NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 vs NVIDIA RTX A6000, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 wins 8 of 9 benchmarks, averaging 56.2% 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 FLUX.1 dev, where NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by 97% (4.264 vs 2.164 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3-4B (5% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA RTX A6000 runs 135 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 9, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA RTX A6000 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3-4B tok/s | 193.14 | 184.34 | +5% |
| Llama-3.1-8B tok/s | 157.26 | 124.87 | +26% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder-14B tok/s | 86.2 | 68.51 | +26% |
| Qwen3-32B tok/s | 43.8 | 32.18 | +36% |
| Llama-3.3-70B tok/s | 0 | 15.73 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 18.576 | 10.02 | +85% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 9.975 | 5.4 | +85% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 4.264 | 2.164 | +97% |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 1.993 | 1.05 | +90% |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 is faster on 6 of 6; NVIDIA RTX A6000 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA RTX A6000 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-frame storyboard | 3 min | 7.1 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.32x faster | $0.051 vs $0.039 |
| 6-panel comic page | 4.8 min | 12.1 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.54x faster | $0.080 vs $0.067 |
| Character sheet, 12 poses | 6.3 min | 15.2 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.43x faster | $0.104 vs $0.084 |
| Full codebase review | 11.7 min | 14.6 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.25x faster | $0.195 vs $0.080 |
| 40-product photo shoot | 22.2 min | 45.5 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 2.05x faster | $0.370 vs $0.250 |
| 100-photo restoration batch | 50.2 min | 1 h 37 min | NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 1.93x faster | $0.836 vs $0.533 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA RTX A6000 finishes 6 of 6 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 A6000 | $0.330 |
NVIDIA RTX A6000 is 3.03x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 | NVIDIA RTX A6000 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 40GB | 48GB |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ampere |
| Memory bandwidth | 1555 GB/s | 768 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,410 MHz | 1,860 MHz |
| TDP | 400 W | 300 W |
| Launch MSRP | $12,000 | $4,650 |
| Release | 2020-05-14 | 2020-10-05 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 or NVIDIA RTX A6000?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 8 of 9 benchmarks in our suite with an average 56.2% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA RTX A6000?
- NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 has 40GB VRAM and a 400W TDP, while NVIDIA RTX A6000 has 48GB VRAM and a 300W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 and NVIDIA RTX A6000?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA RTX A6000 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 RTX A6000?
- FLUX.1 dev: NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 leads by roughly 97% (4.264 vs 2.164 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA A100 40GB SXM4 full review · NVIDIA RTX A6000 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings