NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 vs NVIDIA RTX A4000, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 wins 8 of 10 benchmarks, averaging 134.6% 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 Stable Diffusion XL, where NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by 255% (18.576 vs 5.24 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3-4B (66% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA RTX A4000 runs 135 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 4, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA RTX A4000 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3-4B tok/s | 193.14 | 116.23 | +66% |
| Llama-3.1-8B tok/s | 157.26 | 75.52 | +108% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder-14B tok/s | 86.2 | 41.13 | +110% |
| Qwen3-32B tok/s | 43.8 | 0 | n/a |
| Llama-3.3-70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 18.576 | 5.24 | +255% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 4.264 | 0 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 1.993 | 0 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0.66 | 0 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 is faster on 1 of 1; NVIDIA RTX A4000 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA RTX A4000 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 11.7 min | 24.3 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.08x faster | $0.195 vs $0.069 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA RTX A4000 finishes 1 of 1 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 RTX A4000 | $0.170 |
NVIDIA RTX A4000 is 5.88x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA RTX A4000 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 40GB | 16GB |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ampere |
| Memory bandwidth | 1555 GB/s | 448 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,410 MHz | 1,560 MHz |
| TDP | 400 W | 140 W |
| Launch MSRP | $12,000 | $999 |
| Release | 2020-05-14 | 2021-04-12 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 or NVIDIA RTX A4000?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 8 of 10 benchmarks in our suite with an average 134.6% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA RTX A4000?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 has 40GB VRAM and a 400W TDP, while NVIDIA RTX A4000 has 16GB VRAM and a 140W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA RTX A4000?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA RTX A4000 fits 9 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 RTX A4000?
- Stable Diffusion XL: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by roughly 255% (18.576 vs 5.24 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 full review · NVIDIA RTX A4000 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings