NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe vs NVIDIA L4, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe wins 16 of 18 benchmarks, averaging 195% faster.
NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe'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 Wan 2.2 5B (720p), where NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe leads by 307% (0.61 vs 0.15 frames/s); the closest fight is Qwen3 30B A3B (90% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe runs 172 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 18, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe | NVIDIA L4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granite 4.1 3B tok/s | 207.93 | 96.18 | +116% |
| Qwen3-4B tok/s | 197.27 | 84 | +135% |
| Llama-3.1-8B tok/s | 154.22 | 50.45 | +206% |
| Qwen3 8B tok/s | 146.86 | 48.95 | +200% |
| Gemma 4 12B tok/s | 90.61 | 31.49 | +188% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder-14B tok/s | 84.11 | 27.46 | +206% |
| Qwen3 14B tok/s | 87.51 | 27.61 | +217% |
| Gemma 4 26B A4B tok/s | 136.74 | 68.51 | +100% |
| Qwen3 30B A3B tok/s | 182.96 | 96.15 | +90% |
| Gemma 4 31B tok/s | 42.57 | 12.84 | +232% |
| Qwen3-32B tok/s | 41.5 | 12.42 | +234% |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 16.8 | 5.18 | +224% |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 1.843 | 0 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 3.964 | 0 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 9.3 | 2.475 | +276% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.61 | 0.15 | +307% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe is faster on 3 of 3; NVIDIA L4 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe | NVIDIA L4 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 3.2 min | 12.2 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe 3.80x faster | $0.027 vs $0.089 |
| Full codebase review | 11.9 min | 36.4 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe 3.05x faster | $0.101 vs $0.267 |
| Short social clips | 14.7 min | 60.3 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe 4.09x faster | $0.125 vs $0.442 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe finishes 3 of 3 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe | $0.508 |
| NVIDIA L4 | $0.440 |
NVIDIA L4 is 1.15x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe | NVIDIA L4 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 40GB | 24GB |
| Transistors | 54,200M | 35,800M |
| Die size | 826 mm² | 294.5 mm² |
| Process node | 7 nm | 4 nm |
| Transistor density | 65.6 M/mm² | 121.6 M/mm² |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 1555 GB/s | 300 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,410 MHz | 2,040 MHz |
| TDP | 250 W | 72 W |
| Launch MSRP | $10,000 | $2,500 |
| Release | 2020-06-22 | 2023-03-21 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe or NVIDIA L4?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 16 of 18 benchmarks in our suite with an average 195% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe and NVIDIA L4?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe has 40GB VRAM and a 250W TDP, while NVIDIA L4 has 24GB VRAM and a 72W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe and NVIDIA L4?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe fits 24 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA L4. 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 A100 40GB PCIe and NVIDIA L4?
- Wan 2.2 5B (720p): NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe leads by roughly 46% (0.61 vs 0.15 frames/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe full review · NVIDIA L4 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings