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Is it worth upgrading?

A newer card winning every row of a comparison table does not make it worth buying. This works out how much faster it actually is at your resolution, what that improvement costs per percentage point, and whether a cheaper card would get you most of the way there.

Both cards have to be ones CompareYourGPU tracks. The database currently covers current and recent desktop cards, so if you are coming from something older it may not be listed yet. See what is covered.

What resolution do you play at?
Which of these do you play? Optional. Sizes the estimate against the most demanding one.

RTX 3070 → RTX 5090 at 1440p

Worth upgrading

Recommended
Performance gain
+185.7%
Estimated, native
Measured cross-check
Not tested
Upgrade cost
$1,999
Price of the new card
Cost per 1% gained
$10.8

What you gain

  • In favour: Estimated 185.7% more performance at 1440p.
  • In favour: Estimated frame rate moves from roughly 65-90 FPS to 180-260 FPS.
  • In favour: Memory goes from 8 GB to 32 GB, which clears the shortfall CompareYourGPU flags at 1440p. This often matters more than the average frame rate, because running short of memory shows up as stutter.
  • In favour: 244.8% stronger in ray-traced workloads.
  • In favour: Adds DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation, Hardware AV1 encoding.
  • In favour: Works out at about $10.8 per percentage point of performance gained.

What it costs you

  • Caution: Board power rises by 355 W, from 220 W to 575 W. Check your power supply before ordering.
Compare them side by sideAbout the RTX 5090

The two cards side by side

Key differences between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 5090
MeasureRTX 3070RTX 5090Change
Estimated FPS at 1440p65-90180-260+185.7%
VRAM8 GB32 GB+24 GB
Board power220 W575 W+355 W
Ray tracing index29100+244.8%
Price on record$499$1,999+$1,500
LaunchedOctober 29, 2020January 30, 20254.3 years apart

Where these numbers come from

  • Performance gain: CompareYourGPU estimated index, native resolution, no upscaling.
  • VRAM, board power and features: manufacturer specifications.
  • Prices: launch MSRP. CompareYourGPU holds no verified street price for these cards, so the cost per percentage point is a reference figure rather than what you would pay today.
  • The cost of the upgrade is the price of the new card. CompareYourGPU does not model what your current card might sell for.