NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti vs NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation Comparison

The RTX 4500 Ada Generation and RTX 3090 Ti are both 24 GB NVIDIA cards, but they target different worlds: one is a power-efficient workstation GPU built on a modern 5 nm process, the other a massive consumer flagship from the previous generation. The benchmark data shows a clear split, with the older GeForce card dominating the raw compute tests while the Ada card counters with architectural efficiency and a much smaller physical footprint.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two available head-to-head benchmarks paint a decisive picture: the RTX 3090 Ti wins both, but by vastly different margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3090 Ti scores 174,441 against the RTX 4500 Ada’s 160,786, a delta of -7.8% for the Ada card. That is a solid but not crushing lead for the 3090 Ti; it suggests the Ada card is within striking distance in general compute workloads despite having fewer shading units on paper. The gap widens dramatically in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 3090 Ti posts 215,633 versus the RTX 4500 Ada’s 171,401 — a -20.5% deficit for the workstation card. This is a substantial margin, indicating the 3090 Ti’s driver optimization or raw hardware advantage in graphics API workloads is significant.

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the story becomes more complex. The RTX 4500 Ada has an average score of 166,094 across its tested workloads, placing it in the 97th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 3090 Ti, despite winning both head-to-head tests, has a lower average score of 131,938, landing in the 95th percentile. This discrepancy arises because the 3090 Ti’s average includes its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 5,741, a low score that drags down its overall average. In contrast, the RTX 4500 Ada only has Geekbench results in its profile, which are uniformly high. So while the 3090 Ti wins the direct comparisons, the Ada card’s consistency across its available benchmarks gives it a better aggregate standing.

The nearest rivals for each card further contextualize these numbers. The RTX 4500 Ada’s average score of 166,094 sits just 0.5% above the NVIDIA RTX A5500 (165,217) and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 (164,894), while trailing the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X by 1.5% (168,574). It also leads the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB by 2.2% (162,504). For the RTX 3090 Ti, its 131,938 average is nearly identical to the NVIDIA L4 (131,072, a 0.7% delta) but trails the RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135,218), NVIDIA A10M (135,230), and AMD Radeon PRO W6800 (135,396) by 2.4% to 2.6%. This means the 3090 Ti, despite its head-to-head wins, is actually below several workstation-focused rivals in aggregate performance.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The RTX 4500 Ada uses the AD103 chip based on Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It packs 45,900 million transistors into a 379 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.1M per mm². The RTX 3090 Ti, by contrast, uses the GA102 chip on the older Ampere architecture, built by Samsung on an 8 nm process. It has 28,300 million transistors spread across a much larger 628 mm² die, with a density of just 45.1M per mm². The Ada card achieves nearly three times the transistor density, which is the core of its efficiency advantage.

Memory configurations differ significantly. Both cards have 24 GB of VRAM, but the RTX 4500 Ada uses GDDR6 running at 18 Gbps effective on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3090 Ti uses faster GDDR6X at 21 Gbps effective on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s — more than double the bandwidth. This is a major architectural distinction: the 3090 Ti’s wider memory bus and faster memory type give it a clear edge in bandwidth-bound workloads, while the Ada card compensates with a more modern memory subsystem.

Compute resources also diverge sharply. The RTX 3090 Ti has 10,752 shading units, 336 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 84 RT cores, and 336 tensor cores. The RTX 4500 Ada has fewer of everything: 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 60 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. Despite this, the Ada card’s FP32 performance is 39.63 TFLOPS, nearly matching the 3090 Ti’s 40.00 TFLOPS. The same holds for FP16, with both at 39.63 and 40.00 TFLOPS respectively. This confirms Ada Lovelace’s improved per-core efficiency — fewer cores working at higher clocks (2070 MHz base / 2580 MHz boost for Ada versus 1560 MHz / 1860 MHz for Ampere) achieve almost identical throughput. Pixel and texture rates are likewise close: 206.4 GPixel/s and 619.2 GTexel/s for Ada versus 208.3 GPixel/s and 625.0 GTexel/s for Ampere.

