GeForce RTX 5080 vs NVIDIA A40, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA A40 wins 5 of 9 benchmarks, averaging -12.2% faster.
NVIDIA A40'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 Llama 3.1 8B, where GeForce RTX 5080 leads by 42% (150.71 vs 106.18 tok/s); the closest fight is Stable Diffusion XL (4% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA A40 runs 8 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 6, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA A40 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 215.89 | 160.79 | +34% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 150.71 | 106.18 | +42% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 81.97 | 57.85 | +42% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 0 | 26.89 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 8.86 | 9.2 | -4% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 2.7 | 3.225 | -16% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 1.95 | n/a |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0 | 0.31 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. GeForce RTX 5080 is faster on 1 of 1; NVIDIA A40 on 0.
| Workflow | GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA A40 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.2 min | 17.3 min | GeForce RTX 5080 1.42x faster | $0.027 vs $0.101 |
Renting by the hour, GeForce RTX 5080 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 |
|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 5080 | $0.135 |
| NVIDIA A40 | $0.350 |
GeForce RTX 5080 is 2.59x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA A40 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 16GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Blackwell (GB203) | Ampere |
| Memory bandwidth | 960 GB/s | 696 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 2,617 MHz | 1,740 MHz |
| TDP | 360 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $999 | $5,000 |
| Release | 2025-01-30 | 2020-10-05 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: GeForce RTX 5080 or NVIDIA A40?
- NVIDIA A40 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 5 of 9 benchmarks in our suite with an average -12.2% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA A40?
- GeForce RTX 5080 has 16GB VRAM and a 360W TDP, while NVIDIA A40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA A40?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA A40 fits 6 more of our 12 workloads than GeForce RTX 5080. 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 GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA A40?
- Llama 3.1 8B: GeForce RTX 5080 leads by roughly 42% (150.71 vs 106.18 tok/s) in our testing.
GeForce RTX 5080 full review · NVIDIA A40 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings