NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs NVIDIA L4, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
Dead heat, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and NVIDIA L4 split our benchmark suite evenly.
Both cards were measured first-party on our bench, same suite, same test rig.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Llama 3.1 8B, where NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti leads by 186% (144.11 vs 50.45 tok/s); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (146% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti runs 138 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 3, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA L4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.45 | 84 | +146% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.11 | 50.45 | +186% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.31 | 27.46 | +185% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 0 | 12.42 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 0 | 2.475 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0 | 0.15 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is faster on 1 of 1; NVIDIA L4 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA L4 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.8 min | 36.4 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 2.85x faster | $0.038 vs $0.267 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti finishes 1 of 1 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | $0.180 |
| NVIDIA L4 | $0.440 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is 2.44x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA L4 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB | 24GB |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 300 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,665 MHz | 2,040 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 72 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,199 | $2,500 |
| Release | 2021-06-03 | 2023-03-21 |
FAQ
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and NVIDIA L4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has 12GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA L4 has 24GB VRAM and a 72W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and NVIDIA L4?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti fits 16 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA L4. A model that exceeds VRAM doesn't run slower, it doesn't run at all, so the card that fits the model wins that workload outright.
- Where is the biggest performance difference between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and NVIDIA L4?
- Llama 3.1 8B: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti leads by roughly 186% (144.11 vs 50.45 tok/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti full review · NVIDIA L4 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings