GPU HEAD-TO-HEAD

NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super vs NVIDIA RTX 4090

Which graphics card is better for running local language models? Here is how the NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super (16 GB) compares against the NVIDIA RTX 4090 (24 GB) in real memory headroom, supported model architectures, and generation speed.

NVIDIA · Ada Lovelace 16 GB VRAM

NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super

Memory Bandwidth: 736 GB/s (GDDR6X 256-bit)
Fits fully in VRAM: 34 popular models
Power Draw (TDP): 320W
Largest recommended (Q4): 20B–22B

View all NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super models →

NVIDIA · Ada Lovelace 24 GB VRAM

NVIDIA RTX 4090

Memory Bandwidth: 1008 GB/s (GDDR6X 384-bit)
Fits fully in VRAM: 37 popular models
Power Draw (TDP): 450W
Largest recommended (Q4): 32B–34B

View all NVIDIA RTX 4090 models →

The AI Local Check Verdict: Which GPU should you buy for AI?

The NVIDIA RTX 4090 is the clear winner for local AI. It delivers 8 GB more VRAM and superior memory bandwidth (1008 GB/s vs 736 GB/s).

It unlocks larger parameter classes without system RAM offloading and generates tokens noticeably faster.

Models that fit on NVIDIA RTX 4090, but NOT on NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super

These models run entirely in GPU VRAM on the NVIDIA RTX 4090, but require slow system RAM offload on the NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super:

Model	Size	Downloads	NVIDIA RTX 4090	NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super
ggml-org/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3.5-Lightning-30B-A3B-GGUF	31.58B	201,887	Fits in VRAM	Offload (Slow)
unsloth/Qwen3-Coder-Next-GGUF	79.67B	161,372	Fits in VRAM	Offload (Slow)
Qwen/Qwen3-32B-GGUF	32.76B	116,808	Fits in VRAM	Offload (Slow)

Other Popular GPU Comparisons