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Consumer-grade GPUs outperform AI accelerators in password cracking benchmarks

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Benchmarking tests comparing flagship AI accelerators (Nvidia H200, AMD MI300X) and a consumer GPU (Nvidia RTX 5090) revealed that consumer-grade hardware significantly outperforms AI accelerators in raw password cracking performance across multiple hashing algorithms (MD5, NTLM, bcrypt, SHA-256, SHA-512). The RTX 5090 achieved higher hash rates than both the H200 and MI300X in all tested algorithms, despite being an order of magnitude less expensive. Historical comparisons with older consumer GPUs (e.g., 2017 Nvidia GTX 1080 rigs) showed similar or superior cracking performance to current AI accelerators. The findings underscore that password cracking capability is not dependent on specialized or high-cost hardware, highlighting the importance of strong password policies and credential monitoring to mitigate brute-force and credential-stuffing risks.

Timeline

  1. 08.04.2026 17:00 1 articles · 1h ago

    Consumer GPUs surpass AI accelerators in password cracking performance benchmarks

    Hashcat benchmarking across MD5, NTLM, bcrypt, SHA-256, and SHA-512 revealed that the Nvidia RTX 5090 consumer GPU achieved higher hash rates than both the Nvidia H200 and AMD MI300X AI accelerators in all tested algorithms. The RTX 5090 demonstrated superior price-to-performance, with a cost at least tenfold lower than the H200 while delivering up to twice the hash rate. Historical comparison showed that a 2017 eight-GPU rig using GTX 1080s achieved performance comparable to current AI accelerators, highlighting that brute-force password cracking does not require specialized or high-cost hardware.

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Information Snippets

  • In Hashcat benchmarking, the Nvidia RTX 5090 outperformed both the Nvidia H200 and AMD MI300X across all tested algorithms (MD5, NTLM, bcrypt, SHA-256, SHA-512).

    First reported: 08.04.2026 17:00
    1 source, 1 article
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  • The RTX 5090 achieved a hash rate of 219.5 GH/s for MD5, compared to 124.4 GH/s (H200) and 164.1 GH/s (MI300X). For SHA-256, the RTX 5090 reached 27,681.6 MH/s versus 15,092.3 MH/s (H200) and 24,673.6 MH/s (MI300X).

    First reported: 08.04.2026 17:00
    1 source, 1 article
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  • The RTX 5090’s price-to-performance ratio was markedly superior; a single H200 costs at least ten times more than an RTX 5090 but delivered lower hash rates in testing.

    First reported: 08.04.2026 17:00
    1 source, 1 article
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  • A 2017 password-cracking rig using eight Nvidia GTX 1080 GPUs achieved an NTLM hash cracking rate of 334 GH/s, comparable to or exceeding the performance of current AI accelerators in the same benchmark.

    First reported: 08.04.2026 17:00
    1 source, 1 article
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  • A 15-character SHA-256 hashed password (mixed character set) would require approximately 167 billion years to crack using the RTX 5090, rendering brute-force attacks impractical.

    First reported: 08.04.2026 17:00
    1 source, 1 article
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  • SHA-256 hashed passwords using numbers, upper/lowercase letters, and symbols could be cracked in approximately 21 hours under the test conditions.

    First reported: 08.04.2026 17:00
    1 source, 1 article
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