Power and physical design are where the cards diverge most for practical use. The RTX 4500 Ada has a TDP of 210 W, requires no power connectors, and is a dual-slot card measuring 245 mm in length. The RTX 3090 Ti draws 450 W, needs a single 16-pin connector, and is a triple-slot card at 336 mm long. The Ada card’s suggested PSU is 550 W, while the 3090 Ti asks for 850 W. Both use PCIe 4.0 x16, but the Ada card offers four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the 3090 Ti provides one HDMI 2.1 and three DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX 4500 Ada is listed as Active in production, while the RTX 3090 Ti is End-of-life, and the Ada card was released on 2023-08-08, over a year after the 3090 Ti’s 2022-01-26 launch.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3090 Ti is the clear winner in raw graphics and compute benchmarks. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 215,633 is 20.5% higher than the RTX 4500 Ada’s 171,401, making it the superior choice for any workload that stresses graphics API performance, such as gaming, real-time rendering, or certain professional visualization tasks. Its OpenCL advantage of 7.8% (174,441 versus 160,786) also means it holds an edge in general-purpose compute, though the margin is narrower. The 3090 Ti’s massive 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth is a structural advantage that likely contributes to these wins, particularly in memory-intensive scenarios.

The RTX 4500 Ada wins in efficiency and physical integration. Its 210 W TDP is less than half the 3090 Ti’s 450 W, and it requires no external power connectors, whereas the 3090 Ti needs a 16-pin connector and an 850 W PSU. The Ada card is also dramatically smaller: 245 mm versus 336 mm in length, dual-slot versus triple-slot. For multi-GPU workstations, dense server environments, or any build where space and power are constrained, the Ada card is the only viable option between the two. Additionally, its 97th percentile average benchmark score (166,094) versus the 3090 Ti’s 95th percentile (131,938) indicates better aggregate performance across a wider range of tests, even though the 3090 Ti wins the specific head-to-head tests available.

In terms of production status, the RTX 4500 Ada is Active, meaning it is currently available and supported, while the RTX 3090 Ti is End-of-life. The Ada card’s successor is listed as Blackwell PRO W, while the 3090 Ti’s successor is GeForce 40, so buyers looking for long-term driver support and availability should favor the Ada card. The Ada card also has a higher transistor density (121.1M per mm² versus 45.1M), which speaks to its more modern design, even if that does not translate to benchmark wins in this dataset.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: if raw benchmark performance is the sole criterion, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti wins. It beats the RTX 4500 Ada by 7.8% in OpenCL and 20.5% in Vulkan, and it does so with a higher FP32 rating (40.00 versus 39.63 TFLOPS), more shading units, and more than double the memory bandwidth. For users who need maximum compute throughput in a single card and have the power budget and chassis space to accommodate a 450 W, triple-slot, 336 mm behemoth, the 3090 Ti is the data-backed choice.

However, the RTX 4500 Ada is the better pick for most professional and workstation scenarios, despite losing the head-to-head tests. Its 210 W TDP, lack of power connectors, and dual-slot 245 mm form factor make it far easier to deploy in multi-GPU configurations or compact systems. Its 97th percentile average score versus the 3090 Ti’s 95th percentile suggests it delivers more consistent performance across diverse workloads. And with an Active production status versus the 3090 Ti’s End-of-life status, the Ada card is the forward-looking investment. Users who prioritize efficiency, space, and longevity should choose the RTX 4500 Ada; users who prioritize raw benchmark victories and have no physical or power constraints should choose the RTX 3090 Ti.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti wins with a score of 215,633, which is 20.5% higher than the RTX 4500 Ada Generation’s 171,401.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada has an average score of 166,094, placing it in the 97th percentile, while the RTX 3090 Ti has an average of 131,938, placing it in the 95th percentile.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti has a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s using GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, while the RTX 4500 Ada has 432.0 GB/s using GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus.

Q: What are the TDP and power connector requirements?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada has a TDP of 210 W and requires no power connectors, while the RTX 3090 Ti has a TDP of 450 W and requires one 16-pin connector.

Q: Which card has a higher FP32 performance rating?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti is slightly higher at 40.00 TFLOPS, compared to the RTX 4500 Ada’s 39.63 TFLOPS.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada is listed as Active, while the RTX 3090 Ti is listed as End-of-life.