NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 wins 9 of 12 benchmarks, averaging 106.1% faster.
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4's numbers are anchored estimates calibrated against our measured cards, pending first-party measurement. Treat small gaps as ties.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in LTX-Video (distilled), where NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by 312% (2.17 vs 8.95 frames/s); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (7% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 runs 135 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 8, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 206.67 | 193.14 | +7% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 144.9 | 157.26 | -8% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 78.79 | 86.2 | -9% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 37.95 | 43.8 | -13% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 7.46 | 18.576 | -60% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 3.825 | 9.975 | -62% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 4.264 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 0 | 1.993 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s | 2.17 | 8.95 | -76% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.22 | 0.66 | -67% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is faster on 0 of 4; NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 on 4.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 8.3 min | 3 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.72x faster | $0.010 vs $0.051 |
| Full codebase review | 12.7 min | 11.7 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.09x faster | $0.015 vs $0.195 |
| 60-second AI short film | 15.2 min | 4 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 3.82x faster | $0.017 vs $0.066 |
| 10 short social clips | 42.4 min | 13.7 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 3.10x faster | $0.049 vs $0.228 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 finishes 4 of 4 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | $0.069 |
| NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | $1.000 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is 14.49x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24GB | 40GB |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA102) | Ampere |
| Memory bandwidth | 936.2 GB/s | 1555 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,695 MHz | 1,410 MHz |
| TDP | 350 W | 400 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,499 | $12,000 |
| Release | 2020-09-24 | 2020-05-14 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 or NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 9 of 12 benchmarks in our suite with an average 106.1% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has 24GB VRAM and a 350W TDP, while NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 has 40GB VRAM and a 400W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 fits 11 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4. 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 3090 and NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- LTX-Video (distilled): NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by roughly 312% (2.17 vs 8.95 frames/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 full review · NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings