Is NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition worth for mining? it features a staggering 24 GB of G6X memory, all to deliver the ultimate gaming experience. It’s powered by Ampere—NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture—doubling down on ray tracing and AI performance with enhanced Ray Tracing (RT) Cores, Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors. The GeForce RTX 3090 is a big ferocious GPU (BFGPU) with TITAN class performance. Discover more in NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card review.
Pros & Cons – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card
Pros
- 8K DLSS potential
- 4K ultra at more than 60 fps
- Massive 24GB memory capacity
- NVLink support
- HDMI 2.1, AV1 decode makes some 8K gaming possible
- Nvidia CUDA and OptiX supercharge content creation
- Set it and forget it 4K gaming
- Good cooling and minimal noise
Cons
- Lacks certain Titan features
- Only 1 HDMI 2.1 port
- 12-pin power adapter is ugly
- Highest TGP for a single GPU ever (350W)
Specs – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card
- GPU – GA102
- Die size – 628.4mm2
- Transistors – 28.3 bn
- Lithography – Samsung 8nm
- RT Cores – 82
- Tensor Cores – 328
- CUDA cores – 10,496
- SMs – 82
- Memory capacity – 24GB GDDR6X
- Memory speed – 19.5Gbps
- GPU Boost clock – 1,695MHz
- Memory bus – 384-bit
- Memory bandwidth – 936GB/s
- TGP – 350W
- MSRP – $1,500
Price
While the GeForce RTX 3080 kept with the existing pricing structure of the RTX 20-series, replacing the RTX 2080 Super at the $699 price point, the RTX 3090 sees the RTX 2080 Ti’s $1200 launch price and raises it another $300. There’s an alternative viewpoint, however: The GeForce RTX 3090 is also a replacement for the $2,500 Titan RTX, in which case it’s a faster card that costs $1,000 less.
Compare NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card
| Graphics Card | RTX 3090 FE | RTX 3080 FE | RTX 2080 Ti FE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | GA102 | GA102 | TU102 |
| Process Technology | Samsung 8N | Samsung 8N | TSMC 12FFN |
| Transistors (Billion) | 28.3 | 28.3 | 18.6 |
| Die size (mm^2) | 628.4 | 628.4 | 754 |
| SMs | 82 | 68 | 68 |
| GPU Cores (FP32) | 10496 | 8704 | 4352 |
| GPU Cores (INT32) | 5248 | 4352 | 4352 |
| Tensor Cores | 328 | 272 | 544 |
| RT Cores | 82 | 68 | 68 |
| Base Clock (MHz) | 1395 | 1440 | 1515 |
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 1695 | 1710 | 1635 |
| VRAM Speed (Gbps) | 19.5 | 19 | 14 |
| VRAM (GB) | 24 | 10 | 11 |
| VRAM Bus Width | 384 | 320 | 352 |
| ROPs | 112 | 96 | 88 |
| TMUs | 328 | 272 | 272 |
| TFLOPS FP32 | 35.6 | 29.8 | 14.2 |
| TOPS INT32 | 17.8 | 14.9 | 14.2 |
| Tensor TFLOPS FP16 (Sparsity) | 142 (285) | 119 (238) | 114 |
| RT TFLOPS | 69.5 | 58.1 | 45.7 |
| Bandwidth (GBps) | 936 | 760 | 616 |
| TDP (watts) | 350 | 320 | 260 |
| Launch Date | September 2020 | September 2020 | September 2018 |
| Launch Price | $1,499 | $699 | $1,199 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card review
Design
The GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition is massive, and we mean that quite literally. It tips the scales at 2189g, or 4.82 pounds. The 3090 FE also measures 313mm (12.3 inches) in length, about 3cm longer than the 3080 FE, and it’s 138mm (5.43 inches) tall.
Ports
The video ports on GeForce RTX 3090 FE are the same as on RTX 3080: one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. There’s no VirtualLink port this round, as VirtualLink is basically dead. All four outputs are capable of 8K60 using DSC (Display Stream Compression), a “visually lossless” technique that’s actually not really visually lossless (though you probably won’t notice at 8K). We’ve seen other cards with five display outputs, many opting for dual HDMI 2.1, so keep that in mind if you’re planning to use a multi-monitor setup.
Memory
Perhaps a bigger change is that the GeForce RTX 3090 comes equipped with 24GB of GDDR6X memory, this time clocked at 19.5 Gbps (compared to 19 Gbps on the 3080). This is accomplished by enabling the final two 32-bit memory controllers on GA102, and then running 24 chips in half-width 16-bit interface mode.
