NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 vs NVIDIA L4, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA L4 wins 5 of 11 benchmarks, averaging -35.2% faster.
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 leads by 149% (125.85 vs 50.45 tok/s); the closest fight is Stable Diffusion XL (9% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 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 | NVIDIA L4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 184.08 | 84 | +119% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 125.85 | 50.45 | +149% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 0 | 27.46 | n/a |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 0 | 12.42 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 4.76 | 5.18 | -8% |
| 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 |
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 | $0.029 |
| NVIDIA L4 | $0.440 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is 15.17x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 | NVIDIA L4 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 10GB | 24GB |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 760 GB/s | 300 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,710 MHz | 2,040 MHz |
| TDP | 320 W | 72 W |
| Launch MSRP | $699 | $2,500 |
| Release | 2020-09-17 | 2023-03-21 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 or NVIDIA L4?
- NVIDIA L4 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 5 of 11 benchmarks in our suite with an average -35.2% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and NVIDIA L4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has 10GB VRAM and a 320W TDP, while NVIDIA L4 has 24GB VRAM and a 72W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and NVIDIA L4?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 fits 15 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 and NVIDIA L4?
- Llama 3.1 8B: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 leads by roughly 149% (125.85 vs 50.45 tok/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 full review · NVIDIA L4 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings