NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 vs NVIDIA A40, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 wins 7 of 8 benchmarks, averaging 139.4% 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 Z-Image Turbo, where NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 leads by 233% (10.725 vs 3.225 images/min); the closest fight is FLUX.1 dev (4% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA A40 runs 8 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 A40 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 375.6 | 160.79 | +134% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 268.14 | 106.18 | +153% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 149.75 | 57.85 | +159% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 71.15 | 26.89 | +165% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 21.08 | 9.2 | +129% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 10.725 | 3.225 | +233% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 2.036 | 1.95 | +4% |
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 A40 on 1.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | NVIDIA A40 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 6.7 min | 17.3 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 2.59x faster | $0.036 vs $0.101 |
| 24-frame storyboard | 12.5 min | 10.2 min | NVIDIA A40 1.22x faster | $0.067 vs $0.060 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA A40 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 A40 | $0.350 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is 1.09x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | NVIDIA A40 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 32GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Blackwell (GB202) | Ampere |
| Memory bandwidth | 1792 GB/s | 696 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 2,407 MHz | 1,740 MHz |
| TDP | 575 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $1,999 | $5,000 |
| Release | 2025-01-30 | 2020-10-05 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 or NVIDIA A40?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 7 of 8 benchmarks in our suite with an average 139.4% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and NVIDIA A40?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 has 32GB VRAM and a 575W TDP, while NVIDIA A40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and NVIDIA A40?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA A40 fits 2 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. 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 A40?
- Z-Image Turbo: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 leads by roughly 233% (10.725 vs 3.225 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 full review · NVIDIA A40 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings