NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 wins 7 of 8 benchmarks, averaging 718.9% 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 FLUX.1 dev, where NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by 2394% (4.264 vs 0.171 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3-4B (52% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 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 A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3-4B tok/s | 193.14 | 127.01 | +52% |
| Llama-3.1-8B tok/s | 157.26 | 84.68 | +86% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder-14B tok/s | 86.2 | 46.74 | +84% |
| Qwen3-32B tok/s | 43.8 | 21.98 | +99% |
| Llama-3.3-70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 18.576 | 6.18 | +201% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 9.975 | 0.45 | +2117% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 4.264 | 0.171 | +2394% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 is faster on 2 of 2; NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 3 min | 54.9 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 18.02x faster |
| Full codebase review | 11.7 min | 21.4 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.83x faster |
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 40GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Ampere | Turing (TU102) |
| Memory bandwidth | 1555 GB/s | 672 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,410 MHz | 1,770 MHz |
| TDP | 400 W | 260 W |
| Launch MSRP | $12,000 | $9,999 |
| Release | 2020-05-14 | 2018-08-27 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 or NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 7 of 8 benchmarks in our suite with an average 718.9% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 has 40GB VRAM and a 400W TDP, while NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 has 48GB VRAM and a 260W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 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 Quadro RTX 8000?
- FLUX.1 dev: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by roughly 409% (4.264 vs 0.171 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 full review · NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings