NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 vs NVIDIA L40, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 wins 9 of 12 benchmarks, averaging 66.9% faster.
Both cards' 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 LTX-Video (distilled), where NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by 243% (8.95 vs 2.61 frames/s); the closest fight is Qwen3-4B (9% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA L40 runs 135 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 11, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA L40 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3-4B tok/s | 193.14 | 211.33 | -9% |
| Llama-3.1-8B tok/s | 157.26 | 135.12 | +16% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder-14B tok/s | 86.2 | 74.27 | +16% |
| Qwen3-32B tok/s | 43.8 | 34.08 | +29% |
| Llama-3.3-70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 18.576 | 11.2 | +66% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 9.975 | 5.625 | +77% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 4.264 | 2.464 | +73% |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 1.993 | 1.114 | +79% |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0.48 | n/a |
| LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s | 8.95 | 2.61 | +243% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.66 | 0.37 | +78% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 is faster on 8 of 8; NVIDIA L40 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA L40 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 3 min | 7 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.30x faster | $0.051 vs $0.080 |
| 60-second AI short film | 4 min | 13 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 3.27x faster | $0.066 vs $0.149 |
| 6-panel comic page | 4.8 min | 9.1 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.90x faster | $0.080 vs $0.105 |
| Character sheet, 12 poses | 6.3 min | 12.1 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.94x faster | $0.104 vs $0.140 |
| Full codebase review | 11.7 min | 13.5 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.15x faster | $0.195 vs $0.155 |
| 10 short social clips | 13.7 min | 28.2 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.06x faster | $0.228 vs $0.324 |
| 40-product photo shoot | 22.2 min | 41.1 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.85x faster | $0.370 vs $0.473 |
| 100-photo restoration batch | 50.2 min | 1 h 30 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.80x faster | $0.836 vs $1.038 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 finishes 7 of 8 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | $1.000 |
| NVIDIA L40 | $0.690 |
NVIDIA L40 is 1.45x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA L40 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 40GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 1555 GB/s | 864 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,410 MHz | 2,490 MHz |
| TDP | 400 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $12,000 | $7,000 |
| Release | 2020-05-14 | 2022-10-13 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 or NVIDIA L40?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 9 of 12 benchmarks in our suite with an average 66.9% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA L40?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 has 40GB VRAM and a 400W TDP, while NVIDIA L40 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA L40?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA L40 fits 15 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 A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA L40?
- LTX-Video (distilled): NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by roughly 243% (8.95 vs 2.61 frames/s) in our testing.
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 full review · NVIDIA L40 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings