GeForce RTX 5080 vs NVIDIA L40, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA L40 wins 7 of 12 benchmarks, averaging 15.2% faster.
NVIDIA L40'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 Z-Image Turbo, where NVIDIA L40 leads by 108% (2.7 vs 5.625 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (2% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA L40 runs 11 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 L40 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 215.89 | 211.33 | +2% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 150.71 | 135.12 | +12% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 81.97 | 74.27 | +10% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 0 | 34.08 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 8.86 | 11.2 | -21% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 2.7 | 5.625 | -52% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 2.464 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 0 | 1.114 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0.48 | n/a |
| LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s | 3.34 | 2.61 | +28% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0 | 0.37 | 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 L40 on 0.
| Workflow | GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA L40 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.2 min | 13.5 min | GeForce RTX 5080 1.10x faster | $0.027 vs $0.155 |
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 L40 | $0.690 |
GeForce RTX 5080 is 5.11x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA L40 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 16GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Blackwell (GB203) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 960 GB/s | 864 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 2,617 MHz | 2,490 MHz |
| TDP | 360 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $999 | $7,000 |
| Release | 2025-01-30 | 2022-10-13 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: GeForce RTX 5080 or NVIDIA L40?
- NVIDIA L40 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 7 of 12 benchmarks in our suite with an average 15.2% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA L40?
- GeForce RTX 5080 has 16GB VRAM and a 360W TDP, while NVIDIA L40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA L40?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA L40 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 L40?
- Z-Image Turbo: NVIDIA L40 leads by roughly 108% (2.7 vs 5.625 images/min) in our testing.
GeForce RTX 5080 full review · NVIDIA L40 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings