Deals

GeForce RTX 5090 vs Mac Studio, M5 Max 18-core CPU / 40-core GPU

Specs checked 2026-10-15; prices re-checked 2026-10-20. Derived numbers are bounds, not measurements (rules). We make a Mac app (Akhna); read the Mac column with that in mind.

Specs

GeForce RTX 5090Mac Studio, M5 Max 18-core CPU / 40-core GPU
Memory32 GB GDDR7, 512-bit spec [S32] [S33]48, 64 or 128 GB spec [S1]
Usable for the model, per option derived32 GB → 28.8 GB usable, ~51B at 4-bit
48 GB → 36.0 GB usable, ~64B at 4-bit
64 GB → 48.0 GB usable, ~85B at 4-bit
128 GB → 96.0 GB usable, ~171B at 4-bit
Bandwidth1,792 GB/s spec [S32] [S33]614 GB/s spec [S1]
Published compute209.5 TFLOPS (FP16/BF16 tensor, FP32 accumulate, dense (419 with FP16 accumulate; FP4 1,676 dense)) spec [S32]not published; Apple: LLM prompt processing in LM Studio '3.9x faster than M4 Max' (Apple's test), relative only spec [S2]
Power575 W card; 1,000 W PSU recommended spec [S33] (card only; add the host PC)480 W enclosure max continuous; Apple's power page lists only the 32-core configuration spec [S1] [S7] (whole computer)
SoftwareCUDAMetal, MLX; no CUDA
Prices$1,999: card, MSRP (2025-01-06) spec [S36]
$5,581: card, eBay: average of the 3 lowest listings per day, Sept 2026, new or used not stated (2026-09) cited [S37]
$3,099: 48 GB / 512 GB (2026-08-25) cited [S10]
$5,099: 128 GB / 512 GB ($3,099 + $2,000) (2026-08-25) derived [S10]
$5,399: 128 GB / 1 TB ($3,099 + $2,000 + $300) (2026-08-25) derived [S10]

Bandwidth ratio: 2.92x derived. For one user writing an answer, the decode ceiling scales with it (rule 1), as long as the model fits both.

Answer speed ceilings, tokens/s derived

Model (4-bit)GeForce RTX 5090Mac Studio, M5 Max 18-core CPU / 40-core GPU
8B dense (Llama 3 8B shape), short context398136
8B dense (Llama 3 8B shape), 32,768 tokens20470
30B-A3B MoE (Qwen3-30B-A3B), short context965331
30B-A3B MoE (Qwen3-30B-A3B), 32,768 tokens353121
70B dense (Llama 3 70B shape), short contextdoes not fit16 (64 / 128 GB only)
70B dense (Llama 3 70B shape), 32,768 tokensdoes not fit12 (128 GB only)
235B-A22B MoE (Qwen3-235B-A22B), short contextdoes not fitdoes not fit

Time to read a 16,000-token prompt derived

ModelGeForce RTX 5090Mac Studio, M5 Max 18-core CPU / 40-core GPU
8B dense (Llama 3 8B shape)>= 1.2 sno published peak
30B-A3B MoE (Qwen3-30B-A3B)>= 0.5 sno published peak
70B dense (Llama 3 70B shape)does not fitno published peak

Where to look

NVIDIA RTX 5090 · Apple Mac Studio (maker pages)

