NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
Specifications, where the GeForce RTX 3090 sits for gaming, the processor worth pairing with it, and the frame rate the pair returns at every resolution.
Ryzen 5 5600
The GeForce RTX 3090 and the Ryzen 5 5600 return about 77 fps on High at 1440p with neither part wasting the other. A processor slower than the Ryzen 5 5600 leaves the GeForce RTX 3090 idling, and a faster one adds no frames to a GeForce RTX 3090 at this resolution.
Check current priceon Amazon See the full bottleneck result for this pairGeForce RTX 3090 specifications
| Manufacturer | NVIDIA |
| Released | 2020 |
| Video memory | 24 GB |
| Board power | 350 W |
| Gaming performance index | 57.0 (RTX 4090 = 100) |
What these numbers mean for the GeForce RTX 3090
On our index the GeForce RTX 3090 scores 57.0, which places it 18th of the 89 graphics cards we track and puts it faster than roughly 81% of them.
The GeForce RTX 3090 and the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti land on exactly the same index score of 57.0, so on raw throughput the two are interchangeable and the choice between them comes down to memory, power draw and price on the day.
24 GB of memory means video memory will never be the GeForce RTX 3090 limiting factor at any resolution it is fast enough to run, including 4K with high texture settings and ray tracing switched on.
At 350 W the GeForce RTX 3090 deserves real attention on power: a card in this bracket draws brief spikes well above its 350 W rating, and an older ATX 2.x supply can trip its own protection at a total wattage that looks safe on paper. Budget roughly 750 W for a machine built around a GeForce RTX 3090, and treat the ATX 3.0 or 3.1 label as mattering more than that number.
Released in 2020, the GeForce RTX 3090 is 6 years old and well past the point of being a sensible new purchase, and it is here because plenty of people still run a GeForce RTX 3090 and want to know what to pair with it or whether to replace it.
GeForce RTX 3090 frame rate at each resolution
The GeForce RTX 3090 paired with the Ryzen 5 5600 on the High preset with 16 GB of system memory. The card is the limit throughout, so the GeForce RTX 3090 falls the full 56% from 103 fps to 45 fps as the pixel count rises.
| Resolution | Estimated fps | Limited by |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p (1920 x 1080) | 103 fps | Balanced |
| 1440p (2560 x 1440) | 77 fps | Balanced |
| 4K (3840 x 2160) | 45 fps | GPU |
How the GeForce RTX 3090 compares
6 cards sit within 30% of the GeForce RTX 3090 on our gaming index, running from the Radeon RX 9070 XT at +28% to the GeForce RTX 5070 at +12%, a window narrow enough that price, memory and power decide it rather than raw speed.
What to pair with the GeForce RTX 3090, and when to upgrade
Best CPU for the GeForce RTX 3090
When the GeForce RTX 3090 becomes the limit, the GeForce RTX 4090 is the next step worth paying for: 100.0 on our index against 57.0, a jump of 75%, which is roughly where an upgrade stops being something you have to look at a counter to notice. See its specs.
Check the GeForce RTX 3090 against your own parts
GeForce RTX 3090 specifications on this page are from NVIDIA, while its performance index of 57.0 is modelled from published benchmark data for the GeForce RTX 3090 rather than measured on a test bench, and every frame rate above follows from that figure. How we calculate this