Head to head · October 2026
RTX 5090 vs R9700: which is better for local AI?
32GB against 32GB, 1,792 against 640 GB/s. What each runs, how fast, and which one to buy.
The verdict
Both have 32GB of memory, so they run the same models. The RTX 5090 generates text about 201% faster thanks to 1,792 GB/s of memory bandwidth versus 640 GB/s. The R9700 costs about $2,500 less ($1,800 vs $4,300).
- Get the RTX 5090 if speed matters most or you want the widest software support (CUDA).
- Get the R9700 if you want the most for your money or you care about power draw, heat, and noise.
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Performance
Model by model
Estimated single-user generation speed for popular models, at the best quantization each card can hold with 8K context.
| Model | RTX 5090 | R9700 |
|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct | ~145 tok/sQ8_0 | ~45 tok/sQ8_0 |
| Qwen3 14B | ~84 tok/sQ8_0 | ~25 tok/sQ8_0 |
| gpt-oss-20b | ~190 tok/sMXFP4 | ~75 tok/sMXFP4 |
| Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507) | ~175 tok/sQ6_K | ~68 tok/sQ6_K |
| Gemma 3 27B | ~60 tok/sQ6_K | ~18 tok/sQ6_K |
| Qwen3 32B | ~58 tok/sQ5_K_M | ~17 tok/sQ5_K_M |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct | ~2.7 tok/sQ4_K_M Partial offload | ~2.4 tok/sQ4_K_M Partial offload |
| gpt-oss-120b | ~25 tok/sMXFP4 Partial offload | ~23 tok/sMXFP4 Partial offload |
Estimates from our bandwidth model; see methodology. Measured results, where we have them, are on each GPU's page.
Specifications
Spec by spec
| Spec | RTX 5090 | R9700 |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 32GB GDDR7 | 32GB GDDR6 |
| Bandwidth | 1,792 GB/s● | 640 GB/s |
| Power | 575W | 300W● |
| Price | ~$4,300 | ~$1,800● |
| Price per GB | $134 | $56● |
| Architecture | Blackwell | RDNA 4 |
| Released | 2025 | 2025 |
| Software | CUDA, Vulkan | ROCm, Vulkan |
Our take
Bottom line on each
The fastest consumer card for local LLMs, but shortage pricing has more than doubled its cost.
32GB for far less than NVIDIA workstation cards and built for stacking, but no faster per card than an RX 9070 XT.
Frequently asked questions
Is the RTX 5090 or R9700 better for running LLMs?
Both have 32GB of memory, so they run the same models. The RTX 5090 generates text about 201% faster thanks to 1,792 GB/s of memory bandwidth versus 640 GB/s. The R9700 costs about $2,500 less ($1,800 vs $4,300).
How much faster is the RTX 5090 than the R9700 for AI?
About 201% faster at generating text in our estimates, because token generation is limited by memory bandwidth (1,792 GB/s vs 640 GB/s). Prompt processing depends more on compute and can differ by more.
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