L2 Cache
The L1 cache/shared memory capacity and bandwidth have been increased. The L2 cache is also larger than before, and the L1 cache can be configured as varying amounts of L1 vs. shared memory, depending on the needs of the application. Register file size is also increased, and GA102 can do concurrent RT + graphics + DLSS (previously, using the RT cores would stop the CUDA cores).
Frame rates
At 1080p, without ray tracing effects, the 3090 is only a few percent faster than the RTX 3080. Even at 1440p, the gains are usually less than 10%. Which isn’t to say that the 3090 suddenly rockets ahead at 4K ultra, as it’s still only 10-15% faster than a 3080 by Nvidia’s own admission. But now we can confirm Nvidia’s results.
Temperature
The RTX 3090 FE basically matches the Asus and MSI 3080 cards and tops out at a not-particularly-worrisome 65C, with the fans spinning at just 1100 RPM. We know other 3090 cards have equally massive triple-slot designs, and some of them may end up beating the 3090 FE, but there’s little cause for concern.
Cooling
Nvidia’s highly customed GeForce RTX 30-series Founders Edition design worked very well with the 3080, but the expanded 3-slot version used with the GeForce RTX 3090 excels. It looks gorgeous, maxes out at a frigid 68 degrees Celsius under full load, and stays utterly silent the entire time. This unique “flow-through” cooler is exceptional here.
Power consumption
How much power does the GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition use? Like the RTX 3080 FE, the 350W TGP rating ended up being a bit conservative. We hit 360W averages in both Metro Exodus and FurMark. The GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition is the first graphics card to top 500W of total system power draw in this test. Considering the RTX 3080 FE drew 482 watts, this isn’t so bad given the RTX 3090’s higher performance.
Overclocking
The stock clocks are slightly lower than the 3080 for a reason, and typical boost clocks still hit 1800-1850 MHz in our testing.
Alternate of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card
AMD Radeon RX 6800
Stream Processors: 3,840 | Base Clock: 1,815MHz | Boost Clock: 2,105MHz | Video Memory: 16GB GDDR6 | Memory Speed: 16Gbps | Memory Bus: 256-bit | Power Connectors: 2 x 8-pin | Outputs: 2 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x USB-C | Size: 10.5″ x 2-slot
AMD came out swinging with the Radeon RX 6800. It isn’t the most powerful around, but it goes toe to toe with Nvidia’s RTX 3070 in pretty much any match-up that doesn’t pull in ray-tracing and DLSS, and it usually comes out ahead. This performance sees it especially well suited for 1440p gameplay, where you can enjoy high frame rates.
The AMD Radeon RX 6800 needs a modest 250 watts of power, which should make it easier to slot into existing computers without needing to upgrade your power supply to something beefier. Plus, its new design with a 3-fan cooler system makes it quieter and more stylish. And, even if you’re only gaming at 1440p, the RX 6800’s 16GB of GDDR6 memory will serve as a solid buffer for your frames as well as home to extra-high resolution textures — the last thing you want is sharp and smooth visuals to show off low-res game textures because your card didn’t have enough VRAM.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition
CUDA Cores/Stream Processors 10,240 | Base Clock: 1,370MHz | Boost Clock: 1,670MHz | Video Memory: 12GB GDDR6X | Memory Speed: 19Gbps | Memory Bus: 384-bit | Power Connectors: 1 x 12-pin | Outputs: 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1 x HDMI 2.1 | Size: 11.2″ x 4.4″ x dual-slot
Nvidia has stepped things up with the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition graphics card. This new card is more than a small upgrade to the original RTX 3080 and its 4k performance is faster falling just a fraction behind the RTX 3090. It has a whopping 10,240 CUDA cores, giving it over a 17% increase over the RTX 3080’s 8,704 CUDA cores and bringing it close to the RTX 3090’s 10,496 CUA cores. The RTX 3080 Ti may be running them at slightly lower clocks, but you’ll still see heaps of performance out of this card.
That’s not the only upgrade in store. The RTX 3080 Ti includes 2GB of extra GDDR6X memory and boosts the memory bus to 384-bit, giving it an edge when handling large game assets. Despite the increase in performance, the RTX 3080 Ti maintains the same proportions as the RTX 3080, so you should have no trouble fitting it into your system if you’re upgrading. And, at 350W, it’s only drawing 30W more power than the RTX 3080 before it. If you’re in the market, this card really is one the most powerful that you can find on the market
Editor’s recommendations
- EVGA GeForce RTX 3050 XC gaming 08G-P5-3553-KR 8GB GDDR6 review
- ASUS GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Phoenix fan edition DVI-D HDMI DP 1.4 gaming graphics card review
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3050 gaming OC 8G graphics card review
- EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ultra gaming 12G-P5-3955-KR review
- Gigabyte Geforce RTX 3090 gaming OC 24G GDDR6x gaming graphics card review
