NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 vs NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 wins 6 of 9 benchmarks, averaging 38.6% 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 FLUX.1 dev, where NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by 109% (2.036 vs 4.264 images/min); the closest fight is Z-Image Turbo (8% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 runs 135 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 7, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 375.6 | 193.14 | +94% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 268.14 | 157.26 | +71% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 149.75 | 86.2 | +74% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 71.15 | 43.8 | +62% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 21.08 | 18.576 | +13% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 10.725 | 9.975 | +8% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 2.036 | 4.264 | -52% |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is faster on 1 of 2; NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 on 1.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 6.7 min | 11.7 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 1.75x faster | $0.036 vs $0.195 |
| 24-frame storyboard | 12.5 min | 3 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 4.09x faster | $0.067 vs $0.051 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 finishes 1 of 2 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | $0.321 |
| NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | $1.000 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is 3.12x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 32GB | 40GB |
| Architecture | Blackwell (GB202) | Ampere |
| Memory bandwidth | 1792 GB/s | 1555 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 2,407 MHz | 1,410 MHz |
| TDP | 575 W | 400 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,999 | $12,000 |
| Release | 2025-01-30 | 2020-05-14 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 or NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 6 of 9 benchmarks in our suite with an average 38.6% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 has 32GB VRAM and a 575W TDP, while NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 has 40GB VRAM and a 400W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 fits 13 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 5090 and NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4?
- FLUX.1 dev: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by roughly 109% (2.036 vs 4.264 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 full review · NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings