulls ahead here — substantially quicker, about 26% ahead of the Radeon RX 6800. But the Radeon RX 6800 is the better value, undercutting it by $1,041 USD for the performance you get.
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GeForce RTX 3090 vs Radeon RX 6800: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: GeForce RTX 3090 vs Radeon RX 6800
The GeForce RTX 3090 is significantly faster, around 26% ahead of the Radeon RX 6800. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to 1440p.
Price & Value
Pricing has the Radeon RX 6800 at $499 USD, $1,041 USD under the GeForce RTX 3090's $1,540 USD. Despite being slower, the Radeon RX 6800 offers the better performance-per-dollar (~145% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The Radeon RX 6800 is trading below its $579 USD MSRP — a genuine deal.
Power & Efficiency
Power draw favors the Radeon RX 6800 (250W vs 350W), and it's the more efficient card too, so it's the easy pick if thermals or a smaller PSU matter.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The GeForce RTX 3090 carries 24GB versus 16GB on the Radeon RX 6800. The extra 8GB helps at 4K, with high-resolution texture packs, and for content-creation or local-AI workloads that exhaust smaller buffers.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the GeForce RTX 3090 brings NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing, while the Radeon RX 6800 offers AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: GeForce RTX 3090 or Radeon RX 6800?
Choose the GeForce RTX 3090 if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Radeon RX 6800 stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the GeForce RTX 3090 better than the Radeon RX 6800?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the GeForce RTX 3090 or the Radeon RX 6800?
Is the GeForce RTX 3090 worth the extra $1,041 USD over the Radeon RX 6800?
Does the GeForce RTX 3090 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: GeForce RTX 3090 or Radeon RX 6800?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3090 | Radeon RX 6800 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 2 |
| Process Node | Samsung 8nm | TSMC N7 |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 10,496✓ | 3,840 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 82✓ | 60 |
| Tensor / AI Cores | 328 | — |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3090 | Radeon RX 6800 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,395 MHz | 1,700 MHz✓ |
| Boost Clock | 1,695 MHz | 2,105 MHz✓ |
Memory
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3090 | Radeon RX 6800 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 24 GB✓ | 16 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit✓ | 256-bit |
| Memory Speed | 19.5 Gbps✓ | 16 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 936 GB/s✓ | 512 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3090 | Radeon RX 6800 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| TDP | 350 W | 250 W✓ |
| Power Connectors | 1x 12-pin | 2x 8-pin |
| Released | Sep 2020 | Nov 2020 |
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