Sources

  1. [S1] Apple, Mac Studio tech specs
  2. [S2] Apple newsroom, new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra (2026-08-25)
  3. [S3] Apple, Mac Studio buy page
  4. [S4] Apple, MacBook Pro tech specs
  5. [S5] Apple, Mac mini tech specs
  6. [S7] Apple Support, Mac Studio power consumption and thermal output
  7. [S9] Daring Fireball, M5 Max Mac Studio base prices (2026-08-25)
  8. [S10] EveryMac, Mac Studio M5 Max 18-core CPU / 40-core GPU
  9. [S12] MacRumors, 512 GB M5 Ultra in October (2026-08-25)
  10. [S13] Macworld, M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini prices (2026-08-25)
  11. [S14] NVIDIA, DGX Spark product page
  12. [S15] NVIDIA docs, DGX Spark hardware overview
  13. [S16] The Register, GB10 workstations arrive (2025-10-13)
  14. [S17] The Register, $4,999 64 GB DGX Spark; 128 GB to $6,950 (2026-10-02)
  15. [S18] NVIDIA blog, DGX Spark 64 GB (2026-10-02)
  16. [S19] StorageReview, DGX Spark review (2025-10-14)
  17. [S21] Tom's Hardware, DGX Spark $3,999 to $4,699 (Feb 2026; headline read)
  18. [S22] AMD, Ryzen AI Max+ 395 specifications
  19. [S23] AMD blog, Variable Graphics Memory FAQ (2025-07-29)
  20. [S24] AMD, Ryzen AI Halo with Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495
  21. [S25] AMD blog, Ryzen AI Halo and Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 series (2026-05-20)
  22. [S26] AMD ROCm on Radeon and Ryzen, Linux support matrices (7.2.1)
  23. [S27] Framework, Desktop DIY Edition (prices, stock)
  24. [S28] Framework, Desktop overview
  25. [S29] Framework blog, 192 GB Framework Desktop pre-order (2026-09-30)
  26. [S31] Tom's Hardware, $3,999 Ryzen AI Halo (headline read)
  27. [S32] NVIDIA, RTX Blackwell GPU architecture whitepaper (Table 3)
  28. [S33] NVIDIA, GeForce RTX 5090 product page
  29. [S34] NVIDIA, GeForce RTX 4090 product page
  30. [S35] NVIDIA, GeForce compare page
  31. [S36] NVIDIA newsroom, RTX 50 series prices (2025-01-06)
  32. [S37] GPU Poet, RTX 5090 prices September 2026 (eBay listings)
  33. [S38] Wikipedia, GeForce RTX 40 series
  34. [S39] NVIDIA, RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell
  35. [S40] NVIDIA, RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell
  36. [S42] Llama 3 paper, Table 3
  37. [S43] Qwen3-30B-A3B model card
  38. [S44] Qwen3-30B-A3B config.json
  39. [S45] Qwen3-235B-A22B model card
  40. [S46] MLX docs, mlx.core.quantize
  41. [S47] mlx-lm README
  42. [S48] Rajbhandari et al., ZeRO
  43. [S49] Let's Data Science, RTX PRO 6000 price (2026-08-12)
  44. [S50] PCMag via Yahoo, $3,999 DGX Spark (2025-10-13)
  45. [S51] NVIDIA Developer Forums, 2/23/2026 price change (search result)
  46. [S52] Phoronix, Framework Desktop PRO 495 from $6,799 (2026-09-30)
  47. [S53] Let's Data Science, Strix Halo mini PC for $3,999 (2026-07-06)
  48. [S54] gpuprix, RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell US prices
  49. [S55] SHI, PNY RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell (search result)
  50. [S56] Intel, Thunderbolt 5 technology brief
  51. [S57] EveryMac, Mac Studio M5 Ultra 30-core CPU / 64-core GPU
  52. [S58] Daring Fireball, configurations and pricing for new Mac minis and Mac Studios (2026-08)
  53. [S59] Framework, Desktop DIY (Max+ PRO 495) configurator: SSD extra or bring your own; Batch 2 ships November (read 2026-10-20)
  54. [S60] Borncity, Ryzen AI Halo 192 GB at Micro Center for $7,299 (2026-10-14)
  55. [S61] PCWorld, the RTX Spark laptops available at launch (2026-10-08)
  56. [S20] NVIDIA docs, RTX Spark porting guide, system overview
  57. [S62] Apple, Mac Studio configurator (36/80-core M5 Ultra, 512 GB, 16 TB: $29,799; option steps shown; ships 10-12 weeks; read 2026-10-30)

Accessed 2026-10-15; volatile prices re-checked 2026-10-20.